Nor Much in Colorado!

Well, Ive decided not to repeat the line I took through the USA the last time I rode South. Last time, I went through the very impressive "painted desert" of Utah with all the parks like Arches, Zion, Canyonlands, Bryces Gorge, and Monument Valley etc.

But Ive seen that area and Ive decided to see what else there is out here...
Took a line due South through Colorado toward Sata-Fe.

The first bit of the ride along the I-70 toward Denver was quite nice, and then very nice for about 25Km as the highway runs through the steep cliffs of Glenwood Canyon. Its really beautiful and the highway has a quite aesthetic "split-level" structure. It winds through the canyon along with a railway, a cycle way, and of course the river that created the canyon.
It would have been better to be a passenger though since there is a lot going on with the other traffic, and narrow lanes and tunnels and cliffs and rapids etc.... just a bit too much to really enjoy it.

But, if you ever come this way, then its well worth seeing.

Other than that, I have to say that the Rockies of Colorado are not that impressive to me. The Canadian Rockies are much more aesthetic to my eye (especially the glacier parkway).
My route here was selected at random and no doubt there are better choices. The route is however quite high with long distances above the 3000m height. The country looks quite like Montana to me with grassy valleys and friendly looking small mountains on either side... nice country.

That height does effect the temperature though... "There's Cold in them thar hills!"
Which is to say, I spent quite a bit of last night huddled in my tent, and there was frost on the bike this morning...

Good job Im heading further South!

Not a Lot in Wyoming.

Ive been riding more or less West for a couple of days now and there aint that much here!

Most of that time has been in Wyoming and its big and empty.
I have noticed a couple of things of interest though:

1) There are quite a lot of sheep being raised/farmed in the USA these days.
I am a bit surprised at this since its the first time Ive really noticed it. In the past I have been through these areas before and pretty much all Ive seen is cattle ranching. This trip however I have seen quite a few flocks in Oregon, Wyoming, and now in Colorado too. Either the Americans are getting to like Lamb in their diets, or the sheep are being exported to the Middle East (where most Australian sheep export goes I believe). Anyways, its not what I was expecting.

2) There is a lot of oil production here in southern Wyoming and northern Colorado. In some places the oil wells are almost as far as the eye can see. They usually consist of a couple of large oil tanks, a couple of enclosed pumps, and a control box with antennas. They are all automatic and connected up with underground pipes; And on the whole not too obtrusive (painted muted colours to match the earth). In some places they are very dense with wells located every 500m or so on a more or less grid pattern.

Other than that, there is just lotsa Sage brush, lotsa wind (same as last time I rode through), and lots a "pronghorn" antelope around the place (usually in groups of five or six - one male and a few females).

I also happened upon a "rocket display" in northern Utah. There is a very large para-military "compound" out here in the desert near Salt Lake City where apparently most of the solid fuel rockets are made for most of the western world (civilian and military).
This is where they make the rocket boosters for the space shuttle, and where they used to make the less sociable Trident and Minuteman missiles for the US Nuclear arsenals.

I however just stopped by and had a look at their display of old hardware...
They control the thrust from the solid rocket engine by breaking it into four streams and controlling a single axis on each nozzle... they get pitch, yaw, and roll that way... I thought it was quite interesting anyway.

But I am an engineer so not too surprising I guess :)

A Hiccup or Two

I rode East through Oregon.
From the rolling hills with green fields and sheep, into the steep valleys and big Douglass Fir forests of the Cascade mountains, and then up onto the arid plateau of Eastern Oregon which is in fact a real desert... It gets dry fast and the forest changes from Doug Fir to Oregon Pine and then to open Juniper woodland and finally to sagebrush....
The "Bad Lands" as the first Europeans who came from the East on wagons called it. And then I had a bit of a hiccup in the riding when I managed to run completely out of fuel!

I try to get 400Km out of each full tank and I watch carefully where the towns are and how far to the next one. But today, at a junction where I was expecting fuel, I got there and the gas station had been closed and boarded up for several years...
It was 40 miles to the next town, and I only made it 20! (That was however 460Km on the tank). No real problem though, I rolled to a stop at a small side road, locked the bike up and started hitching...
I only had to wait ten minutes before someone gave me a ride to the next town. There, I got about 3litres of gas in an old oil container and set about hitching back to my bike. Again, I only waited another ten minutes by the road and got a ride back. No Problem :)))
Then I was on my way on the bike again.

Then I camped behind someones hay bales in a pull-out for the night...

And there was another slight hiccup with that too!
I was roused the next morning by a half dozen "cowboys" who wanted to run a few hundred head of cattle through the spot where I had camped...
So, I packed up very quickly and got out of their way. It was then 7am and I rode off to get breakfast at the next town and see if I could find a public library to post some blog entries.

It seems you can still hitch hike safely and effectively in at least some parts of America :)))

Me and a Small Truck

Yesterday I just rode south through Washington state and into the middle of Oregon.
I stopped there because on the "Burning Man" trip, I saw a little old 4WD truck that I really liked the look of.

Ive been thinking about getting one for several years but just havent got around to it - mostly because there are virtually none of this particular truck for sale in BC.
At the moment, Im traveling and I certainly dont need a truck, so I dont know what I was thinking but I wanted to go have another look at it. The little truck is a 1972 Ford Bronco and is owned by a really nice guy named Royce in the tiny little town of Tangent in Oregon. On the ride to burning man, I was tired of driving on the big I5 freeway, so I just turned off and took some side roads. Within 20min of leaving the freeway I saw the little truck parked in his front yard and some guys chatting there. I decided to stop and ask what that sort of truck was worth and where these guys would go to try to find one. It turned out that Royce was aiming to sell this one but had not stuck a sign on it yet. Anyway, we had a good chat about the truck and I left with the intent to keep an eye out for others while I rode so that I could see what was around and what other people wanted for them.

It turned out that I saw only two others and they were in far worse condition than Royce's.
So, Ive been thinking about it for two or three weeks and as I rode South again this time I decided to go have another look at it... I rolled up at Royce's house yesterday evening just as he was getting home from an evening drive in another classic old car (69 Convertible Pontiac Firebird) and we had another chat about his truck...
And, we came to an "arrangement", whereby I will continue on my motorbike odyssey for as long as it takes (about 9-12 months I think) and Royce will keep the truck in his back yard...
And when next I come back to Vancouver I can come back down to Tangent and get the truck and move it to Canada. Then, if Im staying in Van, I can fix it up and use it (Ill be needing a car for the winters), Or, if Im just here for a visit then the truck can wait in the back yard of my house (its survived 30 years outside, so whats a few more!).

Anyway, thats the current plan and it makes me happy regardless of weather it makes sense to others or not. :)


With that plan in place, I set my GPS to plot a course for SantaFe in New Mexico (since I want to visit that state on this trip South) and the set off on the route that the GPS selected...

Rolling Again

Im back on the road again and headed South.

When I started out, I have to admit that I didnt really feel hugely enthused by the prospect of the six months of riding a motorbike, constant road food, and living with absolutely minimal clothing and personal effects, that lays ahead of me.
Its not that surprising really, since I have spent so much of the last two and a half years this way, and Ive also had a very heictic last couple of months of riding as well... I am in fact a bit tired :)

So, when I set out from Vancouver, I was suffering from the "how do you eat an elephant" problem as my good friend Mike would describe it. - Which is to say that I am at the very beginning of a large challenge. And the answer to "how", is that you wont get it done by just sitting there and thinking about the daunting size of your challenge... You will have to start somewhere, and you will then have to just keep going till its done!

So thats what I have done, and now, after two days of riding, Im already back in the "camping and traveling" mind frame, and Im looking forward to the journey again :))

Once More Dear Friends...

... Into the Breach...

Yep, Its time for me to "set sail" again.
Ive been here in Vancouver for a couple of weeks now since the Burning Man trip.
Ive got the bike all fixed up again (brakes are fixed and spare parts are purchased and packed on the bike)
Ive got myself a guide book for South America and a few maps.
Ive replaced my side panniers on the bike with new aluminium ones that are larger and narrower than the old ones.
Ive gone through all my travel stuff again and left some things out and added a few new things.
Ive visited the bank and arranged my monies (actually my debts) so I can get what I need while Im on the road.
Ive visited as many friends as I could...

... and I think thats about it!
The air here is getting cold now even though the sun has been shining beautifuly, and if I hang around much longer, Ill be riding south in the rain... and thats no fun!

So Im hitting the road.

The goal for this "expedition" is a simple one...
To ride to Ushuaia at the very bottom of South America. On the way, Id like to see a few "star attractions" and Id like to see a bit more of Central America - since I breezed through too quickly last time. And thats about it!

I dont have a route planned.
I dont really have a schedule (though I think it will take about nine months),
I think I will be riding back north after I get to Ushuaia but I dont really know.
And I dont even really know what will be the end point of the trip (San Pedro in Guat', or Vancouver Can'?)

But off I go...
... and your welcome to keep reading my blog if it keeps you amused :)

Flying Helicopters

Ive done a bit more looking into flying helicopters for a living.

Bottom line is that it costs about $50,000 and takes about six months to get your commercial pilots license here in Canada.
That gets you 100 hours of flying time in the cheapest helicopter there is, and the opportunity to beg for an entry level job with a company that can afford real, working helicopters.

The work its self is often in remote locations for extended periods (and usually in the mountains as I understand it).
And an entry level job (full time) will earn you a salary of about $50,000 per year (senior jobs pay up to about $100,000 per year).

Employment prospects around here at present are particularly dismal, with the current economic situation, and there are many helicopter pilots with many tens of thousands of hours of flying experience who dont have jobs at present. Im not sure that that is a good reason not to "do it anyway"... its just a current fact.


Not sure where that all leaves me, but Ive now done the minimum basic research... Now I shall think... And ride for a while... And come to some conclusion!

Ashes and Dust

Well, they burned "the man".

Its all over now and the music has stopped and the ashes of the man are being cleaned up. The desert is going back to its usual self... Silence and dust.

note:
In the pictures above, the man is 40 feet tall and is standing on a platform that is about the same height again... Its a big fire :)))

Saturday was a particularly unpleasant day out here in the desert
The wind got strong early in the day, and then got stronger. And that stronger wind raised lots more dust. It was actually quite impressive how much dust there was and that people "carried on" regardless! There was so much dust that I honestly could not see more than 20m at times, and you could see the layer of dust building up on anything or anyone who stood in sheltered spot for even just a few minutes. When I got back to my tent after an hour or two away, absolutely everything had 1mm of dust all over it...Im SOOO glad this is the last day of this :)...

Ive had a really good time, met some great people, seen some amazing creativity... etc.
But, Id have to say that if I were to do it again I would want to be with a group of people and in an RV ... and the irony of that comment is truly sweet given my posts from the Alaska trip :))))) That would be far more social, far more comfortable, and far more fun.
Im glad I went, but I would not do it again in the same style.

And As I said before, it was very impressive to see that many people choosing to live in those very harsh conditions and leaving their inhibitions and prejudices at the gate for a whole week.

Now for the ride back to Vancouver... again :)

Shiny Beads

I dont think humans have evolved much recently... Certainly not in the past few centuries anyway.

Time was, when a bunch of filthy, scurvy ridden, Europeans could sail up to the coast of some "undiscovered" shore and they could more or less get whatever they wanted for the price of just a few shiny beads.

Times have changed to be sure, but the "shiny bead" effect is still well and truly there.
A major part of the Burning Man "scene" involves decking ones self, ones bicycle, and ones vehicle out in as many flashing, sparkling, and glowing items as possible... And, I have to admit, the effect is not lost on me either... Its not just the young kids or the drunk ones or the simple ones... I think it looks great too :)))

Its very mesmerizing to see things twinkling and glowing in the dark... I like it... I want it!

And this effect, has led to the development of a new sport...

"Raver" or "Hippy" Fishing.
What ya do is ya take one of those little glow in the dark "light sticks" (the smaller the better really) and you tie it to the end of a spool of fishing line.
Then you wait till well after dark and you head on out to the playa (Spanish for beach, and its what they call the very large area in the middle of Black Rock City, where the art cars troll around amongst the sculptures).
Then you find somewhere where the party is really happening and everyone is in the "zone"... It usually involves lots of loud "Techno" and "Trance" electronic music, some propane flare machines, and a couple of the larger "mutant vehicles".
Then you activate the light stick, and you cast your line out into a thinner spot in the crowd of ravers (or a bit to the side)...
Then its just like regular fishing... You give your line a tug every now and then, you wait, and sooner or later someone Bites ... and you've caught your self a Raver...

Strictly catch and release though! :))))

City in a Bubble

Thats what seems to be happening here to me.

It seems that people feel they can do things here that they can not do when they are back in their regular lives in the city. True enough, they are effectively not in a public space or on public roads, so a whole bunch of laws no longer apply... I think that basically anything you are legaly allowed to do in your own home, you are allowed to do here too.
But, they are still bound by Federal and State laws, and there are small numbers of official police etc here at the festival and on-duty.

... and what is it that everyone is choosing to do that they would not do in the city?

Well, it seems that for the most part, people are "letting themselves out".
Most prevelantly, that seems to mean wearing silly clothes (definitely frowned upon in society at large, though certainly not illegal). Id guess that maybe 70-80% of people here are "dressed for the occasion".
Or, alternatively, NOT wearing silly clothes - or sensible ones either! :)
Yep, there is a great deal of nudity going on here. Most commonly, the women are going topless (men going "topless" is fine in general society, so I dont count that). Id guess that about 10% of women here are "bare chested", and the percentage is increasing by the day as people "relax" more.
Full male nudity is far less common, but there is still plenty of it about... Maybe 0.5% ?
Initially, this seemed to me to be limited to a couple of types of men... Either the older men who "dont care" what others think (and are perhaps a little "different"?) or younger guys who seem to be "well hung" and were enjoying "sharing" themselves with the world.
Other than that, its the homosexual men that are happiest to "get down to skin". Most of the rest of the men are happiest just wearing shorts, but there are more and more men of all sorts "getting their gear off" as the week progresses too (though still a much lower percentage than women).

For my part, I dont feel that I have any "statement to make" or any urges that need to be satiated and Im staying "utilitarian" :) I wear just shorts in the morning when the sun is not too hot and then a long sleved, loose white shirt when it heats up. I dont know how people are going topless all day... They must be spending their time under shade or they would be ROASTED!
If I were to come back, Id go "bedouin" and wear loose robes... probably in earth colour rather than black though, but like I said, I dont really have any statement to make :)

So, most people seem to find freedom in treating the week as an extended "Haloween dress-up", but there are also a large number of more "repressed" people satiating their expressive "urges" out here.
Top of the list (from my observations) are the Gay and Lesbian communities. Now their life styles are far more accepted in the general community than they have been in the past, but the atmosphere here is still far more "accomodating and accepting" than back in the city, so there are lots of people taking advantage of the setting and enjoying the freedom.
There are also some drugs about, but this is still covered by the state and federal laws and is NOT legal in Nevada (and as I mentioned, state law enforcement is "in town"), so its all pretty low key.
The legal drug of alcahol is also very prevalent but not quite so low key... That said, it is not causing any problems though - As far as I can tell, everyone is staying pretty much "under control" :)

There are lots of "work-shops" being held on all sorts of subjects here, but my take on quite a few of them is that they are "thinly disguised" efforts to "hook-up" for people with all sorts of "sexual preferences"... but nobody is forcing anybody to do anything so its fine by me.
There are also a bunch of very interesting work-shops on all sorts of other interesting topics... and Ive sat in on a few very interesting talks.
And there are also plenty of "help you out" setups around the place, and I found some people to help me work on some minor motorbike repairs too :))

Some of the interesting work-shops are addressing the "big questions" of why we are all here and what it all means...You know, god, and life, and drugs etc... :))
There are plenty of educated people (or at least well contemplated) "holding forth" about their view of "what it all means".
And my take on all that is that everyone is really here looking for "connection" and "validation".
The drugs and the nudity and the "expressionisme" of the clothes and bikes and cars seems to me to really just be about people looking to connect with "kindred spirits"... And, I gotta say, that feels like a pretty "normal" human desire :))

There is a very strong sense of "the Woodstock effect" in the aire hereabouts :)
And Id have to say that people here are far less judgemental than in society at large... I have not seen any violence, or any arguments, or negative interactions, or even of any sort of negative comments from anyone at all!...
Thats impressive, and not at all the way of society at large... and I think thats actually what makes this event so apparently "adictive" for so many people. And, I think thats the "connection" that people are feeling... I think its the "lack of criticisme" that lets people "Bond" much more.
Im sure society at large would be much happier if we could all just let the criticisme go and get on with our own lives...

But the reality is that we cant (or so it seems to me): We are not "responsible" enough to have our own freedoms and not impinge on other peoples... And eventually we have to say, "enough is enough" and out come the negativities in words and actions... (and the truth is of course, that I am no different to anyone else on this point)

And thats my take on Burning Man too...
Its a "bubble" and it has a short life span... It works for a week, but I dont think it would work for two weeks!... People would lose the "suspension of judgement" aspect and I think it would all slide back to normalized society.

But, it does work for a week...
And its an amazing thing, 50,000 people, close together, camping, in 40+ degC heat, and incredibly dusty conditions, without negativity for a whole week!!!

Impressive.