Explore Planet Earth

Woke up to rain, ate ,then went back to bed. I finally had to leave at 11am or pay for another night. I really wanted to take the bike back down the valley but not in that weather. Off I went in between showers, its monsoon season here don’t you know, I wish someone told me that before I came out this way. I rode through it most of the day stopping for lunch ect: I’m not going to bore myself by telling you about the weather, what I will tell you about was the thing I saw in the sky out in the middle of the desert.

It was pitch dark and I was ignoring all advice about not riding alone along the boarder especially at night when I saw this flash of light fly past. It was like a shooting star but very low, it flew past for about 30 seconds then blew up in a white flash. I don’t know what it was or wasn’t , I’m just telling you what I saw. It was real cool too. You see some strange things out in the desert for sure and not just at Burning Man.

That reminds me, on my way to Vegas I passed the turn off for Area 51. I was curios about it and just then spied a cop who was pumping gas ( pumping gas, brilliant ). I asked him what was out there, to which he replied ” out where sir” to which I replied ” area 51 sir ” to which he replied “it doesn’t exsist sir” to which I replied ” OK then “. Now I didn’t go down there because I was informed there was nothing out there but I could see the nothing from a near by road. For nothing it sure had a lot of buildings and a massive fence around it. So the mystery go on I’m afraid.

Well I’m now near the border with mexico which I’ll cross some time tomorrow. I may not live much longer, according to most people I’ve met today anyway. I’m going to have my  bike stolen and my head chopped off or just get shot walking down the street once I cross into Mexico. I heard the same before entering Pakistan and Iran and found the exact opposite once inside. The US media dose a fantastic job of scaring the crap out of it’s citizens with horrors stories at home and abroad. They have to keep the war machine going too enrich the rich, the poor just go and die. Every time I come here I notice the country changing, this time it’s not for the better. I think it’s about time that people took some of the burden off Jesus and put some faith in themselves, listened to their hearts and not their evil government and stop fighting with overseas nations on trumped up charges. Building seven did not just fall down.

Rant over, all an all I’ve had a fantastic time here, the people here have been real friendly and fantastic over all. The only 2 assholes I met were both from europe. I could spend another few months here no worries but I got a sort of schedule to keep.

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I hadn’t planned on stopping in Seligman but I’m glad I did. It’s an usual town full of strange stuff. It was the inspiration for the cartoon “cars”. Along the main street there’s all these vehicles from the 50’s or older parked everywhere with mannequins sitting inside. There’s motorcycles parked sideways on traffic poles and the car from tomb raider is parked on a building somewhere.
From here it was a short ride to the Grand Canyon. I pulled up on the south rim and strolled towards the viewing point, as soon as I had let one picture absorb into my camera lens the heavens opened up and the sky grayed over. You can’t win em all I guess. Everyone ran to the comfort of their cars, I ran for shelter under a tree. After about an hour of soaking up as much rain as I possibly could I cut my losses and headed back to town. Luckily for me I managed to get what seemed to be the last room in town. I headed back just before sunset and was greeted with a fantastic view, also the crowds had gone and I almost had the place to my self. As soon as the sun set and the sky became pitch black I decided I’d better head off. The only problem was I’d forgotten where I left my bike. Oh the adventures.
In the morning I figured that I’ll never be back here again so I decided to fly over the canyon in a helicopter, I was well worth small the fortune it cost, the view from above is unbeatable. Your also given a history lesson from the pilot which was quite informative.
Afterwards it was off to monument valley, a ride of 220km. I’ve always wanted to come here ever since I was a kid. Its featured in more westerns that Clint Eastwood and Stetson hat’s put together. As soon as I got here I found somewhere to stay, unloaded all the gear and panniers from my bike and headed off in the 17 mile dirt track. I could spend the whole day in here and tomorrow I most likely will.

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The ride from Death Valley to Vegas was fantastic. From a town called Big Pine I took a short cut through the north of Death Valley NP. The first 100 km of this road must have been the most fun ride I’ve ever been on. It’s like a motor cross track but sealed, it twists and turns while dipping and weaving through the mountains. I managed to get air every 5 min, even while taking corners. I only saw one car out there. If your ever on a bike out this way it’s a must. Between corners and on a flat straight of the road I noticed a snake worming it’s way across . Now I love animals and will do everything I can without endangering myself to avoid hitting them but for some reason I found myself aiming straight for this one. I have no idea what came over me. It was like I just lost control for a few seconds. I got the f**ker too. Never liked snakes, most likely didn’t even hurt it though , it was like riding over a rope.

I arrived in Vegas sweating through the mid day heat and took a ride up the strip. Some of the buildings are amazing for sure. You can you see the sights of Paris, the canals of Venice and the ancient hieroglyphics of Egypt all in one mile. I headed off to my hotel, had a swim and took a stroll about town. The Venation is worth a look and the water fountain outside the Ballagio but everything else becomes the same after a while. To many idiots shouting things like” hell yea ” n “now that’s what I’m talking about” and ” yea, Vegas baby” while slapping each other high fives for my liking. I went back to my hotel and played some black jack while gulping down the free beer, then called it a night. I don’t know how it earned the title “sin city” I doesn’t even rank on my sin city list. I think the title “pity city” would be more apt. It is worth a look though, even just to see the hotels.

The next morning I took a ride to see the creation of Mr Frank Crow, the Hoover dam. What a sight, It’s humongous. From here I rode out onto route 66 towards the grand canyon. it’s true what the Orb says in the song “fluffy clouds” the Arizona sky’s do go on forever with pinks and blues and all the colors of the rainbow mixed throughout. I was stopped in my tracks by one giant storm but I’m held up in one funky motel in one funky little town.

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I set some GPS co-ordinites into my phone , went and picked up my bike and headed off exploring the parts of the city I hadn’t seen. Its much easier on a bike then them cable cars. I was riding through the SF hills enjoying the scenery when suddenly I noticed that I was completly in the air, just like them old cop movies I had taken off whilst riding down hill. It was a welcome and unexpected suprise. It happened about 5 more times throughout the morning, all expected though.I could have spent the day ramping into the air but I though I’d better not push my luck. There’s cops everywhere there.
After the exploring I went back to my hotel and loaded the bike before heading to Yosemite national park. As soon as I got outside the city tempetures sored almost reaching 40 degrees celcis. I made it to the park in about 2 hours and the road started to climb and climb and climb. I had just packed away all my winter gear to the bottom of my panniers too. As I reached an altitude of about 3000 meter’s the temp plummited to 11 deg. I really got to start to pay attention to where I’m going, thats twice winter’s snuck back up on me and it aint happening again. The road through the park was fantastic all the same, I didn’t see any bears but I did see a Suzuki gsxr about 5 feet up a tree. The rider was being attended to by an Ambulance and looked, well looked alive. I was able to slip past the traffic and accelerate once more. I ended up in a town called Bishop for the night. Tomorrow it’s off to Vegas.

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After stuffing my hair with as many flowers as I could, I took a cable car around this beautiful city. I had no idea where it was going but it got me there no worries. I seen the sites, well some of them anyhow, I’m still legally trying to get to Alcatraz. The next morning I headed to the BMW bike shop to get myself a new airflow jacket. It’s probably a good thing I lost the other one as this one is much more suited to the hotter weather. Then it was time for a ride to the Avenue of the Giants, a mere 400kms. The giant redwoods up there have to be seen to be believed, there the biggest living things on earth some of which are over 100 meters tall and 2200 years old. There was one that fell over ( I don’t know if it made a noise ) that was calculated to be over 3200 years old and had a diameter of 52 feet. I felt compelled to hug some and ended up spending the night camping amongst them. I cooked up some Punjabi eggplant on my camp fire and had a great feast with my new ancient friends.
Next morning after packing up it was time to ride back down along the coast on highway one. What a ride, defiantly amongst my top five. From a town called Legget to a town called Fort Brag ( I know I laughed too ) has to be one of the worlds most twisted roads . It winds on through the mountains for an hour. When it was over I wanted to remove all my gear and do it all again only I had gotten bitten right on the nipple by something along the way and it was hurting like hell. It left no mark only a lot of pain which is still there.
Well after hours of fun riding along the coast in the fog which was surprisingly cold I arrived back in San Fran. It was a good job that the road twisted all over, the only thing keeping me warm was throwing the bike into the corners at speed. I even worked up a sweat. I finally got myself a room and had a great nights sleep. My bike’s gone in for a service today so I’ve been riding the cable cars again. Tomorrow it’s off to Death Valley and whatever the road throws up.
PS: I cant up date my maps page at the moment.

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I packed up my tent, what was left of my sanity and hit the dust for the long arduousness journey back to civilisation. My destination, a hotel and a bath tub, any hotel, any bath tub in any direction. The ride took me through the Sierra Nevada mountains to Lake Tahoe. It was a fantastic ride but I hated almost all of it. I got a hotel with a pool and through myself in, soon afterwards everyone else got out, I was covered in enough dirt and dust to change the water colour. I spent the rest of the evening washing the dust from everything that belongs to me except for my motorcycle jacket that must have decided it liked Burning Man so much it wanted to stay. It’s alright though my helmet cam is in the pocket to keep it company. It must have fallen off the back of the bike as I made my escape through the desert. It’s quiet an essential part of my kit so I’ve come to San Francisco for a replacement. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to put some flowers in my hair.

Leaving Reno after stocking up on supply’s I headed about 200km into the black rock desert. A city is created in the middle of nowhere for a week then removed as if it were never there. This year there were 50,000 lunatics at Burning man. The centre piece consists of a 5 story tall man that’s set alight on the Saturday. There’s also a temple that’s burnt along with art that’s being lovingly created. I arrived at the gate and was immediately  set upon and hugged by three topless women and that’s all I’m going to say about burning man.

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I spent a few days with my buddy Tom in Nelson BC, I think I needed a rest. It’s only been just over 2 weeks and I’ve put almost seven thousand km’s on the bike. We hiked a mountain, dank some beers and eat lots. It was a nice break, Thanks for your hospitality Tom and thanks to Heather and Trent for being my tour guides.
I left Nelson on wed morning heading state side, a ride that would take me through Washington and Idaho to Oregon . It was a nice ride, nice and confusing. I rode through wheat fields for about two hundred km’s, fascinating. I hope I never see wheat again. At one stage I was riding downhill for over one hundred km’s through some mountains. Nothing unusual about this except for the river that was running along side the road. This river varied from about 5 to 15 meters below the road side along the way, the strange thing is this river was flowing the opposite direction, uphill the whole way .I parked up in a motel in Ontario Oregon for the night. I’m still confused .
The next days ride was to Reno Nevada, A ride mostly through deserts so not much to report. I managed to get a ticket for Burning man which is on in the Blackrock desert so I’m heading out there for a few days of mayhem. I’ll be out of touch for a while…