Mic's Adventure

The Adventures and Projects of Mic

Archive for March 16th, 2010

Crossing County Lines: Destination – Camping the Mountain Loop Highway

Mar 16

Posted by Mic in Crossing County Lines | No Comments

Sarah all packed up, ready to go camping!

Sarah all packed up, ready to go camping!

A few weeks ago in my articled titled “Weekend Wrap-up: High’s, Low’s, and Somewhere In Between” I had mentioned a ride up around the Mountain Loop Highway.

The main purpose of this ride, was to scout for a camping spot for us to pick out for a later date to come back to and camp at.

After we had all gotten home, later that week we all decided that we would head up to go camping on March 12th.

The main purpose of this camping trip, was a shake down trip. We all needed the time spent not only packing our bikes, but organizing them, deciding what could and couldn’t go, and give us all an idea of what was needed to actually do a camping trip on our bikes.

This trip was extremely important to me, as I knew it was going to finally give me a chance to not only learn how to pack my bike, but it was going to give me a chance to use all of my gear in the field, which would give me invaluable information on what I will need to eventually make changes to for my Arctic Expedition this summer.

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Border Hopping: Destination – Sod Busters Cafe

Mar 16

Posted by Mic in Border Hopping | No Comments

Sometimes, when picking a destination to go, it is not always a landmark, a park, or some landscape view that takes your breath away. No, sometimes when picking a destination, it ends up being for food.

That is exactly how March 6th played out.

Saturday morning I awoke originally planning a few things. First off, I needed to give the XT a run down. Oil, Air Filter, Check other important bolts, lube and adjust chain, etc.

I also wanted to finally get some time to build the rear rack for the XT.

So I got out of bed, and Mom had started making Pancakes and Bacon.  What a wonderful way to start a Saturday morning.

I ate, grabbed my keys and headed into town to pick up some oil at the Wal-Mart.

While there, I picked up some other odds and ends, and made my way home.

As I was heading back to the shop, I took in the morning’s blue sky’s. It was absolutely beautiful out.  A bit on the chilly side, but that is to be expected in early March.

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A Friday Afternoon with Co-Rider Gus

Mar 16

Posted by Mic in Adventure | 3 Comments

Co-Rider Gus on his BMW R1150GS

Co-Rider Gus on his BMW R1150GS

Even though I had driven down to Oregon to visit my parents, I also tossed my XT in the back of the truck. Because it is such a small, light weight bike, it makes it extremely easy to pull it in and out of the truck by myself.

The weekend of March 6th itself started early for me on Friday, as I had most of the day off. This allowed me to head out towards Oregon early, and due to this, I decided to call up my Co-Rider for the Arctic Expedition trip, Gus.

Arriving in Vancouver around 1:00pm, I pulled up to Gus’s house and was welcomed by his wife Mary at the door.  We didn’t waste much time, the day was absolutely gorgeous.

So within 30 minutes, I had the bike unloaded, and both of us were geared up and on our way.

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Suffering from MRD (Motorcycle Related Depression)

Mar 16

Posted by Mic in The Breeze | 1 Comment

It should come as no surprise to anyone, when something goes wrong, it kind of sets a mood that continues to cascade, bringing everything around it down to a level of misery that can’t be enjoyed at the value in which it is worth.

That kind of sums of the last few weeks for me.

As mentioned in “High’s, Low’s, and Somewhere In Between”, the KLR ended up with a leaky mechanical seal.  This in itself isn’t a huge problem. It is an easy fix, rather cheap (for the part itself), and the mechanical skill needed is somewhere around the 7 out of 10 range due to pressing seals out and back in. So nothing too entirely difficult for me.

So with the parts ordered, I waited patiently for them to show up.

And I waited

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