The Long Ride...a Countdown

Three Cups of Tea

2009-02-11T19:43:00.000-08:00

I just got back from seeing Greg Mortenson in Kansas City--he's on a book tour to promote his new young reader edition of Three Cups of Tea. Basically he gave a multi-media presentation which was a fantastic overview of the work he's done in Pakistan and Afghanistan since the mid-nineties. I read his book a little while ago and was pretty excited when I found out he'd be in town.

I highly recommend the book; it's incredible. And he's probably going to win the Nobel Peace Prize this year...

See his website for more information, and use the link there to Amazon if you're going to buy Three Cups of Tea for yourself.

Shocking, just shocking

2008-12-21T11:52:00.000-08:00

Yep, well over a month since my last post. Entirely expected, really. Anyway, research continues on the big trip, but everyday life is certainly getting in the way quite well. At least I've already had a few friends offer a place to stay during the ride (perhaps it's better said they've insisted on it!) so those offers will definitely factor into the route...in other words, it looks like I'm swinging through Denmark once I'm on the road.

Speaking of Nordic countries, I've seen quite a few products aimed at providing long-term, battery-powered heated garments that look to be perfect for motorcycling. I've been using a heated vest from Aerostich for years and I love it; I'm wondering if any of the following products are any good...

WarmX thermal underwear

Ardica heated vest

Aevex heated gloves

And one that's not exactly heated, but still cool:

ilogic sound hat

And I wonder how many of these links will still work when (or if) I'm ever using this post at some point in the future to try and buy something?

Fun times on the pitch

2008-10-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

I just got back from playing a soccer match tonight--international students vs US students. It was a hard-fought contest that could have gone either way and did in fact go down to the wire, but we lost 3-2. On the bright side, I scored our team's first goal on a header off of a corner kick. And I had a second goal denied in an eerily similar spot when a guy on the other team surreptitiously stopped the ball with his hand against his body just as the ball was about to cross the goal line; the closest ref was shielded from the play and didn't see it. But them's the breaks.

We had about 20 guys show up to play, but I had the pleasure of being one of two guys who played the entire 90 minutes. Scoring a goal in the first 15 minutes of play tends to get you as much playing time as you want, I suppose. But now I'm already incredibly sore, and I'm thinking that the next two days will be pretty painful. I played center midfielder, so I basically spent the entire game running as hard as I could in one direction or another.

And the absolute best part of the whole thing? Even though earlier this week highs were in the 40s, today it was 68 degrees when we started the match, which is pretty much the most perfect temperature we could have hoped for.

Next week, we start playing indoor soccer. Not quite as much running, but a bit more intelligent with winter on the way.

First thoughts on the route and the bike

2008-10-28T18:46:00.000-07:00

I'm about halfway through Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook and I'm already starting to form more solid opinions on what bike I want to use and where I want to ride.

The early favorite was the BMW R1200GS Adventure. I already have an R1150RT, so I know my way around a big boxer twin and can easily do most of the important tasks (oil/filter/spark plug changes, valve adjustments, tire changes, looking haughty in the saddle, etc). I really like the shaft drive. I'm big enough at 6'3" that the bike really isn't too tall for me--but with that said, the overall weight of the bike is the one thing that gives me pause. It's definitely important to keep the weight down as much as possible for this trip, and pretty much every other bike that is even remotely suitable for the kind of journey I'm planning weighs considerably less than the GS. And while it isn't really an overriding concern, the GS is a bit pricey.

So that brings some of the smaller BMWs into the mix, along with the KTMs--particularly the 990 Adventure S. But right now, I'm still leaning towards the GS. Of course, even though I seem to have all but made up my mind already, the fact is that I probably won't be buying my Long Ride bike for at least four years. In fact, it's possible that it won't even be the next bike I buy--I wouldn't mind adding a KTM RC8 to my Hypermotard and the aforementioned RT.

The next big consideration, of course, is the route. I'm definitely leaning towards a cross-Eurasia journey, possibly spending some extra time cruising through Central Asia. Especially since I've already lost out on that job offer to work in Kyrgyzstan...

It would be fantastic if in another eight years, it becomes easier to travel through China, as well. Being able to cross the northern and western borders of that country would be awesome. So the current plan is to take the middle route across Asia. That could change too, of course, but it's what I'm leaning towards right now.

In other news, I played basketball for over two hours tonight and felt pretty good during it. I think I'm finally getting my wind back. And more importantly, it's a fun group of guys; which almost makes up for the fact that yesterday (when I also played), one of the other players said to me, "Oh, you're in CGSC? My dad just graduated from there last year."

That was not an awesome feeling.

Getting the miles

2008-10-23T19:53:00.000-07:00

Obviously, I love to travel. But this year, traveling has been a bit curtailed for me--only one trip overseas (Denmark in June) and a few weekends out and about (a short trip to visit my brother in Seattle, for example). This is unfortunate. And it's bad for my Premiere Executive frequent flier status too. In fact, it was starting to look like I wasn't even going to make it to lousy Premiere. However, a trip to Germany in November and a visit to see my folks for Thanksgiving will at least get me over 25,000 miles for the year. I'm going to see a part of Germany I've never been to--and I'll probably make it to Belgium and Luxembourg too. The two-week countdown begins tomorrow; I'm already lording it over all of my (married) classmates. In fact, that part is almost as much fun as picking out where to go. Speaking of which, I need to start thinking about that two-week break for Christmas. Hmm...

Back to my normal procrastinating ways

2008-10-20T19:44:00.001-07:00

Well, it's 9:45 PM, and I've got two papers due tomorrow; one must be 2-3 pages, and the other has no required length (I'm hoping two or three paragraphs will cut it...).

The last time this happened, whilst writing my first blog entry, something got kick-started and I knocked out the paper in under two hours immediately afterwards (got an A on it too...).

So this blog entry is designed solely to provoke another such response. Here goes nothing.

Recovery

2008-10-18T16:52:00.000-07:00

Well last night was my first real bender in a while. And while O'Malley's in Weston is definitely a cool bar, last night was more memorable for verifying something that I had instinctively known (and avoided) for the last four months--that Leavenworth, Kansas is not a good place to hit the bars on the weekend.

Yeah, no surprise there.

First step--accomplished

2008-10-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I got the first two books from Amazon today. I think reading them now will be pretty helpful; of course, I'll then let everything percolate for a while (you know, like a few years or so) and take it from there. Just from a quick perusal, I noticed that Chris Scott recommends at least two years of prep for an around-the-world journey, which still gives me a bit of leeway...

Okay, time to shower up after my basketball/weightlifting workout in preparation for my maiden voyage to a renowned local watering hole. Let's see if it lives up to the hype.

Tired and sore

2008-10-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

After moving to the greater Kansas City area three months ago, I've finally found a group of basketball players I can play with just about every day. I had been trying to play at lunchtime a few days each week, but that just wasn't working out with my class schedule. As it turns out, the game I had been looking for was happening at 5PM every day at a different gym. When I first showed up, the other guys there weren't sure that I was ready to play with them--as I was about 10 years older and 10 skin tones lighter than anyone else there. Luckily I happened to be one of the tallest guys, so after the biggest guy was picked second, the other team had to pick me next to defend him. Of course, in addition to being an inch taller than me, this dude also outweighed me by around 60 pounds. So my back is now killing me.

On the bright side, I played very well, especially in the first game (when all eyes were on me) by nailing my first two three-pointers and grabbing a couple boards for quick putbacks. So I scored six of our 15 points (threes count for two, everything else is one)--and we won each of the first three games. By the end, I was seriously dragging, and I missed all of my shots in the fourth game--which certainly didn't help the team much. But by that time, we were all kind of messing around anyway.

If I can make it up there four nights a week, in addition to one or two days of soccer, and alternate some weightlifting in there as well, I should be back in shape in a month or so.

Alright, time to pop some Vitamin M (aka Motrin) and hit the sack.

Already doing me some good

2008-10-14T16:38:00.000-07:00

This blog is already paying off. Apparently penning that novel of a first post got me in a writing mood--I knocked out my paper in 2.5 hours immediately afterwards. And it's not even due until tomorrow! What's happening to me? That may very well be a first in my entire scholastic career.

I also went ahead and ordered a few more books on the subject of long-distance motorcycle travel. Even though I've taken a few trips of over a thousand miles on various bikes in the past, circling the globe is obviously a completely different thing. I'm definitely not arrogant enough to think I already know everything about this particular subject.

Finally, I got in a pretty good workout today. I've had to rededicate myself to working out; last week I weighed myself, and was disgusted to see that I had fallen below 200 pounds. And I shouldn't be surprised; when I saw my parents a few weeks ago, they both mentioned that I was looking a bit thin. And it was getting a bit too easy to dunk a basketball...Anyway, I need to get back up to around 210. Tonight's visit to the weight room gets me going in the right direction.

The Start

2008-10-13T11:09:00.000-07:00

I'm supposed to be working on a paper right now.

But all I can think about is a trip I'll be taking in a few years. Well, more like eight years...give or take.

What kind of trip requires that much planning? In truth, probably no trip. But since I have to wait eight years to start this particular journey, I guess the actual planning is going to start now. Especially since I've been thinking about it for years already. So my plan ride a motorcycle around the world officially begins today.

Why today? First, of course, is the procrastination of that 3-4 page paper due on Wednesday. But also, I spent this weekend thinking about all of the relationships I've let wither in the past, either by simple neglect or calculated choice. This has put me in an introspective mood, pondering what my future will hold. And I'm damn sure it will include this ride. So here's a tangible step towards that future. Or is this an intangible step? Either way, it's something--particularly as I'm not generally very ambitious. Here's to this being a cure for that condition...

I definitely have a lot of things to figure out between now and then. What bike? How long? Route? Stripped-down and bare, or fully encumbered (maybe bring along a nice videocamera)? Luckily, I've got the time.

I'll have to get a few more books about the subject. Of course, I've already read all of Ted Simon's books (starting with Jupiter's Travels) and I loved the visual imagery and story of McGregor and Boorman's trips. And some research into other books will help me procrastinate on that paper a bit more.

I also have a feeling I'll be digressing quite a bit from Long Ride planning on this blog...in fact, I hope I do. I've made a few aborted attempts in the past at blogging; hopefully this time it will stick. The idea of having a record of perhaps a decade of my thoughts appeals to me--even if it won't do the same for anyone else.