Morgan
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
North to Alaska 2009
Day One - July 23, 2009: Glendale, CA to Tonopah, NV (350 miles)
Angeles Forest Highway, California
My first stop of almost every ride, the summit of Angeles Forest Highway. The ideal spot for a plein air piss, standing by the side of the road in the sunshine. All movement carries a certain momentum, the larger the vehicle the harder it is to stop. I don't need a parking space, or any particular place.
Mojave, California
Mojave feels like the edge of town, finally. In fact I wont ride in traffic again until I get to Kelowna, BC. Mojave has that light that fades and washes out everything. I used to marvel at that light in LA.
Death Valley, California
112 degrees doesn't feel so hot until you stop. There is no shade so I zip the jacket higher, pull the gloves over my cuffs and wrap up until there is no skin showing. 112 degrees on a motorcycle is pretty similar to 60 below in Jackson Hole.
Angeles Forest Highway, California
My first stop of almost every ride, the summit of Angeles Forest Highway. The ideal spot for a plein air piss, standing by the side of the road in the sunshine. All movement carries a certain momentum, the larger the vehicle the harder it is to stop. I don't need a parking space, or any particular place.
Mojave, California
Mojave feels like the edge of town, finally. In fact I wont ride in traffic again until I get to Kelowna, BC. Mojave has that light that fades and washes out everything. I used to marvel at that light in LA.
Death Valley, California
112 degrees doesn't feel so hot until you stop. There is no shade so I zip the jacket higher, pull the gloves over my cuffs and wrap up until there is no skin showing. 112 degrees on a motorcycle is pretty similar to 60 below in Jackson Hole.
Day Two - July 24, 2009: Tonopah to Winnemucca via Sparks (391 miles)
Tonopah, Nevada
Between Death Valley and Tonopah are abandoned mines and dusty brothels and little else. A red light was glowing, on the bike, indicating that I had fried something electrical in the heat. Tonopah looks like it is well on it's way to becoming a ghost town. I left at dawn wondering if the engine would die before I made it to the nearest shop in Sparks. The road was nearly deserted, and I almost collided with a herd of antelope. These were some of the best roads of the trip.
Tonopah, Nevada
I made it out of Sparks with a fixed charging system. Headed east on 80 to Winnemucca for a Basque meal down by the railroad tracks.
Tonopah, Nevada
Between Death Valley and Tonopah are abandoned mines and dusty brothels and little else. A red light was glowing, on the bike, indicating that I had fried something electrical in the heat. Tonopah looks like it is well on it's way to becoming a ghost town. I left at dawn wondering if the engine would die before I made it to the nearest shop in Sparks. The road was nearly deserted, and I almost collided with a herd of antelope. These were some of the best roads of the trip.
Tonopah, Nevada
I made it out of Sparks with a fixed charging system. Headed east on 80 to Winnemucca for a Basque meal down by the railroad tracks.
Day Three - July 25, 2009: Winnemucca to Pendleton, OR (430 miles)
Roland
The bravest and most loyal of the 12 legendary paladins, or knights, who served Charlemagne. Living as a poor peasant in Italy, he was welcomed to the court of the king after his true identity was revealed.
I ate breakfast in Denio, NV at the bar. It's the only "building" in town, lots of trailers though. There's an opal mine near by and the miners come in for a gin before work. Everyone there is hung over and the bar girl, my waitress, looks like she's just rolled out of bed, which is in the trailer behind the bar, and she cant add, at all.
Roland was hanging out on the porch of a, regular only, gas station in Oregon. He was chatting with the woman who owned the place; she was missing quite a few teeth. Roland was riding from his home in south Maryland to the Oregon coast just because he felt like going for a ride. He ties his small beard up tight with twine. Some guy came barreling out of the scrub brush in a golf cart wearing tight shorts and golf shoes, nothing else. There is nothing but scrub brush and dust around here. He skids up to a water hose and starts hosing off his golf balls.
Roland
The bravest and most loyal of the 12 legendary paladins, or knights, who served Charlemagne. Living as a poor peasant in Italy, he was welcomed to the court of the king after his true identity was revealed.
I ate breakfast in Denio, NV at the bar. It's the only "building" in town, lots of trailers though. There's an opal mine near by and the miners come in for a gin before work. Everyone there is hung over and the bar girl, my waitress, looks like she's just rolled out of bed, which is in the trailer behind the bar, and she cant add, at all.
Roland was hanging out on the porch of a, regular only, gas station in Oregon. He was chatting with the woman who owned the place; she was missing quite a few teeth. Roland was riding from his home in south Maryland to the Oregon coast just because he felt like going for a ride. He ties his small beard up tight with twine. Some guy came barreling out of the scrub brush in a golf cart wearing tight shorts and golf shoes, nothing else. There is nothing but scrub brush and dust around here. He skids up to a water hose and starts hosing off his golf balls.
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