Arizona '09
Murphy's law in action...
Total miles: 1002 miles
Estimated travel: 25 hours
[ Monday - September 7, 2009 ]
Even before I could finish my Mammoth trip, the Sgt asked the question,
"So when is the next trip?" I mention November and the outcry
was, "That's too far away! How about September or October?"
I can't fault him because he can't go on his F8ST where I was going to
go with my 8GS. So this last Mammoth trip is a non trip for most
of us. I'm sure the Captain is in the same boat. They both
need that get away destination to leave behind the work life and the
family life for a while. Freedom in some people's words.
Where can we go so late in the year that we won't encounter snow?
Why, Arizona of course. Nevada would work too but that's just too
close. It feels like the last Arizona trip was done just a couple
of months ago, but upon minor inspection, that was two years ago.
Wow! Time flies when you're not paying attention. As a
result, we're planning another trip to Arizona towards the end of the
year. This will be our last big trip for 2009.
Unfortunately, I can't tell when it's going to happen because the
Captain's has personal commitments that has to be taken care of before
this trip can begin. It's now a waiting game to see when this is
going to happen. There is a chance that I will change out tires
before this trip occurs. The Anakees are starting to look pretty
hard. Considering how much road I will be riding in the near
future, a pair of Conti Trail Attacks might work out really well.
[Thursday - October
8, 2009]
I almost didn't make it. As we're getting closer to departure
what did I get? I started to come down with cold like
symptoms. Now that we've changed our minds and booked a hotel
room at the Harrah's hotel/casino, and the reservation for the third
night is all set, I didn't want to leave the gang in a lurch.
With my bro's advise, I slammed some zinc, pounded the vitamins, and
got some good rest. It helped. I still have a little of
something, but it's nowhere near as severe. That's good. I
sure would hate to dump a trip for something stupid like a cold.
It's amazing! First time ever. It's only 9:00pm and I'm
already done with packing. Normally it drags into the night and I
end up getting very little sleep. Perhaps this is a good sign of
things to come. Because this is a ride late in the year, I'm
anticipating all kinds of cold weather. To say the least, I'm
making sure I have plenty of warm layers for the sleeping bag.
All the more to keep my hide healthy and happy for this last big trip
in 2009.
[ Tuesday -
November 24, 2009 ]
Talk about putting things off. This article has been
procrastinated on for a month. There is good reason for
that. However, I'm not going to elaborate. Suffice to say
it is my first bad trip ever. A culmination of numerous bad
events left a sour taste in my mouth. I knew bad trips are bound
to happen. The bad thing is, it finally did. I have to
rethink my strategies a bit for future trips.
Day 1 - Oct. 9
I got pulled over for speeding and an
unsafe lane change trying to catch the Captain to reel him back into
the group (e.g. he has no radio to communicate with. WUWT!). To
this day, I don't know why he chose to use the carpool lane @ 80MPH to
try and catch me when I was in the slow lane doing 55-60MPH. As a
result I had to donate $200+ to the State's funds. This could
have been avoided.
Mr. Speedy came to the start to bid us farewell.
Was I scared to see this? Not in the least. There was very
little oil coming out and the bike was running fine.
It was just a faulty head gasket. No biggy.
Nu's turn. His front right fork was leaking oil. The seal
is shot!
Day 2 - Oct. 10
Started late and ended up changing the
routing completely. Got to the campgrounds late and found a
campsite but it was frowned upon because there are too many people
(e.g. ???!! since when is a full campsite a problem?).
Tried to find a hotel room but ended up finding out there is a rodeo in
own an everything is all booked up. We ended up going to a rest
area to get rest for the night. The group questioned whether the
rest area is safe. Oh!... "Give me a freakin' break!"
Hey! The price is right... FREE!
As good a bed as in any hotel room.
Day 3 - Oct. 11
More bad decisions (e.g. I'm not going
to use a democratic process in the future). There is a rush to
get home. Lots of wind on the 10 Fwy and it's really cold.
The group got separated, but everybody is back safe.
Written on: September 7,
2009
Last modified: Nov 24, 2009
