Bumbling Through Life on a Motorscooter

[NoMoIke]

1/28/13

With rain on the way tomorrow, and my new pal NomadGal heading out I decided that it's time for me to move along. It is a real shame considering that the weekend is over and I would be the only one left in the nearly perfect camping spot that I'd inhabited for the last few days. Really, the only thing that bothers me about this idyllic location are the gnats. For those of you who have never experienced gnats, or no-see-ums, consider yourself lucky. They're tiny, fast moving, biting Beelzebubs. Even with the glorious scenery, relative quiet, white sandy beaches, and (barely) swimmable water temps, the only two characteristics of the gnats that make them tolerable are that their bite only itches a short while, and they're only "sociable" about an hour each in the morning and evening.

With the exception of the first 20 miles, or so, today's ride was a 6 out of 10. The scenery wasn't boring, but I've been staring at a beach for days and its luster has worn a bit. Traffic was lite, but it hardly mattered since you couldn't find a curve with a protractor. On routes like this I usually find a cage that's going a speed I like and pace myself off of it. It makes it easier to enjoy the scenery without having to constantly babysit the speedometer.

 

Spirit and Violet Bearegard from Camera

 

Last Sunset at Blackwater Bay from Camera

 

The Moon from Camera

 

HOOOOOWWWWWWLLLLLLL! from Camera

 

Florida needs lane splitting from Camera

 

Relax from Camera

 

At least I won't make a wrong turn from Camera

 

A last bit of beach for the day from Camera

 

From Camera

 

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[eSTes1300]

Originally Posted by NoMoIke

1/16/13

So far I've managed to pack my towel. As nice as it is, as functional as it is, there are a few more things that I'll need to outfit for a trip with no foreseeable ending. There will surely be occasions where I'll need more than the clothes on my back, not to mention shelter and a computer to write these posts on. At some point the shine may wear off of adding more miles to the odometer, stowing something on which to read a book, headphones and my smartphone are in order. This...and that...and the one thing over there...



When my luggage arrived in five huge boxes last month I was appalled at their cavernous size. Was one really expected to lug around 105 liters of shit on their mind clearing, I'm going to appreciate life again, minimalist adventure? I've spent a lot of time around the Mississippi river and I was sure that the bike was going to handle like so many of the other pontoon boats inchworming along at 14 miles per hour up and down the Big Muddy. Where was I going to come up with a muumuu clad wife and a few li'l Ikes that refuse to take their shirts off to go swimming on short notice?

Today is my wake up call. Shock therapy. A quick bash over the head with a beer bottle to liven up the senses. Maybe my mind saw the luggage as 105 gallons, and maybe the real size is 105 liters, but in practice the capacity actually seems to be 105 cups. Is this the challenge I signed up for? Riding Copper Canyon!...the wilds of Alaska!...126 liters of indispensability in 105 liters of space?

On top of that, I'm positive that I've not accounted for everything that I really will need, and therefore I must leave some contingency space.

...and it must be done in the next 25 hours and 37 minutes.

105L is not a lot of stuff when you're camping, cooking, tools and spares. I carry about 150L and consider it as minimal as possible and still be able to look decent in a public place. Long term on the road requires stuff, and good quality stuff. If the camping gear is poor, it's off to a hotel. Of the 3 cost components of travel (bike, food, lodging), lodging is the one that has the biggest impact. Camp and you save 1000 miles of gas cost.

[NoMoIke]

Originally Posted by eSTes1300

Camp and you save 1000 miles of gas cost.

Ain't that the truth? My biggest problem with camping up to this point is actually finding a place to do it on the cheap. I'm getting better, though.

[Pete_Tallahassee]

Originally Posted by NoMoIke

Ain't that the truth? My biggest problem with camping up to this point is actually finding a place to do it on the cheap. I'm getting better, though.

A free place to stay is even better. If you find yourself in Tallahassee call me.
PM sent.

[NomadGal]

Hey Chris, love your report! I have to agree, great writing!
Finally getting around to posting the picture of you on your RR


Yeah........ a little hard to see you


Thought I might as well post this one too!

Have fun with Rutabega

[NoMoIke]

Originally Posted by NomadGal

Hey Chris, love your report! I have to agree, great writing!


Thought I might as well post this one too!

Thanks, Esther!

I can't believe that even after 3, or was it 4 days, we didn't get a shot of both of us.

[StriderJim]

Subscribed here, NoMoIke.

I'm just up the road from your starting point, in Hickory. Just found ADVriders a few weeks ago, and starting to think I need a dual-sport, instead of this limousine I'm riding.

In any case, I will be on the road a good bit this year. Hope to catch up with you at some point.
You write well......an indication that you probably think well, too!

carry on, pilgrim.....

[blacktruck]

I'm in.
Many years on the road too in a big truck. Looking forward to seeing it one of these days from a bike on my own trip. This helps a lot until that day. Keep the story going. Great writing.
Stay safe man

[Rutabaga]

I had the wonderful privilege of meeting NoMoIke Friday and enjoying his company. The opportunity of having a conversation with the person behind the story is appreciated. Thanks for the visit.

[NoMoIke]

1/29/13

Ever since I've been a traveler the mountain and Pacific states have held great appeal to me. That's not to say that I don't like the southeast, I just feel much more comfortable in the wide open spaces and dry climate of the two earlier time zones. Now normally when I feel the urge for the solitude that these places can offer I would just go. Unfortunately, because I need to move my Jeep and belongings back to Wisconsin from North Carolina I'm hesitant to head any further west. I don't know if anyone has ever used the term stir crazy in reference to an entire region, but I've definitely got it.

Today I headed towards Tampa to visit my Uncle Rick. He's a crazy, funny little dood and just what I need to help me pass the time. I've not seen him for 7 or 8 years and it will be good to see what he's up to.

As I've never seen a manatee in the wild I thought I would swing through Homosassa and Crystal River and possibly spot one of the portly mermaids. Alas, it was not to be. Before leaving I checked out Tampa Craigslist and found a replacement for my phone that I broke on day one. It turned out that Pete was a bridge inspector and would be working east of Homosassa and was willing to meet me for the deal. A bit of a surreal experience unfolded as I was to ride to his current job site for the exchange. I wasn't really expecting the Golden Gate or the Verrazano Narrows, but what I rolled up to was little more than a culvert running underneath the dead end of a gator path twenty miles from nowhere. Pete and I made the deal after he trudged up the muddy bank in his hip waiters and inner tube. The whole event passed free of dueling banjos, without the phrase "purdy mouth" being uttered, and conspicuously absent of Columbian drug mules demanding "Where's my cash, mang?" before they reboard their Cessna Caravan back to the home of Juan Valdez. ...sometimes my imagination gets the best of me.

From Pete's "bridge" From Camera

 

From Pete's "bridge" From Camera

 

After lunch, supper, some internet surfing, and a few phone calls it started to get dark. I headed for camp and was pretty bummed to see the gate closed. As it turns out, a decent storm rolled through that night and I would've been camping in the rain had I made it to the park in time. Quality Inn, Tampa.


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[NoMoIke]

1/30/13

Simple Pleasures

I'm trying to figure out if there is a formula to recreate those times in existence that seem perfect. You can rent a Lamborghini and it'll make you feel good, you can (theoretically) charm a beautiful woman into an evening of rapture, or you can cast your body from dizzying heights for the ultimate adrenaline rush but, sometimes the keystone that turns an ordinary situation into an exceptional one is just a Cuban sandwich. I spent this morning at a sidewalk table outside a Cuban cafe with my Uncle Rick in downtown St. Petersburg, FL. It was a treat to see him after so long, the temperature was comfortable, and the scenery was not drab. Nothing about the scene was unpleasant but, neither was anything extraordinary. Sometimes it's only after the scene concludes that we realize the Cuban sandwich was the rug that really tied the room together...the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Reproduction of these pictures in time are probably a delusion akin to alchemy, I suppose I'll have to find contentment just being aware that these snippets of life exist and that I'm becoming conscious enough to recognize them.

Maybe this is the true gift of piloting a machine with only two wheels. One is allowed enough freedom of movement to encourage retrospection while the attention required to avoid disaster is a constant reminder of our mortality.

"I'm afraid of a life that is so full of joy an love that every second just bursts by and is gone." - Penn Jillette

 

Uncle Rick and NoMoIke. From Camera

 

Tampa from the bridge. From Camera

 

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[NoMoIke]

Originally Posted by StriderJim

I will be on the road a good bit this year. Hope to catch up with you at some point.

Definitely looking forward to that. Meeting new friends is definitely one of the highlights of this endeavor.

[NoMoIke]

1/31/13

Time isn't money, but wasting it isn't free.

Just a short little run through northern Florida today and again I am frustrated that I have to head back to Wisconsin, even if it is just an intermission to the trip. I don't want to put on too many miles in any given day just because I'll leave earlier and end up sitting up north for way too long.

Never before have I had feelings about time running out or the fragility of life or an individual's insignificance in comparison to cosmic scale timelines but, lately, I get the feeling that there's a fire burning in the ol' woodshed. Not a big fire, more like the fires I can make with my Bic, or even my blowtorch for that matter. A tiny little end of a spindly piece of kindling smoldering just enough to remind you that the the fuel of your life is being consumed. For me it isn't the kind of thought that induces panic or hysteria. The biggest reaction I get from it is when the banalities of modern life can no longer be ignored, bring your belongings back to Wisconsin or the technical aspects of getting divorced or doing your taxes, and then I get angry. Unlike the fact that we are all insignificant on a cosmic scale, these menial tasks are a black hole swallowing all of the experiences you could be having instead.

Overall, I'm an optimist. People have too many good aspects for me to be forever jaded against them and our world has so many ways to awe you that even the perpetual traveler could not imagine, much less experience them all. I suppose my whinings in the paragraph above are just manifestations of my need to really cross the fence line of the southeast and start gaining new experiences.

“To the dumb question ‘Why me?’ the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: Why not?” - Christopher Hitchens

 

 


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[NoMoIke]

2/1/13

A new pal.

I pulled away from my Greenfield Tower campsite within the Osceola National Forest this morning and practiced my (non) sand riding skills for what seemed to be 20 miles. Honestly, I didn't keep track of the actual miles and I’m probably off by quite a lot but, rectum squeezing, jaw clenching, and hyperventilating have a way of skewing one’s ability to measure distance accurately. Still, I did learn a bit more about sand riding…lean back, loose grip, don’t put your feet down, and liberal use of the throttle tend to be the most important traits of doing it successfully. Forget that employing these tactics goes against every fiber of your instinct, my first reaction when things get squirrely is to drop my left foot. Now, I don’t really have any insight into living life with only one foot but, if I keep dropping it into the sand every time there is a slight chance that I’ll experience an involuntary dismount, getting it caught under my luggage will surely pop it off like a dandelion head. I hope they get the dimensions of the replacement foot correct, who wants to walk around in circles all day? On the other hand, everyone has a tattoo nowadays, who has a peg leg?

After making my way out of the litter box, it was clear sailing into Georgia. Again, I’ve been to all of these places before so nothing regarding scenery really caught my eye. What did pique my curiosity was a kettle and wake of vultures. Their physical size and the voracity of their feeding was a spectacle that could be ignored no less than wiggling one’s own loose tooth. The number… the sound… the smell! The path through evolution that allows a creature to digest a rotting deer carcass without evicting its own innards must be both prodigious and spectacular. The only reaction these consumers of nature’s detritus gave to me was a facial expression (on a bird!) that seemed to say, “go away kid, you’re bothering me.” One of Mother Nature’s cold and efficient tools.

After a quick lunch for Violet I was off to my final stop for the day. Just between Savannah, GA and Hilton Head Island, SC lies the town of Bluffton, SC and the home of fellow advrider member Rutabaga. In this day and age of hectic lives and the limited capacity of human beings for multi-tasking it’s easy to get the impression that we just don’t give a shit about the people we do know, much less perfect strangers. In contrast to that, there are individuals on this little blue ball that overflow with generosity. Mike is one of those fellows. I accepted his offer of a shower and a bed for the night but, the real thing of value that I received was the company of a new friend full of knowledge, critical thinking and candor. We didn’t get any riding done this evening as it would’ve been a waste of beer, margaritas, Mexican food, and good conversation. My only regret, since it’s so early in my trip, is that I didn’t have more road stories for him.

I have a favor to ask of anyone who reads this… Mike recently retired from being a pilot and has some free time on his hands. Don’t pester him, but if you could send him a pm and suggest that he pack his bags for a quick jaunt to Alaska when I go next summer… that would be great!

Vultures From Camera

'sup? From Camera

Don't see any 'gators but, I'm still not going swimming! From Camera

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[woodly1069]

Ike this is GREAT! I'm IN! Sounds like we suffer from a similar affliction. Unlike you I have not given up the rat race as of yet. It's hard to do with a good woman by your side but some day I hope to be wandering about as well and hopefully with her in tow! Anyway, I know you are just getting started but your writing is wonderful and I hope you continue. I know you are "stuck" in the southeast for the time being and I sure understand the westward pull but just hang in there and in time you shall be rewarded. I know I am a little too far north this time of year but if you are headed to Wisconsin from North Carolina you will surely come my way. Just hollar and maybe we can cross paths! Travel safely!
Tim