Madmountainman
Registered user
Hi Folks,
A few of you know i've started a 3 month tour of Western USA, Canada and Alaska, but for this that don't, i'll be duplicating my travels and prevails from Advrider on here. I'm not an experienced trip blogger, and I don't now how often i'll be able to update this thread, due to camping and power requirements, but i'll try and let you know what i'm up to as much as I can.
I'm not an expert in writing about my travels, and i'll try not to follow in Mike O's footsteps too much, avoiding too many photo's of bridges and barns.
So here we go, copied and pasted over...
Hi All
I've already met a few of you in my first couple of days in the USA, but for those of you that are in the dark about me, i'm going to begin here...
I have always wanted to visit the USA and Canada, but due to joining the Fire & Rescue Service, over here in the UK, at an early age, my holiday/vacation time has been very restricted by having to work shifts, with very little in the way of time off sufficient to do a long trip.
Why not take shorter trips? I hear you say. Well, i'm on the tall side and don't fit in economy seats on aeroplanes, and have never earnt the money it takes to fly in the more expensive, roomy, seats. I have travelled though, just on our European continent and around the UK. I've been active in the GS Community since 2000 and still ride the venerable 1150 Adventure.
So, moving on. Although the Fire Service prevented me from doing a big trip, I did have the advantage of going early, which meant that i'd also retire early. So I put a 25 year savings plan in place and have bided my time since, waiting for this time to come, and here I am, at 51, ready to ride!
This is me and the next three months of my life are in that bag. My home, my bed, my kitchen, bathroom and wardrobe are all in there.
Although i've had to wait for this big ride, i've not really researched it, and have kept myself busy. Hiking, Biking, Kayaking, Caving and Mountain biking have been to the forefront of my life. The was until Christmas last year, when a friend of mine, Martk Barrington, asked if I was interested in riding Alaska. I idd a little research and the beginnings of a big trip were born.
This is Mark, just gathering our stuff together before heading over to London for our flights.
I found this website and started plotting a route to see how long we needed to get around. We may not complete the whole route, we just needed an idea of where and how long. Mark slightly complicated things, as he also wanted to incorporate a Canadian coast to coast run as part of his trip. However, i've tried to make the whole trip as flexible as possible, so i've arranged to get some mountain biking in during my first couple of weeks in the USA and will be meeting Mark later this month, where we'll be heading North, to Alaska!
A few of you know i've started a 3 month tour of Western USA, Canada and Alaska, but for this that don't, i'll be duplicating my travels and prevails from Advrider on here. I'm not an experienced trip blogger, and I don't now how often i'll be able to update this thread, due to camping and power requirements, but i'll try and let you know what i'm up to as much as I can.
I'm not an expert in writing about my travels, and i'll try not to follow in Mike O's footsteps too much, avoiding too many photo's of bridges and barns.
So here we go, copied and pasted over...
Hi All
I've already met a few of you in my first couple of days in the USA, but for those of you that are in the dark about me, i'm going to begin here...
I have always wanted to visit the USA and Canada, but due to joining the Fire & Rescue Service, over here in the UK, at an early age, my holiday/vacation time has been very restricted by having to work shifts, with very little in the way of time off sufficient to do a long trip.
Why not take shorter trips? I hear you say. Well, i'm on the tall side and don't fit in economy seats on aeroplanes, and have never earnt the money it takes to fly in the more expensive, roomy, seats. I have travelled though, just on our European continent and around the UK. I've been active in the GS Community since 2000 and still ride the venerable 1150 Adventure.
So, moving on. Although the Fire Service prevented me from doing a big trip, I did have the advantage of going early, which meant that i'd also retire early. So I put a 25 year savings plan in place and have bided my time since, waiting for this time to come, and here I am, at 51, ready to ride!
This is me and the next three months of my life are in that bag. My home, my bed, my kitchen, bathroom and wardrobe are all in there.
Although i've had to wait for this big ride, i've not really researched it, and have kept myself busy. Hiking, Biking, Kayaking, Caving and Mountain biking have been to the forefront of my life. The was until Christmas last year, when a friend of mine, Martk Barrington, asked if I was interested in riding Alaska. I idd a little research and the beginnings of a big trip were born.
This is Mark, just gathering our stuff together before heading over to London for our flights.
I found this website and started plotting a route to see how long we needed to get around. We may not complete the whole route, we just needed an idea of where and how long. Mark slightly complicated things, as he also wanted to incorporate a Canadian coast to coast run as part of his trip. However, i've tried to make the whole trip as flexible as possible, so i've arranged to get some mountain biking in during my first couple of weeks in the USA and will be meeting Mark later this month, where we'll be heading North, to Alaska!