Showing 0 to 15 of 16 Results
Trans America Trail Day 23 - The End in Mud
It was over a week ago now that I had arrived in Price, Utah after having ridden through wonderfully scenic and varied desert landscapes. Price is situated in the shadow of a mountain range. Because it was something I have been concerned about, I always scan the mountain tops looking for snow. This time I noticed snow on several peaks to the Northwest. "That's not ok." Audrey said on the phone when I told her this. She asked what I would do if I came across any snow on the passes ahea ...Read More
Trans America Trail Day 22 - Incredible Landscapes in the Utah Desert
I am still in Los Alamos staying with my buddy Bruce and his family but should be making my way homeward in the next couple of days. After he drove up in his pickup truck to come get me and my broken motorcycle, we spent the last few days working on his 2001 BMW K1200RS that he recently bought. He wanted to make some modifications to it so we've been focused on getting that done. He had a wrecked 2003 K1200GT with an aftermarket exhaust and wider rear wheel that he wanted to salvage along w ...Read More
Trans America Trail Day 21 - Changing Landscape of Utah
I've been in Los Alamos now for a few days waiting for parts to fix my poor broken a little less Mighty DR650. Finding the motivation to write has been challenging. My mind is disorganized and I've been having trouble concentrating. My thoughts keep reaching homeward and up to close friends in Canada. A number of days ago now, I had gotten the last room within 50 miles by sheer luck. How many times have I lucked out like this on these travels? "My luck is going to run out." I thought ...Read More
Trans America Trail Days 18, 19, 20 - This one goes to 11
While most days on the trail are not all that challenging, they are still exhausting. Riding on these varying surfaces requires a degree of concentration for hours on end that saps me of what little remaining life force I have. At the end of the day, I find I rarely have the necessary mental clarity or energy to process the photos I've taken during the day let alone attempt to craft a few words. With a major storm in the forecast, I've once again decided to take a rest day. I am curren ...Read More
Trans America Trail Days 16, 17 - Fear and First World Problems on the Trail to Colorado Mountains
Day 16 It was a torrential downpour. Hail bounced off the motel roof as every depression in the earth filled with water. After the rain finally let up hours later, I walked across the street to a restaurant. Flowing water could be seen rushing by everywhere. I overheard someone talking about how golf ball sized hail had damaged their car. "Man, getting stuck Out There in large hail would hurt." I thought as I realized I was strangely afraid. I felt an unusual sense of dread about wh ...Read More
TAT Days 14, 15 - Mud Runner and Long Days
Moments come and go and get lost to time. It has been a while since I've written. The longer I wait the more the memories fade and the more daunting the task becomes. I'm currently in Raton, NM. I can hear the sound of cold thunder outside as dark and very angry clouds slowly march this way. Bright sunshine pierces through white clouds in the distance and in the other direction all is black and despair looms. I got new tires mounted on the bike today. I thought with as popular as the Suzu ...Read More
Days 23,24 TAT Days 12, 13 - Unexpected Critters and Earthquakes in Oklahoma
I had fallen back asleep having hit the snooze button with the thought that I need to get up because I need to write when suddenly someone started jumping up and down on my bed. "What the f***?" I thought as I looked around the room for the culprit. "Huh. There's no one there. Oh right. I'm in a hotel. It would be a bit odd if there were." I looked at the room. Yup. Still shaking. "Construction?" I slowly started coming to the realization. "Ah. Earthquake." It was a calm real ...Read More
Days 18 - 22 TAT Days 10, 11 - Gravel Grades, TAT Riders, and Red Clay in Rain
Three Down Days I am currently in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Megan, of Dual Sport Touring, shipped a new tank bag and rollchart holder to a Quality Inn here and found me a Suzuki dealer not far away where she had a new heat shield for my exhaust delivered. I made better time than expected and arrived, soaking wet and completely wiped out, Sunday afternoon (Day 19, TAT Day 11). The Suzuki dealer didn't open until Tuesday so I had some down time. Sunday's ride was by far the most difficult an ...Read More
Day 15, 16, 17 TAT Days 8, 9 - Mud, Muck, Dust, Dogs, and Detours
We invent narratives. We tell ourselves stories. "I'm too old." is a common one. Of course it makes sense. I'm older now and many have told me the same story. "This is a young man's adventure. At 48, you're just not a young man anymore." Stories. I know a man named Tom White that I met on the Cannonball Centennial Ride. He was one of the few who rode across one way and then back the other. The last I heard he's 79 and just toured to and from the Mount Rushmore area and does off road ev ...Read More
Days 12,13,14 - TAT Days 5,6,7 - Of Water Crossings and Angry Dogs
I should have realized it much sooner, but I did not. On the first few days of this journey, I was struggling. Nothing flowed. I kept dropping things. (Those who know me best, at this point, already know where this is going.) I kept making mistakes of a kind I typically don't make. I felt out of sorts. I would end the day completely spent with sore muscles of the kind I have not felt in ages. I pondered calling it quits. I began to tell myself stories, "I'm just not a dual sport guy. The ...Read More
Too tired.
It was a long and eventful day today but good. I'm slowly finding my way. I am, however, far too tired to write. I'm going to have to find a rest day and catch up on all the photos and events. A Water Crossing(https://adv-traveler.com/yermo/rides/42905/yermo-s-2016-trans-am-trail-trip/photos/12350/a-water-crossing) ...Read More
Day 9 - Unrelenting Gravel
I managed to just beat the rain and duck into a dive motel in a little town somewhere in Georgia just down the road from a place called Chatsworth. I'm sitting on a pillow because the plush chair is just too painful. I woke this morning at around 08:30 after having stayed up too late writing once again. Over the last couple of years, sleep has been a huge difficulty for me but this trip is wearing me down so much that it's not the problem it usually is. Things are getting a bit easier. A ...Read More
Day 8 - Second Day on the Trail - Less Errors, Fantastic Roads, and Some Water Crossings
Today was the eighth day of this trip and the second day on the Trans America Trail. Even though it is still very early and there's no knowing what is in store for me as I continue this little journey, I can say that so far this feels very different from any long distance motorcycle trip I've taken. Something is missing. There's always been a peace that I find after a just few days on the motorcycle. Even when I was a much younger and smaller version of myself, the bike was the only pla ...Read More
Day 7 - An Error Prone Day
I spent the last two and a half hours writing an article only to lose it in it's entirety. I suspect my little notebook keyboard may be failing. I stayed with Francois and Megan from Friday through to this morning. They were extremely kind to me. They too have a guest and gear room where they store guests and gear and I was stored there quite comfortably. We spent two days doing a shakedown run through mountain gravel roads and even did a night run through Deal's Gap. (Much of what I spent ...Read More
Day 1 - The Obscenely Overloaded and Distressingly Unprepared ride the Untested into the Unknown
It had been my intention to write about the days events,musings, thoughts about the Trans Am Trail, the reasons why ... Unfortunately, I had to spend a number of hours trying to figure out how I broke my software (specifically the feature that lets me search for and insert a photo into an article, such as the ones you see below). It turned out to be something called a "race condition". Instead of saying, "first get the photo from the server and insert it, and then close the window", I had un ...Read More
Day 0
It's been a major push these last several days trying to get ready for this trip. It's now almost 1 AM. I am almost ready and just have a few last details to take care of. I had planned on trying to upgrade the site several days ago but unfortunately, as is always the case when I try to leave, life had other plans. So here I sat the night before I am to depart trying desperately to get the latest software installed and working. I considered it entirely reasonable to do a 10 revision upgrad ...Read More