Down but not out....

So here we are a week plus later....its easy to be embarrassed at only doing 461km from home before having a bad accident, (Maybe thats some sort of overlanding record ???) I hadnt even got out of Canada - by 20 km - but life is more important than that. Who do I have to thank after this ?

Firstly a huge thanks to Lisa for heading down and being there when it mattered that first night, I was in shock and badly beat up and knew it, Lisa helped me scrub out my wounds with Salt water (Ouchy!)  and get them dressed up properly - Thanks Babe - you are my better half and I Luv You Loads XXX

Stan, Lisa's Dad who dropped everything and came down to Southern Alberta on short notice to help out with a Sled trailer borrowed from  Brad and Beth (Lisa's Brother and Sister in Law)
an  0430 start and a very long day to help us out - words cant thank  you all enough....

I looked at my riding gear again tonight with my good friend Keith (Thanks for the chat Bro!) over a few Rum n Cokes and it makes me realise how close I was to breaking my legs/arms/back or much much worse, my riding gear was totally ripped to shreds - Id take 10 off road hits over that one asphalt crash at speed - its a killer, literally. Big thanks to Arai Helmets, Sidi Boots and Acerbis/BMW riding gear.

Sammy the Suzuki taking such a beating REALLY hurts, Id spent every moment of my spare time for the last 5 months or so, to prep it, thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours to make the bike perfect for our trip, but at the end of the day it is still just pieces of steel, aluminum, plastic and rubber - nothing more, its insured and we will go through that process.

 Has it put me off riding ? NO, my resolve to do a bike trip is as strong as ever - for me its not just a mode of transport, but a passion that will not be suppressed by a setback like this.

8 days later and I feel  I have had the worst ever game of Rugby Union, I dont bruise easily and yet Ive still got some pretty severe bruising and probably a few scars to come as well as banging up my right shoulder and aggrevating my already dodgy left knee, but walking away from an accident like this makes you appreciate every breath you are able to take.....

Live Your Dreams

Sammy the Suzuki Took a Beating

Day 1 and no more. The trip quickly came to end when the phone rang at home and call display showed 'RCMP'. My heart sank.

I was extremely happy to hear Grif's voice on the other end, but remained calm. Wind gusts while riding at 110 km and he went down hard. Sammy cartwheeled. The bike was a mess and Grif's gear (helmet, jacket, gloves and pants) got ripped to shreds. We managed to get the bike home with my Dad's help and took Grif to the hospital to get checked out. Everything should heal.

Sammy is going to the Insurance Adjuster and we'll see if we can try again...

Lisa

D Day

D stands for departure! It was a teary goodbye, but I tried to hold it together. It was quite windy this morning, a very brisk wind. Grif was having second thoughts about clothing choices and departing with his Buffalo jacket! A few last minute things to do and Grif was on his way. Once he's out of Canada it'll be much warmer.


Grif is on his way!

I have lots to do to keep me busy, but I am already looking forward to skyping tonight!
Lisa

Hit the Road Jack.....

So the bike is all packed up and ready to go - apart from my toothbrush, heading out on Monday 18th October across the border to the USA. It's starting to get a little chilly in Canada, down to -5C or so overnight, but no ice around yet, so its time to split. It's Lisa's Birthday on Tuesday and I feel bad for not being around to celebrate, but I'm sure she will manage to have a drink or 2 or go to Monod's to buy herself something!!!
I'm aiming for Great Falls, Montana tomorrow but we will see how the first day goes and how long it takes for the aging body to get used to long days in the saddle - I'm guessing quite a while!!!
Cheers, Grif

The Plan....

So the plan is for Grif to ride solo from Canada, through the US and Central America to Panama, where I will either put the bike on a plane to Bogota or a boat to Cartagena, Colombia, there I will make my way down to see Russ a top bloke who I know from Dragoman Overland - we worked in Central America and Mexico for 6 months together.

Lisa will fly in mid November and we will have 3 months to see as much as we can - Lisa and I are keen divers and would love to head to Galapagos for a few days - however, this is quite an expensive side trip, so we are staying flexible with the possibility of booking something last minute if things look good.

Other than that, we are going to play this trip by ear and not try to set things in stone - my previous travels have shown me that setting tight deadlines through the whole trip - especially through Latin America, where 'Mañana' rules can make things difficult.

The only deadlines we have are when Lisa arrives in Colombia mid November and leaves from somewhere in South America to head back to Canada at the beginning of March.

Riding the bike back into Canada is not possible in March - the roads around here generally have an inch of sheet ice over them, so we are also being flexible on possibly leaving the bike in South America somewhere for the next trip - or flying it to Edmonton and trailering it back home

Grif

Getting There.....

So Ive been putting some of the final modifications to the bike, including case armour to protect the engine from being damaged if I drop it on rocks and an Aussie made B&B Engineering bashplate which is a lot better than the Happy trails one we had on there - much better protection.

Still to put on are the Pro Taper bars and heated grips - when they arrive, change the front brake line for a steel braided one so the front brake has a bit more bite and better feel, to finish up the electrics with the Gerbings wiring for Lisas heated jacket and gloves, mount the power outlets on the bars and in the top box for charging things on the road, change out the chain set, pads, and oil change, mount the tool tube when it arrives in place of the small original one, possibly add a scottoiler...and a few other things to do Im sure, that should keep me out of the bar....

Grif

Summer 2010

My husband came up with this wild idea to travel "2 up" to South America. At this point in my life I figured, why not, sure let's go! With lots of dosh and refurbishing, we are almost ready to go. We purchased a 2009 Suzuki DR650 and have given it all the trimmings. This also meant many trips into Calgary but with summer stocks dwindling, we have had many challenges. We are very familiar with the post office staff, as we are ordering online at a phenomenal pace. Customs Canada loves us as well!