I'm sitting in the hotel room, bored out of my tree.
I figured i'd do something a little different.
It's kinda like a faq, cept no one asked me, and no one really cares. i'm that bored. stuck near an industrial park with nothing nearby, not even coffee. this sucks. might turn to Mr Mist earlier than i thought.
Q) do you get bored travelling alone?
A) no, there's always a stranger that approaches me to chat for a little while. It's amazing how friendly people are when you look like chewbacca and have big stickers on a overloaded yet strange looking bike. I feel like a curiosity, a freak show, sometimes. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I keep a journal, and i write my thoughts.
Q) are you afraid travelling alone?
A) afraid of what? spiders? Travel smart... don't flash money, don't go to bad neighbourhoods, etc.
Q) how do you cope with being alone all the time?
A) it's pretty simple. first you go insane and hide that fact from everyone. luckily i've been doing it for years.
Q) after all that riding in a day, do you get sore?
A) you sit on a vibrator for 10 hours in a day, and tell me how you feel.
Q) any injuries so far on this trip?
A) numerous cuts on the hands, fingers, scrapes on the lets, bruises on forearms and a bump on the head from when the bike fell on me.
Q) what else do you do when you ride?
A) look at scenery and listen to music mostly. I make animal sounds when i pass that type of animal.
Q) what kind of music do you listen to?
A) all kinds of music. It depends on my mood and the road at that time. Slow paced music for long stretches of road, to fast paced when i'm in the twisties...
Q) don't you get tired riding the bike?
A) yes, a few times i almost fell asleep. If you mean tired as in "sick and tired" then no, i could live on it.
Q)What's pissed you off on this trip?
A) i bought beef jerky in Michigan, and a few states over, i noticed something had nibbled through the plastic. Don't know when it was, or what it was and how it got in my bags, but it did. Another thing is that my horn has stopped working on day 2 of the trip.
Q) any breakdowns with the bike?
A) the KLR is a tank. my last mechanic screwed me over, and have had problems with the chain and sprockets. Getting that corrected now i hope (if they can find the parts.
Q) What on the bike have stopped working?
A) Stock parts? headlight. aftermarket? horn.
Q) Any damage to the bike?
A) it's was put down slowly (dropped) 2 times on day 1. it was fully pushed over twice (once wind, once by the pressure washer) and the handguard was cracked. The cage and side cases took all the abuse and it pushed in the rack a little on the right side. no major damage. A third time the bike slipped off the center stand and hit me on the head on the way down. That wasn't fun. Again, the cage and cases took the abuse.
Q) any regrets on this trip?
A) who doesn't have regrets?? I regret not going to monument valley due to weather. I regret spending too much time going down route 66, and regret not doing proper maintenance on the bike. Main reason why i'm stuck in the hotel right now.
Q) How much planning do you do before each day's ride?
A) I don't. I don't even look at the weather anymore. I look outside. If it's cold, i put liners in. If it's wet, i put liners in and put on a rain coat. no use checking the weather as i'm heading in a direction anyhow.
Q) How's your health?
A) Physically,besides bronchitis at the moment and dizzy spells for the last 4 days, i feel just fine. I do have boot feet though, so that's not good. Mentally is another story altogether :)
Q) what do you do when you ride?
A) i ride, listen to music, sing to myself and i think. I think introspectively, retrospectively and prospectively. When i stop writing and i can remember what i was thinking about, it goes in the journal.
Q)Why did you write this NAQ?
A) i'm bored and an attention whore.
Now i'm off to go get coffee. Seems that the nearest AND ONLY starbucks or any sort of coffee is 2.5 miles away. GPS says it'll take me 30 mins to walk there. I think it'll take me an hour. i'm that slow.
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Don't say no one cares...
ReplyDeleteI was actually thinking a couple of days ago about traveling alone, safety, and how it would feel for me, etc. because of your trip. I found your responses interesting. My responses would be far more different than yours in some respects although similar in others. I don't like traveling alone. I like to have someone else around to share the experience, anyone. Having said "anyone", I do mean someone I enjoy being around and not wanting to kill him/her hehehe. I would feel safer traveling with someone else. Of course don't go to bad neighbourhoods, but it's always comforting when there's someone else around if something bad happens, even if they don't say anything. But that's me.
My trip of a lifetime will be in 2012 (that's the plan). Ireland, and not this fly in, stay in a big city for 2 weeks and do jack squat. I mean, travel across it, at least 3 weeks. By car mostly but I'd like to get a bit of equitravel in there to see the countryside since I'll be lighter by then. I figure I'll be alone for that so I've been trying to prepare myself for it. I may hire a driver when I'm there since I'm not too keen about driving on the other side of the road. Technically I wouldn't be alone then either hehehehe.
Enjoy the coffee.
"Q) how do you cope with being alone all the time?
ReplyDeleteA) it's pretty simple. first you go insane and hide that fact from everyone. luckily i've been doing it for years."
I KNEW IT!!!! LOL.....too funny Al...
Luc