And we're off

I can hardly believe that the trip has already begun.

I can hardly believe how tired I am.. The hours were long (from 1:30 PM to 7:00 PM), but with an extremely low mileage (285 KMs)

For tonight I'm in Windsor staying with an old friend University. When I got to town, I was to send a text and await further instructions. I was directed to the corner of Riverside and Glengarry. Turns out, that the Casino... :)

Before I left I enabled the SPOT messenger, so you can follow my progress on a map here

We had a nice little send off at the building this afternoon. I left with an escort from 3 other riders, Charles, Ben and Case. Charles and Ben rode down from Ajax to be a part of the send off. They rode with me until Burlington. Case lives in my building, but couldn't stay long with us. He peeled himeself out of the pack while we were still in Toronto.

Between the biker escort and having Dian film the whole send-off on her camera ... I fell like I'm starring in my own little reality show ...

I didn't take an photos today, but *may* have some video worth posting. I feel a little silly because in all the commotion of actually loading all the gear onto 'becca, I forgot to actually turn on my head-mounted Contour HD video camera. I flicked the switch to Record, but you've got to have the device powered on in the first place .. Doh!!

I rode through some lovely twisties in the Russell Woods / Lakeshore area along the coast of Lake St. Clair, before Highway 2 comes south to meet the 401.

The day ended with a peaceful ride into Windsor. They have such a simple, and beautiful waterfront.

Thecla and Rebecca

My first hostess for the trip was a friend Thecla from my days at the University of Windsor

A road warrior's desk and essentials

Chicago-bound

Wrenching

Spent the whole of Saturday with Willys (Jonathan) from KLR650.net
I initially came to him help with the doohickey. He taught me a LOT about my bike that day.

Mods include:

• Eagle Mike Doohickey (good thing, the spring was ALREADY broken when we checked!)
• 22-cent carburetor mod
• Removed side-stand kill switch
• Added Stebel Compact Air Horn
• Drill out airbox

Shot Ahoy

In my world, the surest way to make certain something bad happens is avoid preparing for it.

In my work as a software developer I see it all the time with our product testers. It seems that no matter how many test cases I put into a given piece of code, our testers will find some weird combination of button presses, strange data and magic spells that will cause the code to break in ways we developers never dreamed of.

So in trying to avoid being similarly surprised while on the road these next few months, I went to a local travel clinic  to get all my shots.

Actually, from reading country reports on the government web sites [link], the only serious health risk could potentially be Yellow Fever in southern Venezuela.

So, then why did I walk out of the clinic $500 poorer, with prescriptions for another $140?

My upper arms still ache as I type this 2 days later. I got shots for Hepatitis A/B, tetanus/whooping cough, and of course, Yellow Fever.

I guess there's no harm in being prepared :) Not that I want to get these diseases :)

T-10 and counting...

I should be writing all kinds of exciting blog entries right now detailing the preparation process I'm going through. Yeah, well, here's the sum of what all those posts would essentially say ...

"Arrrrghhhhh! So much to do -- so little time."

Will be doing the last of the major bike modifications this Saturday up in Pefferlaw, ON with the help of a fellow rider I met online on the KLR650.net forums.

This will follow up on the new tyres I bought from A Vicious Cycle, and had installed my Jim down in Plattsville, ON

More farkling

The plan for today's wrenching session was simple - find and fix the cause of my loss of both my headlight's low beam, and the heated hand grips.

Sadly, I could not solve those mysteries.

After months of looking at the Stebel Compact air horn sitting on my coffee table, I finally decided to install it today.

Along with 1-1/2" handlebar risers, and a 12-volt "cigarette lighter" socket.

All went along relatively smoothly, once I figured out the placement of the horn. [picture]

As part of the installation process, I had to remove the gas tank. The tube that runs under the seat to vent the tank was missing! I must have forgotten to re-attach it after the last repair. Add 1 2-foot length of rubber hose to my packing list.

But, by far, the biggest problem I ran into was finding that one of the sub-frame bolts was broken. The bolt had sheared off an was sitting loosely in place. I have no idea how long that's been broken.

So, what you ask, is a sub-frame bolt? It basically acts as the upper hinge that allows the rear of the bike to swing up and down. All the weight of the passengers and gear ride on the pair of sub-frame bolts that lie under the seat.

I've found exactly the piece I need, online at Dual Sport Plus. And it's a long enough bolt to pass through the crash bars I installed. Let's hope I can get them shipped to me quickly.

Posted by Darren

Four weeks to go!

I'll be leaving exactly 4 weeks from today, and as you can probably imagine, things are getting quite interesting around here.

1. Route planned? As far as Texas.
2. Bike prepared? Almost.
3. Work lined up? Maybe.
4. Riding Gear ready. Yes.
5. Camping gear ready. Almost -- still need a groundsheet.
6. Personal supplies. Yes.
7. Client projects complete. One left to go.
8. Kids Can Solve project re-launched? Not yet.
9. Enough money saved. Yeah... as if!

A purpose!

I've been struggling with this nagging feeling that I need to make Goin' Toco a little less self-indulgent, and more about ... something.

Well, I'm so pleased to announce that the Power Project has been reborn as Kids Can Solve, and this trip will now be dedicated to making that project a success!

I think we now have a clear formula for success, and very importantly, a solid plan for letting others help in this success.

More news in a bit..


A luta continua..