Teh Interwebs of Joe

Just wanted to mention to my CO friends and others around who often venture out into the unknown and want some piece of mind.  I just saw ACR electronics has released a newer/cheaper/smaller Personal Location Beacon.  I have a SARLink from ACR and carry it with me on the bike, and camping.   To me having something like this when you are hiking or away from the roads/cell towers/ or going out Solo in the backcountry while ski’n is a great idea.

On my motorcycle trip last fall, 1/2 of all my nights camping I had no cell reception at all, and looking at my Google Latitude maps that tracked my trip, I can see how major portions of my trip were entirely without coverage (5 hours out of 7 hours of riding one day as an example).    Yet these PLB’s are military grade, high power, multi band, highly accurate, location devices that can get you help if you need it in a hurry.  Not a bad insurance policy while out and about.

http://www.acrelectronics.com/products/catalog/personal-locator-beacons/resqlink-406-gps/ 

These are way more capable, and reliable than the SPOT or other consumer grade devices.   You can check in and give “I am OK” emails/messages to your family as well through your trip easily just with a button click. (note that the SAR link lets you do that for 400+ times, where the Resq only is 60 due to smaller battery).

(note this is not a paid advertisement, I really find having one of these to be a nice reassurance, and now that there is a cheaper and smaller option I thought I would mention it.)

After spending a bit of time looking at my vacation time I have to burn this year, and the extra week+ I get toward the end of the year… I figure I have 3-4 weeks of vacation I can use this year and still carry over a couple.

So because of that I think I am going to try and use the motorcycle quite a bit for a handful of adventures this spring/summer/fall.    Probably not more than one that is on the scale of what I did last year (7 days), but lots of mid week camping and exploring trips around the state and surrounding states.

In prep I know I need new tires for the bike (rear is badly squared and over 3 years old), an oil change, and quite a few other things that will come closer to summer.   But to get some important things out of the way I ordered a new clutch cable, new rear brake pads (Sintered HH EBC pads - to match the front that I put on last spring), replacement for the busted foot peg on the right side, and some replacement rubber parts under the bodywork that were a tad dry rotted (Triumph rubber FTL).

I am also exploring getting the bike better setup for me  and getting the forks re-tuned, and the rear strut re-tuned or replaced with something more tweak-able.

I figure the bike will be paid off soon enough here, there is little interest in buying a new bike right now so I am going to make this thing do what I want for the long term.

Updated Video Time!  (note that the video is embedded here fairly small, just click the resolution and make it full screen.  The video is 1080P native.)

I spent the last few nights hacking on the CO ride video to fix some things that bugged me. This is what can be called a directors cut, or something. Some video was axed, some was added, and changed some music, and also added in some high res stills that I shot on the way. 

The new version of the video is a much better way to tell the story that was the trip I went on. Hacking on this made me really long to get on another one of these trips as soon as I can! :)

Enjoy :)

So… I am starting to plan what I want to do for exploring the Rockies this year.  The trip probably wont be until late June or sometime in July just due to wanting the roads to be snow free (as much as possible).

After the last trip, I have all the gear I need, except maybe some new tires for the bike.  The trip last Sept was the single most liberating, exhilarating, and eye opening adventure I have been on.  Not sure anything will rival that just due to everything being so new, and unexpected.   But there is a ton of area to cover and places to see :)

Both the maps are ~ 1600 miles, and I would expect both trips to be between 5 -7 days.

The first map takes me out to SLC through RMNP, and some roads I was on last Sept, but many I wasn’t.  Then down to Moab, and then back through Durango, and up some of the roads I wasn’t able to hit on my last trip.  Also a swing by the Sand Dunes, and stops in my favorite town in Colorado - Creede. 

The second, hits up Yellow stone (gotta see it before it blows up on Dec 12 2012 and all :p), meanders into Montana, Idaho, and then down to SLC, and back to Denver.  I’ve always wanted to see Yellow Stone national park, and parts of the mountain ranges in Idaho.    This trip would be shorter than the other just due to much of it being a straight shot in highways. 

Both are routes I really want to take, I doubt I can or would want to do both in one summer… but who knows.  One of these routes could be done in the car with Kate as well.  While not as exciting as being on a bike, it would be nice to take Kate out for an adventure around the Rockies.

We are already planning to recreate much of my Sept route via car with her as there are also some areas I want to explore that the bike couldn’t go on that route.

(Updated the Link for the 1080P version - and fixed one typo)

Here is my final product of my trip (besides still going through SLR pics),  all of Western CO distilled into one tidy 15 minute package.

Besides for video, much of this was captured with the GoPro HD on the motorcycle just taking one 5Mpix still image every 5 seconds. Which is also why parts of the video are at a slightly different aspect than others.  The video was all shot in 720P 30 fps (to extend the life of my 80GB of memory I brought with.)

The GoPro was also hard wired to run off the bikes power system via a hack to a BacPac I did and documented here a few weeks ago.

Sorry for any motion sickness this may cause :)   All the video and time lapse were sped up quite a bit to fit everything into 15 minutes.  Many of the very twisty bits (most of the trip was very twisty) were edited out because of the rapid direction changes and how hard it was to watch (especially any of the time lapse shots).

The video is 1080P so enjoy!

This ride was amazing, and one of the most interesting trips I have ever done.  I am already brain storming of new trips next spring to places like Yellow stone, or down into New Mexico or Arizona. (not to mention the possibility of Austin for the GP next November).

The bike is all packed up, routes are in the GPS, maps printed out, oil checked (and drained a bit as I found it was a tad over filled), tires are set… And its f’n beautiful out.

Bike has more gear than I think I want on it… but it’ll be fine.

I’ll post a pic of the bike and the gear when I get to Ft Collins for a bite to eat (amazing green chili at Choice City… thats my destination for lunch.)

The Final route for my trip.  I’ll probably improvise some stuff on the way, but this is the current plan.  Not much has changed since the last post, but I’ve noted  a number of backup known campsites in case places I am looking at camping don’t pan out for one reason or another.

Weee!

It’s focusing on the details that changes a trip from “successful” (or failure…) to “fun”… and I am an Eagle Scout… so this is just how it goes.  Its the whole “Be Prepared” thing.  The black art is doing all this on a motorcycle in equal to the space that most people have just for their cooler of beer when they go camping.

Planning:

Just about 30 days out from the trip, and far ahead of where I would need to be to ensure all the bases are covered.   This gives me a chance to shake down the setup on the bike a bit before the actual trip.

Since originally posting the map, some changes have happened.  I am now camping at CO National Monument park outside of Grand Junction on the 2nd day.   I may be making some other changes.

This takes the campsite count to 3 national parks (all of them after Labor day), and 3 federal/BLM land campsites (alternating).   Camping in a national park has some serious perks for a motorcycle rider… such as facilities like showers, water is normally somewhere to be found, and toilets.   All good things as hauling water sucks and takes up a good bit of room.  And being after Labor day should make these much less packed. (Looking at the reservation sites, few sites are reserved at all that week compared to the week before.)

I also changed from going direct from the Black Canyon to Salida, to going the long way up and through Aspen then back down.  Increasing the mileage to ~ 1500mi

Video Fun:

I figure I should catalog this trip and record bits of it for posterity and also for fun.  To do this I picked up a GoPro Motorsports Hero 1080P camera, and the assorted mounting bits.   I plan on taking 3 or 4 32GB SD cards with to record most of the trip (the riding bits).     I have 3 mounts setup for this so far:

1. Under the nose of the bike - out front: I have a quick connect mount so I can get a POV of the front of the bike. 
2. Helmet: Not sure how or where to mount this yet, as I have a modular helmet and the whole front flips up… makes it a little interesting to fin a place to put the camera that wont be distracting.
3. Side or rear of the bike:  Via the big bad suction cup mount I can position the camera variousplaces around the bike easily.

Stuff to do:

• I picked up a Battery BacPac for the GoPro which I am hacking into a hard wire setup so I can power the camera off the bike.  (battery is limited to 2 -3 hrs in the camera)  I still need to hack the case and the BacPac but I have everything ready for that.
• Install a second USB power feed (12v to 5v).  I have the box already, just need to spice it in.
• Go to a fishing shop and pick up some steel leaders to use as a safety strap on the GoPro incase a mount or something breaks or falls off.

Camping Gear:

I have just about everything accounted for.  I ordered the Primus Micro Lantern today, and the only bit of kit I may need at this point is a general purpose stove burner…  

I also have my Kermit camping chair in, and I have to say this is the sweetest camping chair I have ever seen.  So over engineered and stable.  I just question where it will go on the bike as weight distribution is starting to be a key factor I need to keep an eye on.

One key item/issue so far is that the average temperature for many of the campsites I will be at for a low over night will be in the 20 - 30’s.  My sleeping bag for moto camping is a 40+ bag.  So I picked up a thin fleece liner that is supposed to add up to 25F of additional insulation…  I’ll sleep dressed in layers too.

Stuff to do:

• Pick up some IsoPropane canisters for the lantern and jet boil.
• pick up some additional compression sacks
• if I want to fish on the trip I’ll need something to do it with… but depending on space limits I may have to ditch that plan and focus on picking something up on the way to cook at camp.

Motorcycle Prep:

After taking the Lee Parks Total Control class, I learned the rear sag is a bit high on my bike currently.  I am talking to RaceTech to see if I can get the rear spring spacer updated… not sure yet though.

I have mounted a SW-Motec adapter plate (meant for top cases) behind the grab bar to give stability for the tent which will be mounted behind the MotoFizz cargo bag and also act as an extended mounting point for the motofizz.

Adding on a Clock, Temp Gauge, and Battery monitor unit under the wind screen to give me easy access to 3 important numbers to watch.  Why is temp important?  Because you could easily ride yourself into Hypothermia without knowing it soon enough if its rainy and cold.    I waterproofed the device this week and just need to wire it in and find a way to mount it.

I picked up some additional maintenance tools such as a better tire puncture repair kit, and CO2 inflator for the tires.   Cheap insurance to keep me on the road in the event of something trying to take me out.

I also picked up a BagsConnection map holder for on top of the tank bag.  While a GPS is great for showing you a route and where you are, its terrible for seeing the big picture… which is important for changing where you want to go on a whim.

Stuff to do:

• Pretty much all the wiring above.  I need to pull the plastic off the bike and do a once over of the entire system and check the oil, etc…
• Possibly ship the rear shock to RaceTech.

Other Gear:

• I received the ACRElectronics SARLINK PLB and have it registered with NOAA.  This is a fun device I hope to never need to use.  But it is nice having it on hand even when Kate and I take car trips. 

Overall I can see this is overkill and I could go just as is and probably do fine… but the planning can be as fun as actually going on the trip.  And we all know once you leave your driveway the plan changes, and you adapt.  Which is why focusing on the details before hand comes in such handy, it makes you less dependent on a specific plan and makes you aware of what scenarios you prepared for.