Day 23-27-San Francisco - 30 Sept.-5 Oct. 2014,

My first priority was to get a new set of rubbers for my bike, after making a few calls and struggling to make myself understood over a poor skype connection I had a set arranged which would be ready for pick up in two days. Perfect, I didn’t really want to change tires on my first day in a new city!

With that settled, we got ready to head over to visit the USS Hornet, a WWII aircraft carrier which had escaped the scrap yard by becoming a museum ship. We had planned on catching a bus to Oakland (where the Hornet is docked) but Google estimated that it would take nearly 3 hours to bus the 30 km to the dock. Would we risk riding the bikes with what was left of my tire to avoid a 3 hour bus ride? Yes we would! (With all of my heavy gear unloaded the risk of destroying the tire was greatly reduced). We made it there and back without incident! Yay!

What was left of my rear tire 

 We had initially planned on spending just an hour or two on the ship but in the end we spent the entire day crawling all over this massive ship. The Hornet was commissioned during WWII to fight in the pacific, after the war this oil burning carrier remained in service until the 70’s becoming famous for retrieving the crew of Apollo 11 when the splashed down into the ocean after their excursion to the moon.

I have the ball, USS Hornet

USS Hornet

After sleeping in after a late night of socializing we set out to visit Alcatraz which required us to walk for the better part of an hour to catch the ferry to the Island (I suspect that if you were an inmate you would get a ride to the ferry). Once you get away from the crowd at the dock you are free to explore the island which over the years has been home to thousands of birds, a military fort, a prison, a museum, and finally a Nicholas Cage Film.

Alcatraz

Alcatraz

 That night we went joined an inter-Hostel pub crawl which gave us an opportunity to meet up and swap stories with some fellow travelers from all over the world. We had originally planned on just staying three nights in San Fran but during our stay we heard that there was going to be a three day “Hardly Strictly Bluegrass” music festival in Haite Park which was totally free! I could practically see Jason’s rainbow hippy pants vibrating with excitement! We booked an extra few nights in the Hostel and set out with Liam (a fellow world traveler from England) to chill out in the part and enjoy some music.

Hardly Strictly

On Saturday morning, it was finally time to swap tires. The tire shop wanted $45/tire to change them for us so we elected to change them ourselves in the parking lot across the street. During the process the milk crate holding Jason’s bike off the ground decided that it had had enough and dropped his bike onto the ground while the rear tire was off (very embarrassing). After struggling to get the tire on while bike was lying on its side we were able to get it vertical with only a few choice words. After 3 hours of work in the sun we had managed to replace both of my tires and Jason’s rear tire, maybe next time we will let the professionals take care of it… but probably not. Jason went back to join his people at the music festival while I set out to explore the city on my brand new tires.

Jason's bike taking a nap while we change the tire

On my last day in the city I tagged along on a walking tour showing off the changing architecture styles present in down town San Francisco (yes its nerdy and yes I enjoyed it).

Sutro Baths, modern day ruins

Twin Peaks

The time had finally come for us to load up our beasts of burden and bid farewell to the hostel  and San Fran. In the late afternoon we rolled north across the GG Bridge into the Golden Gate National Recreation area. Our goal was just to find a place to camp for the night before we began the long journey inland to Las Vegas!

The bridge from full house!

Day 28-Golden Gate National Recreation area to Yosemite National Park -390 km- 6 Oct. 2014,

We packed up early and rode down towards the beach, we were planning to have breakfast on the coast, but halfway down the way was blocked by thick fog. Turning back inland, we climbed out of the fog and found a scenic pull out to enjoy breakfast. From our vantage point we could see the peaks of  San Francisco sky scrapers  peeking through the thick cloud pant.

It was time for an oil change, we found a Walmart in the next city and set up shop in the parking lot. Using paint trays as drip pans we dumped the oil and replaced it with new crude. Luckily we didn’t observe any metal chunks in the old oil and we only made a little bit of a mess in the parking lot!

During the very hottest part of the day my bike began to wobble on a mushy back tire. I pulled off and found my rear tire was flat! Just 2 days after I had replaced the rear tire and tube! It didn’t take long to have the tire off and a new tube installed (we are starting to get good at this!) in the process I found a finger sized hole in tube, I must have pinched it during the tire change. So there was really no one to blame but myself. We hadn’t been able to find an electric pump so Jason and I spent the better part of half an hour pumping up my tire with the hand pump.

Having worked up a sweat and an appetite we rolled into the first gas station we found and were rewarded with some fantastic smoothies to beat the heat. Once we had regained our cool we rode on to Yosemite national park and set up camp for the night. As the sun began to set we finished the day with a short hike up a logging road and were rewarded with a grand view of the valley and the setting sun.

  

Day 29- Yosemite National Park-Oak Creek -280 km- 7 Oct. 2014,

The day started with a leisurely ride through Yosemite which brought us up to 10000’ in elevation; our highest point yet! From there we began the long descent back towards sea level (and below!) in Death Valley.

Yosemite

During the hottest part of the day we stopped in Bishop, California to retreat into the air condition glory of the local Safe Way (I may have spent a few minutes with my head in a freezer). After acquiring nourishment we consulted the oracle (google) and found that we wouldn’t make it to Death Valley before dark. Instead we found a campground on google maps 50km down the road and set off.

When we arrived at the ‘campground’ we found a beat up road and what may have been the remnants a campground twenty years ago. Since there was no one around we decided to take advantage of the free camping and set up camp for the night.

I had talked to me brother, Graeme, when we stopped for internet and lunch; he let me know that there was going to be a lunar eclipse tonight. Is set me alarm for 3:30AM, left the fly off of my tent (it doesn’t rain in the desert anyways), and was able watch the eclipse from the comfort of me sleeping bag.

Day 30-Oak Creek to Death Valley -290 km- 8 Oct. 2014,

As we rolled down the road the elevation began to fall away and the heat began to rise. By the time we arrived at the entrance to Death Valley I was sweating from every pore and still had 3000’ to descend. We reached the campsite that we selected on the interwebs (chosen mostly because it was free), it turned out to be nothing more than a flat patch of gravel just off the highway with an outhouse and a single tap. I suggested that we travel the extra 20km to the next campsite in the hopes that it maybe had a pool…. Or even just some shade. As it turned out, it was just a larger and hotter gravel lot that wasn’t free. After stopping at the gas station to grab some cold beer, we headed back to the first campsite to set up camp under the scorching sun.

The valley.... of death

Jason and I had different method of dealing with the extreme heat, I covered myself from head to toe to hide from the sun (this included a water soaked buff covering my head and neck). Jason took the opposite approach. He stripped down to just his underwear and ball cap and soaked in the sun. The Chinese tourist that stopped to ask us for directions are probably still confused by our bizarre appearance.

Later that evening two more adventure riders pulled in I wandered over to say hello. As it turned out it was another pair of Canadian riders! Roger S. and his wife are a 50-something couple from Northern British Columbia riding down to Argentina (just like us!) for the second time (unlike us) and they were planning on doing the trip in only 6 months (now I’m starting to feel very slow). They swapped stories, advice, and beer with us for a few hours until a crotchety old man from a few sites over came over and complained that our casual conversation was disturbing the peace! Didn’t we know that some people came out here to get away from all the noise of the city? The time was 9:30… he must have had very sensitive hearing.

Day 31- Death Valley -200 km- 9 Oct. 2014,

Today we stripped down our motor bikes and set out into the desert to explore our surroundings. Jason had plotted a route for us that he had found on another ADV riders blog. They had conquered this route on 400cc dirt bikes and described it as ‘challenging’. On our heavy 650cc tractors it felt like a gruelling slog at some points but the ride was well worth the effort.

Again Jason was riding too fast (in my opinion) on the washboard and boulder infested dessert roads. I suggested that maybe he should slow down to preserve his bike and his body; he pretty much scoffed at this. Inevitably, Jason hit a rock in the road which flattened his front tire and dinted his rim badly. As a result, I spent the very hottest part of the day cowering in the meager shade provided by my bike while Jason fixed his flat; afterwards he didn’t ride any slower. I am all for riding bikes hard and fast but when these bikes are your constant companion for a ten month adventure, where they will often be your only way out of hostile environments; I feel that they should be treated with extra care and attention. Jason doesn’t feel this way and at this rate I will be surprised if he makes it to Panama before he shakes his bike to pieces.

We are getting very good at changing tires!

But all griping aside, it was an excellent day of riding!

 

Day 32- Death Valley to Las Vegas -300 km- 10 Oct. 2014,

Since April we had been looking forward to taking in the Red Bull Air Races in Las Vegas. In addition to seeing high performance planes zipping around we were also going to meet up with a bunch of friends who were flying down from Canada to see us! Or maybe to see the air races…. But either way these friends would have hotel rooms with real showers and real beds!

We departed our gravel lot early to beat the heat and cruised into Vegas! As the city began to come into view my GPS began flashing a low battery warning, uh oh! The charger on the mount had been acting up the last few days and had finally decided to quit working all together. I wasn’t looking forward to the prospect of navigating to the hotel without the GPS…. Fortunately the battery held out long enough to get me to Circus Circus (the hotel) where I rendezvoused with the crew from Saskatoon. Apparently I was a little hairier and smellier than when I left!