Today is the 22nd of June and I only have 6 days left this summer of sleeping in a comfortable bed. I am not sure how I feel about that, however, I am going to ride to Kodiak, Alaska. I still have work to do on the bike to get it ready for the trip. I pray that my family and I will both be safe. 5000 miles in two weeks is not bad. That least at this point of the trip.
Camping Gear
Packing is still in progress. It's a little tougher than I thought to pack for all summer on a bike. I wonder how much stuff will just get left behind somewhere 'cause I'm tired of dragging it around. I still remember hiking on the Appalachian trail. It felt like I had packed a piano. Well I figure three changes of clothes, bike jacket and pants, rain gear, tent, sleeping bag and bunch of electronic gear should do me. The hardest part is planning for cold weather in the summer. When I leave the temperature in the midwest will be 80-100 degrees and Canada/Alaska will be 50-70 degrees. At 55 mph, I am thinking longjohns in July sounds pretty good.
I am very excited about the trip and the chance to explore and do a ton of photography. I purchased a GoPro camera to document my trip. It is this tiny 5 megapixel camera that can shoot HD video and timelapse photos every 5 seconds. I plan to use it each day to log my view as I drive. At the end of each day, I will convert all the photos into a 2-3 minute video. I have already experimented with it. To see my first attempt go to http:baggett.iccgrart.com/video. Details about the camera can be found at http://www.goprocamera.com
Packing is still in progress. It's a little tougher than I thought to pack for all summer on a bike. I wonder how much stuff will just get left behind somewhere 'cause I'm tired of dragging it around. I still remember hiking on the Appalachian trail. It felt like I had packed a piano. Well I figure three changes of clothes, bike jacket and pants, rain gear, tent, sleeping bag and bunch of electronic gear should do me. The hardest part is planning for cold weather in the summer. When I leave the temperature in the midwest will be 80-100 degrees and Canada/Alaska will be 50-70 degrees. At 55 mph, I am thinking longjohns in July sounds pretty good.
Nerd Gear
I am very excited about the trip and the chance to explore and do a ton of photography. I purchased a GoPro camera to document my trip. It is this tiny 5 megapixel camera that can shoot HD video and timelapse photos every 5 seconds. I plan to use it each day to log my view as I drive. At the end of each day, I will convert all the photos into a 2-3 minute video. I have already experimented with it. To see my first attempt go to http:baggett.iccgrart.com/video. Details about the camera can be found at http://www.goprocamera.com
Bike Blathering
I am riding a BMW K1200 GT for this trip. I purchased it last winter off of eBay and have spent all spring getting comfortable on it. It's the first big bike I have ever owned. So far I have about 7500 miles on it. I bet you can figure out that I really enjoy riding it. The only problem that I have is that on long rides, anything over 400 miles, I get a little sore. The bike is what they call a sport/touring bike. In town it feels a little sporty and on the interstate it feel a little touring. I have made a couple of adjustments that have helped a ton. I got a beaded seat cover. It looks a little funny but after the first time I took a long ride with it I knew it was a good investment. The other issue is that the hand grips felt like broom handles. I got new soft grips and then wrapped them with tennis rack grip tape. Once again, it was like night and day. The fatigue in my hands and wrists is almost totally gone on long rides.
I am very thankful for four accessories on my bike.
- Electric windshield - It helps to drop it in town to cool off and put it up on the highways to keep the wind off you.
- Heated hand grips - I rode back from Oklahoma over spring break with one burned out and it hurt a lot after the sun went down.
- Heated seat - Cold weather driving can suck the energy right out of you. The seat really does help to keep your body core temp up.
- Reflective vinyl racing stripes - I teach students how to design and cut vinyl as part of my job. That being said, I really thought jazzing up my bike and making it stand out would be pretty quick and easy. In daughter speak "OMG". I spent at least two weeks designing, cutting and applying this design. I learned a ton about creating stencils and matching body marks.
- Modulating headlight - I just added it to my bike last week after a couple of people got a little too close. It works really well. Most people really aren't aware of other people on the road and if you don't stand out well, it can be painful. With a blinking headlight:
- people can't figure out what you are
- they think there is something wrong with your bike
- they think you are a motorcycle cop.
Well enough about the toys. I have spent a ton of time riding and have to do some maintenance before I leave on the morning of the 28th.
- brakes
- tires
- oil
Well, hopefully I haven't put you to sleep. I just felt the need to start putting a little info on this blog.
Well - there you go... A REAL nerd. You are so Cool! THE John Baggett. My hero. I love you. I can't wait to see your beard and long hair when we get to Anchorage in 3 weeks! Drive safely, so I don't have to be a widow.
ReplyDelete