Day 1, Part 1: Early start…then ChapMotor happened

17,788 on the odometer.

Packed and finally heading out.

Wait. Something’s not right in the back. The helmet doesn’t seem to be attached securely. I better stop at Chaparral Motorsports, since it’s on the way

And rain pants. Gotta have rain pants. You never know, a torrential storm can happen, right? Thats right, it isn’t always drought’y here in SoCal.

Rule #1. Never stop at this place early in the morning on the first day of your cross country trip.

This place is so fucking huge, you need a bottle of Gatorade and a Powerbar just to get to the other side. It’s the Cabela’s of the motorcycle world.

I gave myself 30 minutes. That’s it. Not a minute more. Got it?!

Well, as Tiny would say: “When I went to school 30 minutes was one half hour…NOT a full hour!”

Well, I found what I needed. Rain pants and a helmet net. A full hour was needed because there is always the possibility the next isle will have the perfect helmet net…or rain pants.

Wait. Wat? No rain pants in the All Terrain Vehicle section? Well I’ll be damned. Who would’a thunk it.

Aha! The next isle should have helmet nets. I mean what kind of shop doesn’t store helmet nets in the Oakley section?

Ok, I know, back on the road…after I take a picture of the valley hills I’m passing…

…and after a late breakfast at Denny’s.

PS Shout out to all who gave me so much valuable advice on gear, packing, planning, etc.

Last ride with Society of Riders before relocating to Florida

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This is my last weekend in California. What better way to spend it than to ride with my favorite club Society of Riders. Easy ride today, from Simi Valley, to Ojai.

This brings my total to 17,697 so far. The cross country ride is roughly 2,500, so figure I’ll hit 20,000 by the time I hit Florida.

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I’ll be clearing out the garage tomorrow and hopefully getting to sleep early to get a good night’s sleep for the first day of riding on Tuesday.

I know what direction I’m heading, but I’m deciding each daily route the night before. This way I can account for weather.