The Route So Far By Motorcycle….

Milwaukee now….

The Route

The Journey: Tattered & Torn

Canadian/Alaskan Beauty in Nature

I think I slept 4-5 hours. My Blackberry goes off. My sole means of waking up. I dont like traditional alarm clocks. Their annoying “beep beep beep” drives me insane. Makes me not want to get up at all. I tried to prepare as much as I could for the night travel which honestly was cold and a bit scary. You could literally get murdered and no one would find you but the bears. My mind at this point is thinking clearly although physically i am not all there. My shoulders have severe pain. Doing 100 push-ups solves this. So I do my 100 push-ups in 4 sets of 25 then do some stretching. This followed by some time for meditation. Have to clear the mind of everything. I showered then downed two cans of tuna, a bag of potato chips and a Canada Dry Ginger Ale. How convenient huh? Canada Dry! lol….So the bags are packed, the bike is ready and im full of protein for now to begin this leg of the ride.

Not being sure of what could happen here I decided to wheel the bike into the room just in case someone decided to steal the sucker leaving me stranded. Now that everything is packed up and I have gone through my checklist making sure nothing is forgotten, I grab my heavy jacket, helmet(still cracked but fixed up with some bond shit to keep it from cracking more), wallet and keys and its time to wheel out the toy. I do a spot check to make sure everything is working. Lights are on and tires are in good enough shape although will need replacing soon. The key is popped in and I turn it. I start her up and nothing. WHAT! I try again….nothing. At this point I am frantic. I have no idea what could have caused this. I check the gas and its full and its not frozen. I check the lines. Nothing frozen. So I checked the oil which was in need of a change. The filter looked bad. So I did the oil change there. Thanks to having a spare filter and oil available! So I try again to start her up and voila, she starts! I dont know much about mechanics but im not going to complain.

Hearing the sound of the engine kick in and revving her up I put on my helmet and it was time to head out. For the first 5 hours I went non-stop. No bathroom breaks or even a breather. Just kept on going. Then as daybreak came I decided to stop to a beautiful sunrise. Another moment to bask in the beauty of nature. I had some oatmeal for breakfast. Thanks to quick and easy ways to fire it up and heat up some water it was a delicious meal accompanied by a banana. Being that there is nothing out around here and I was parked on the side of the road away from any oncoming traffic, as if there was really going to be any. i laid down for about 15 minutes in the grass. It was soft and you could just smell nature. Looking up into the sky I imagined back to when I was a child doing this exact same thing and wondering where I would be the next time I did this. Already well past Whitehorse I had to get back up again and remember that even after a nice short break, its time to become a traveler again.

My shoulders were once again killing me and I had began to get a headache. I took a few aleve and downed 24 ounces of water. I was thinking that maybe I should listen to some music. First I thought nah…..Then a few miles down the road…really more like 25 or so, I decided to listen to my favorite travel music. A mixture of RUSH and Frederic Chopin. Yes I know I am weird. Its amazing how fast my headache went away after taking the Aleve and listening to Chopin’s Grande Valse Brilliante and Tristesse aka Etude in E. My favorite key on piano is C# Minor. I dont know why but I love that key. Nocturne #7 and 20 or Impromtu in C# Minor; all some of my favorites.

Mentally I am beginning to wear down. Im thinking I should just STOP and get more rest. That is stay the night somewhere else. Maybe Prince Rupert. Wrong….I didnt. So not only am I getting hungry again but I am also pushing myself too far. Knowing its time to stop I dont. I am fucking up here. Although I see it more as a test of endurance and mental strength I started thinking this was just plain stupid and idiotic of me. So what do I do? I continue on! What, did you think I was going to stop? I did to rest again but thats it. My goal was to make it to Seattle before Midnight. I fell short of that goal because I was too tired to go on. I felt disappointed because I did not make it. Then again I felt relieved that I gave myself a break for the night. Hence me sitting here typing this in a nice cozy cold room!! YAY! I am a bit disgusted in myself for rushing. There was no need to but I saw it fit to do so. I should have taken my time but I didnt. Next time on this trip as the goal will be Inuvik in August I will take my time because this is supposed to be fun. Am I right? I am not supposed to be rushing myself.

So as this is being typed and about to be published for your reading pleasure, I feel tattered and torn. The Slipknot song has become a reality in my life. In the song you dont really understand whats being said or the music being played. Its just chaos. A slur of vulgarity and disgust. Thats how I feel right now. In the morning I will feel refreshed. I think what I really need right now is a good relaxing bath, a small filling meal and some good ol’ sleep! So with that said, I bid you a goodnight and a good weekend full of fun and…..well whatever you decide to do.

Goodnight….

P.S.
I thought of doing somewhat of a storytelling thing. Recording my thoughts and publishing them here or somewhere online for others to hear. Ive always enjoyed hearing someones life experiences from their own words literally. Maybe I should try this. Not that I would expect many listeners but its a thought. Im not much on vlogging my ugly face. What do you think? Answer if you wish…..