Meet me in..... well you choose. 2007 ATW
 

Greetings all,
Next summer,2007, I plan to leave this careworn existance and go out where each day is a blank page, well almost blank anyway. I was going to go with my twin bro but HE, having fallen off during his CBT last week, has vowed never to mount a bike again. I said 'Well you didn't break anything, how come you didn't get back on and have another go.' His look of incredulity had to be seen to be believed,:eek3: but just as well he did it in UK and didn't wait for Labrador!!

So now I am going solo, to the great distress of the older members of my family. At 60 I should be responsible for my own actions, don't you think? The youngsters are cool, they say 'I wish I could come.' So to appease the frightened ones, I've agreed to give some forward notice and not just rely on who turns up on the day.

So my itinery is - roughly -
Canada - July and August 2007
Halifax, Nova Scotia, - Newfoundland - Labrador, to Cartwight, ferry to Goose Bay, 1000km of dirt on the Labrador Highway through Labrador City, to Quebec, Great Lakes-Thunder Bay, trans Canadaian Hwy to Dawson City, 700km dirt on the Dempster Hwy to Inuvik(everyone goes to that oil facility called Prudow, but this is the real northern most town in America:smartass: ) Back down to Dawson, (should be easier on the way back.) South through the Rockies on the Totem Pole Trail.

USA - Sept and Nov 2007.......
Continue through the Rockies to Dallas via the cowboy towns, a bit of Route 66, visit Strokers Motorcycles, Dallas and have a beer.

Winter time, who knows?:cool4:
Mexico (learn Spanish on the Pacific coast for a month) to Panama, - Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, along with Chile and Argentina are also in there somewhere, but I hope to be seriously out on my timetable by then, 'cause if I'm on time then I have not been having fun and could have gone on a package tour.

Bike then goes NZ and Oz sometime in 2008 -April/May? Then I'll need to get home to see if I left the gas on, so I'll need to find the right road home. (Japan, Siberia, Mongolia, Russia, Finland, Scandinavia??) Who knows.

So if you fancy camping in the Canadian Wilderness with just bears, moose and lumberjacks for company, let me know, or say 'Hi' to me when we meet in Belgium in September.

'Happy trails to you.' - (Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, if you know all the words then you're as ancient as I am :thumbup1: )

from
Stagbeetle

Ha Ha , it gives me a warm feeling inside to hear of a biker that's older than me !
Good for you mate , I'm sick of reading about these young,spotty, barely weaned ,whippersnappers fresh from University jumping on their KTM s with toothbrush and condoms and riding round the world .

Doesn't really make sense that ,does it ! If you've a fast bike ,what need have ye of condoms ?


Happy Trails eh ?

Well I've a quote for you from Blazing Saddles , a conversation between Sheriff Bart and Jim "The Waco Kid" .
Jim: "Where you headed, cowboy? "
Bart: "Nowhere special."
Jim: "Nowhere special. I always wanted to go there."
Bart: "Come on."

Happy trails to you
 

Happy trails to you untill we meet again.... is how that goes. You are only a couple of years older than me and good for you. Stop in in Helena Montana and I will introduce you to a couple of pistol packin cowboys, Who also ride Baja.
Definately get up to Inuvik. It is a great experience and just before dawson city stop at moose lodge.

Heading for Montana
 

Thanks Bill, that's very civil of you. I now have you plotted on my Google Earth file and it looks easily do-able. I look forward to the ride out too, sounds fun. Will be in touch.
This is the thing I like about adventure motorcyclists, they are always ready to reach out and help each other. If you're ever in UK and need a bed in Norfolk, then I'm here, that goes for all you others reading this as well, and if I'm off in some far flung country, well I got family who will help too.

Happy Trails

Hope for Hudson
 

Hi Dodger, Hudson's Hope is a bit off my planned route, but that don't mean that I won't roll up your drive one afternoon.:cool4: Plans are made to ignore. You're plotted on my map too.

Age creeps up on you, don't it. I feel like a 16 year old in a set of old beat up leathers and crappy crash hat. Don't look much from the outside, but those keen young eyes are still there behind the crud.

Happy Trails

Anytime buddy .
As for me I'm only 36 , I don't know who that old bastard is in the mirror looking back at me !

Another "Oldie" on similar trip!
 

Hi Stagbeetle,
Whoever said it's a small world was spot on! The Americas part of your trip is almost identical to mine, also planned for next year, though I'll be leaving mid May (fingers crossed!). I too am no spring chicken at 57, but I feel 27 and my kids reckon I act 7!!
I see you're going to the meeting in Belgium. We must arrange to meet up there and compare notes and perhaps have a sherbert or three!!
Cheers Derek.

might be worth a chat
 

g'day mate,

i plan to hit the usa late april 07. at present my only "commitments" are early to mid june when i plan to join a small group of women for a tour of alaska...well, a small section of it. and then the copper canyon thingy in october. other than that my plans are about as fixed as a a slow moving stream :)

i had initially thought i would do all the places in canada, n'foundland etc that you mentioned, but not really keen on doing a lot of dirt in such remote areas by myself so might be nice to hook up with someone. also, after the copper canyon run, i had planned to stay south of the border for a while so again, might be worth a chat.

happy to also talk re oz....i have driven...not ridden....1000's of kms around oz and loved every second. hopefully i can offer some tips or something :)

hmmm as to your age.....well. maybe we can work around that!

toodles

jennifer :)

Howdy Del Boy
 

Hi Del Boy,
Maybe we can sort something out, late June is my b'day and I fancy doing a Bilbo Baggins, big party then slope off while the hangovers are still fresh:cool4:

Labrador and Dempster seem to have mixed reviews from my web searches, everything from 'The Road from Hell' to 'I travelled in my '78 Cobra with no problem' type things. As I understand it what they have done is put 4ft of ballast over the graded ground in order to insulate it and keep the perma-frost in, then consolodated it and put crushed rock on the surface which then gets levelled. If the weather has been really wet, and the traffic heavy (2 lorries an hour:confused1: ) then pot holes appear. If the weather is fine the surface is good and only the dust to contend with. But hey, I haven't got to be anywhere, anytime, so I figure if I do it in 5 days - ok, if 10 still ok, am I having fun, I hope so!!!

But to get to Labrador involves the onerous task of travelling along the incredibly scenic roads of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. You could always split at Sablon Blanc when I cross from Newfoundland to Labrador, and travel down the coast. The Labrador Hwy meets this road further along the St Lawrence.

Anyway seems like I'd better pack an atlas, and we can compare notes Del-Boy;

I have a sneeking suspicion we share the same Christian name:thumbup1:

Happy Trails
Stagbeetle

Honeybadger let's mardle (Norfolk for chat)
 

Hi Honeybadger, You might like to read the reply to Del-Boy above, 'cause that deals with dirt roads, not that he asked, just that I'm bashing this out at work with one eye over my shoulder:cool4: and got the two mixed up........I AM NOT SENILE, HONEST.....(nurse where are my pills)

Anyway, I know what you mean about wilderness + dirt road, which is why I posted this in the first place. I have no problem with falling down and getting up again (years of practice :wink3: ) but the ancient relative does worry, and I thought that mutual support could open up some opportunities for others as well. But if you don't fancy going to Labrador, see above post about the coast road. There is more than one way to skin a cat as the saying goes.


Would be great to hear about trans-oz

As for the age thing, don't worry about it, I'll just have to slow down my life style a bit so you youngsters can keep up with me. :lol2:

email me to mardle some more........goes for the rest of you too, post initial contact in this forum, then email me so we don't clog it up too much. The more the merrier.

Happy Trails

Stagbeetle

Copper Canyon Meet
 

Thanks to Honeybadger I've looked up the Copper Canyon Meet in Mexico. Looks do-able on my schedule, so if we can't get meet up in Canada/USA guys and girls, perhaps we can meet in Copper Canyon, or on the way there. Anyone else heading down the Rockies to Copper Canyon at about that time?

Happy Trails

Stagbeetle