Leslie and Jamie's UnRally Blog!

[KMG_365]

Hi y'all!

 

Seems like everyone's got a "blog" nowadays, so here's ours:

 

Les and I are underway on the "Return to Gunnison" trip as of yesterday!!!!

 

I sincerely hope that this 'Tale is lacking the drama and pathos of our last UnRally adventure!

 

We left home (San Diego) about 10:30 PDT on Sunday June 11th, and got to my sister's place in Tucson, AZ about 16:30. It was 71*F when we left home and it was absolutely gorgeous until we got to the other side of Mountain Springs Grade and the town of Ocotillo (read: DESERT!! ). It was well over 90*F by the time we reached the bottom of the grade and it never got below 90*F for almost all of the rest of the trip so far. We did see a few fleeting miles below 80*F en route to Alpine, NM, but that was short lived. We saw a high of 110*F on the thermometer AGAIN yesterday, but it's a DRY heat and as long as we kept the water and Gatorade flowing we managed okay today.

 

We had a lesson reinforced regarding the perils of hyperthermia--specifically electrolyte replacement vs just plain re-hydration--yesterday!

Leslie had her Camelback and was drinking plenty of (plain) water all day, but we forgot to buy any Gatorade or any other salty snacks yesterday and by the time we got to Tucson she had a raging headache, was extremely nauseated and very weak. She also showed other signs of heat exhaustion: very flushed, wet skins and elevated body temp (see this link for more signs and symptoms). After a soak in the pool, some salt (sodium) with dinner and avocado (potassium) in the salad she was right as rain again!

 

Today's ride was a meandering 400+ miles to Silver City, NM via Alpine, NM (and the 191! ) and we're now in a Kamping Kabin at the KOA just outside of Silver City. We're scouting the area a bit for a possible future ride (UnRally? ). There's a lot of great roads and things to see and do in the area. Tomorrow we'll wend our way to the KOA in Amarillo, TX. We're heading to Fayetteville, AR to visit with Leslie's brother for a few days before heading to Gunnison.

 

We'll check in again later, but we're really looking forward to seeing so many of our internet friends again! It's a bummer that all of you live all across the globe and we only get to meet face to face every so often!

 

But . . . UnRally's ROCK!!!!

[Whip]

Be safe....

 

Louise hates Gatorade....I gotta force it on her....too much sugar she says.... right before she turns all red and falls down at the gas station in Carlsbad NM.....

 

You thought it was hot today....wait until tomorrow.....

 

Have fun....see ya in a few days......

 

BTW...We love Silver City....

 

 

Whip

[KMG_365]

Louise hates Gatorade....I gotta force it on her....too much sugar she says.... right before she turns all red and falls down at the gas station in Carlsbad NM.....

 

Whip

Oooh, that's not good.

 

There are other options: Powerade, Gookinade (is that still made?), or Pedialyte (for kids--nastier, but without all the sugar), salty snacks (for sodium) and bananas (for potassium). We usually drink ours 50% water and 50% Gatorade as it is usually waaaaay too sweet for both of us as well. We usually buy one water and one Gatorade at the first gas stop, drink a little bit of both, mix the two back and forth a few times, finish one (like 32 ounces between the two of us) and then stow the other for the next stop. This works the best with a bit of supplimental water from the Camelbacks.

 

Oooooh--I forgot to mention we saw a few Bighorn Sheep on today's ride while going through the mining district on the 191 just north of the I-10. I saw the first on the other side of the street and stopped to snap a pic. As we came around the next corner an oncoming car flashed his lights at me (and I waved back at him as there was a sheep on his side right around the corner). But then around the next corner there were THREE Bighorn females grazing RIGHT NEXT TO THE ROAD on our side!

 

That was definitely the closest I've EVER been to a Bighorn, but I was SO close I didn't want to stop two feet away and break out the camera!

[russell_bynum]

She also showed other signs of heat exhaustion: very flushed, wet skins and elevated body temp

 

Maybe she was just thinking about Wurty.

 

 

[russell_bynum]

Louise hates Gatorade....I gotta force it on her....too much sugar she says.... right before she turns all red and falls down at the gas station in Carlsbad NM.....

 

You can get salt tablets and potassium tablets and just take those. The Superbike School has large quantities of them and they do wonders. You get the electrolytes without the sugar of Gatorade.

 

I assume your local drugstore would carry them. If not, perhaps a health food store?

[Dennis Andress]

Louise hates Gatorade....I gotta force it on her....too much sugar she says.... =

Whip

 

 

 

At Jamie's 1st Responder class someone mentioned that REI carries a powdered Gatorade which does not include all the sugar.

[Les is more]

Maybe she was just thinking about Wurty.

 

Baaaaaaaaaaaaah!

[skinny_tom (aka boney)]

Gookinade (is that still made?),

 

Did some research. Gookinaid ERG is now "Hydralyte" and is available at REI and Adventure 16 (in the SoCal area) among many other places.

 

Here's the site, with a store locator feature.

http://gookinaid.com/

 

No affiliation, just a satisfied customer.

[KMG_365]

Well we made it to Arkansas and to Leslie's brother's place in Fayetteville, AR. Had another two great days of long, hot riding, but a fairly uneventful trip here. I say fairly uneventful only because Leslie's alternator belt snapped at 25K miles about 6 miles from the campground in Amarillo, TX!

 

Now I looked at that belt when I helped her with her last service a few weeks ago and I thought hard about replacing it then, but I figured MY bike was the one that was fond of eating belts (first at 30K miles and the second at 27.5K miles), and Leslie's always looked fine when we replaced them early at 30K miles.

 

It was fairly uneventful as this is the third one I've done on the side of the road and I'm getting pretty good at it by now!

 

Time from kickstands down to wheels rolling: 57 minutes!!!

 

BUT--by FAR the weirdest thing was that as we were cruising down the road and Leslie radioed that her charge light was on I just told her to shut off all her lights and accessories and looked for the next exit. As we pulled off the I-40 and were coming to the light and I was eyeing the large empty parking lot on the side of the road . . . things started to look eerily familiar!

 

THIS JUST HAPPENED TO BE THE EXACT SAME PARKING LOT I REPLACED MY BELT 13 MONTHS EARLIER ON THE WAY TO EL PASEO!!!!

 

I mean, last I looked, it's a pretty dammned BIG country . . . and truely: WHAT ARE THE ODDS??!!

[russell_bynum]

THIS JUST HAPPENED TO BE THE EXACT SAME PARKING LOT I REPLACED MY BELT 13 MONTHS EARLIER ON THE WAY TO EL PASEO!!!!

 

What is this, some kind of Twilight Zone episode or something?

 

 

 

PS

Stay the hell away from my Tuono...you must be cursed or something.

[Limecreek]

That's a little creepy...uh, where is this spot in Amarillo exactly? You wouldn't happen to know the GPS coordinates would you? I might need to plot a new vector around the Texas Triangle.

[Ken H.]

Ohmygawd, now THATS a road story!

 

Seems weird to have you two so close to us but not seeing you, just down the road a piece. See you soon though!

[JB-BMW]

Another rehydration option is packets of "Ultima Replenisher" - you can find them in running stores, Sports Chalet, Henry's Markets...

 

You can mix it in a bicycle water bottle with 16-20 oz of cold water. Not nearly as sweet as Gatorade, Powerade or some of the others.

 

Thanks for the "blog". Looking forward for future installments and to seeing you folks in Gunnison.

 

Ride Safe,

[90%angel]

Seriously Jamie...where in Amarillo...we have to go through there, and I want to avoid the spot where BMW alternator belts go to die...

 

Glad you made it to Arkansas!

[PhillyFlash]

Was Bob Palin there to loan you a new one? You didn't put an old belt on, did you? No one would be that foolish, would they?

[KMG_365]

That's a little creepy...uh, where is this spot in Amarillo exactly? You wouldn't happen to know the GPS coordinates would you? I might need to plot a new vector around the Texas Triangle.

Well, I didn't have the presence of mind to mark it (either time! ), but in looking on my GPS, though the Chevron station on the corner doesn't show on the mapset, I believe the intersection was the 5000 block of the frontage road to I-40 East and the 1800 block of South Eastern Street: N 35* 11.535' W 101* 46.728 . Someone not hamstrung with a dial-up connection can Google that and see if there's a Chevron at that intersection!

 

This time we were heading to the KOA in Amarillo less than 6 miles away, but last year we were just heading through and still had further to go before stopping for the night.

 

Funnily enough after reading this DB for about two years before I was able to get my own RT in September of 2002, I had known that the alternator belts were an Achilles Heel of this bike (in the SW, at least) and on a trip through the central valley we stopped to visit Wurty. He had sold his RT (which had previously been Cary's) and still had the requisite collection of spare parts lying about so he gave me his old belt which he had taken off at around 30K miles and had been carrying on the bike as a spare. Little did I know I would be using that very belt to get home from southern Oregon no more than a year later--thanks again, buddy!

 

By the time I got home (~1000 miles later) that belt was half gone and I replaced it with a new one which lasted 30K miles, etc. etc. We've never traveled without one since and I've used the spare three times now. I always carry a new one in a plastic bag (to try to slow the rotting process), but it might be that they are not perfectly fresh that contributes to their short life span.

[skinny_tom (aka boney)]

Here?

 

[mrzoom]

Did you plant the old belt in the ground?? You're suppose to do that so a belt bush will grow and other riders can pick them as needed.

Ride safe you two. I will miss seeing you at this UN.

[KMG_365]

Here?

 

 

 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Yup, that's the place!

 

Both times it was late in the afternoon between 3-5pm and was still hotter than snot. The first time we stopped behind the shade of the large building on the lower left (as the sun was setting in the west). A few days ago we stopped in the parking lot of the Chevron station in the shade of the very large sign just west of the cross street. It is hard to see how large it is looking straight down on it from space, but parking at the top of its shadow gave us about an hour of shade and we were closer to the washroom this time for cleaning up!

 

When we put Leslie's left side T-ware panel on the grass near the corner of the lot it was immediately covered by these HUGE Texas-sized ants feasting on grasshopper, butterfly and other assorted bug guts . . . we moved her helmet and riding gear immediately.

 

I think it's all the high speed, VERY high temperature riding we do in the deserts that kills our belts early. Leslie's belt was a bit older than mine and we had just ridden to Torrey through 114*F heat a few weeks before. It was only 104*F on the way to Tucson last Sunday, but that many miles and hours at 100+*F at . . . 55 mph ( ) for 8-12 hours a day has GOT to have a negative impact on the rubber.

 

Hey Ken--and Donna! Sorry we couldn't stop by for a visit this time, but we'll see you both soon enough . . . and I brought the Glenlivet Archive 21 this time for the KOA UnRally HindQuarters!

 

mrzoom: an alternator belt bush! LMAO!! Now why didn't I think of that??!!

(Sorry we'll miss you in Gunnison! )

[russell_bynum]

When we put Leslie's left side T-ware panel on the grass near the corner of the lot it was immediately covered by these HUGE Texas-sized ants feasting on grasshopper, butterfly and other assorted bug guts . . . we moved her helmet and riding gear immediately.

 

Those biguns aren't that bad. It's the little fire ants that'll make you start thinking about slamming your genitals in a sliding glass door to take your mind off the pain.

 

Free advice: If you are ever in a Marching Band and you get a break during practice, do not put your trombone down in the grass without checking for ants first.

 

Talk about a religious experience....

 

And one time...at Band Camp.... </hijack>

[SageRider]

"thinking about slamming your genitals in a sliding glass door "

 

Russell... the things you do for fun...

[KMG_365]

Oooooh--I forgot to mention we saw a few Bighorn Sheep on today's ride while going through the mining district on the 191 just north of the I-10. I saw the first on the other side of the street and stopped to snap a pic. As we came around the next corner an oncoming car flashed his lights at me (and I waved back at him as there was a sheep on his side right around the corner). But then around the next corner there were THREE Bighorn females grazing RIGHT NEXT TO THE ROAD on our side!

 

That was definitely the closest I've EVER been to a Bighorn, but I was SO close I didn't want to stop two feet away and break out the camera!

 

I finally got a chance to upload a few pics:

 

 

 

 

 

Is this sickness--I mean dedication or what??!!

 

 

 

 

This just isn't right!

 

[russell_bynum]

 

That looks like the sort of thing Steve Urkel would ride to the Cheese Museum.

[John Ranalletta]

 

That looks like the sort of thing Steve Urkel would ride to the Cheese Museum.

Where was Eebie? Looks like a rig he'd set up.

[Mike O]

You guys rock...

 

Oh and aren't you supposed to store the wine bottles on their SIDE (not standing up in that cooler)

 

Mike O

[Bud]

 

Just when I thought I had too much windage on Lucy when I was blown across KS I see this picture!!!!

 

 

 

I see it is too heavy to get up on the center stand.

[RickP]

Um, how do you get off? I have problems with just a dry-bag on the pillion seat.

[DavidEBSmith]

Where was Eebie? Looks like a rig he'd set up.

 

I would never have floorboards on my bike.

[DouglasR]

That's quite the packing job, Holy crap! I saw a bunch of guys at the Kawasaki dealership last night, one guy had a KLR650 loaded similarly. I couldn't figure out what all that stuff was, or where the rider fit. I'm sure it was somewhat less than comfortable, my gawd. I didn't know you could put that much stuff on a dirt bike, but it's OK on the RT! And this is NOT the most stuff I've ever seen loaded on a motorcycle, saw a Harley something once that looked like that old scene off the Beverly Hillbillys, even had two large aluminum folding lawnchairs strapped on.

 

Thanks, Leslie and Jamie, for ALL your sacrifices to this Board!!

 

Doug

[Timmer]

I have to agree - it is a packing job. But what does it all hold? I'm particularly curious about the white box and the orange "skyscraper" perched above it.

[Bob Palin]

I'm particularly curious about the white box and the orange "skyscraper" perched above it.

Those are the most important things, the laptop and the Peet's coffee.

[GelStra]

Yeah, Bud, and you were worried about overpacking!

[KMG_365]

Well the white box is an Army Surplus ammo can which carries both of our laptops (a 14" Pismo and a 15" PowerBook), both power supplies, an Airport Express, various networking cables, etc. It all fits snugly in a canvas tote which slides in from the rider's side and latches with a beefy rubber gasket. Hey, if it's good enough to keep the Army's powder dry, it should be good enough for our Macs!

 

I bolted the case down to a stainless steel mounting plate/bracket made to fit snugly to the stripped pillion seat. A friend, local RT rider and wrencher, gifted metal sculptor, brilliant problem solver and all around great guy--Amos Robinson--helped me with the design, fabrication and welding (and polishing! ) of the stainless pillion bracket. Check out some of his BEAUTIFUL work here. Thanks again, buddy!

 

I bolted everything up with Stainless metric allen screws, washers and nylock nuts so they won't rust or back out--Marshall's Hardware in San Diego ROCKS!!!!

 

The case has a hinge below on one side and latches on the other so you can get to the dead space underneath (where we store the bike covers), and bolted up a piece of angle iron to the top to hold the cooler stable. When we travel, the only way we can afford these trips is to camp (on longer trips) and eat breakfasts and lunches out of the cooler. Gleno gave me the original idea for the soft sided collapseable cooler we used to carry and this is the next iteration. I won't tell you about the third (and hopefully final) iteration . . . you'll have to wait until the next gathering--at least!

[KMG_365]

Um, how do you get off? I have problems with just a dry-bag on the pillion seat.

 

When it's on the center stand I just step up onto the floorboard and across. When it's on the side stand I sometimes have to grab my boot/pantleg to assist getting my leg over the Russell Day-Long saddle. HTH

[Bob Palin]

you'll have to wait until the next gathering--at least!

at least...

[Bud]

Um, how do you get off? I have problems with just a dry-bag on the pillion seat.

 

When it's on the center stand I just step up onto the floorboard and across. When it's on the side stand I sometimes have to grab my boot/pantleg to assist getting my leg over the Russell Day-Long saddle. HTH

 

I have to do the same but feel like an old man grabbing my pant legs. At one gas stop I almost fell on my butt.

 

Feel better knowing I'm not the only one.

[Paul Mihalka]

Hey, that's why I travel LIGHT, and there is nothing, not even a passenger seat or luggage rack, behind my seat. I guess my next step would be a scooter. I'm sure I can make Maryland to Gunnison on a Burgman

[ghaverkamp]

Hey, that's why I travel LIGHT, and there is nothing, not even a passenger seat or luggage rack, behind my seat. I guess my next step would be a scooter.

 

That is one of the benefits. I can carry around my huge rolling backpack/laptop case and have no problems mounting/dismounting.

 

I'm sure I can make Maryland to Gunnison on a Burgman

 

Just put a little oil in the final drive, and you should be good to go.

[Bob Palin]

I'm sure I can make Maryland to Gunnison on a Burgman

I'll bring my truck...

[ghaverkamp]

I'll bring my truck...

 

That's gonna leave a mark.

[Paul Mihalka]

I'm sure I can make Maryland to Gunnison on a Burgman

I'll bring my truck...

It wouldn't be the first time. Last fall on my way back home from Torrey my R1150R got home from Arkansas in a IHAUL.

[murrayg]

Jamie & Les,

Next time you are in the Great State of ARkanSAWW contact me and I'll try to show you some God's Country hospitality. However, if you're going to be 30 miles from my house again and not even call I will disavow any knowledge of our friendship. Was it something I said about your Russel Day Long seat when you were at Eureka Springs?

 

Hey will somebody ride the Black Rim Canyon Rt. 92 for me since I'm missing the party??? Please, and oh yeah post pictures and let me know if the road speaks to you too.

[Les is more]

Jamie & Les,

Next time you are in the Great State of ARkanSAWW contact me and I'll try to show you some God's Country hospitality. However, if you're going to be 30 miles from my house again and not even call I will disavow any knowledge of our friendship. Was it something I said about your Russel Day Long seat when you were at Eureka Springs?

 

We're sorry!

 

If it helps, we did think about you and your name even came up in conversation when my brother spoke of the nice conversation he had with you. We were being a little selfish of our time with my brother I guess. It's rare that we get to spend "hang out" time together. This was especially important as his wife of 50 years died 2 months ago and I hadn't been able to see him in that intervening time.

 

So we beg your forgiveness and hope that the next time we're out that way (you know us, so you know we will be), you'll allow us to buy you dinner and take up some of your time.

 

Oh, by the way, there's no insult that you could hurl at the Russell Saddles that hasn't already been heard and summarily ignored. Besides, can you look at this and think for one moment that appearance has anything to do with anything???

 

 

 

 

Love ya Murray!!!

[Bob Palin]

Oh, by the way, there's no insult that you could hurl at the Russell Saddles that hasn't already been heard and summarily ignored.

Here's something for me to do this week...

[Les is more]

Here's something for me to do this week...

 

Do your worst!!

[gottago]

Well we made it to Arkansas and to Leslie's brother's place in Fayetteville, AR. Had another two great days of long, hot riding, but a fairly uneventful trip here. I say fairly uneventful only because Leslie's alternator belt snapped at 25K miles about 6 miles from the campground in Amarillo, TX!

 

Now I looked at that belt when I helped her with her last service a few weeks ago and I thought hard about replacing it then, but I figured MY bike was the one that was fond of eating belts (first at 30K miles and the second at 27.5K miles), and Leslie's always looked fine when we replaced them early at 30K miles.

 

It was fairly uneventful as this is the third one I've done on the side of the road and I'm getting pretty good at it by now!

 

Time from kickstands down to wheels rolling: 57 minutes!!!

 

BUT--by FAR the weirdest thing was that as we were cruising down the road and Leslie radioed that her charge light was on I just told her to shut off all her lights and accessories and looked for the next exit. As we pulled off the I-40 and were coming to the light and I was eyeing the large empty parking lot on the side of the road . . . things started to look eerily familiar!

 

THIS JUST HAPPENED TO BE THE EXACT SAME PARKING LOT I REPLACED MY BELT 13 MONTHS EARLIER ON THE WAY TO EL PASEO!!!!

 

I mean, last I looked, it's a pretty dammned BIG country . . . and truely: WHAT ARE THE ODDS??!!

 

Maybe this was a case of "Diagonally Parked in a Parallel Universe" Spoooky

[gottago]

Jamie & Les,

Next time you are in the Great State of ARkanSAWW contact me and I'll try to show you some God's Country hospitality. However, if you're going to be 30 miles from my house again and not even call I will disavow any knowledge of our friendship. Was it something I said about your Russel Day Long seat when you were at Eureka Springs?

 

We're sorry!

 

If it helps, we did think about you and your name even came up in conversation when my brother spoke of the nice conversation he had with you. We were being a little selfish of our time with my brother I guess. It's rare that we get to spend "hang out" time together. This was especially important as his wife of 50 years died 2 months ago and I hadn't been able to see him in that intervening time.

 

So we beg your forgiveness and hope that the next time we're out that way (you know us, so you know we will be), you'll allow us to buy you dinner and take up some of your time.

 

Oh, by the way, there's no insult that you could hurl at the Russell Saddles that hasn't already been heard and summarily ignored. Besides, can you look at this and think for one moment that appearance has anything to do with anything???

 

 

 

 

Love ya Murray!!!

 

and i was worried about adding a kermit chair to our gear

[Lone_RT_rider]

 

Man...that definitely puts the TOURING back in BMW sport TOURING dot com! It's about farking time! I was getting a little weary of all these trailer happy, whiney "I gotta buy a little sport bike cause my BMW is just too heavy for me now" BMWST.com wanna beeeees.

 

*HUGE DISCLAIMER*: all above text was stated with tongue planted firmly in cheek.

 

Shawn

[murrayg]

Jamie and Les or Les and Jamie,

All you had to say was, bug off it's our life and we will spend it with whom we wish. I know exactly what you mean about hang time.

 

Now about the bike.

You know the only thing that could make your bike look more, ahhh well more amazing, yeah that's the word would be to attach a satelite dish on top of the pretty cooler.

 

I bet you all own a Pontiac Aztec too.

 

You know underneath all this I'm just extremly jealous that you're in the Beautiful state of Colorado with people I love and admire. So have some fun for me.

 

Oh yeah, please don't post any more of pictures of the freight train you're calling your bike.

[big-t]

You know the only thing that could make your bike look more, ahhh well more amazing, yeah that's the word would be to attach a satelite dish on top of the pretty cooler.

 

 

 

I knew there was something missing on that bike,just couldn't put a finger on it.