DMT - Day minus 102

You might be wondering how I'm adding minus days to my deadline from my last post. As Hillary would say, "I misspoke". Or to put it bluntly, my brain had a white-out from the calendar to the computer. It happens ...

While trying to make lists of everything I need, and need to do, I ran across this one from a previous trip. I post it for your consideration:

1. Carry a log book. Write in it every day. Draw pictures.
2. No iPod or any player! Traveling is about listening to others, not yourself. This is the most important advice I can offer.
3. Be willing to expose yourself to solitude. It's amazing what the world has to offer if you open yourself to the experience.
4. Put your mobile phone in a plastic bag and wrap it in 20' of duct tape. If you can't fix the problem with the duct tape THEN you can call for help.
5. Minimalism — lay out everything and then remove half. Wait 3 days and then remove half of what’s left.
6. The slower you go the more you see. If you see the word "Old" in a road name, take it!
7. Imagination will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no imagination.
8. Make a plan, set a date, stick to it.
9. Everything will wait until you return if it's truly important.
10. Do not be route obsessed. If it says "West", and you're heading west, go exploring.
11. When you meet someone along the way offer to send them a postcard.
12. Yesterday's t-shirt can make a pretty good towel in a pinch.
13. Never get a room at a motel next to a stop light. Always try to get a room on the top floor.
    Note: Gretjen says that you should avoid a camp site 50' from the Union Pacific main line.
14. Nothing beats camping under the stars but sometimes a hot shower in a cheap motel is worth every penny!
15. Don't wear black in the summer.
16. Ask the locals for interesting things in their area. If you are traveling alone they will seek you out to talk to you.
17. When you arrive in a new town park the bike and walk to get a sense of what's where. You can't see anything when you're riding in traffic and you certainly can't talk to anyone!

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DMT - Day minus 101

So much has happened in the last 10 days that I'll just put it down and see how it comes out.

We have pretty much decided to go with the Transalp (TA), Africa Twin (AT), and the ATK. 400, 500, and 300 pounds respectively. Not counting rider, bags and contents. I've got Happy Trail bags for the TA and AT, and a Giant Loop bag for the ATK.

So I had to take the TA to the storage locker and bring back the AT and ATK. The AT needs a top end job and the ATK needs the rear sub-frame strengthened. As you can see the TA didn't want to go and laid down to pout.

The AT and ATK were much happier to come back home.

Click here to watch the trailer and rent the movie from Viemo

Went to the SoCal BDR movie and saw the trail up close and personal. Can you say lots of sand? I've been to Death Valley before and it's a challenge. Curiously, the hotter the sand gets, the softer it gets. This makes it easier to dig in or get crossed up. It can be a workout to keep up your speed so that the front tire stays on top.

Got the SoCal BDR map a few days later and started planning. The normal route is south to north but we will be riding north to south so we can spend time in Baja. GPS is nice for position checking but I feel like I'm a servant to a robot when I ride a preset route. I much prefer route sheets and maps. There is no techy fooling around and you never have to worry about batteries (except for your flashlight if you want to read them at night).

I talked to Kevin Young who is one of the BDR Ambassadors for about half an hour. He filled me in on some of the parts of the trail not to miss like Titus Canyon. This is a slot canyon that is so narrow that is one-way only.

There is also a mine shaft along the way that you can ride into for a mile or so. Sounds pretty creepy so I'll have to take some markers so I don't get lost. I don't think my gps will work underground. An extra flashlight too.

Tomorrow morning I'll tear down the AT engine and send out the heads for reconditioning. Since it's a European model the parts will be slow in coming so I need to start now.

There is so much to do and, although it seems like a long way off, experience tells me that all the days will be filled and I don't dare dawdle. I'm making lists as I think of things so that I can keep the forgotten items to a minimum.

Stay tuned.

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Death March Tours - 2019 - Death Valley, SoCal BDR, and Baja !!

Death March Tours is a group of friends who challenge themselves to get past the easy part and take trips outside of their comfort zone. Past adventures have included the Pachaug Loop and White Rim Trail.

DMT - 2019 will be starting and ending in Salt Lake City. After checking the bikes and getting a night's rest, the first day is a pavement pounder to Death Valley.


After a couple of days exploring the desert, the next section is the Southern California Backcountry Discovery Route. This will be from north to south in reverse of the normal flow.



Crossing over into Mexico the route will take us to Mike's Sky Ranch,



Coco's Corner,



and Alfonsina's.



113 days to go - can't wait. I'll post preparations along the way and then a trip report as we travel.

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It's not all bad out there

Some days things just happen. A moment's distraction, trying to look everywhere at once, missing the little thing in the big picture ...

OOPS - There was supposed to be an embedded video of a trucker pulling out in front of a motorcycle causing an OH SHIT moment for the biker. The trucker then pulls over and waves down the biker to say, "I'm Sorry, I didn't see you". The biker responds by shaking his hand and saying that it was an exciting moment but he uuderstands and appreciates the truckers words.

I give a lot of credit to the trucker for stopping and standing up for his mistake. Just as much credit goes to the biker for not bitching him out and understanding that nobody's perfect and mistakes can happen.

A lesson for us all - kindness and understanding can make it better for everyone.

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