So I turned 27 this past June and suddenly realized that my days of complete freedom were quickly coming to a close. My wife and I have been quietly discussing having kids, the idea of finding and keeping a career is growing evermore important, and I just feel like there’s not much time left before my life as a lazy vagabond is apprehended by responsibility. So, with that in mind, I talked my wife into driving across North America with me in our 2007 Gear Up.

The Gear:
For the past year, I’ve been planning and preparing. I became obsessed with compiling gear and parts and tools… I’m certain that this site only fed my habit. I bought so much stuff that I soon realized it wouldn’t even fit in my Suburban let alone on my bike. So I somehow condensed my list of stuff and made a pretty good effort in not taking too much stuff. I impressed myself, I must say.

The Essentials:
- riding gear: Rev’it!
- helmets: HJC and Shoei
- heated clothing: Gerbing
- communications system: AutoCom
- GPS: Garmin 478
- duffels: North Face
- security: Pacsafe
- tent and bags: Mountain Hardware
- cots: LuxoryLite
- cameras: GoPro wide, Canon 5D, Canon G9 (my wife is a pro photographer)



The Route:
I’ve read literally hundreds of ride reports and yet over the past year I couldn’t seem to be able to put together a definite route. I decided that I’d rather just hit the road and not worry too much about it. The only thing I needed to know is that we will start in San Antonio, TX, stay off all main highways, and our goal is Tuktoyaktuk, Canada. There are definitely some things we’d like to see but we really just want to be free with this trip.

The Bike:
The bike is a 2007 Ural Gear Up. A few have toured pretty extensively with such a rig, but it will provide quite a different touring experience than most bikes. I haven't made many modifications: an extra gas can to the hack, highway peg (yes, I said peg), electric clothing, comm system, GPS. This thing is ready for the road!

If anyone is interested, we have a more interactive blog at Bugs On My Face