The Journey, Day Two, June 30th, 2013 - Crossing the border.

I was able to sleep in a little this morning, 8:00am. The first thing I did was head down to the Hotel Lobby for some complementary breakfast.

 

After breakfast I loaded up the bike.   That takes me about 15min to do. I then set out for the border. 

A quick time lapse video is coming - Taking a long time to render the 6082 photos that will make up the 3min video. 

(Update) My poor laptop did not have what it takes,  so the video is going to have to wait till I get back.  Here are a few key frames.

 (End Update)

 

In line at the border crossing.  As soon as I set foot in Canada, the GPS said "Off Road",  my track phone also said,  sorry buddy,  emergency calls only. My bike did not let me down,  Hold down the select button for 2 seconds,  and the display changed to kilometer and KPH.  My money also seams to work well over here.    

 

For lunch,  I stopped at the Boat House and met a few new friends. Most of them were from the Burlington/Hamilton area of Ontario enjoying a nice Sunday ride.

Lunch was a turkey wrap with feta cheese and a salad. 

After lunch I headed up to Saint Catharines to check into my hotel.  Got settles and then headed back to Niagara Falls for some night shots of the falls.

Did someone say C A N A D A     D A Y.......
Yup,  I did it again.  Monday is Canada Day, their independence day from the British. They took a little longer then us,  Canada got their independence on July 1, 1876.  99 years, 362 days after us,  plus or minus a day or two for leap years and math errors.

So just like in the states,  everyone and their brother comes out for Canada Day Fireworks,  which were tonight.

Needless to say,  I never really was able to get the pictures of the falls I wanted to.  Way to many people for a tripod,  and it was next to impossible to get a good view of the falls with the sea of people.

So all of these are hand help and high ISO,  so their not the best.  But I still had a good time and it will give me an excuse to bring the family back here someday.

 

A little music anyone.

 just before the fireworks started,  I was able to squeeze up to the rail to get one shot of the falls.

 Fireworks over the falls

 If the place was not so crowed,  I would have taking the ride to the top.  Next time.

Once the fireworks were over,  I walked back to the parking area.  Oh boy,  this is going to be a while.  I took my time getting ready,  then just watched the cars for a couple of hours.  When I finally started the bike,  it took me an hour to get out of traffic.  Once out,  I was back at the hotel in less then 15min.

Tomorrow I head up to Owen Sound.  It's only about 3 hours from here.  Then on Tuesday,  the big travel starts.

See ya tomorrow.

Don't forget, you still have time to sponsor me and help me fund the cure.   Less then 2000 to go to I reach my goal.  Any amount would help.

Thanks,
Duane

The Journey Begins - June 29th.

The family got off to a late start today.  Guess we were out to late last night.  :)  Started the day at the 44 diner with the family for breakfast.  The kids and Mom all had waffles and I had 2 eggs, home fries, and Canadian bacon.

We got back to the house about 10:45,  I did some final packing, turned on the helmet-cam and then started up the bike.

 My official send off from the family -

 

Heading out the driveway.

 

Bye - See ya all soon.

 

Out on to the open road.

 

A quick stop at Prestige Auto (shameless plug) to top off the tank and say hello to Larry and then off I go.

 Since I got a bit of a late start,  I headed down 9D to 84,  then out 84 to 17K then out 17 to make up a little.   Here's today's route.   A total of 284 miles today and I averaged 46 mpg.

I stopped in Roscoe NY for lunch at the Roscoe Diner.  Turkey on rye with pesto/mayo and a diet Pepsi.  May have been the other brand,  but I'll say Pepsi anywho. 

Hit a couple of good storms,  but each only lasted about 30min.  My next stop was in Montour Falls,  the southern gateway to the finger lakes.  Actually got a 30 min history lesson about the town while parked in front of the village hall.

From there I went to......

Well,  I let this guy tell you.

 

  Did that really all fix on the bike.   Yikes!

That's the end of day one of the journey.  It's 1:45am and I need to get some sleep.  Tomorrow off to the falls and then into Canada.   Should be an easy day.

See ya,

Duane

 

Thank you all for coming out to the "Bon Voyage" send off.

Thanks everyone for coming to the "Bon Voyage" send off.  Sorry I did not have more time to talk with each of you.  I do appreciate you all taking the time to stop out and help me support JDF.  We raised an additional $340.00 tonight.  That's Awesome!

That brings my fund raising total to $3130, 63% of my goal. 

 Tomorrow I will start my day by having  breakfast at the local diner with the family, then mount up and set out on my journey.  

Please help me reach 100% of my goal.

Magnets and Stickers -

The folks at JDRF sent me a little care package to help me promote my trip, shirts, sports bottle.  They are a great team of folks to work with.  Today in the mail I got the finishing touches for the bike, magnets and stickers.  They are the perfect finishing touch. 

   

  

Locked and Loaded - or is it Loaded and Locked

I'll start with the weather - Looks like I may do ok. The storm is moving north east very slowly and I should just catch a bunch of isolated storms here and there.  By Sunday,  I think it will have moved enough north that I'll be south of it.

 The bike is packed and ready to go.  I took it for a short test drive at lunch today and everything went perfect.  Nothing is loose,  nothing flopping in the wind,  and the bags make a nice back rest.

 

 

Tonight is the Bon Voyage party and then tomorrow AM I am off.   Hope to see ya tonight. 

Duane

May be a Wet Start on Saturday.

What do they say when it rains on your wedding....  Well, let hope the same is true for a Motorcycle trip. 

I have been watching this storm for 10 days.  It's the same one the was stalled over MN and dumpped a ton of water and wind.  It looks like it will be visiting Poughkeepsie on Saturday.

The good news is everything to the west looks clear for the next week or two.  So it may be a wet start, but then the sun will come out and shine.

I have also been watching the temps at intellicast,  and it looks like most of my trip will be between 75 and 90, sweet. I not a big fan of heat.  Another reason for picking the northern route.

Duane 

Camera, Video, lights, what to bring.

Those of you who know me, know I can't spell, I love music and photography is a little more then a hobby for me.  The spelling part,  well, I'll do the best I can while blogging and hope spell check can decipher what I type.  Music,  Apple made that easy.  My entire studio can just about fit in a mac laptop. Maybe I'll get one of those roll out midi keyboards and play on the trip.  However, when it comes to Photography, and packing for that cross country trip,  I was lost.   

One camera,  two camera's, three camera's?  How many lenses should I bring.  What about video, that could be fun.  After months of thinking,  playing,  experimenting and watching a million youtube videos,  I finally made my decision.

Camera,  I am not bringing my best camera.  It's heavy, it's expensive, and it's,  well,  heavy.  I'm also not going to bring my smallest DSLR.  It's does not do well in low light.  So I settled in the middle, I bringing my Nikon D7000.  It does fair in low light, it's small,  and it has video.   BOOM - ALL THREE in one shot.

Next comes lenses.  I got primes, wide, tele, fast, and even a bunch of older manual lenses.  But  space on the bike is limited,  so I am in the same situation as with the camera.  I settled again on something in the middle.  It's light, f3.5 - 5.6,  so it's not that fast,  but it has an 18mm to 200mm zoom.  The images are average, but again,  it does it all, it's small, and light.

For backup and portability,  I also have packed my Cannon S95.  Fits in a pocket and takes good pictures.

Video,  ok,  I may have gone a little overboard in this department.  I packed two white Gopro's and a Sony HDR-AS15.  I also have a large assortment of mounts and little tripods.  The G2 hat is also a mount,  "hat-cam".  So why so many.

The plan is to put one Gopro on the helmet and have it snap a shot every 2 seconds.  I'll then turn the stills into a time laps video.  Six hours of riding will be reduced to a 12 min video.

The second Gopro will be used for video of what ever captures my eye at the time.   Both of the gopro's have water proof cases.

The Sony will be mainly on the "hat-cam", walking around, seeing the sights and maybe even some interviews with some locals.

The red radio is a weather radio,  that may come in handy, or it may be just one more thing to carry.  Not sure how that will work out.

Last are the chargers for all the different batteries. Why can't their be just one battery that does it all :( .

I also have a light stand attached to my bike that I will use for a tripod.  Light stands are WAY lighter then tripods. And also a lot smaller most of the time.  Not the kind of thing you want to use in the wind.

Oh, the furry little thing that looks like a cat toy,   external microphone for outdoors,  cuts down on wind noise.

That's it for today,  3 days to go to the journey begins.

Duane

"Bon Voyage" Party this Friday - Stop on out for a night of friends, music and food.

Come on out and say "Bon Voyage" this Friday as I head out on my solo motorcycle trip across America to raise funds and awareness for Type 1 Diabetes. Dinner 5:30 - 8:00, Live music 7:30 to 10:30pm.

No cover charge after 8:00pm. Hope to see you there.




Friday June 28th. 5:30 - 10:30pm.

If you plan on stopping out for dinner, you, you may want to call "The Italian Center" and reserve a spot.

227 Mill Street Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Phone: 845.454.1492 Fax: 845.452.8720

Packing

Since I ride fully armored,  I really only need socks, underwear and shorts for most of the trip.  So, all I am really packing is socks, underwear, shorts and a few shirts.

To keep cool,  I decided to get a couple of football jerseys for under my jacket, and some mesh shorts.   In the event it gets a little chilly,  I do have one set of jeans.  I'll also have two sets of riding gear.  One set for the hot days, armored mesh,  and the other armored, waterproof,  with liners for temps down to the low 40's.  So I should be good in just about any situation from wet rain in the 40's to scorching sun in the 100's.

Since no one can pack like the folks at Hanes and Fruit of the Loom, I just put the entire package right in the duffel bag.  To keep the duffel dry, I have the bright orange water tight over-bag.

 Without much clothing, I have lots of room for the medication.  I'm covered from to much fiber, not enough fiber, to much acid, rashes, chafing, burns, bug bites, headaches, and just about anything else that might crop up.  Since I am spending 6 hours or more a day in the seat,  I even dropped in a pack of Tucks and Butt Cream (Wimp).  To keep Mom happy,  I got refills on all my Asthma medication.  

 Of course,  the most important things in my bag are my maps.  Highlighted routes,  little houses drawn where I plan on sleeping, and Circles and X's of places  I want to visit.  A GPS is fine if you want to get from point A to point B in a hurry,  but they are just about useless if you really want to take the scenic route.  Nothing beats a good old map for that.  Of course,  I am bringing the GPS (wimp) just in case (and the iPad, and the kindle, and the laptop).

 

I have a second duffel bag for my riding gear and sleeping bad.  I'll also be strapping a small tent to the back of the bike.  I figure if I need anything else,  their has to be a Kmart or Walmart within a 100 miles, or a Tractor Supply Company.  Ah,  I love the Tractor Supply.

I'm at the 10 day count down, so I am really getting excited about the trip.  I'm putting together a little  "Bon Voyage" party for Friday,  June 28th. in Poughkeepsie, so you all will be invited.  Check back for details. 

If you have not done so and would like to,  you can   S P O N S O R    M E   and help fund the cure....

Duane

Why are you doing this?

 

People ask me, “What made you want to do this?”   It started with a blog post on Strobist.com,  September 26, 2011, about photographer Bjorn Holland. http://strobist.blogspot.com/2011/09/bjorn-stopped-by-house-on-way-home.html

STROBIST, is one of my favorite photography blogs.  It was started by David Hobby back in 2006,  a mild mannered photojournalist with the Baltimore Sun at the time who wanted to share his ideas about off camera flash (Strobes).  David has since become an international photo geek “Megastar” creating classes, seminars, excellent instructional videos, and the avid Blogger of the STROBIST.  

Some how reading that single blog entry planted the seed that launched me into planning this trip. But that’s only part of the story. 

More of the story:  In August of 2009 I lost my good friend Jay McCarty.  From the day he got his motorcycle he road it everywhere. One night, on the way home from a friends house, Jay will hit and killed by a drunk driver.  However, that night, Jay was not on his motorcycle, he was on a bicycle.   I can hear Jay now,  “A BICYCLE, are you kidding me!”

That same year, I lost two other good friends, one to cancer and the other to suicide.          

Life was passing fast and I had a long bucket list:   

Loosing three friends, about to turn 50, and a newly found interest in Motorcycles, it was inedible - I was going to have to ride, photograph, and ride some more.  I was going to ride across America and see it one town at a time. No interstates, no cages, just me, the road, and my camera. 

Now What:

The first step was deciding which route to take.  I have been to all of the eastern states from Maine to Florida.  (Stopped in Georgia for a Ham, Egg and Cheese on a hard roll) I have been to many of the southern states, TX, AZ, TN, AR, and California. The middle of the country looked interesting, but there have been so many movies, books and stories about it, I decided it’s been done, done and done again. That left the northern route.  Mt. Rushmore, Devils Tower, Yellowstone, and the Pacific North West, one of my favorite places.   

I added Canada to the route on the advise of some folks at work.  And since I been to all of the states between NY and MN, I decided to go over the top of the Great Lakes and learn to say Eh.

Family:

Once I had my route picked out, I needed to find a way to convince the family this was ok for me to do.   The original plan was to fly them all out to Washington and meet them there for a vacation.  That did not go over well. It also meant I would have to be out of work for a month. That’s when I decided to make it a fundraiser. That way, it was less selfish. (Keep saying it,  you start to believe it).

Why JDRF:

Next I had to decide how to make it happen.  I volunteer my time for Dutchess ARC, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and JDRF in the form of photographic services - http://duanebeyer.zenfolio.com/events

All of these are great causes, but I needed to pick one.  After reviewing them all,  I found that JDRF had the best program for creating a individual fund raiser event that met my needs and requirements (easy to setup).  It's also the one that hits closet to home for our family, Dutchess ARC comes in a very close second.

So there you have it.  That’s my story and I’m,  well…   you know.

Thanks for reading,

Duane

Ready, Aim, Fire........

Prepare torpedo tube one.        F I R E.......

  
Well not really.  But I did find these great tubes canisters that I mounted below the side cases to carry small stuff.  Since they are so low,  they are also a great place to put heavy stuff to keep the center of gravity down a bit.   But it would be kind of cool if they could fire torpedo's at that tailgating idiot talking on their cell phone behind me.


My Banner arrived today.  I'll be hanging this on the side of the bike as I make my way across America.  If I was really adventurous,  I would tow it behind me like the air planes do at the beach.  But I'm not sure the local authorities will appreciate my fund raising tactics.  

 

I think the bike is as ready as it will ever be.  I have put some locktight on most of the bolts that I have been playing with.  And some silicone in places I want to keep water out of.  

Oh,  and the new lights.  No picture can do them justice,  but I could light up a football field with these.  They are just awesome.....

 Next post,  Treats, Drinks and "Look Ma,  No Hands"......

See ya all soon. 

Duane