So here's the plan

I generally have a rule about posting things to the internet. But, enough people have asked that I email them pictures that I decided to start a blog. So what exactly is happening over the next month?

A little background first. About two years ago I was looking to buy an old bike. Eventually I found a guy selling five Triumphs from the early seventies on Craigslist. So, I bought five Triumphs. None of them were in running condition and they were all kind of rough. Over the last couple of years I rebuilt one of them, a 1971 T120R Bonneville, and when I got back from Honduras last year I decided to name her Viejo Gris, VG for short. Which explains why a British bike has a Spanish name.

So, that's what I've been doing. Now what I was planning on doing. After reading Jupiter's Travels I thought it would be a good idea to take a trip on VG. I've wanted to do a long motorcycle trip for a while but never got around to it. Between VG having a New York inspection sticker when I got her and a visit from Titus and Victoria, my resident New York friends, I decided a cross country trip to Manhattan would be perfect. Now I had a goal. Ride a forty year old motorcycle across the country. That should be enough, right?

Well, not really. After catching up with Brienne, my resident adventurer friend, I mentioned the idea of the trip to her. She suggested that I do the Trans America Trail, TAT for short. If you're not familiar with the TAT, it's a collection of Jeep trails, fire roads, and general unpaved roads from Tennessee to the west coast. So, the plan is now San Diego to New York to Tennessee to Nevada then back home. I figured a month would be enough to get this covered. And since being away from work for a week generates a nice backlog of work I could only imagine what would be waiting for me after a month. So, I decided that stopping in at DIRECTV's Maryland office for a couple of days would give me a chance to catch up a bit.

Eventually I set a date of June 1 to start the trip. Well, getting VG running took a bit longer than I thought. So I pushed it out a couple of weeks. Then VG decided to open up a crack on her gas tank a week before I was supposed to leave. Not enough time to get it fixed with confidence. So, now I have about a week to buy and prep a bike for the trip. And, although I now have one lined up, there will be no chicken counting until I have it ready.

That's the general plan. If everything goes well I'll be leaving Sunday morning between 8 and 9. I'm going to try to be good about posting pictures on this blog.