We decided to leave in August. A late June departure would have been warmer, drier, and offered more hours of daylight but work schedules prevented that choice. A perk was that it was a slower time of year for tourism and we could expect lower prices and lighter crowds.
As many as five others talked about joining us, but life, jobs, and family demands dwindled the numbers to Mike and I. With only two months to go, we were caribou in the headlights. Two tiny dots against the entire landmass of Alaska. Trying to plan felt overwhelming. Neither of us had even camped on motorcycles and although we talked about doing a quick camping run, it never happened. Going into the final weeks the only solid thing written on our plan was “Go to Alaska on Motorcycles.”
As the summer rolled on, I wished the departure was further out. Harvey …show more content…
I removed the tire, remounted, and tried different techniques. I dribbled it around the sidewalk, heated it with a hair dryer, and let it sit in the sun. I mounted it on my bike, against my wife’s advice, and drove around slowly to see if that would snap the last bit onto the rim. Nothing worked.
With two precious days wasted on a three-hour job, I collapsed Sunday night dejected. Not only was I unable to change a tire, which was important for the trip, my bike was unridable. And on top of everything, I had a long list of unfinished tasks what were supposed to be completed over the lost weekend.
On Monday I gave up and took it to Les Schwab. It didn’t even take sixty seconds for them to set it. For free. What had I done wrong? More than spending the whole weekend working on my bike, I was concerned about getting a flat tire out in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. If I couldn’t change a tire with my air compressor, garage tools, and YouTube videos handy, how did I expect to do it out in the grizzly infested wilderness? Especially because a flat tire was the number one mechanical problem we could
As many as five others talked about joining us, but life, jobs, and family demands dwindled the numbers to Mike and I. With only two months to go, we were caribou in the headlights. Two tiny dots against the entire landmass of Alaska. Trying to plan felt overwhelming. Neither of us had even camped on motorcycles and although we talked about doing a quick camping run, it never happened. Going into the final weeks the only solid thing written on our plan was “Go to Alaska on Motorcycles.”
As the summer rolled on, I wished the departure was further out. Harvey …show more content…
I removed the tire, remounted, and tried different techniques. I dribbled it around the sidewalk, heated it with a hair dryer, and let it sit in the sun. I mounted it on my bike, against my wife’s advice, and drove around slowly to see if that would snap the last bit onto the rim. Nothing worked.
With two precious days wasted on a three-hour job, I collapsed Sunday night dejected. Not only was I unable to change a tire, which was important for the trip, my bike was unridable. And on top of everything, I had a long list of unfinished tasks what were supposed to be completed over the lost weekend.
On Monday I gave up and took it to Les Schwab. It didn’t even take sixty seconds for them to set it. For free. What had I done wrong? More than spending the whole weekend working on my bike, I was concerned about getting a flat tire out in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. If I couldn’t change a tire with my air compressor, garage tools, and YouTube videos handy, how did I expect to do it out in the grizzly infested wilderness? Especially because a flat tire was the number one mechanical problem we could