2020: Almost done

2020 didn't turn out anything like I'd planned. At this point last year, I was fretting about working around the schedule for the Alaska Marine Highway System -- budget issues were delaying the release of the sailing schedule, and those delays were showing up in problems with booking hotels (especially at Glacier National Park). 

Eventually, I had to work around the problem by planning to ride from Valdez to Whittier, and from Haines to Skagway. Not ideal, but a workaround that we could live with.

I had nearly all the hotels booked, and was ready to go for a June 2020 departure, heading north.

Then the pandemic hit. The border closed, and remained closed (as it is today). So, the Alaska plan was tossed, and we ended up having a great ride to Washington and back. The lower 48 portion of the Alaska trip was the basis of this new plan, with an adjustment in departure by a few days to lessen the impact of late snows on Beartooth Pass. As it turned out, that delay wasn't enough to allow us to ride the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park, but we were able to get a cabin at GNP.

Instead of playing chicken with Alaska travel in 2021, I pulled out an old Pacific Northwest plan that I've never ridden. We'll have a nice ride west, along the Lincoln Highway alignment all the way to Little America, WY. From there, we'll continue west along U.S. Route 30 to Portland, OR. We'll then ride north to Bellingham, and visit Orcas and San Juan Islands. We'll see the Olympic Peninsula (and Olympic National Park), then ride south to Redwood National and State Parks at Crescent City, CA. Turning northeast, we'll see Crater Lake National Park on our way to Walla Walla, WA. Turning northwest, we'll head to Yakima, WA and Mount Rainier National Park. Then we're off to Portland, OR to see the sights (and do a little visiting, as the pandemic permits). We'll ride home via U.S. 20 / U.S. 26 as far as the start of U.S. 40 in Utah, then take U.S. 40 east (eventually picking up the alignment of the National Road).

I'll fuss with the routing a bit over the next few months, but each day is largely set. We're signed up for the Tour of Honor again in 2021, so we'll catch as many of those bonus locations as we can, to spice up the usual geocaches, waymarks, and roadside attractions.

20200112 Big Money Rally

The weather forecast was for really good weather (meaning: temperatures in the 60's, and at least partial sun) on Sunday, 12 January 2020, so we headed out to Prince Georges, Anne Arundel, Calvert, and St. Mary's counties for bonus hunting and geocaching. The day turned out to be gorgeous -- up to 70 degrees F and full sun. If only every riding day could be that nice! We got a whole lot of creeks and churches, one airport, and a few geocaches to help Donna's totals (adding three new counties and two virtual geocaches).

Ride maintenance

I took the bike in for service on Saturday, 11 January 2020 -- it was time for an oil change, and I'd gone a little past the recommended 36,000 biannual service mileage. Showing up for Saturday service in January is certainly different than showing up in June! I was first in line at about 0708, and was back on the road before noon. Pretty good. Very expensive, but pretty good. That'll get the bike to the pre-ride check in May or June.

2020: First ride of the year

The weather forecast was for "mostly sunny" and mid-40's today, so off we went for a short ride. There were Big Money Rally bonuses to hunt, along with a couple of virtual geocaches. The temperature held to between 39 degrees F and 43 degrees F for the whole ride, and the "mostly sunny" turned out to be "very occasionally sunny". But, it was a nice opportunity to shake out the kinks and get a little well-needed practice riding in. Bonus hunting is a specialized form of riding -- road riding, combined with slow speeds, negotiating turns, and watching for the "right" parking place adjacent to the target. Practice is important.