I made no great revelations, no epiphanies, and did not ‘find myself’ on my ride at the end of August. What I did get were some absolutely breathtaking views of some amazing parts of our country slightly off the normal roads. The time off allowed me to tune out any responsibility and just engross myself in the ride; to focus on nothing but the technical control of my bike through twisty roads at  speeds requiring complete focus, speeds which I call “spirited”.

• Day 1 Sunday: Home to Eureka – 420 miles / 10 hours
• Day 2 Monday: Eureka to San Francisco – 310 miles / 9 hours
• Day 3 Tuesday: San Francisco to Klamath Falls – 357 miles / 8 hours
• Day 4 Wednesday: Klamath Falls to Home – 385 miles / 9 hours
• Day 5 Thursday: Home to Mt. St. Helens and back – 167 miles 5 hours

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The map of my 5 days:

August 2010 ride route

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A photo set from the ride can be found here:

Monument Trip Aug 2010

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Now, my bike is still in the shop awaiting a new set of tires, as well as full factory scheduled maintenance; which all means that I have been without transportation for a week now, and likely another week to come. Hopefully the new tires come in soon enough to allow for a quick ride this weekend!

… and I still don’t know what I am doing next week. Starting to feel under the gun to decide now. Realizing that being social is likely not something that I can control at this point, but rather just something that will come from getting on my bike and looking for an adventure.

I’ll be honest, the prospect of a multi-day ride scares me. My sense of safety is really challenged when thinking about riding without a partner or at least a known entity at the end of the day. Solo rides are inherently more dangerous for a multitude of reasons, but the main one being for the mere fact that you are alone. I won’t dwell on that any more than what needed to be said.

So, as of now, who knows where I’ll end up…. and who knows how I’ll get there. All I know is that over the next week I will meet more people face to face than i have over the past 3 years. I may have to leave the state to do that or I may not leave any further than day-long round trips in state. Who knows. The important part here, after all, is just to get OUT. And out, my friends, is exactly what I intend to get.

For those unaware, “LongWay Down” is second in a series of motorcycle adventure films starring Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman on their ride from John O’Groates, Scotland to Capetown, South Africa. (The initial series was called “LongWay Round” which documented their ride from London, England to New York, USA). Last night, Fathom Events put on a one night only showing of the Director’s cut version of LongWay Down, presumably as a bit of promotion before the entire series airs on Fox Reality beginning tomorrow.

Let me start by saying I ADORED the first series, to the point where I refused to wait a year for the DVD to be released in America, so I bought the UK version from Amazon.co.uk and ordered a DVD player that would do the PAL -> NTSC format conversion so I could actually watch it. Needless to say, when the second series was released back in November 2007, I already had mine on pre-order from the LWD home office in London. It was in my DVD player 30 minutes after it arrived, and I got through the series in 2 days.

So, you can see I was excited for the theatrical release of the Director’s Cut. I’m not sure what I was expecting though….

After having seen the series, the director’s cut version was, simply said, an hour and a half long preview. The pace of the film felt very hurried and chaotic, similar to the trip I am sure, but not true to the series. It seemed to me that the director wanted to pack the whole trip into a single film rather than focus on a few key experiences and give them the time they deserved on screen. Yes, I am SURE it was difficult, nay impossible to cut huge sections like that, but it would have made for a better film, and a more interesting DVD series release if you hadn’t seen it prior to the director’s cut.

Even in the flustered pace of the film, I did still find it enjoyable. Ewan and Charlie’s narration helped to that end quite a bit. And of course, the film flamed the fire that burns in me to get out and ride for days on end. I figure if I didn’t leave the theater feeling the need to just go ride…. Then the film failed. Luckily, I DO feel that burning desire and thus, the film was a success in my eyes.

Of course, having sat through a 90minute preview, both Jean and I also have the desire to plop our butts on the couch for the weekend and marathon through the series on DVD… on our 52″ flat screen TV… and with a sound system that puts the theater’s to shame (perhaps it wasn’t the systems fault, but the theater’s sound was about the worse I have heard since the late 1970s, just tinny and awful).

With that, my recommendation is as follows: buy the DVD sets. You really don’t have a choice at this point, since the director’s cut was a one night only showing, so I can’t tell you to go see it THEN watch the DVD series. What I can say, however, is to skip the Fox Reality broadcast. Really, if you are at all interested in the series, do yourself the favour and just buy the DVDs. While you’re at it, get the LongWay Round too and start there if you haven’t already seen it. While not required, watching them in order will be more enjoyable in the long run…

The following was posted to a motorcycle forum I frequent. I am posting the text here to retain a copy for reference later. I don’t expect this to interest any of my LJ friends, so you may all ignore this at your discretion…

Cut for severe length and lack of any interesting content to my friends list

Yes, the title does seem a bit egotistical, but that isn’t the intent. Really, these past 3 weeks I have not had much time to think for myself, let alone about what all is happening in my life…

I apologize, faithful readers, for the lack of communications since we accepted an offer on our house and began making all necessary arrangements for the impending move. I can assure you more frequent updates will be seen once the move is complete. And fear not, the thrilling continuation of the 3DC’s trip to the Whiskies of the World Expo in SF will be forthcoming once things have settled a bit.

For now, some minor life updates will have to suffice:
First, and probably most importantly, our last day in Southern California is set to be May 18th. That is when the movers show up and take all our crap. We actually drive out on the 19th so we can be in Beaverton, Oregon by 10am on the 21st without rushing or in fear of missing our scheduled appointment with the property management group to sign paperwork and pickup our new keys for the rental.

My last day in the Irvine office will be May 16th. Because of this, I am dealing with a bit of short-timer’s disease even though I am not leaving the company, just moving into a home office. This past week, and presumably the coming week as well, I just don’t feel like working. I know this will change once I have settled in the new place, but it is really annoying me currently as there is a metric ton of work to be done and a decided lack of motivation to do it.

In the midst of all this hustle and bustle, I picked up a new ride last Wednesday: a 2007 Honda ST1300A with only 10 miles on the odometer.

This has replaced my 1998 Honda VFR800Fi, as the riding position on that bike was a bit too hard on my wrists. Because I have mild carpal-tunnel/tendonitis in my right wrist, riding the VFR was becoming painful and difficult to handle for more than an hour or so at a time. I realized after my last ride out with John that I would need to do something if I wanted to continue riding AND working. So, as much as it pained me, I traded the VFR in for the ST which has a much more relaxed riding position and takes the weight off my wrists. I can now continue to both work AND ride without fear of further damaging my wrists.

This new purchase will also allow me to ride up to Oregon instead of shipping my bike as I had previously arranged with the VFR. Setting out on a ride like this is something John and I have been talking about for a while now, and is a nice precursor to the Alaska trip we plan to make in the future. In fact, just yesterday I purchased my plane ticket down from PDX so I can come pickup the bike from John’s on June 8th and ride her up to our new home over that weekend!

Other than that, life around the house (and at work) has been keeping me unbelievably busy, with very little time to read LJ, let alone comment. For that I apologize. I am sure my internet habits will return to normalcy after the next few weeks have passed. With this move to Oregon taking us away from all of our friends and family, I will be counting on LJ and Email to keep us in touch and up to date with everyone. Big adventures are ahead of us, so keep an eye out for my posts detailing the journey!

For now, I need to return to work…