[UPDATED] Leaving for Alaska and the Arctic Ocean... on an S2R

[kopfjäger]

Awesome 

[glbrto]

Good to hear you're doing well and in good spirit 

[El-Twin]

I bow before you, you crazy moto-animal. 

Godspeed!

[Tangerine Dream]

 

 

[eric]

I'm not usually obnoxious about practicing the mantra (I hope), but I have a pretty good "loud pipes saves lives" story to add. This happened last week in Alberta.

Picture this: a windy mountain forest road leading away from Lake Maligne in Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies. It's dusk so I'm in a slight hurry to get out. I'm riding a bit fast given the fading light and the road (narrow, one lane in each direction, no shoulder) but still abiding by my rule of "just fast enough that my braking distance doesn't exceed how much of the road I can see."

I round a corner and up ahead there's the unmistakable silhouette of A BEAR about to cross the road.Now, he's still about 50 yards away so my mind has time to race through the outcomes: a) full on, tire-skidding emergency stop, which would put me about 10-15 yards short; b) a more gentle stop, which would put me just about face to face right next to him, or c) slow down and try to roll past.

Option A would be kind of dangerous and would result in me facing the cuddly animal, which is highly undesirable given that I have no reverse gear, no windshield, and the road is too narrow to make a quick U-turn should he decide to approach (it'd be like a slow 3 or 4 point turn. Hell, I'd probably drop the bike doing it in a panic). Option B would put me literally right next to a surprised (and not in a good way) bear. Option C wasn't too good either, since my previous experiences with animals told me that they were as likely to jump/skitter right under the front tire as to jump the other way. I didn't want a messy collision with a bear, for obvious reasons, but I had settled on option C given the alternatives (and all this happened in the blink of an eye).

But thank heavens the next sight I was greeted with was this: the bear hears me from that far out, looks up a bit, then darts out of the way back off the road ("dart" is the closest verb I can come up with to what he did, a combination jump/retreat, kinda like what you'd do if you stepped into the road to begin a jaywalk and then realized a 18-wheeler semi was bearing down on you). Smart creature!

So I knew he knew I was approaching, so I slowed and rolled past knowing he wouldn't get in my way. As i passed him, we were no more than 10 feet apart. I swear we had one of those moments... I looked at him, appreciative of his intelligence and fast reflexes, and he looked at me, slightly annoyed but curious at this loud speedy contraption. His look was... it's a bit like an old dog, the best way I could describe it is one of those droopy-faced dogs, almost sad, but mostly solemn and solitary and wise. It had a patch of lighter brown fur on its chest (which surprised me cuz I thought only Asian sun bears have that) but I looked it up later and he was most likely a black bear.

I stopped after passing him for a safe distance and looked back. There was an RV behind me approaching but the bear barely looked at it and ambled across the road like he was planning to. And of course the RV was slow enough to stop for him.

Yeah I slowed down a bit after that, but I rode on feeling like the biggest MONSTER in the woods. Even bears jump out of my way!

I still can't quite believe it. I'll tell my grandkids this story and they'll call me a lying foggy oldster full of tall tales. But it happened! It would have been a priceless helmet cam capture but sadly my budget didn't allow for a helmet cam.

PS. FYI I'm running udder-only (no cans) with an exhaust gasket that's not quite sealed (knocked the pipe loose again).

PPS. Saw another Monster for the first time in four weeks yesterday, in Yellowstone, black on red frame (so on the off chance you read this, let me know!). Didn't quite expect one there. Over the course of 8000 miles during this time I've only seen two other Ducs, both Multistradas. And about a couple hundred BMW's and thousands of Harleys (naturally). So yes, we are a rare breed out in the wild. 

[ungeheuer]

Great story, well told 

I know you're enjoying your solo journey.  But you're not alone, a number of others are enjoying it with you  .

 

[geoffduc]

Have to agree with Steve it certainly is a great story...

Definitely smarter than the average bear...

Geoff...

[El-Twin]

I can bearly wait to hear more....   

[eric]

Passed the 10,000 mile mark today! Bike had 31500 on it when I left home six weeks ago, odo is now at 41500. I'm on the home stretch now, passing through the Southwest, Monument Valley yesterday and Antelope Canyon today. Staying in Flagstaff tonight and gonna push on all the way to LA tomorrow. In Utah and here people ask me where I'm riding from, and when they hear the answer they invariably say "wow that's far"... but in my mind now it actually feels close to home to me.Everything is relative I guess.

The journey is a day away from the end but for some reason I keep thinking back to the first morning. Until that morning I hadn't tested out the new Givi saddlebags I got due to lack of time. So, already fully loaded, I tried securing them according to the instructions. The straps were supposed to go under the seat. But well, they got stuck in the seat locking mechanism when I put the seat back on. So I tried to unlock it again, but it was so stuck that I had to twist the key with such force that the key literally became warped. And didn't fit in the ignition anymore! I was already dressed in my full armor and suit, in a hurry to leave, and working up a sweat. I had a spare but it was supposed to be exactly that, a spare. I didn't want to leave on such a long trip with only one key. So I grabbed the toolbox and flattened the key again (with Jeremy Clarkson's favorite tool, a hammer), praying that it wouldn't be damaged. And somehow, it wasn't, and (thank god) I bungee'd the bags on, fired up, and left.

Then fifteen minutes later, three blocks away from the Santa Monica pier, in a quick attempted lane-splitting maneuver I sideswiped a bicyclist. Thankfully only the soft saddlebag touched him, and it happened at such low speed that both of us remained upright and completely unharmed. Nothing happened and we both went on our way, but it could easily have been a lot worse in such tight quarters, between cars.

That was six weeks ago. It was a very inauspicious beginning, but somehow I've remained all right this whole time. Funny how the closest the trip came to a disaster was the first morning, within walking distance of (what is now my former) home.

A lot has happened since then. I'll be coming back as a different person, changed in many ways I didn't expect. Through the West Coast, Alaska, the Rockies from British Columbia to Colorado, the Southwest... I'm almost home.

[eric]

The first part of my picture-heavy post describing this entire journey is up! Check the first post in this thread for details.

[zooom]

....A lot has happened since then. I'll be coming back as a different person, changed in many ways I didn't expect. Through the West Coast, Alaska, the Rockies from British Columbia to Colorado, the Southwest... I'm almost home.

I would be interested in hearing more about this in specific !!! 

[roggie]

sounds like an awesome trip. thanks for sharing!

[forza110]

Wow, you are truly a hero in my eyes. That is so cool man. Reminds me of Into the Wild.

[Langanobob]

Eric,

Can't help but wonder if you have another trip planned for this year??

- Bob