Well, I have my bike & I've got most of my gear. Things are really starting to look positive on my travel plans for 2018! Last Friday I took the new motorcycle on a long break in ride from Buffalo NY to the Pennsylvania border. For the most part the little bike did great. I spent close to 6 hours in the seat, and it gave me a lot of time to think about my travel plans for the summer.
Although I enjoyed the 6 hour round trip ride from Buffalo to the Pennsylvania border, my first realization came when I woke the following morning. Every muscle in my body ached. From my head to toe The Dood ached all over. With it being a new bike I suppose my body will need some time to adjust to it. My main concern however was my sore behind! I really wasn't very comfortable sitting on the bike the following day. That could pose a real problem on a trip that could take several days to several weeks. Frankly I could barely sit on it the following day!
With that being said, I'm really excited to get out on the road and see what both my body and the bike can handle. With it being such a small engine, I'm interested to see how it responds to some longer trips. I already have 3 mini vacations planned over the next 3 months and a couple smaller local adventures too. I'll use these as tests to see how the bike responds to long distance rides, and also how my body responds to the road as well. I'll be able to test my gear, see if I need anything more, and get comfortable using the tools and equipment I've purchased already.
As far as the reality of a cross country trip, I think it depends on several factors:
A) My bike - How will it respond to long distance rides. I'll have to decide if the little Honda clone can handle several days of constant riding, and long miles at higher RPM's.
B) My body - How will it respond to long distance riding for several days in a row .
C) Finances - If the crypto market remains bearish a month long vacation may not be the wisest use of funds at this time.
Although a cross country ride is still the goal, I've already decided on several possible alternatives.
With the engine of my new bike being small, I may load the bike into a U-haul or rent a pick-up truck and haul the bike down to Colorado then start my ride from there. This would lower the harsh treatment of the small engine considerably and might be a really smart thing to do. There's also an alternative I've read about where you can buy an Amtrak train ticket and load the motorcycle into a shipping compartment on the train. Definitely another consideration.
I'm also considering breaking the vacation up into two trips. I'm considering doing Colorado and Utah in one trip in September, then maybe Pacific Coast Highway come April of 2019!
Anyway, the great news is summer is here! I've got my bike and my gear. I'm really looking forward to doing some traveling this summer and seeing exactly what I can handle as far as endurance riding. I should be taking my first smaller trip in the next couple weeks. I'll keep you all posted, and make sure to upload some videos to D.Tube and post lots of pictures here on Steemit. Thanks for reading, and thanks for choosing to share your time on Steemit with The Dood! Safe travels and happy trails everyone!
