The first week back

is always a tough one-especially after a journey such as this one. Having never been away from my business for this length of time, it has been interesting. Fortunately, I have an outstanding (and understanding!) partner, and he tended the "store" for me. My only complaint is that I left him in charge of the stock market while I was gone and he really dropped the ball. Calling clients from Canada and making trades was not what I had in mind. Fortunately everything calmed down and ended up back in the same place by my return.

While I was tethered throughout the whole trip electronically, I still had stacks of snail mail to go through at work and at home. My mother played a crucial role in taking care of "party central" while I was gone. She did everything from wash the sheets to water the plants! I cannot thank her enough. Tomorrow is her birthday, and we will be going to the aquarium and dinner afterwards with some friends-it should be a fun celebration.

I have had time to speak to some folks, and have received numerous messages regarding the journey. Many folks have suggested that it was very inspirational for them to follow. Several said I should feel very proud of completing such a trip. That is so great to hear, because my puritanical guilt says just the opposite. One person I spoke to said the trip inspired them to change doctors, upgrade their diet, and hire a lawn service to improve their home. They also said the adjacent homes all followed suit in manicuring their property. All because two jokers went to Alaska on their motorcycles. Who knows-this program Daniel started might help turn around the Atlanta real estate market! Another fellow I spoke to said he was ready to get into his car and drive to Colorado, he was so inspired. I hope he holds onto that spark and follows through. I have also received some touching emails from a long time client who is retired, and whose sister has been battling cancer. I had no idea the impact of this hairbrained scheme would have.

We are living in tumultuous times, and people are holding on to what they have-jobs, houses and businesses. It appears this wacky motorcycle adventure Daniel put together last year has incented some people to hold on to their dreams as tightly as their worldly goods.

One personal objective I have made for myself is to offer my help to anyone trying to figure out how to do the trip of their lifetime-whatever that may be. If I can help one person-it will be worth it. I am like a bulldog-once I get onto something-I won't let you off the hook! Please call on me-I can get pretty creative....

Today I spent 3 hours making sense of some of the pictures and videos for the cocktail party on 9/30 (You are coming, right?). I am posting up 2 videos-I hope you enjoy them.

Have a great weekend!

Curt

I DID IT ---- I have the pictures to prove it.

 I know not everyone expected me to last the duration,  Well its like the service mgr. at one of the motorcycle shops i was at before we left,   he said that's a 2001   its getting a little long in the tooth for a trip like this,    I'm still not sure whether he was thinking of my Kawasaki --or me . Either way he was wrong we both made it
   The trip was as i said before we left would be a trip of a lifetime and it was. I want to thank all our hosts who so kindly gave us  a room and fed us. The trip would have been unreachable  without their help.  I also want to thank all the people who helped in other ways , people i don't even know their names.
   I have wanted to make this trip for a long time, but never had someone to do it with, i know it can be done by yourself ,but its better to  have that other person to get excited with over all that you see.  I have my pictures about ready. As much as i have deleted it will still be a long viewing. We rode thru 20 states and 3 Canadian Providences rode 12000 miles and took 5 weeks.  So i guess that may account for all the pictures.
     I had only one day that about did me in  and that was at the beginning of the trip, we had not been on the road long enough to get seasoned, when we rode across Kansas on I 70 in 110 degree heat. About 6;30 pm i told Curt find a place for the night NOW. Curt wondered if i might want to stop ,cool down and ride some more, A very emphatic NO i want off this thing for the night.
   I know when Curt first asked me if i wanted to go, my first response was ARE YOU NUTS, DO YOU KNOW HOW FAR THAT IS ? I AM 70 AND HAVE  had 2 HEART ATTACKS.
   But then i like to say that my lack of good judgement kicked in and i thought , forget the 12000 miles  it is only ONE day at a time. It helped knowing i would be riding with my son and that if an extra half day or so was needed to rest up it would be possible. We really didn't have to do that i am happy to say.
    One of the highlights of this trip for me was  i got to take another ride up Route 89 to Route 4 in calif.  I have ridden a lot of roads and many of the twisty biker roads we all enjoy,  but for me i have not found one i enjoy more than Rt 4. Its narrow ,the turns are tight and tighter , there are no guard rails and you go up to about 9000 feet.   The views are wonderful, and its one of those rides that is meant to be slowed down and enjoyed, if you don't respect it , you may get bit in th  A.  I want to thank Curt for making one more ride up there possible.
  I am sorry that i haven't  been writing very much , but every night we had a  couple hours Curt would be on the computer, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.  I have include some pictures from  our ride up rt.4
    Every one please try to make our last fund rally It is set for Sept 30th We are  having

 a drawing for one of those beautiful watches.  We should have a mega bunch of pictures for your enjoyment My wife is a 35  year breast cancer survivor, She and i will be there and Curt and i will answer any questions you may have .  Thanks  Paul C

Cocktails it is...

Cocktails it is....Ecco Lounge (Midtown), Friday 9/30 7:30-?. Come have a glass of wine or a cocktail on the patio, see the pictures from the trip and meet me and my father Paul, and his wife Diane (a 35 year breast cancer survivor!)

 Also, don't forget-we will be raffling for this men's Tissot Moto GP watch. (Thank you Mary O'Neill for setting this up!)

Come one, come all!

Curt

Thank you!

As expected-I arrived home today at 12 PM EST.

I will write more later, but wanted to thank everyone who helped to make this incredible journey possible. It definitely was the trip of a lifetime, for both dad and I.

It is nap time now....

Curt

Someone is happy to be home...

At 6:30 PM this evening we rolled into Albertville, AL-vacation capital of the southeast.

Over 500 miles today to get dad back on the ponderosa. The weather cooperated, and we had overcast skies all morning to keep the temps down and the sun out of our faces.

I am quite sure he has not yet realized the enormity of what he has accomplished. Many 70 year old's are happy to be able to cut their grass-my father just rode over 10,000 miles in 33 days! I am so proud of him-that takes guts at any age, much less after 2 heart attacks.

He has really enjoyed the last month. He especially meeting all of you, and speaking to all of you. Rest assured, he will be very busy editing the 3000 pictures he took. Be sure to check back soon-I am sure you will be hearing from him shortly. I am sure he would enjoy a call, or email from you if you are so inclined. Dad's (Paul) phone is 256-673-8330, and his email is paulc1940@yahoo.com. A word to the wise-I would not call him too early in the morning (central time), at least for the next week....

I am helping him get settled, and heading out for the ATL in the morning.

Looks like the picture viewing party will be in mid to late September. Stay tuned and get ready to win this fabulous Tissot MotoGP watch!

Curt

102 degrees in Yukon!

Yukon, Oklahoma that is. Yukon Oklahoma is slightly different from the Yukon Territory in Canada, I assure you of that.

We made it into Arkansas this afternoon, after jetting across Oklahoma from Amarillo, Texas. This morning was warm before we even started out. It hit 102 in the shade this afternoon. A bit hotter when you factor in the helmet, gear and pavement. It was about 500 miles in total today-500 more tomorrow and dad will be home. 200 miles the day after and I will be home. I am really looking forward to getting back to Atlanta this weekend. It will be great to see all of my fantastic friends.

This has been a fantastic journey-one I will have memories from for a lifetime. It has been challenging, I assure you-mentally, emotionally, and physically challenging. Even more so for dad, who is several decades my senior-I can only imagine. Today he pushed through the heat to do over 500 miles. I can name several motorcyclists my age that have never done that kind of mileage in one day. Many have never done that in a whole weekend!

Several of you have asked about my posterior. Well today was the day. Chaffing...ugh. Tailbone chaffing-the worst kind. Not sure why today was the day-maybe the heat? If that is TMI, my apologies. After 10k miles, I guess it is well deserved chaffing.

We are staying at a nice hotel in Clarkesville, Arkansas. One of our supporters wanted to help us on this last leg. Dad is suspicious-it is a dry county we got booked in.....

Several days back on my Tiger 955, the 2002 model, and all is well. It does not have the character of being broken in on the Dalton Highway, but also does not needed to be cleaned as thoroughly. The bike is running very well. The suspension upgrades from Traxxion Dynamics are such a vital part of the package. It is easy to see why folks from all over the world send their forks and shocks to them to be worked on. The Hagon shock from Dave Quinn Motorcycles is doing real well. I am carrying probably 200 pounds in gear, in addition to my big bottom. They sent me an upgraded spring that the fine folks at Traxxion put on for me, and it works fantastic.

In retrospect, the Tiger 800 I rode to Alaska is a very impressive motorcycle. All that the 955i, my current model, is not. Well balanced, lower seat height, polished transmission, good stock suspension-Triumph really did a fantastic job with that bike. The bags were a big improvement over that of the 1050 series. They had tremendous capacity. I would recommend that bike to almost anyone-it is that versatile. The bike came with Pirelli Scorpion dual sport tires, which I was very impressed with. The roads in Canada are not the best, and the Pirellis were up to the task, no doubt. The motor is one of the very successful triple series, and they did a great job bringing the size down to 800 cc's without sacrificing a lot. Having never ridden the BMW 800 series-I have not much to compare it to in that regard, but I can tell you that the 800 triple motor pulls very well, and it is hard to make a mistake on. The triple design is hard to beat for a street bike.

With any luck, I will be writing from Dad's computer tomorrow-and hopefully you will be hearing from him as well!

Curt

The 955i with it's brethren-the locomotive engine



The 800 on the Dalton Highway



Amarillo by morning

We made it to Amarillo! Not by morning, though-we arrived here last nite around 9 PM local time.

We stayed at a campground in Lake City Colorado the nite before, and neither of us slept real well at all, both of us probably got around 4 hours of sleep. One of our supporters wanted to make a contribution, so we ended up in a posh hotel in downtown Amarillo last nite. I think I know which one dad prefers. Another of our supporters wanted to put us up tonite as well.



I am continually amazed by people and their generosity. In life today, as always, it is very easy to become jaded. When you see the contributions people make to a project like this-it can be a real eye opener, in a very good way! 

It was about 470 miles from Lake City Co. to Amarillo, Tx., so needless to say I am proud of dad for twisting the throttle and pulling it off, given the nite before. He should be back in Albertville tomorrow, and me in Atlanta Saturday lunch, most likely.

We are looking at some dates for the last fundraising party, most likely September. It should be a lot of fun! We have this gorgeous Tissot men's MotoGP edition watch to give away.

Here are some GoPro pics from the last few days-we are averaging about 1000 pics a day between the two of us.

I am becoming melancholy as I write this, thinking that it is almost over.

Curt

Good news and bad news

Keri H. must have sold something.

What an interesting day!

We started out in Utah, heading east on interstate 70. What beautiful country-very rugged, and majestic. From there we headed in a southeasterly direction to get to Lake City, Colorado. A friend of dad's from Reno invited us to stay with him. Once we left the highway onto US 50 the riding was absolutely phenomenal. US 50 from there into Lake City is spectacular-200 miles of extremely pretty country. The weather cooled off as we headed up into mountains, a refreshing break from the 95+ temps on the Utah pavement. We are pleasantly surprised to find that Lake City is a fantastic mountain retreat, with ATV trails, fishing, hiking and Jeep roads. Don't forget to stop and have and have a calzone at Poker Alice's when you come through! Steve was right-might be the best calzone I have ever had. Who knew? The people are very nice here-salt of the earth type. No Dolce & Gabana Jeep lover wannabes here. (Is that how you spell it?)

We finally arrive in downtown Lake City and stop at the general store to call Jack, our host. Dad: "Jack? We are here, downtown at the general store." Jack: "Great! General store? I am not familiar with that one." Dad: "Oh yeah, there is a snowmobile/ATV dealer right across the street." Jack: "Paul-where did you say you are again?" Dad: "Lake City, Colorado!" Jack: "Oh dear-I live in Lake Woods, Colorado. It is a suburb of Denver."

So we end up in a fabulous spot, with spectacular riding, but cannot see our host. Well, I wanted an adventure....

Hope you enjoy some of the GoPro pics.

Trying to keep up with dad



Does this canyon make my butt look big?



Curt