DWA Walkabout Day 1

Day 1: May 16th

After getting the all the gear I figured would be needed for a trip around the country; cold gear, rain gear, hot gear, clothes for all climates, boots for all occasions; I then loaded the bike on the trailer with all my stuff for the first time...well if you have ever packed for a big trip in a small car you know what I am about to say.  Yep, even though we moved the bike back 16" to remove the tongue weight the was still too much weight on the shocks.  So I moved the most important things as far forward as possible.   I then backed the trailer into the yard to see how much clearance I really had with a slight variation in the ground.  Turns out I only had 4" of clearance at the front of other trailer and I needed to have a minimum of 6".  Removing enough weight to raise the deck by 2" proved not difficult physically, however, the logistics and readjusting the gear I actually was going to take was painful.  In the end I lost; a pair of motorcycle boots, hiking boots, second riding jacket and pants, some everyday t-shirts, two pair of jeans, spare tire mounting bracket, second (backup) tent, inflatable sleeping pad and various and sundry other things that I deemed, at the moment, to be superfluous to the gear I already had in the vehicle.  Once all this was removed and the remaining item were moved as far forward as possible, I deemed the trailer clearance sufficient and hit the road.  The first night, I intended to get as far as I could and most importantly beyond the typical area that I and already familiar with in the south east.  Thus, I made it to Meridian, Mississippi the first night and found a room at the Days Inn.  A word of caution, although the people were nice the room were sub-standard even for Days Inn, and I for one will not stay at that location again. It still hasn't sunk in that, I am going on the road...for a while.

The Mount Rushmore Ride

The ride begins Thursday August 9th, 2007. I will be riding from Gardner, MA to Mount Rushmore, SD. I will make the 1st actual ride post on Thursday evening or Friday morning with an update on the progress. Each update after that will be a made by Krista and unless I happen to run into a free computer to update the blog.

1st Post...

This is my initial post to the blog. I am not sure how best to to this so stick with me. Over the next couple of weeks someone will be keeping this blog up to date as I travel. The purpose is to both record my experience and to inform friends and family of my progress and interesting events along the way. The blog will record the following each day or two:

Date:
My General Condition:
General Observations:
Starting Point: City, State
Ending Point: City, State
Miles Ridden:
General Weather:
Ride Conditions:
Interesting Events:

This will hopefully prove to be rather enlightening to my friends and family along the way and to me for reflection, when I return.