Well, I'm sitting in a coffee shop in Vancouver as I write this. It's started raining again but nowhere near yesterday. I arrived an hour or so late and had to get a cab from the airport to the cargo warehouse to import my bike before customs closed for the day. I really didn't fancy trying to carry all my gear by hand in the pouring rain to a hotel, so I was reliant on getting the bike.
After waiting a while, then running five minutes to customs and back in the rain to get my docs stamped, then waiting some more, I was presented with a large crate! Fortunately, a nice guy at the warehouse had a screwdriver and a hammer (otherwise I would still be there now) and we decrated the bike. It was't even dusty, let alone scratched. By the time we were done I had a bit of an audience, most of the guys were bikers themselves. After being advised to mind the greasy roads and wished lots of luck, I had the bike packed and I headed off into the Pacific Coast rain.
I put some fuel in the bike and wobbled off through the Vancouver rush hour. After managing to ride all the way through Vancouver I found myself in Stanley Park, so I pulled over and consulted my maps and guide book. Eventually I found a hotel and it had an underground car park which suited me pretty well, so I checked in. By this time it was 7pm, so about 3am according to my body. Canadian burgers are probably the best I've tried, so I went out in search of cow in a bun. After a burger and a beer it was all I could do to stay awake at my table, so I headed back and crashed out.
Until about 2am. As always happens when I fly east to west, I was wide awake most of the night.
So today will be mostly about coffee and adrenaline I think. I'm not sure whether to head toward the ferry, or (as I don't need to be there until Friday) head up toward the Sunshine Coast and spend a little longer in beautiful British Columbia.
Hopefully the rain will hold off today.
Cheers,
Frase.
Wednesday 30 July 2008
Thursday 24 July 2008
Too late to change my mind
On Monday the bike (this reminds me, I have to think of a name) went to a freight company for its flight to Vancouver, Canada. The crating and documentation would take a few days so the bike would actually fly on Friday and be ready to pick up on Tuesday 29th. I left some heavy gear in the panniers and left my bike boots and riding gear to be crated with the bike.
I used a company called James Cargo http://www.jamescargo.com/about/ and at risk of jinxing picking the bike up, they were very professional and made the whole process easy. I had a cuppa and chat whilst the bike was checked over, and even got a lift back to Hatton Cross tube which saved me walking four miles or so.
On the tube it started to dawn on me that I was past the point of no return, and at the very least I would have to go to Canada now to get the bike back :)
Five days to go... I'm off to get some lunch with a side order of valium.
Fraser.
I used a company called James Cargo http://www.jamescargo.com/about/ and at risk of jinxing picking the bike up, they were very professional and made the whole process easy. I had a cuppa and chat whilst the bike was checked over, and even got a lift back to Hatton Cross tube which saved me walking four miles or so.
On the tube it started to dawn on me that I was past the point of no return, and at the very least I would have to go to Canada now to get the bike back :)
Five days to go... I'm off to get some lunch with a side order of valium.
Fraser.
Tuesday 22 July 2008
The shakedown
Saturday 19th was the scheduled date for my shakedown run, which is meant to be a full test of everything for the trip. So I spent Friday night loading my panniers and roll bag, and put all my electronic equipment (camera, lenses, DV camera and laptop) in my tankbag. I'd arranged to meet my dive buddies Clare and Al in Weymouth, Dorset, which was just over a three hundred mile round trip in one afternoon, so good preparation!
The last bit of prep on the bike before setting off was to add preload to the rear suspension to account for the increased weight. I turned the preload fully out to the stiffest setting.
As soon as I got onto the M25 I knew it was going to be a tough afternoon, it was a windy day and the normally stable DL was regularly blown from one side of the lane to the other. By the time I got to the M3 I was getting used to it but it still wasn't much fun. Added to that the tankbag completely obscured the clocks and the (empty) map case reflected the sun in my eyes. I tried to reassure myself that it wasn't fun because I'd done the trip a million times albeit with a car full of dive gear, but it didn't help.
I pulled over on the M27 and adjusted the preload halfway back to the original setting. That seemed to help a lot and the bike felt normal, just heavier!
When I got to Weymouth I found the place my friends were staying at, and pulled into the car park as they came out to greet me. Unfortunately I wasn't really concentrating, the car park was steep and cambered, and I'd forgotten how heavy the bike was. As a result I dropped it, breaking the right wing mirror off and bending the bar end so the throttle wouldn't move.
Bashing the bar end straight was easy enough, and whilst I unpacked the bike my friends got their copious toolkits out and worked on the wing mirror. By the time my gear was stashed in a car the wing mirror had been superglued, and a large washer applied to the nut to keep pressure on the break. Plus in excellent bodging tradition it was liberally covered in Duck tape :)
Bike repaired and gear stowed we went to dinner. We met a couple more diving friends and sat down to eat. It was good to catch up as I hadn't seen everyone for probably six months or more. Clare had invited another guy she knew to eat with us, and coincidentally he'd done a round-the-States motorcycle trip in the past.
By the time I had finished dinner and listened to the various horror stories I was convinced I was going to be robbed, raped or shot. Or maybe robbed, raped AND shot. And various combinations thereof.
Riding home though was pretty pleasant - the sun was sinking across the New Forest in subtle red hues, as the moon was rising on the opposite horizon. It was cool and the wind had dropped too. Even the local insect population seemed to avoid my visor more than normal. I did notice however that I got significantly less mpg on the ride, presumably because of the additional weight and drag.
Cheers,
Fraser.
The last bit of prep on the bike before setting off was to add preload to the rear suspension to account for the increased weight. I turned the preload fully out to the stiffest setting.
As soon as I got onto the M25 I knew it was going to be a tough afternoon, it was a windy day and the normally stable DL was regularly blown from one side of the lane to the other. By the time I got to the M3 I was getting used to it but it still wasn't much fun. Added to that the tankbag completely obscured the clocks and the (empty) map case reflected the sun in my eyes. I tried to reassure myself that it wasn't fun because I'd done the trip a million times albeit with a car full of dive gear, but it didn't help.
I pulled over on the M27 and adjusted the preload halfway back to the original setting. That seemed to help a lot and the bike felt normal, just heavier!
When I got to Weymouth I found the place my friends were staying at, and pulled into the car park as they came out to greet me. Unfortunately I wasn't really concentrating, the car park was steep and cambered, and I'd forgotten how heavy the bike was. As a result I dropped it, breaking the right wing mirror off and bending the bar end so the throttle wouldn't move.
Bashing the bar end straight was easy enough, and whilst I unpacked the bike my friends got their copious toolkits out and worked on the wing mirror. By the time my gear was stashed in a car the wing mirror had been superglued, and a large washer applied to the nut to keep pressure on the break. Plus in excellent bodging tradition it was liberally covered in Duck tape :)
Bike repaired and gear stowed we went to dinner. We met a couple more diving friends and sat down to eat. It was good to catch up as I hadn't seen everyone for probably six months or more. Clare had invited another guy she knew to eat with us, and coincidentally he'd done a round-the-States motorcycle trip in the past.
By the time I had finished dinner and listened to the various horror stories I was convinced I was going to be robbed, raped or shot. Or maybe robbed, raped AND shot. And various combinations thereof.
Riding home though was pretty pleasant - the sun was sinking across the New Forest in subtle red hues, as the moon was rising on the opposite horizon. It was cool and the wind had dropped too. Even the local insect population seemed to avoid my visor more than normal. I did notice however that I got significantly less mpg on the ride, presumably because of the additional weight and drag.
Cheers,
Fraser.
Thursday 17 July 2008
The Luggage
If there is one thing that is guaranteed to be an annoyance on a trip it is inappropriate luggage. I mean, you wouldn't really want to pack a wheelie suitcase to climb K2 (although you could argue it would have it's benefits on the way down) :)
In my case (no pun intended) I needed to pack what I would require for five or six months on the road, as low down as possible to keep some stability, without complicating things. For instance I wouldn't want to have to spend two hours loading and unloading the bike every day!
I decided that I would fit everything I needed into two side panniers, a roll bag across the pillion seat, and a tank bag. This would also leave the rear luggage rack free for a petrol can or something similar. When I had a firm idea that I was doing the trip, about the beginning of June, I ordered all the luggage I needed. Several annoying weeks and no news later, I was forced to cancel the pannier order as the manufacturer could not give me a firm delivery estimate. By this time I was down to a month to go until the bike needed to go, with luggage, to the air freight company for shipping.
Fortunately I'd come up with a backup plan and contacted a firm called Caribou Cases http://www.cariboucases.com/ in the States. These guys take a large plastic Pelican 1550 case, and put brackets and locks on so it can be rack mounted as bike luggage. Pelican cases are waterproof, dustproof and more or less bombproof - we used to use them for backup tape storage at work and once one got thrown into a crusher by accident(don't ask). It survived, and amazingly still worked despite being a bit bent :)
Roger from Caribou reckoned they could get me a set of panniers by the 19th July, so I ordered. In addition to being tougher than the original panniers I ordered, the Caribou boxes also locked, and locked properly to the bike. Also they provided slightly more storage space, and even though a quarter of the cost was shipping and VAT, they were still cheaper than the originals. Happy days!
A couple of nail biting weeks spent wondering if I could hang all my luggage in Tesco carrier bags went past, and finally the panniers arrived on the 16th July, four days before the bike was due to go for shipping! A quick check showed all the relevant bits were there, and the instructions were first class (unlike my tank bag instructions, which I had to ask a German friend at work to help me with!).
So now the plan is to quickly fit the panniers, then fully load the bike for a shakedown test at the weekend. Then the bike and panniers go to the shipping company for crating on Monday. So I guess it is all going ahead then. Yikes!
Fraser.
In my case (no pun intended) I needed to pack what I would require for five or six months on the road, as low down as possible to keep some stability, without complicating things. For instance I wouldn't want to have to spend two hours loading and unloading the bike every day!
I decided that I would fit everything I needed into two side panniers, a roll bag across the pillion seat, and a tank bag. This would also leave the rear luggage rack free for a petrol can or something similar. When I had a firm idea that I was doing the trip, about the beginning of June, I ordered all the luggage I needed. Several annoying weeks and no news later, I was forced to cancel the pannier order as the manufacturer could not give me a firm delivery estimate. By this time I was down to a month to go until the bike needed to go, with luggage, to the air freight company for shipping.
Fortunately I'd come up with a backup plan and contacted a firm called Caribou Cases http://www.cariboucases.com/ in the States. These guys take a large plastic Pelican 1550 case, and put brackets and locks on so it can be rack mounted as bike luggage. Pelican cases are waterproof, dustproof and more or less bombproof - we used to use them for backup tape storage at work and once one got thrown into a crusher by accident(don't ask). It survived, and amazingly still worked despite being a bit bent :)
Roger from Caribou reckoned they could get me a set of panniers by the 19th July, so I ordered. In addition to being tougher than the original panniers I ordered, the Caribou boxes also locked, and locked properly to the bike. Also they provided slightly more storage space, and even though a quarter of the cost was shipping and VAT, they were still cheaper than the originals. Happy days!
A couple of nail biting weeks spent wondering if I could hang all my luggage in Tesco carrier bags went past, and finally the panniers arrived on the 16th July, four days before the bike was due to go for shipping! A quick check showed all the relevant bits were there, and the instructions were first class (unlike my tank bag instructions, which I had to ask a German friend at work to help me with!).
So now the plan is to quickly fit the panniers, then fully load the bike for a shakedown test at the weekend. Then the bike and panniers go to the shipping company for crating on Monday. So I guess it is all going ahead then. Yikes!
Fraser.
Friday 11 July 2008
Home from home
It's been twenty years since I pitched a tent, so I figured it might not hurt to have a dry run with my newly delivered abode! Tent technology has come a looooong way since then.
I bought a Vango Spectre 200, two person (me and my luggage!) lightweight tent for £70. Far from looking like a badly collapsed shed, it has slinky alloy poles which fit into colour coded sleeves, then you just peg it out to tension it. It pitches inner and outer together so no need for the inside to get soaked when you put it up in the rain. There are a couple of zipped compartments at each end for gear and a hanging pocket in the middle which I reckon might be handy (not sure what for yet!). Fifteen minutes and surprisingly little swearing later, and the tent was up.
Sadly having checked the label it isn't bear proof :(
Frase.
The final hurdle
It always seemed somehow odd that the USA was the only country of the fifteen I plan to ride through that might require a visa for entry. I put off contacting the US embassy to clarify the visa situation for a few weeks - mainly due to the astronomical cost of calling - whilst I tried to find some info on the Internet. Finally, after failing to get anything concrete and not willing to risk being refused entry to the States, I bit the bullet and called the US embassy visa enquiries line at £1.20 a minute.
Naturally (on the basis that nothing is ever simple) they told me that the visa waiver program would not apply in my case as I had no return ticket, and I would need a B2 tourist visa to enter the US. They then told me the earliest interview I could get at the US embassy would be July 28th. As the trip was due to start on the 29th this wasn't the best news! For about thirty seconds I contemplated starting in Canada and flying the bike to Mexico, but it turned out I could potentially get a visa from the US consulate in Belfast, Northern Ireland. After checking with EasyJet that I would be ok to travel with no passport - it would be a UK flight after all - I booked a visa interview in Belfast and arranged a flight from Stansted.
It's a shame the rail companies can't take a leaf out of the EasyJet book - a return ticket from London to Stansted costs as much as a return flight from Stansted to Belfast!! They should replace the ticket machines at Liverpool Street station with large men carrying guns and wearing little highwayman masks.
I started to get really nervous that effectively my trip was now balancing on whether I could get the US visa or not. If there was a problem, I would have to arrange another visa interview and the trip would have to be postponed. Worse, if my visa application was turned down then the whole trip was in jeopardy. It turned out that I was interviewed by a nice lady who seemed primarily concerned with how much it might rain whilst I was motorcycling through the Pacific Northwest :)
Visa authorised I then went to the airport for the flight home and was promptly stopped at security, they were concerned that a roll of Duck tape I had might be used to restrain someone on the aircraft. They even bomb-tested my hayfever nasal spray!
But I'd cleared the final hurdle standing between me and my trip. Roll on Alaska, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, Arches, etc etc etc!
Fraser.
Naturally (on the basis that nothing is ever simple) they told me that the visa waiver program would not apply in my case as I had no return ticket, and I would need a B2 tourist visa to enter the US. They then told me the earliest interview I could get at the US embassy would be July 28th. As the trip was due to start on the 29th this wasn't the best news! For about thirty seconds I contemplated starting in Canada and flying the bike to Mexico, but it turned out I could potentially get a visa from the US consulate in Belfast, Northern Ireland. After checking with EasyJet that I would be ok to travel with no passport - it would be a UK flight after all - I booked a visa interview in Belfast and arranged a flight from Stansted.
It's a shame the rail companies can't take a leaf out of the EasyJet book - a return ticket from London to Stansted costs as much as a return flight from Stansted to Belfast!! They should replace the ticket machines at Liverpool Street station with large men carrying guns and wearing little highwayman masks.
I started to get really nervous that effectively my trip was now balancing on whether I could get the US visa or not. If there was a problem, I would have to arrange another visa interview and the trip would have to be postponed. Worse, if my visa application was turned down then the whole trip was in jeopardy. It turned out that I was interviewed by a nice lady who seemed primarily concerned with how much it might rain whilst I was motorcycling through the Pacific Northwest :)
Visa authorised I then went to the airport for the flight home and was promptly stopped at security, they were concerned that a roll of Duck tape I had might be used to restrain someone on the aircraft. They even bomb-tested my hayfever nasal spray!
But I'd cleared the final hurdle standing between me and my trip. Roll on Alaska, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, Arches, etc etc etc!
Fraser.
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