Sunday, August 28, 2011

Day 25- Sacramento to Los Angeles.

390 miles.

End of the road.

Today was our last day. We left the Motel 6 early, there were beer cans strewn about from last nights parties. We loaded up and Rudi noticed that someone had stolen his left sidecover, the broken one, with the shitty Cartoon Network sticker. What dicks.
We took the 99 all the way back because the 5 is awful and we didn't have enough time to do Highway 49. It was pretty uneventful and kind of solemn, our epic journey was coming to an end. We grabbed lunch in Traver and split off shortly after, I cried a little bit and wished we could do this forever.
The rest of the ride was lonely and hot. I stopped for an iced beverage at the always packed Starbucks at the bottom of the Grapevine and continued my last leg.
I hit reserve coming down the Grapevine, but I didn't want to stop for gas. I have a 2 gallon reserve and wasn't worried, I had 80 miles to go. As I got into LA I could feel the cooler air, I also felt my bike dying. I ran out of gas! Luckily I was near the Hollywood Bowl, so I coasted into its driveway and used my spare 2 liters of fuel that I had carried on my entire trip. 5 more miles and I was home.

End of the road.

No photos today.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Day 25- Sacramento

We're all in Sacramento for the Landsquids moped rally and so far it's off to a great start. We ate breakfast and headed to the River to enjoy some sun and fun. The Landsquids really outdid themselves and built a massive waterslide into the river. It was so awesome.
After the hanging at the River all day we brought the party back to our hotel pool and continued to get wavy.
We finished the night off with a party at someone's garage. Rudi showed up from Tahoe and we crashed out early to get a nice start for tomorrow.
 Ben's Bloodthirsty Trike.
 Garv and Charisee
 Jed!
 ANNimal
 Latin Stevie.
 Dustin!
 Water slide!
 Two dudes, one raft.
 Jason.
 Bonk!
 Swoooosh!
 Splash!
 The Challenger...
 Challenge complete.
 Bikini butts.
 Pool party!
 Dude stew.
 Fat Ben and Little Jed.
Sploosh!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Day 24- Tahoe to Sacramento

240 miles.

Zach and I left Tahoe in the morning and headed along Donner Lake and up old Highway 40. Such a fun rode that I finally got to ride a motorcycle on. We rode together to Grass Valley and then split off, I was heading to Chico to hang out with Chris Canterbury from Eurotech and Zach was heading to the Landsquids moped rally, I'd meet up there later that night.
I found some super fun backroads from Grass Valley to Oroville, they were super steep and twisty, it was like being on a roller coaster. When I got to Chico I saw my first In N Out since leaving on my trip, I had to smash a cheeseburger.
I rolled up to Eurotech and met Chris. I changed into some street clothes and we headed down the street to the Sierra Nevada Brewery. It was awesome there and I got to try some beers that never make it into stores outside of Chico. His wife Rebecca and daughter Emi showed up as well. We headed over to his shop and got to see some of the great stuff he's working on when he's not at Eurotech, custom Beemer stuff http://boxermetal.com/.
We sat around and shot the shit for awhile, but eventually I had to leave and head to Sacramento to rage with my friends.
I suited up and said farewell, I know I'll be seeing the Canterbury family many more times in the future, they're awesome.
I met up with everyone at the bar in Sacramento around 10pm, it was great to see my gang, The Latebirds and so many other familiar and friendly faces. I went to my hotel, unloaded, and headed back to the bar. Ann and Ben arrived at the hotel around 2am from LA, so we continued the party into the wee hours.

 Top of Highway 40. Donner Lake.
Mini bike side hack.
 I believe this is an Airhead frame, Oilhead engine and drivetrain, and a K front end. Frankenbike!
 Chris' sweet ride.
 Boxer Metals
Chris and his Bug. Get low

Bug Report
8/10
Pretty solid day of bugs. I picked up a lot of friends going from Chico to Sacramento.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Day 23- Tahoe.

Rudi and I met our friend Jonas for breakfast at Firesign and then headed over to Mickey and Wendy's to say hi. We stayed there for a couple hours and checked out his MG he's been restoring for the last year. I forgot to take a photo, but it's awesome.
Went into town with Zach and checked out the thrift store and bout some coffee.
I figured now would be a good time to was the tent and sleeping bag, as i won't be camping anymore on this trip, plus my sleeping bag was tarting to get a funk. After that we went swimming in the lake, at Buck's Beach. I jumped into a tree branch and stabbed my lip open. It now looks like I got a sweet lip piercing in late '90's.
We met up with Mickey at the Bridgetender and rode up to the top of Blackwood Canyon. Sweet views and wildflowers up there, again I forgot my camera, but snapped a few shots with my iPhone. We stopped by Mickey and Wendy's again and I got to take the MG for a spin, it like riding a moped; quirky, cool, fun, weird brakes, and kinda slow. I loved it.




Top of Blackwood Canyon.



Bike crew doods.

No Bug Report today.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Day 22- Crater Lake to Tahoe.

355 miles.

The mosquitos ate our asses off last night. We headed out early towards Klamath Falls, along Klamath Lake we hit a shit load of little green bugs, it looked like we were covered in guacamole. It was awesome.
We crossed into California and rode on some super fun roads through some little podunk logging towns. We eventually made it into Tahoe and to our dad's house. It was awesome riding, but a long day, I was wiped. We went and smashed burritos at T's.




30 minutes of riding.



Best state in the Union. California.



BFA in BFE.



Mill towns everywhere.

Bug Report.
7/10
Nothing crazy except this morning, but I had to clean it to see. No major juicers.




Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Day 21- Portland to Crater Lake.

315 miles.

We met up with Zach an hour late, 'cause we're bad with time management. He's gonna join us for the next couple of days and then we're going to the moped rally in Sacramento.
We left and headed into the mountains to ride some fun roads. They were some great, fast river roads, my favorite. Near Bend, in some mountain pass I was passing some cars and had one left until I was in the front of the pack and passed him in a double yellow. There was an unmarked cop car behind me. Needless to say I got us pulled over and I got a ticket. Shit.
We made it into Bend and had to stop at a shop to get Zach a new clutch lever because he likes to drop his bike in parking lots. From there we headed to Crater Lake. We got there in the late afternoon, checked out the lake and headed to their campground. The campground was pretty shitty, expensive and full of chemical white trash, so we opted to find a spot in National Forest land.
We found an epic spot of the first fire road. It was perfect. We built an epic fire that made us sweat and Rudi made dinner. We sat around the fire and drank some beers and ate candy.



Busted.


Crater Lake.



A man with a sense of humor.


Epic camp spot. Some fire road south of Crater Lake.

Bug Report.
6/10
I forgot to take a photo. It was an average bug day. Nothing special.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Day 20- Seattle to Portland.

190 miles.

Got breakfast with Rosanna and Veronica and updated my blog. I hit the road around noon. It's a pretty boring ride on I-5 to Portland. The only excitement I got was putting on my rain gear in a Wal Mart parking lot.
Rudi was already in Portland and picked up some oils for our bikes. I met him at his friend's Joe and Mary's house We changed the engine and final drive fluids and then got some burritos. We crashed out early.

No photos or bug report today.



Sunday, August 21, 2011

Days 18 & 19- Whidbey Island and Seattle.

We got to stay at an epic beach house with Joel and Rosanna. It's owned by a family friend, the guy who invented Frappucinnos and Starbucks VIA instant coffee (which we've been living on for the last 3 weeks). So needless to say it was a gorgeous house in an awesome location.
Rosanna's dad, his wife Julie, and her sister Veronica came out during the day. It was awesome just hanging around, kayaking, paddle boarding, and eating food. It was truly a treat to be able to do this.
The next day was the same deal, lots of maxin' and relaxin'. Rudi boogied on down to Portland to hangout and Joel and I did an epic puzzle. I headed out in the late afternoon to meet up with my friends Hillary and Billy in the city for dinner.
Two solid days of hanging out was the perfect way to arrive in back in the USA and the West Coast. Thanks doods!!!







Minor repairs.






Dead jelly fish.






Whidbey Island.





Island life mon.





Useless Bay.









Puzzle time. Photo by Joel.



View from Billy and Hillary's apt.

No Bug Report.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Day 17- Nakusp to Whidbey Island

510 miles.

We stayed until about 10am talking with all of our new friends. I was really bummed we couldn't stay for the weekend. It's an awesome rally, put on on by super nice people, and I will be back next year. Alberta may hate us, but BC loves us.
We made a wrong turn leaving Nakusp and went about 29 miles out of the way, whoops. We got back on track and headed towards Grand Forks to cross back into America. The roads there are amazing, super twisty, fast and scenery that will blow your mind. We got to the border by about 2pm and got onto Highway 20.
20 is another super fun, fast, backcountry highway. We made it to the eastern side of the Northern Cascades in the late afternoon and the road just got even better, I couldn't believe it.
The 20 took us straight into Whidbey Island right as the sun was disappearing. We went over Deception Pass and blasted through the Island to the southern end to meet Joel and Rossana. We made it to the beach house by about 10:15. We were pooped.
I didn't take many photos today, mainly because I wasn't in the mood and the riding was so epic.



USA!!!!!


Washington. USA!!!!!
Bug Report.
9/10
I slayed them. Adios suckers.




Thursday, August 18, 2011

Day 16- Banff to Nakusp

248 miles.

It rained throughout the night, but not back enough to leak through the tent. We packed up early and got outta there. It was freezing going up towards Lake Louise and we stopped a few time to warm up. Another great thing about the old Airheads is you can set your throttle lock and reach down and grab the engine to warm your hands up.
We stopped by Lake Louise and walked around, the color of the lake is insane and my photos don't give it justice. It looks like Baja Blast Mountain Dew, it's insane.
We blasted into BC and the scenery changed almost immediately. It gets super green, lush, and the mountains are insane. We went through the Canadian Glacier Provincial Park, also unreal.
We took a ferry across Upper Arrow Lake and met a few people on their way to the BC Beemer Rally, we passed a few people earlier near Banff and asked why we were holding our engines. We told them the sweet heating trick.
We made it to the rally and set up near a couple other Airheads, ate a fantastic dinner, and met and talked to lots of people. I was so blown away with the cool bikes and people that I totally forgot to take many photos.




Rain stain.



Banff.



Lake Louise.



Bro time.



Tourists at Lake Louise.



Catching the wave into BC. Last Divide crossing of the trip.


Upper Arrow Lake. BC.


Arrow Lake Ferry.


Rolling out.





The trailer is his sleeping pod!!



Homemade EFI.



Homemade turbocharger!!



A couple of beauts.

Bug Report.
I forgot to take a photo. It wasn't super buggy, I'll combine it with tomorrow's.