Day 4: Oklahoma to Home

Riding home after an adventure on the trail is typically a depressing, pavement-pounding affair. Today though, may have been our best day.

We turned nearly every half mile as we zigzagged northeast from Great Plains Salt Lake back to Kansas City.

We took back roads, stumbled across a Kansas Trials riding competition, and there learned how to get back home ADV style. We discovered Teeter Rock and found unexpected great riding trails in Kansas, which we didn't know was even possible.

From Emporia we finally hopped on the pavement and sped home through 45° cold. We are thankful to be home, safe, bikes still running, and with a couple millimeters of tire tread to spare.

 

In short, the Oklahoma TAT is a different kind of ADV trail, but one we realized that we are glad we didn't miss.

Day 3: Mid Oklahoma TAT

We started the day off with a rush when on our way out of camp, I decided to take an exploratory route through the grass to a road the the map said was there. Well it wasn't, and we found ourselves stuck on a boulder-ridden embankment that we couldn't go back up, facing a lake that we surely didn't want to go IN. You'll have to tune back in later and watch the video to see how we got out. But alas, we did. And we had a grand day riding through the Oklahoma beauty. It's a different kind of trail, but it's been a blast. Tonight it's cold, and will be mid-30's by morning. Then we head home.

Day 2: Eastern Oklahoma

We started our day out like we meant business, with a full breakfast at Boomerang Diner in Tahlequah, OK. The "small" breakfast did not disappoint with eggs, bacon, hash browns, and biscuit & gravy. Mmm! I knew right then that it was going to be a great day.

The rest of the day did not disappoint, either. Despite our late start and big breakfast pushing our TAT arrival to nearly 11:00 AM, we wore ourselves out over 150 miles of trail.

The roads swapped back and forth between packed dirt and gravel of all sorts and colors. There was nothing of significant riding challenge, but I wouldn't call it boring. Much of the joy of this ride is just the beauty of it. Rolling hills and turning leaves made Oklahoma feel like Vermont. A different time of year, with the heat beating down, and I can see how this section of the trail could be dull. The interesting riding is definitely spaced out further by some long, straight gravel roads. Anyway, I'm still enjoying myself.

The daylight doesn't last long in November, so we stopped for camp in late afternoon. I think our secluded, lakeside campsite might be the best we've had. It clearly used to be a campground, but seems to now be unmaintained. Just finding the roads in was an adventure challenge, and we were rewarded with a beautiful view of the lake, trees for hammocks, and just the stars and armadillos for company. 

Day 1: KC to Tallequah

We made it a hour and a half into our ride when Joey announced his clutch cable went out. This could be a big problem, but Joey and I both have secondary clutch cables in place on the bike for this very scenario. We pulled over so he could take a couple minutes to switch the cables. Except it turned out that was NOT the problem. In short, we spent the next hour and a half pulling apart the bike to inspect the clutch plates, only to end up discovering his cable, though intact, came out of adjustment. 30 seconds with some pliers fixed the real problem. But we learned a lot. For one, our handpicked set of just a few tools turned out to be enough to get pretty deep into the engine in a Chinese restaurant's parking lot.

For riding in November, towards a thunderstorm, we've had it amazing. The thermometer showed 64 degrees our whole ride, and somehow we completely missed the rain. I told Joey that the clutch issue was actually divine appointment so we'd miss the rain storm like we did. He's not convinced yet, but he will be.

So we made it to our free campsite, dry, by 11pm. We setup camp without rain or cold. And the stars look AMAZING. 

We are just 5 miles north of the trail. Rest up.

TAT 4 - Oklahoma

"Love the TAT. Miss it already. Some more thoughts and pics to come."

That's how I ended the last trip entry. It seems I'm not so good at following up... but here we are, prepping to leave again. Tomorrow we return to the Trans-America Trail (TAT), for part 4. We ride straight south from KC, and turn right into Oklahoma. 

Oklahoma is the forum-described "boring" part of the TAT. You can read ride report after report of adventurers who choose to skip the trail through OK and take the highway from Arkansas to Colorado. The three of us have gone 'round a few times arguing about what to do. We aren't obsessive about riding every inch of the trail, but the options we faced were skipping Oklahoma and hauling our bikes to the Mountains next year... or squeezing in another short TAT ride this fall and STILL heading to the mountains next year. So fall is here, and to that trail we go. It wasn't easy finding some time for a second trip in 2015. I think we've rescheduled four times, and now we're riding in November--adventuresome, but less than ideal.

Since the spring...

Joey's Honda XR suffered a piston explosiatastrophe, and he's replaced, resurfaced, and rebuilt all those complicated metal parts that go somewhere under the seat. Just last weekend he finished the carb and says she's running better than ever.

Danny's Suzuki DR had an oil leak... if you can call it that. I think he spent $2 on some gasket and, you know, took something important off, gave it a new gasket, put it back on... and now it's good.

My Kawasaki KLR on the other hand, developed a real oil leak. And while Joey rebuilt his engine and Danny scraped off a 20 year old cam chain tensioner gasket... I put a cup under my bike.

Plastic cup, on right, to collect dripping oil

Anyway, the cup is starting to fill a bit. So I added some oil to my bike last night. Good to go!

Also since spring, we've been playing a game of musical motorcycle luggage. In May, we each took different approaches for our luggage:

• Danny: Nelson Riggs soft dry saddle bags - $50 Used on Amazon
• Joey: Dry bags with custom straps for mounting - $60 for all parts
• Nic: Wolfman Expedition Dry Bags - $180 Used from ADV inmate

There's a longer, really boring story about how Danny and I both ordered newly released DrySpec dry saddle bags several months before the trip, and then the bag manufacturing became so far delayed that Danny cancelled his order and I ordered Wolfmans at the last minute... and then two days into our trip the DrySpec bags shipped to my house. Anyway, after getting back from the trip, we decided the Wolfmans were the best, and Danny's bags were falling apart. So this happened:

• Danny: Returned bags to Amazon for failure to perform well
• Joey: Bought Nic's Wolfman's at a $10 discount (you're welcome, pal), sold custom bags
• Nic: Opened the box of new DrySpec D20's sitting in the garage ($110 out of pocket)

Only problem here? Danny doesn't have any luggage. Then sometime over the summer he surprised us with his UPS tracking number of brand new Mosko Moto Scout Panniers. I won't say here how much they cost, to avoid Danny's embarrassment. I'll just say that they did cost less than $451. And so far they seem amazing. Time and the trail will tell us which bags are to be most desired.

And that brings us to tonight. Three running motorcycles, packed (overpacked in my case), ready to haul us through a rain storm (tomorrow) and across the Oklahoma plains. And here are three not-very-good pictures of it:

Danny's Suzuki DR 650

Joey's Honda XR 650

Nic's Kawasaki KLR 650

TAT 3 Day 2

When you're driving a car on the interstate (which we lovingly call the super slab) you can cover 500 or 600 miles in a day over 8 hours.  We are riding about 200 miles per day, over 10 hours, and moving eastward at less than 100 miles each day. That means we're averaging about 25 mph (including some breaks). And it's amazing.

The trail has so far been excellent. It surprised us when we hit the hardest part we've ridden within the first 30 minutes of hopping on, back south of Fayetteville. That section (Warloop Rd) set an expectation of difficulty that has been lessening each mile we ride. Today in fact had quite a bit of pavement and gravel in between the fun parts. But the fun parts included 18" deep river crossings, tree-canopied packed mud roads, and beautiful Arkansas mountaintop views.

Finding a campsite for the night was the biggest challenge. When we left for this trip we didn't know how far we could get each day. So we decided to do the very thing I hate: "just wing it." We're riding all day and finding a campsite wherever we can once we get tired. Yesterday was brilliant. We rode until we couldn't and camped in a clearing we found at 5pm that was 50 feet from the trail, in the Ozark National Forest. See our little tents in the back?

Tonight, though, was tougher. We ended the day in Beebe, AR. It's big enough that we couldn't find a place to camp or a paid campground anywhere near the trail. We drove back and forth for an hour, exhausted, looking for anything, to no avail. After getting stuck and unstuck in some mud, with no prospects... what did we do? Prayed for a place to sleep and rode back into town for some Arkansas BBQ. Then through a happenstance encounter and a kind eavesdropper, we were sent to a fishing lake, just out of town, with plenty of free campsites available (really???). 

So here we are, lakeside: fully fed, warm, next to a dying fire made from wood that a stranger brought over, since he knew we couldn't haul any with us. Everything we need and more. It's good. All that and still no broken legs.

Tomorrow we hope to make it to Mississippi.

The Dalton Highway Ride

Yeah, it took me a while to put this together. Something about the hours of footage we took has kept me from taking the time.

Here's some clips of our ride from Fairbanks up to the Arctic Circle and back, along the infamous Dalton Highway.

Back in the saddle

I have been riding again. Because apparently, my KLR, with it's blown form seal, saggy chain, overdue oil change, and wearing tires... Is still more reliable than my car. Which isn't running.

The data

Miles Ridden: 7,848 (that's about how much an average commuter drives in 6 months) covering 8 states and 4 provinces



Average Gas Mileage: 50.72 MPG (this impressed me, since I had about 150 lbs of non-aerodynamic gear)

Average Cost of Fuel: $4.78 per gallon (using highest octane)

Most expensive gas: $7.00 per gallon in Teslin, Yukon Territory, Canada

Total Cost of Fuel: $722.97 (a lot of that is in Canadian, but it's about $1.01 to $1.00 USD)

Average Ride: 505.87 miles per day


Most Miles in a Day: 781 (Day 2, from Brookings, South Dakota to Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada)



Highest Latitude: 66 degrees 33' North (Arctic Circle) about 3,600 driving miles from home


High Temp: 106 degrees (F), outside Billings, Montana


Lowest Temp: 48 degrees (F), in heavy rain, through Denali National Park, Alaska



Shortest Night's Sleep: 3 hours in a motel in Tok, Alaska (about the same amount of time the sun was down)

Total Cost of Lodging: $716.73 while on the road 4 campsites, 9 hotels/motels (not including the 2 nights on the ferry)


Something about being on the road, getting further from home gave me wildly dynamic emotional state. Here's about how it went:

Maintenance in Montana

Reiter's Kawasaki is putting on a replacement front tire for Dad. And it's a good thing. After a full row of knobs literally sheared off, it was down to being held together by only a layer of the prayers of people back home. I think mine will make it. The Mefo Explorers have been EXCELLENT tires.

We oiled our chains and plan to inspect everything major to try to reduce the risk of problems making it home, now that we feel so close.

Oh, and in case you didn't realize it, it is REALLY STINKING HOT down here in the 48. Seriously. Way too hot.

Tires!

My suspension seems to be doing ok, though I can feel the declining handling at low speeds.

The big question now is... Will our tires make it?

I elected to leave my original tires on when dad changed his rear in Anchorage. The rear is starting to get close.

Dad says his front feels lumpy at low speeds. And I think his SECOND rear is starting to get close.

We shall see.

Fork Seal

Well my left fork seal is leaking badly. We've seen a lot of dirt and grit and the roads have definitely been working my front suspension for all it's worth, so I shouldn't be surprised.

There's fork oil stains along the left side of my bike, on the forward-facing side of my left pannier, and probably all over the left leg of my riding pants.

I brought a special tool to clean my seals in case of this very thing. But after double checking, it's worse than I thought. The oil is gushing out. I don't plan to take the time for a seal replacement. I cleaned it as best I could. And now I hope it doesn't cause any more serious suspension problems on the way home.

Luckily we only rode 10 miles or so here in Juneau, and have 2 days onboard the marine highway's Matanuska before I have to really start worrying.

Anchorage Motorcycle Maintenance

New oil and oil filter.
Cleaned the air filter.
Replaced the chain (I couldn't trust it anymore, even though it was fairly young, at 6,500 miles).

23,633 miles on the ticker.

Tires

After 2,500 miles, my Mefo Explorer (left) and his Dunlop D606 (right).

Fueling in Fargo

So I have been getting 48-50 miles per gallon so far. But Dad has been getting something like 35.

Bua ha ha ha ha!

Just kidding, we both have to stop no matter who runs out first. He made some adjustments to try and fix the problem. Changed the fuel/air to a leaner mix and added air to the tires. We'll see how that goes.

It worked!

When I left my driveway for West Virginia, I felt like I was trying to control a stubborn elephant. But I buffed the rear spring and added the fork brace... And this morning it felt good! It's still heavy, but doesn't feel unstable. Though I did ride easy, cause what I forgot to account for was taking my laptop to work. So I basically set it on top of everything and road easy. At least it didn't break the camel's back.

So, after work... I'm riding to Alaska.

Packed and ready... I think

I packed as much as I could tonight. Thanks to Danny for the organization help. Well, more than that, he basically reorganized all my gear while I was visiting with my sister and brother who stopped in.

As you can see: way too bulky and much too heavy... But hey, he's a good friend so I don't mind.

Just kidding Jennifer! I meant the bike.

Posted with Blogsy

Zip ties

Dear whoever invented zip ties,

I am a believer.

Getting closer

Ok, getting closer. And starting to feel better.

New sticker

New sticker for the trip! It's the brand of my new rear spring.