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Virtual Motorcycle Tour
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August 23, 2008
Today I will be heading down to Albuquerque. There's some storms brewing but I will chance Wolf Creek pass. Then through Taos and the high road down to Albuquerque.
August 22, 2008
I've backtracked to Montrose, CO to take the 550 through Ouray and Durango. The road between Ouray and Silverton was breath-taking. The two laned road has no guard rails and no shoulder; the rocky dead-fall is intimidating. The intense curves make for a scary ride. I stopped to take pictures at a waterfall. From Durango I took the 160 to Pagosa Springs. I sat in hot springs last night and relaxed. What a change from the big cities.
August 21, 2008
Left Utah and took a road out to I-70 which I saw 2 cars the whole time. It's scenic but the terrain has changed. Had to stop and wait for cattle to cross the highway. The drive on I-70 was extremely hot through MOAB. I reached Gunnison by nightfall and glaad to be back in cooler weather in higher elevation. I
August 20, 2008
Bryce Canyon was amazing. I raced a BMW down Rt 12 and had a great time. He was impressed that a Harley could be ridden like that. There's no helmet laws in Utah and I've gotten a lot of sun and feel a little tender.
August 19, 2008
I road through Lake Mead, Boulder Dam and went to Zion. I reached the Bryce Canyon area. It's amazing and the evenings are cool. I found a cool place to stay where you can see the Milky Way at night before the moon rises. There are buffalos and elks. A French couple recommeded hiking the Queens Garden trail from Sunrise point.
August 18, 2008
Left L.A. and took Rte 2 through the San Gabriels. It's a great road but had to detour about half way in due to a mudslide a few years ago. They should have it open by October. The Mojave was bearable at night as I road through Barstow. I stayed in the outskirts of Las Vegas and left the casino $80 richer.
August 15, 2008
Thousand Oaks, CA - odometer reading: 5280; Southern California is rich in great routes. Some of the memorable rides (I promise to get them on the map as soon as I can) Decker Canyon, Mulholland Hwy, Kanan, Timpanga Canyon, San Marcos Pass, and Las Virgines (Malibu Canyon). The weather is always sunny and roads are well kept. Yesterday I saw a rain cloud for the first time since May. It made for a beatiful sunset. Motorcycles are definately the way to travel in California with the excellent weather and being able to split lanes it makes traffic a non-issue.
July 21, 2008
Sundays have been great for exploring the region for roads and biker friendly places. The Sagebrush off Mulholland Drive is a great place for food, drinks, and music. Coldsprings Tavern off the 154 (San Marcos Pass) has great barbaqued tri-tip sandwiches and attracts bikers in a secluded wooded area. Just north east of Santa Barbara the tavern was a stagecoach stop back in the old west days. My ride up was through fog so thick everything below my knees were wet when I arrived. It was very refreshingly cool.
June 23, 2008
Exploring some incredible canyon roads in the Malibu area. Stopped at th Rock Store which is a place Jay Leno visits once in a while. The Neptune's Net on the PCH (Hwy 1) is another hot spot for bikers. Parking in front is poor and would recommend caution. I saw an Ultra Glide dropped which hit two other bikes while he was parking (luckily there was little or no damage). After the canyon runs I made my way up the PCH to Oxnard which had a bar that was hosting a biker event. Lot's of local riding groups and a great band and some nice looking ladies. Ventura was the final desination before I made my way back. It was much cooler there and very laid back. The roads were excellent quality but the canyon roads were the best for turns and twists. PCH is just gorgeous. I met a lot of bikers along the way and saw a seal while talking with John from Olympia, WA.
June 11, 2008
I've decided that I'm staying in California. It's beautiful out here. We've been riding out on some great roads. The twisty scenic roads are everyhere. The weather is great and I have some great rides to post from Sunny California. Finally solved my video storage issues which will be saved to the internal hardrive but lost the wide angle lens which vibrated off.
May 28, 2008
My buddy Tim picked up a Harley Crossbone on Sunday. He knows of some great roads around L.A. Our favorite is Muholland Drive. It's a peak to peak drive that goes north out of Hollywood and westerly beyond that. It's twisty and extremely scenic. Once in a while we get openings when the cars pull off for some fun on two wheels.
The weather has been beautiful since Tues and makes me want to stay in California.
May 24, 2008
I'm staying out in Hollywood, CA. The route out of Prescott was nice and twisty and ran into fog and snow on the mountians. I ran into heavy rain on Interstate 10 from Palm Desert to Los Angeles. Be sure you fill up once you get into California before you hit the dessert. There are long spans without gas stations. I made it to the gas station on fumes. A guy from Sacramento followed on his Honda to make sure I don't get stuck in the desert. It's been raining in Los Angeles. The traffic can be bad on the freeways but it's legal to split lanes in California. It took some getting used to but I as splitting lanes making short work out of stopped traffic. Just go slow and be careful.
May 22, 2008
Left for Prescott, AZ and ran into winds, rain, and snow. Route 89 from Flagstaff to Prescott is outstanding and beautiful. It's really amazing what wonders you can find in Arizona. Finally figured out how to update the website fom the road. I picked up a tiny pc that fits into my bags!
Met two couples riding to Denver, in Holbrook, while waiting out the rain, who suggested some routes in Arizona. Hope to get those routes up soon. I have some great footage of the Jemez and still working on getting it out of the camcorder. It has a native format that i will have to convert. I have been watching the weather channel but it doesn't look very good. They said possible hail and tornadoes. The weather has been strange lately. The guy at Motel 6 gave me a discount because I was on a bike.
May 11, 2008
Due to the tornadoes and the weather front moving into the area, I am leaving on Monday. The initial road test on the camcorder was a success. The bags are packed and my mind is a thousand miles away. I hope to reach Albuquerque without running into the weather front which is moving this way.
May 8, 2008
I've completed the power regulator circuit. I will solder on the leads and connect to an unused fuse block terminal using a 5 amp fuse. Let me know if you want details it's simple to build:
I will be picking up a laptop for the road to update the website. I'm down to a choice between the HP2133 and the ASUS eeepc. Both are small and under $500.00 and I won't care if it gets destroyed on the trip. I love technology. They will get smaller and cheaper!
May 7, 2008
Departure will be next Tues or Weds depending on the weather. I would like to start the trip off dry. I will be carrying mostly clothing and camera gear. Stopping in motels and keeping to the planned routes (weather permitting). Soon as I get the flash memory I should have an update on the camera status. Otherwise we're pretty much sunk on using these two hard-drive camcorders. May have to buy a DVD camcorder on the road.
May 2, 2008
I've ruined one camcorder by taking it apart and found that the other won't record on the motorcycle (probably due to excessive vibrations). There goes $1,000. I'm not certain which way to go at this moment. The weather looks horrible in Colorado and Oklahoma and hope it clears up by the time I get out there. The mountain roads may be unreachable by two wheels. I will have to research new methods of recording the rides. One suggestion came in for additional people. Anyone wanna take a trip to the southwest in May? I have places to stay set up in New Mexico and Colorado. Send me an e-mail if you're interested.
I've orders a couple microSD chips to see if we can bypass the hard-drive and cancle the effect of the vibration. Two 4 gig high speed microSDHC chips total cost about $100. Let's hope this takes care of it. It was looking pretty bleak yesterday feeling like we wasted all that time and money on the camcorders.
April 27, 2008
They have shipped the camera. I've started wiring for voltage regulator for the camera and a phone. The camera needs 11v and the phone is 5v. I've ordered a few LM317's to make voltage regulators for them to be hard wired into the fuse panel. All the fluids have been changed and I've been adding new routes for the 4 states I will be visiting. The departure date is now May 14th.
April 25, 2008
The Press Releases are out. I'm heading out for the American Southwest in May. I've got about 8000 miles planned with room for additional back roads and time to talk to locals. Check out the official press release: Press Release. Please send your comments and last minute route suggestions before we take off. I'm looking at a departure date of May 7th. I'm on my own schedule and things can change. 8000 miles means over 225 gallons of fuel and at $3.95 average for premium I'm looking at just under $1,000 just for gas. It looks like I need a new front tire. I hope the camera gear arrives today - Charlie
April 22, 2008
I'm still waiting on the camera equipment which is on back order for two weeks. The weather is getting nice and I'm itching to hit the road! I'm ordering baffles for the vance & hines pipes so that I don't get a citation when I'm traveling. The thought of ear splitting exhaust while I'm on the bike for days at a time isn't very appealing, especially when I'm riding through some beautiful scenery.
April 18, 2008
This is where you will find the virtual tours. I go roaming all over the country looking for great motorcycling roads with a helmet cam strapped to my head (I hate helmets and I look pretty funny with a cam stuck on my head) and record these rides for your viewing pleasure. We are always looking for great roads and better equipment. If you have any ideas, suggestions, comments send me an e-mail: vtwincam@gmail.com
Keep checking back for new videos and routes. Thanks for looking!