The trip route is planned!

Well, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. I've been enjoying a few days away from computers to celebrate the holidays but now it's time to get back at it.

We have finished planning our trip route. If you click on the map, it might take you to a larger version... (maybe).



The summary goes a little like this....

Start in Calgary, Canada... head East till we hit the coast at either Halifax, Nova Scotia, or St. John's Newfoundland - Flights will determine what city we leave Canada from as we want direct flights only to ensure our bikes stay with us.

Next we hop on a plane, landing in London, UK. We'll ride North to Liverpool and grab a ferry to the Isle of Man to check out the Isle of Man TT race. From there we'll grab another ferry over to Dublin, then up Ireland to Scotland (with yet another ferry in there) and then down to the channel tunnel to France.

While in Europe we will head northeast though Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. Germany has much to offer in our minds so we'll head south for a while and zig-zag through Germany to Switzerland. Next it's off to Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, then back southeast to Slovakia and Hungary.

Eastern Europe is an area I'm extremely excited about (having lived in London, and done some travel, western Europe isn't as appealing for this sort of adventure, but then again, it's still going to be an amazing section of the journey - I digress).

We will track from Hungary to Ukraine where we will visit Chernobyl. Then, heading north we will go to the very Soviet-style Belarus and further to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia where it is rumoured that Dylan and I have ancestry.

Once in Russia we will tackle St. Petersburg and head to Moscow - a place that has always left me in awe since I was a little boy. In fact, I still have a soviet flag that I bought when the Olympic games were in Calgary in 1988. I was in fourth grade and did a report on the Soviet Union. It continues to fascinate me to this day.

From Moscow we will travel southeast to Samara, Russia. Then we'll be taking the plunge and heading into Kazakhstan. We will visit what's left of the Aral Sea - one of the greatest natural disasters ever created at the hand of man. Onward we will travel across Kazakhstan and then into the Altai region of Russia to get into Mongolia.

Mongolia is my new fascination. Since seeing Ewan and Charlie ride it in "Long Way Round", I've definitely wanted to try my hand at riding through such a mystical and beautiful land. It's going to kick our butts but I think it will be completely worth it.

Hopefully by 2008 the trans-Siberia / trans-Russia is completed. That will make the journey from Ulan-Ude to Vladivostock easier and safer. We've scheduled a couple of weeks for this section of the journey.

Our Russian section will draw to a close at Vladivostock with a two-day ferry ride to Japan. We'll ride from the ferry on the west coast of Japan to Tokyo. From there we grab a trans-Pacific flight to Vancouver, Canada - the homeward stretch.

Earlier this year I rode from Vancouver to Calgary in one day. I never want to do that again. So we've scheduled more time for this beautiful trek of 600 miles (1,000km).

Finally, after four months and an estimated 20,000 miles (32,000km) we will arrive home in Calgary. We will have gone from Here to Here.

Dylan's V-Strom gets a makeover

Dylan and I both bought "silver" V-Stroms. In 2006, "Silver", according to Suzuki meant more like, "Dodge Caravan baby blue champagne metallic".

I bought it in this colour to differentiate my bike from all the sport bikes out there. Since the V-strom is not another crotch rocket, I didn't want it to look like one.

Dylan hated it.

So, after he picked up his bike, using his professional painting skills (no sarcasm here, he is actually does paint aircraft) he decided on a flat black for his V-strom. Here it is in his garage, not yet assembled. He already has the Pat Walsh Crash plate on the bike as it came with it when he bought it.

Take the plunge - or the epi-lasik

I have tried out my last pair of contact lenses and they are not good enough for me to read with. I've tentatively decided that I'm going to take the plunge and get the epi-lasik eye surgery done at Mitchel Eye Centre.

I'm nervous as all heck about it but think it's probably the best option for me. One of the main reasons for it - besides the trip, is that my girlfriend has a couple of dogs and one of them likes to get quite rowdy. I get my glasses licked, booted, knocked, smudged and otherwise messed up at least 10 times in a weekend. It would be great to be able to "fight back" against the dog and be able to see at the same time. Maybe she's just smarter than me and is able to play dirty by knocking my glasses off.

In the meantime

While I'm waiting on deciding whether or not to take the plunge and do the laser eye surgery, I'm trying out some new contact lenses. So far the results are mixed.

For the past few years my contact lenses have been ok for sports but not for anything else. My vision just hasn't been sharp enough with them in. So I tried a new pair called "Pro Clear" - a brand I had never heard of.

These ProClear Contact lenses were nice, but I tore my sample pair taking them out on just the first use. I'm waiting now a couple of weeks to get another sample pair to see how they work.

Dylan and I are nearly finished our route and we'll be giving more details about it soon. We also have a new fundraising / partnership idea that I think might help the trip and make a difference in the community too. Stay tuned.

More to come...

A different angle on laser eye surgery

A week after my experience at Gimbel Eye Centre, I had an assesment appointment at Mitchel Eye Centre, also in Calgary.

The experience was like night and day. I went with a friend who was also having an assesment and we both agreed that Mitchel, or Mitchel's staff and processes are far more thorough and comforting for the prospective patient. The only problem was when I met with Dr. Mitchel to go over my results.

I want to throw the question out there for people, what does 15 percent risk mean to you?
My situation (the scaled-down version) is that I'm far sighted. The proceedure for far sightedness involves steepening the cornea. I have a "steep" cornea already, so there is a risk (15 percent according to Mitchel) that I would develop as he described, "oil drop vision" basically my vision could turn into what you see in the reflection of a drop of oil. It's correctable with another procedure, but it puts me back in my glasses.

I've spent the last couple of weeks thinking about it and I have a new set of contact lenses on order. If I could get away with contacts on the trip, and in life, I think that would be ok. However, contacts have never made my vision clear enough and so I only wear them for sports.

More to come... sooner rather than later this time!

True Fear...

... this time is wasn't riding in the rain near Kamloops, BC.

About 10 years ago, when I started university, I started to get pretty serious headaches. They felt like my eyes were rotting out from behind. After a few months of this, I went to get an eye exam - low and behold I needed glasses.

When I was growing up, I thought it was normal to be able to concentrate and focus my eyes, and then relax and have everything go blurry. I could read the eye charts with ease and tested at 20/10 vision. I had played basketball, learned to shoot and drive all with good success and without glasses. Times had changed.

Jesus was there too.

Fast forward 10 years ago to my scare on the motorcycle when I accidentally forgot to put on my glasses (remember, I'm able to concentrate and focus for a short time now). I rode down the street, came to an intersection and everything went blurry. I found my glasses but lost a lot of confidence.

So, laser eye surgery must be the solution right? I decided to find out.

I went to Gimbel Eye Centre here in Calgary. When I walked in, I couldn't help but think how nice the place looked. It had an air of quality about it. After all, Dr. Gimbel was the pioneer of laser eye surgery in Alberta. Sitting in the waiting room with my friend Diane, I turned to the side and noticed a large painting of a laser eye surgery. The machines were there, an assistant, the surgeon, but then something I found strange - Jesus was there too.

This is a blog about motorcycling around the world, not religion. However, for the sake of accuracy I'll tell you that I'm not a religious person. I try my best to respect the religion of others, and that's about it. However, I feel that Jesus shouldn't be in the operating room with me. What if I was muslim? Buddist? a Jedi? Does the surgeon need luck? Do I? Am I going to die? It all left a bad first impression on me. And then came the testing.

Gimbel Eye Centre is set up for the best possible efficiency. I felt like it was like herding cattle and determining which cows could have surgery. Then getting passed on to the sales department for misleading information.

There were small rooms with five machines and five technicians, five patients and a couple of guests. We bumped into each other, could overhear other people's testing, it was horrible. You get herded around to different waiting rooms to meet with different people, don't even meet with the surgeon (have to book a surgery for that), get told you are a marginal candidate by the optomotrist but an excellent candidate by the sales department. You even get herded out a different door from the one in which you arrive.

Needless to say, the combination of being treated like cattle, being told they'd rather insert a contact lens INSIDE my eye rather than laser me (and not learning ANY of the results of my testing, and knowing that the surgeon would like Jesus in the room for surgery was enough for me to say, "not a flying chance in hell would I ever go to Gimbel Eye Centre". So I went to visit the Mitchell Eye Centre for another round of testing...

More to come... (and apologies for the lack of posts this week. I'm "Sprinting to the Finish" at the office)

The longest day yet

I was fairly tired when I got to Vancouver to visit with Bronwen and Neil and I was happy to start drooling on their couch when everyone got to sleep.

The next day I spend hanging out with Neil and getting to know him a bit better. Bronwen and I have been friends for years and, although she'd known Neil longer, I hadn't met him until they started dating a couple of years prior.

The next morning I got up with only one destination in mind - back home in Calgary.

Normally I wouldn't attempt such a long day in the saddle. However, the woman I was dating had been in Europe for five weeks and I was anxious to see her again. She arrived the day I was in Vancouver.

I set off a lot later than I'd hoped. Getting everything ready to go and double checking it took more time than I expected. Then, with directions out of town from Neil, I headed out of Vancouver toward Calgary.

The majority of the trip is a blur at this point (it was a few months ago). I know it was cool and cloudy in Vancouver and then it warmed up in the interior and cooled off when I approached Alberta again. I rode straight through, stopping for fuel and snacks only.

There was one stretch where I was briskly passed by a new VW GTI. I estimated it was going about 190km/h or so in a 100km/h zone. In all honesty, that was the thing I remember most about the journey.

I arrived in Calgary in the middle of the evening, having ridden about 600 miles (1000km). I parked my bike at my girlfriend's apartment and called her, pretending I was in Vancouver still. - Until I asked her to come downstairs.

"Hey, want to grab a coffee?"

Sitting down to lunch at good ol' A&W, I pulled out my map. Fortunately I had purchased a laminated version of BC and Alberta so I could still read it after the storm. I took a look at the map and realized how far I had ridden - and how far I really could go. So I made a call....

I called my friend in Vancouver at work and said, "Hey, what are you doing tonight? Want to grab a coffee?"

I realized when looking at the map that I was only three and a half hours away from Vancouver. Surely I had it in me to keep riding and make it all the way from Jasper, Alberta to Vancouver, British Columbia.

Following up on my coffee invitation I said, "Oh, and can I crash at your place tonight? I'm going to be a little tired"

So my coffee date with Bronwen and Neil was a go and I got back on the bike and rode the additional four hours (considering city traffic) to Vancouver and their new house in Kits. The sky had opened up once again and the storm seemed like a distant memory after I stopped for lunch. It was a beautiful day once again.

Boy was I glad to see friendly faces when I got into town that night. I was exhaused but I'd completed my longest riding day just a day after completing my previous longest riding day. I rode just over 800 kms (500 miles) in one day.

We had a good visit and I hit the couch. Zzzzzzzzz.....

I think I'm going to die now...

I have never been hit with such a fury in my life. I slowed the bike down to about 60km/h and the wind was tossing me around the road and throwing the rain with all its gusto at me.

Two thoughts were running through my head. Ok, three. The first, "Just relax your grip and keep looking ahead", second, I don't want to die and third, "I'm so incredibly happy I'm not on the KLR right now."

The spray from vehicles cut my visibility down quite drastically. I tried using the little rubber blade on the thumb of my gloves to wipe my visor. It only made things worse. I kept going.

The storm lasted for about half an hour. I rolled into Kamloops about 20 minutes after that. I was cold and felt like I had been mauled by a crocodile. So I stopped for fuel and lunch.

Then looked at the map and made a phone call...

A cold, wet hell ahead

Off I went on my way to Kamloops BC, about 6.5 hours away from Jasper. It was another stunningly beautiful day with a warm, but not hot breeze, bright blue skies and some of the most spectacular scenery on Earth. Until I got to about an hour from Kamloops.

That's when the wind started and I pulled over because I could see the storm ahead. I struggled to quickly put on my my waterproof jacket and pants because the wind was so strong. I had never experienced - or noticed experiencing being in such a quickly changing weather system. Looking West I saw a warm summer day. Looking East I saw a wall of cold, wet hell. I got back on the bike and kept riding. Maybe I could make it to Kamloops, or close to it, before the storm itself hit me.

I was wrong.

More to come...

A night in Jasper - what if?

After fuelling up the V-Strom, I headed across the street as two guys with BMW 1200 GS Bikes were there, and their bikes looked like they had been through a lot. I chatted with them for a few minutes. They were on a ride from Arizona to the Jasper area and back. It was nice to see someone else who was actually doing a long ride as I had never met anyone who had before. After a few minutes chatting they went on their way and I decided to change the oil in the bike.

I changed the oil and then set about finding a campsite for the night. I ended up riding another 75km or so before I found one that wasn't full. It was an enjoyable twisty road up a long hill near Castle Mountain.

Setting up camp I realized I had never done anything like this by myself before. It was nice to be alone with my own thoughts for the night. The trip around the world, my ride to Jasper, what life on the road would be like were all things that I pondered.

How would Dylan and I get along? What if... ah, the "what ifs". That's exactly what this trip is about. It's about conquering "what ifs" that we will face before the trip and during it. The "what ifs" from our friends and colleagues. The "what ifs" from the people we meet while planning this adventure. The "what ifs" will cause the trip to never happen unless the obvious ones are planned for and the others become an acceptable part of the risk we will face. Heck, I got a big "what if you encounter a bear" when I was entering the campground in Jasper as a warning from the warden. If the "what if" of encountering the bear was so bad, why would I even camp? Why would I ever go to such a beautiful place? Why bother?

The bother is that it's about experiencing life. I've spent too much of my life in classrooms and in achingly boring corporate meetings rife with buzzwords and balderdash to not go out at least once and stick it out there. We might get hurt, we might end up in jail somewhere, we might be delayed by politics or nature. The point is, that's ok. I have as much chance of getting hurt walking down the street, or as Dylan learned first hand, trying to get a glass of milk.

Ahem,
The next morning I didn't expect I'd sleep in as late as I did. I'd slept well and was very excited about tearing the camp down and moving on. I loaded the bike back up and headed toward Kamloops, BC. I calculated it to be about 6.5 hours away.

More to come...

Icefields and fuel fears

A couple of weeks after the glasses scare, I decided to finish breaking in the engine on the V-Strom. What better way to do that than a trip up the icefields parkway from Calgary to Jasper, Alberta. I thought I’d take a few days and see what it was like to camp while traveling with the bike. So I loaded it up with my camping gear and set off.

What an amazing road the icefields parkway is. It’s closed to truck traffic and it’s smooth as silk. I left Calgary with nearly a full tank of fuel and rode confidently up the highway, past the Columbia Icefield on route to Jasper. Then my fuel gauge started to flash.

Since I had only ever run one or two tanks of fuel through the bike, I was guessing on the fuel economy. I also didn’t consider the extra weight and drag associated with my luggage. I slowed down to a more economical speed with about 130km to go and my fuel gauge already warning me that I was running low. I had passed the “no fuel for 200km” sign 70km prior. When I left Calgary I thought I could make it with one tank of fuel.

I had never been to Jasper before so I didn’t recognize the road or the scenery along the way. I began to get more and more nervous as there were few signposts along the way to tell me how much further I had to go. Then my fuel gauge flashed differently. This time it meant, “dude, you’re really running low now.”

Jasper seemed like an eternity away. I slowed down further. What was left of the traffic, which wasn’t much, started to pass me. Then the sign showing Jasper was around the corner, about 20km away came into view. “Would I make it?” I wondered.

I rounded the bend into town and got slowed down by some road construction just before the town. Oh great.

Finally I rolled into town and made it to the first fuel station I could find. The V-strom took 21.5 litres of fuel. Thankfully there was a full litre of fuel left in the tank. I was pretty tired from the possibility of running out of fuel, and I had ridden by far my longest day yet – 435kms (270 miles).

More to come…

Getting a GIVI case: More than I bargained for

When I bought the V-Strom, I ordered a Givi topcase for it. Off I went, back to Turple Bros. in Red Deer, Alberta to pick it up.

I picked up the case and strapped it to the back of the bike. It was a beautiful summer day in early July and fairly hot out so I was anxious to get on the road and get the air flowing again. Getting ready to head back to Calgary, I took off my glasses to put on my helmet and the rest of my motorcycle gear - my helmet, jacket, gloves, earplug (just one because of being deaf) and then I headed off.

Turple Bros. is located right near the Queen Elizabeth II highway, otherwise known as highway 2. There is just a couple of four-way stop intersections on the service road until you get to the highway. I made it through all of them and came to a stop at the last one. As I looked around to make sure the intersection was clear, my vision went completely blurry.

No doubt I swore a few expletives as I realized my own idiocy. I had gotten on the bike and rode off without my glasses. I was scared, angry and embarassed all at the same time.

Fortunately I am farsighted. I can focus my eyes at any distance for short periods of time. I realized I didn't put my glasses on right after putting my helmet on. My eyes adjusted when I closed them to put on my helmet and I thought I could see clearly. When I got to the intersection, my eyes relaxed and everything blurred out.

So there I was, almost on the highway and I couldn't see and didn't know where my glasses were. I pulled the bike over to the side and took the long walk back to the dealer. Perhaps they fell off the bike when I got on it. Nothing.

I walked by the side of the road back to my bike. Nothing.

Then I headed back to the dealer to double check to make sure I wasn't looking the wrong direction and walked past them. I hoped I would find them and I wished they were not shattered.

Looking down the road for anything shiny, I was reminded how much garbage people litter. Every chocolate bar wrapper, every drink bottle, every piece of broken glass caught my attention. Heck I'd never looked for a pair of glasses by the side of... oh wait, I have, but that's another story. Anyway, I've never looked for my own glasses by the side of the road, particularly while not being able to focus my eyes.

I realized that looking at the side of the road was part of the solution and I focused my effort on the middle of the road (bad pun intended).

It was hot, I was wearing my motorcycle jacket, I couldn't see, I hadn't eaten much that day and I had been walking for almost an hour. Then they caught my eye.

Running up to them I hoped that they were still usable. Fortunately karma was liking me that day and there were only a couple of slight scratches on the frames. The lenses were still near perfect. What amazing luck.

I rode home and couldn't stop thinking about how simple a mistake I made and how it could impact the trip. I would not be able to do the trip with glasses. I would need to get my eyes fixed first. In the meantime, I bought an extra pair of glasses to carry under my seat - just in case.

More to come...

A couple of V-strom pictures

Here are a couple of pictures of the V-strom from one of my first mini trips on it. Once again, out to Kananaskis Country.




And the front of the bike...




And one fully loaded up on a trip across British Columbia. This was taken near Jasper, Alberta.

Hello V-Strom

In Red Deer, Dylan and I picked up the V-Strom. We drove up in my old VW Golf - I miss that car.

The first thing I noticed is how quiet it was. With earplugs in at idle I could hardly tell it was running. To me this is a very good thing. I am completely deaf in one ear and I take my hearing very seriously. The KLR was quite loud and I'm not one to be making a whole lot of noise as I go by. My condo is on a busy one-way street and the sport bike crowd likes to gun it going in front of my building in the summer. It drives me nuts and was one of the major reasons why I was hesitant to ride a motorcyle in the first place. It's amazing how a few idiot riders on the street can solidify a reputation for motorcyclists. Anyway, I digress.

I rode the V-Strom home with a big grin. It was an incredible experience to say the least. I felt power like I never had before and I understood perfectly why Dylan refused to go around the world on the KLR. The KLR was like a big, tall two-wheeled car. It accellerated like a car, braked like a car and handled like a car. The V-Strom had passing power, and 6th gear to cruise along the highway. It was fantastic.

Bye-bye KLR

After sitting on the Suzuki V-strom I was hooked and needed to have one. The only thing stopping me was my next to brand new, slightly dented Kawasaki KLR 650. I decided I would post the KLR for sale for a reasonable price. If it sold, so be it. If not, then I would wait until Spring 2007 to sell it.

I had two people look at the bike. The first one seemed interested, but he wasn't serious about it. The next guy to come saw the condition it was in and knew that he was going to get a decent deal on a two month old bike. We got all the paperwork sorted out and got the bike up to Dylan's place for some maintenance that needed to be done on the bike (the famous "doohickey" mod) and other parts.

When I bought the KLR I thought it was awesome. It turned out, I thought riding a motorcycle was awesome and the KLR was all I knew. The V-strom made the thought of riding around the world something that I could actually achieve - with Dylan of course.

As I mentioned in previous posts, the economy in the Calgary area is on overdrive right now. That meant there were no V-Stroms to be had in Calgary and those that were available (after being shipped from other dealers) were selling for MSRP, plus shipping, plus a gazillion other fees that many dealers charge. Then I called Turple Bros. in Red Deer, Alberta.

Turple Bros. is a dealer I had never heard of (I'd really never cared about any motorcycle dealers) However, they have been selling bikes for 50 years in central Alberta. Glenn Turple, the founder of the dealership, still works the sales floor. I can only imagine the change that he's seen in his lifetime - both in bikes and in society in general.

First off, Turple Bros. had a V-Strom in stock. Second, they were willing to sell it for less than MSRP. Finally, their staff are friendly and down to Earth. I was sold. We got all the paperwork sorted out and Dylan and I headed up to Red Deer to pick up the V-Strom.

More to come...

V-Strom - Love at first sight

So off Dylan, Deanna and I went to Blackfoot Motosports to check out the bike that Dylan had been researching since his first ride on the Kawasaki KLR 650.

The shop was very busy as the economy in Calgary and area is going completely bonkers. Everyone it seems who ever wanted a motorcycle was at Blackfoot that Saturday. We walked in and headed over to the Suzuki section and Dylan pointed it out. The 20067 Suzuki DL 650 V-Strom. He had a seat on the bike as I looked it over. It was love at first sight.

The bike is a strange combination of street and adventure. Basically it's described by many owners as a sport bike that has been punched in the face to flatten out the front end. To me it looked like the perfect bike for the trip.

I kicked Dylan off the bike and took a seat on it myself. The difference between the V-Strom and the KLR was immediate. The V-Strom was a modern, powerful and beautiful machine. The KLR was a big, overgrown dirt bike from the 1980s.

Dylan and Deanna went off to look at some other things in the shop. I got off the bike, took two steps to follow them and turned around to look at the V-Strom again. I walked right back to it and got on again. I was hooked. This was the right bike for the trip and I finally began to understand why Dylan was passionate about motorcycles. Ten minutes later they came back and I was still sitting on it. I had to have one.

More to come...

"I'm not riding a KLR around the world"

After I got back from my mini trip on the KLR, I went over to Dylan and Deanna's place for dinner - a fairly regular occurance.

"I'm not riding a KLR around the world", Dylan proclaimed at dinner. I asked why not and he said, "I don't want to be bored out of my mind while going on this trip. It's the perfect bike on paper for this journey, but the trip isn't on paper."

Needless to say I was upset. Although I had struggled somewhat in getting used to the height of the KLR, I was definitely enjoying riding. I felt that the KLR was a perfectly capable bike for our needs. Dylan on the other hand had been riding his Honda CBR F4i for a couple of years and knows what a smooth, nice ride feels like.

After a couple weeks of my feeling in the dumps because I'd gone out and done so much work to get my gear and take the safety course and buy the brand new bike, Dylan called me up. "I'm thinking about the Suzuki V-strom", he said. I think we should go take a look at Blackfoot Motosports."

So Dylan, Deanna and I went down to Blackfoot to check out the DL 650 V-strom.

More to come...

Mini trip to Kananaskis on the KLR

After Dylan was nice enough (he's always nice enough) to install some new parts on the KLR - namely new handlebars (I went with Protaper ATV Mid) I was off on my first mini adventure.

All this adventure really was is a short, trip from Calgary to Kananaskis Country (Pronounced Can an Ass Kiss). The reason for the trip was to attend leadership training with my company and I would be staying for a couple of nights.

The ride out to Kananaskis was spectacular along highway 1A. It was a crisp morning that seemed full of optimism and potential and I was looking forward to my first real twisty road. I wasn't disappointed as the road was almost completely empty for the entire journey. When I arrived at the hotel for training, I had a grin a mile wide. My colleagues who didn't know me very well seemed shocked that I would roll in on a motorcycle. To be honest, at this point, so was I.

One night after dinner I took the bike out for a quick spin down highway 40, also known as the Kananaskis Trail. This short ride would end up being a great learning experience for me.

Once I got up to speed on the highway, I noticed a deer in the ditch. Thankfully it stayed put.

Then, just a kilometre or so away, there was a herd of elk. At first I saw a pair of elk, then five or six. I looked off to the side and there were at least 15-20 elk by the side of the road. Thankfully they all stayed put.

Not five kilometres further down the road and I came face to face with yet another deer. This one was on the road. It looked up as I slowed down. For some reason I felt that it had the confidence to stay put. I passed him doing about 60 km/h. Thankfully, it didn't take a step.

Feeling rather inspired by my nature ride, I turned onto a gravel road and decided I might as well learn what loose stones under my tires felt like. I rode up a reasonably steep hill that was mostly potholes and switchbacks. Averaging about 40km/h, it felt good.

I got to the top of the road and realized I had ridden to the base of Fortress Mountain. There, I spent a few minutes checking out how different everything looked without snow on it and I headed back down the hill to the highway and off to the hotel.

More to come...

The KLR crashes

Determined to make the KLR my primary mode of transportation for the summer, and beginning to feel more comfortable on the bike, I took it out for some errands and to meet a friend for coffee. This was my first trip out with the bike where riding it wasn't the entire reason for being on it.

Calgary has a trendy little area called Kensington where there are lots of shops, coffee and tea houses and the like. Unfortunately, the area is also known for being impossible to find a parking spot. I was running late to meet my friend for coffee and so I found a spot on a side street where there was enough - dare I say plenty - of room for me to park the bike. So I parked and headed in for coffee.

About an hour later I returned to the side street to see my KLR 'bleeding' by the side of the road. Someone had hit it and driven away.

Fortunately I had turned the petcock (fuel supply) off so there was only a little bit of fuel spilled on the ground. However, as I looked in shock, I also saw bits of broken amber plastic.

During the safety course I learned how to pick up the bike properly. I approached it and was embarassed and didn't know why. Getting the bike upright wasn't difficult. Getting it started was another story.

The Kawasaki KLR 650 has a reputation as an extremely durable bike that can take a lot of abuse. The technology is ancient and proven. On paper it was the perfect bike for the trip. Was I ever disappointed.

The KLR suffered bent handlbars, a broken signal lens, stressed plasic on the handguards, scratches to the luggage rack, a dented fuel tank, and it wouldn't start. My bike had 125 kilometres on it. My new bike was no longer new and I didn't even get to crash it myself.

I managed to get the bike started. There was a problem with the controls and the safety cuttof that I managed to workaround. Riding home was not fun with bent handlebars and the engine would stall when I pulled the clutch in all the way. Going around the world seemed like it was impossible.

More to come...

As the wind blows

And the wind really does blow.

Riding a tall motorcycle such as my Kawasaki KLR 650 in traffic is not what I would describe as a simple task. One of the first things I noticed once I got up to highway speeds was the wind. Wind + KLR = Fear. The wind is not nice to the KLR and I felt like I was going to get blown into traffic, the median, a lightpost, you name it. I struggled to understand: a: how riding this quickly could be fun and b: how could anyone survive riding around the world on a bike like this. It's been done before by a few Polish Canadians, Greg, Jacek and Natasha. Greg did the trip with natasha on the back of his KLR (2-up). Their story is at www.motodreamers.com

Over the course of the next week I did a lot of reading about wind on klr650.net and learned to relax a bit and let the bike do its thing. Soon I was riding more comfortably but still didn't like the wind - or the noise it created. The fear began to subside although I had flashbacks from learning how to drive for the first time as a boy. I knew I would learn and it would get better. The learning curve seemed steep.

Bike Odometer (2006 KLR 650): 100km. My riding experience: 60km.

More to come...

The KLR - In a parking lot

I was definitely excited to have the KLR. However, I was keeping it at Dylan's place up in suburbia near a massive movie theatre parking lot where I could get some practice in. A couple of evenings that first week we'd go to the parking lot and I'd practice all the things I'd learned in the safety course.

The first thing I noticed was how incredibly tall the bike really was. It was fun to have a chuckle at my brother's expense watching him teetering on it at stop lights, but it was another thing altogether for me to be still learning to ride and having do deal with the same thing. The first panic stop I practiced I nearly crashed the bike. I had been cheating in the safety course by deciding in advance what foot I would put down after the stop. I'd lean the bike that way slightly just prior to stopping and then put my foot down. Quickly I learned that, due to the KLR's significant height and weight difference, it would decide what side it wanted to lean, not me. By leaning the bike over a bit near the end of my first panic stop, I realized the bike was going to really go in that direction and it took all my strength to keep upright.

By the second evening I was ready to try the KLR on the road. Well, that and Dylan was tired of breaking in the engine and riding the KLR altogether.

More to come...

My First Bike!

Two days after I got my motorcycle licence I was off to Bow Cycle to buy a motorcycle. Dylan and I had spent a number of hours researching various bikes to take on the trip. We felt the BMW 1150GS bikes that Ewan and Charlie took on Long Way Round were too big and cumbersome for us. The pricetag also put them out of range as they were more expensive than our current vehicles. We considered the KTM and, again, felt the price was a little high for what you get. Then, doing a lot of research on the internet, we found a bike with a strong cult following - the Kawasaki KLR 650. The main resources for KLRs are located at www.klr650.net and http://www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html there is a great network of folks who know seemingly as much (if not more about some things) than does Kawasaki about these bikes.

One of the main reasons this was the one we wanted was that it was foolproof, proven technology. The first KLRs rolled off the assembly line in 1987 and there have been few changes since.
So, off to the dealer and I bought a brand new KLR. Later that day, Dylan came by to pick it up. There was no way I was ready to ride it on the street yet.

He rode it to his house and was immediately disappointed in the bike. Firstly, at 5'6", coming to a stop on the bike was like a Cirque de Soleil maneuver. Dylan has about a 28" inseam. (He might correct me on this.) The KLR has a 34" seat height. That makes for an awkard situation every time he stopped. Basically, riding the KLR for him (and me as it turned out) was like getting a big wedgie at every stop light.

Undeterred, and a little angry that perhaps we made a mistake, I vowed to enjoy the KLR and prove it was the right bike for the trip. But first I had to ride it.

More to come...

Meanwhile, Dylan takes a course of his own

Meanwhile, as I was "gearing up" on the little Honda 50cc, Dylan was taking a course of his own - on the track. Dylan has considerably more experience on motorcycles than do I and it shows.

Here are some shots of him on his Honda F4i taken at Race City Speedway in Calgary, Alberta.

This was Dylan's second track day of the year and his first course on a large, high-speed course. By the end of the day, Dylan was proud to say that he had worn his knee slider down so that it read, "oe Rocket" instead of "Joe Rocket". Since that time, Dylan has spent more time on the track and now his sliders don't say anything at all. That speaks volumes as to his improvement over the summer.

"Gearing Up"

The time came to take the "gearing up" course so I could learn to ride a bike. The classroom session was led by a rather tall man in his late 60s. He was a retired police officer and motorcycle cop. At first our class of 20 didn't know how to handle him, but as we would find out, he was hilarious with lots of old sayings and anecdotes to help make the connection between what our brains were trying to get our bodies to do. One woman didn't quite get it and she ended up with object fixation - on a flatdeck semi trailer. She went under it and got banged and cut up more than I had expected. (see the photo below - the trailer is in the background)

For the rest of us, after the first night on the bike we were able to ride around in first gear and stop. I was excited and a bit overwhelmed at the same time.

The week flew by with me wanting to get out of the office and to the course to get more practice in preparation for the test on Sunday. After every class I'd call Dylan and go over what I had learned and he would give me more information and advice. It was great to have another sounding board for some of the aspects I was struggling to learn.

Sunday rolled around and Dylan and his wife, Deanna came down to the course to watch me take the test. I was nervous and one of the first riders failed the test by toppling his bike on the first drill. However, I made it through. I earned my motorcycle license!

Here are a couple of shots from my motorcycle test - Taken Easter Sunday 2006.



more to come...

Let me get back to you

When I left off, Dylan had just proposed we ride motorcycles around the world. I'd never ridden a motorcycle before with the exception of one seemingly death-defying ride on the back of Dylan's bike. The idea of being hurtled down the tarmac at highways speeds on a four inch square piece of foam and vinyl was not my idea of a good time. However, I knew I couldn't say no to Dylan without attempting to learn to ride myself first.

Off to Calgary motorcycle dealership Bow Cycle we went a couple of weeks later. It was mid January and I needed some motorcycle gear; not because I was going to ride in -15 Celsius, but because I wanted to feel like I was making progress. At this point I can guarantee you that I looked like a complete idiot while I was sitting at home, reading books about how to motorcycle while wearing my brand new helmet, jacket and gloves. To me it felt like It was a few days before the first day of school.

In some ways I was going back to school. Dylan has always stressed the importance of safety, and I can't agree more. That's why, before even thinking about buying a bike, I took the week-long "gearing up" course from the Calgary Safety Council. Dylan took the course years earlier before riding his bike as well and told me it was one of the best investments he'd ever made. In retrospect, he was absolutely right.

After a couple of months of anticipation, the time came for the course. I was going to ride a motorcycle for the first time.

More to come...

"What Should I Do With My Life?"

That's the question my brother, Dylan asked in early January 2006. Dylan is my older brother by five years. I've always looked up to him because he's the sort of person who followed his passion right from the getgo. As a boy, he loved airplanes and was trained as a pilot before he could even drive. I wanted to be like my brother. However, we've grown up to be radically different men.

Along the way I found my passion - communications - and followed it. Dylan continues to be involved with aircraft and is one of the most intelligent "real world" people I've ever known. He since developed a strong passion for motorcycles and motorcycling.

That day in January caught me off guard. Being asked by my older brother, "What should I do with my life?", is not a question I could easily answer. So I responded,

"I have no idea, but if you go do something drastic, you'll figure it out along the way."

I expected nothing more than a sarcastic nod from him when I uttered what I thought he would assume was a cop-out answer. For me, however, I learned the most about myself when I packed my things and relocated to London, UK when I was 21. I lasted six months there but came home knowing who I was.

To my surprise he turned to me immediately and said, "do you want to ride motorcycles around the world?"

Dylan is passionate about motorcycles. I was not. Once, and only once I had ridden on the back of his Suzuki SV650s a few years earlier. The experience was completely terrifying.

What must have been to his surprise I responded, "Let me get back to you on that."

More to come...

And so it begins...

The purpose of this blog is to share the trials and tribulations of two brothers who have decided to ride motorcycles around the world in 2008. The trip will take us from Calgary, Alberta, Canada to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. We'll be stopping by some other places along the way such as England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Belguim, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Japan, United States and maybe even China.

In the coming days and weeks we'll share more about us, the motivation for the trip and how we are progressing in our planning to ride across about 25 countries in 120 days.

Stay Tuned!