Category: Series

Told from the road, rides often have more than one episode, read the entire series here.

North: The KTM Summer of Adventure – 7: Meziadin Lake, BC to Watson Lake, YT

Camping wasn’t horrible. The salvation from H.O.T. (Hell’s Own Tent) was an MEC sleeping bag and ground mat. Despite developing a bad list overnight, the H.O.T. did keep the mosquitoes out. No mean feat, at one point at night I woke up from a dream wondering why there was group of sportbikes running the highway at night. Only to realize the sound was masses of mosquitoes bumping against the mesh.

North: The KTM Summer of Adventure – 6: Vanderhoof to Meziadin Lake, BC

At Kismet, the junction of highways 16 and 37, I have a moment of doubt and nearly turn back.  There’s no strong game plan here, just an urge to press northwards.  The sign here in Kismet reads “North to Alaska” conveying the enormity of North’s possible meaning.  Originally the title was tied to riding Northern…

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North: The KTM Summer of Adventure – 5: Wells to Vanderhoof

It’s a moment ripped from Northern Exposure, walking into the Wells Hotel for breakfast everyone already seems to know who the guy on the “big orange bike” is and where he’s come from. More mysteriously they have a fair idea where I’m heading.

North: The KTM Summer of Adventure – 4: Egg Lake to Barkerville

Here’s an early birthday gift, somewhere behind me is a Honda Accord with all the KTM’s overstuffed luggage and then some. Admittedly having a well-used front-wheel drive as a sag wagon diminishes the adventure a of riding from Wildwood to Barkerville, BC the “back way”, but it’s giving me a taste of what this bike can really do. Oh, dear gawd, it’s bloody dirt-road ambrosia with a chaser of complete hoonery thrown in.

North: The KTM Summer of Adventure – 2: Tyax Lodge to Egg Lake

Tyax Lodge, outside of Gold Bridge, B.C., feels deserted.  A fabulous location, picturesque to the point of overload, Tyax should be bustling at the seams with tourists.  Instead it’s quiet to the point of being our private lodge.  There’s no menu for breakfast, the Chef simply prepares what you ask for free form. The ride…

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North: The KTM Summer of Adventure – 1: Vancouver to Tyax Lodge

In the history of slow starts this has been epic. Hannibal had an easier time wrestling up some elephants and infantry, than my getting out on the road the past few days. Yet, sitting here at Tyax lodge I’m hard pressed to be more satisfied with the first day of “North: The KTM Summer of Adventure”.

A Life in 66.6 Mile Increments Part 5 – A Matter of Necessity

Will the marine layer ever relent? Into Crescent City the “jumps” have been lengthened to the 1098S’ maximum safe range, 120 miles, out of necessity.  In response, my body is betraying me.    That’s making it hard to keep a positive attitude.

A Life in 66.6 Mile Increments Part 4 – 80 Miles

I’ve made navigational errors before, tons of them, but this one feels profound.  The fog is so dense I can hardly make out the cat’s eye reflectors on the road in the 1098S’s projectors and we’re reduced to near walking pace, down a road with no discernable name cloaked in 10 feet of visibility.

A Life in 66.6 Mile Increments Part 3 – Here There be Turkeys

L.A. … The 1098S slices northwards on the 405 out of Irvine between columns of traffic trudging forwards like workers in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.  Even with the Ventura luggage, I’m the widest thing on the bike – my shoulders inches from SUV mirrors as we split lanes. The 1098S is due in Portland 3-days from…

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A Life in 66.6 Mile Increments Part 2 – The 1098GT

“They took my Allen keys from my at security,” on the phone photographer Kevin Miklossy sounds disgusted, “you need a 6mm and a 3mm.  Does the Ducati toolkit have them?” I laugh, “You’re joking right.” The 1098S toolkit philosophy is one of insert gold card and swipe.  Kevin is flying to meet me with another…

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