Tenere Across the USA

I had a nice ride up to Sedro-Woolley yesterday to meet up with Eric Nolan and his apprentice Asher. Eric is the “one man show” for making the best deal in motorcycle panniers. He is a self taught machinist and dirt bike gearhead that beats just about every other manufacturer on price for a full set of panniers. Yes, his prices are that good! This is his current price list.

Working out of his garage really does keep overhead low😉 He hand builds them from scratch, the only part of the process that’s farmed out is powder coating, but he wants to work toward doing his own soon so stay tuned! 

His main customers are V-Strom and KLR owners but I also know several highly satisfied Canadian PNW Super Tenere Owners that rave about Eric’s luggage.

  Eric’s main marketing is through Social media on Facebook and YouTube, he doesn’t have a website. I’d like to do what I can to help him by getting the word out about his excellent craftsmanship. Send him an email at gosolobox@gmail.com or call direct 360-840-7139  to order yours today! 

I hung out with Ronald Kelm the last couple days at his place in the town of Drain to ride the coastal mountain range of southwest Oregon. We were scouting locations for a spot to host next years Rendezvous, I many have found it😏!  There is so much area to go and ride! In the two days we logged about 450  miles and didn’t get through 1/2 of it! Most of the area is twisty, one or two lane  paved forest roads (of various conditions )  with lots of gravel logging or fire roads that cut across the ridge lines. I’m sure there is single track stuff for the riders that want to challenge themselves. There is also plenty of sand dunes along the coast for the riders that want to spend a day digging out a Super Tenere 😜   Another good thing is there aren’t many locked gates so most of the area is accessible🙌

I’ll set plans for the rendezvous in motion around the first of the year for a late May or early June 2020 timeframe. For now enjoy the pics!

I can’t believe it’s been a year since I locked the door and walked away from my house in Roy! There are so many people I want to thank for making this past year one of the best in my life! I hope I get them all 😉 Elsa Svensson, Chris Dantzschier
Portland Tenere send off crew, Stacey Griffith, Sherry Weiss, Stacey & Michael Jenkinson, Donna & Randy Sprouse, Gwenn Malham, Tana & Brady Todd/Allen, Alan Humes, Tirza Deflinger, Cole Ford, Pat Covington, Jaxon Fyffe, Bobbie Comeaux(Mom), Kris & Jon Martin, John Mustian, Staci Montgomery, Charlotte Holland, Jesse & Kelly Bailey, David & Lori Salisbury, Ninke & Nikita Westra/Whalen, Huckleberry & Hester Starns, Rakesh Rao, Glenn Carter, Sarah & Jimmy Comeaux/Johnson, Doris Randell, Jen Meaux, Steve Frazee, Alex Martens, JoJo & Russ Gout, Rick Wyllis, Eddie & Sandra Lopez, Joe Desrosiers, Marsha Hall, Steve & Patty Loster, Pete & Lisa West, Seth Laam, and last but not least….Woodie & Meredith Krugel.

I don’t have pictures of everyone but I’ll post the ones I do have and add their names to their picture.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!!

Joe

Sherry and Sparky

Cole and Elise

Tirza

Alan

Charlotte

Tana and Brady

Alex

Jen

Pat

Jesse and Kelly

Pete and Kat

Huckleberry and Hester

Mom

Stacey and Michael

Katy,Doris and Emily

Joe

Ninke

Glenn

Stacey,Donna & Randy

Dave

Steve

Doris

Steve

Seth

Kenny

Eddie and Sandra

John

Kris

Elsa

Brady

We had a blast in Northern California recently riding the mountains and super twisty roads between Redding, Trinity lake and US101 on the coast. Thanks to all that showed up!

WOW! Is the only I can explain it! The venue in Flagstaff Az. was huge, it just kept on going… Everything outdoor related with Overland travel. Bikes, jeeps, Earth Roamers, even a Tesla😳  I’ll break up the pics by category. Bike and bike related, Van, 4×4, and the “big boys” expedition vehicles.

Bikes

Vans

4×4

Expedition vehicles

There was also  WTF…..

Then there are the travelers, because that’s what makes a gathering like this so  special. I met up with old friends and even made some new ones.  Simon and Lisa Thomas,  Sam Manicom, Tiffany Coats, Tim Nortier and Ted Simon all had great presentations about life on the road. They are a huge part of why I do what I do(all be it on a MUCH smaller scale)

The vendors are what make the world go around for us travelers, they get us the gear we need. Pete and Ashley from Mosko Moto, Erik Stephens from Twisted Throttle, Ty from VanWife, Harold from Giant Loop, Jeremy from AltRider were just a few of the hundreds on hand.

I’d totally suggest getting to at least one Overland Expo to see it for the spectacle that it is. There will be another on the east coast in North Carolina in late September or October. This event is getting bigger every year so there will only be more to see next year.

Made it back to Colorado for a bit then off to see what the Overland expo is all about. Anyone heading that way? 

I left Joes place in San Diego early last week, headed through Arizona and into New Mexico stopping  a couple nights for some boondocking in the desert. I did the “old 666” (US 191 ) from Clifton to Alpine in the van but will go back on the bike enroute to the Overland in Flagstaff. It’s an amazing road! Also picked up my 4th Airmail Arrow😁

Now I’m cabin sitting for a friend just outside Estes Park.  It’s looking into the RMNP with Elk, deer and the occasional wild turkey walking through the yard almost daily. Rough life 😉☺️ The riding up there is pretty good too! 

I’m getting to hang out with all the friends I made last summer. Tana& Brady (Tana is training for the GS Giants women’s team) Pete with his “Blinkys mountain riders” ,Tirza and Stacey with her new husband Michael and family. It’s so good to stay in touch with friends!🤘🤘

Blinkys Mt Riders

If you haven’t got your tickets for the Overland expo yet, they are going fast and always sell out before the event. You can look for my big blue van or if yo see a gnome in a kilt😊Stop by to say hi. Here is the link https://www.overlandexpo.com/tickets-west

Oh yeh, the map is my route from  June 2018 to Easter Sunday , over 20,000 on the van and about 8000 on the bike. 

My plans took a turn this past week, but it’s all good.
I got a call from Sherry that she was broke down in eastern Arizona while on an Ironbutt practice ride. I had been staying with old Air Force friends in El Paso so I headed north to help out my former host.( last June Sherry hosted me as I passed through SoCal) We got her bike towed to her mechanic outside of Laughlin Nv. where they fixed the bike (it was bad gas) and welded on a trailer hitch to “Belle”

On the way back to Sherry’s  house we met up with Shawn and Adele from shawncowles.com as they made their way from Key West to Ushuaia Argentina on DRZ 400’s. All packed up with Mosko Moto luggage. It’s great to see travelers doing what they love!

Yesterday we loaded up her pup Blondie for a day ride through the mountains and desert. It turned out to be a 200+ mile day because of washed out roads up in Idlewild. We made our way through the crowds in Joshua Tree NM for a late lunch in 29 Palms and a very windy ride back down the hill to Sherry’s house in Banning.

Sherry Weiss

It’s very freeing to change plans on the fly. Something I’ve had trouble with in the past being in logistics where you had to be at a certain place and a set time. Meeting up with friends and making new ones is a great thing if you can give up a bit of control sometimes and just let it happen ❤️

I took a few days riding across Texas after picking up my bike in Austin from Alex at Konflict suspension for a LOOOONG overdue service on the Touratech Shock. Thanks for squeezing me in before your trip to the Sonoran Rally.

Alex

Stopping at the Fort Davis Mountains State Park for 3 nights I was pleasantly surprised that I qualify for a Texas State Park Veterans Pass that got my entire reservation reimbursed. THANK YOU TEXAS! 

Camp is an easy set up in the Yamahauler, just unload the bike and put the screen in the window for added ventilation, that’s pretty much it. 

My first riding day started a few min before sunrise on top of the lookout in the park, I rolled up with 1 min before sunrise and was greeted to a spectacular view! 

First stop was gas in the town of Ft Davis then south to the Mexican border town of Presidio Texas (about 80 miles). From there, the highway follows the Rio Grand River into the Big Bend NP almost 100 miles away. The views were not what I was expecting! It reminded me of Utah, Arizona or Southern California but definitely not Texas ! There was talk of a “super bloom” of bluebonnets  but sadly I didn’t see much more then along the sides of the road.. The outstanding views I rode through more than made up for it though.   By the time I made it back to camp, I had just over 300 miles, a respectable day in the saddle. 

Day two of riding started slower, it was about a 80’ish mile loop out to the Observatory high atop the Ft Davis Mountains and then back to town another way. Passing a family of Javelina along the way.  Lunch was back in the park at the Indian lodge’s Black bear diner. Good food at a bargain.  I stopped at the Ft Davis National monument in town, it’s the historic sight of the original fort. One of my Air Force  buddy’s helped restore a few of the artifacts. It was very well done. The fort was mainly manned by the “Buffalo Soldiers “ so lots of history there.

Having traversed Texas several times North-South and East-West, I had never seen anything that looks like the areas I rode through in those 3 days, everyone needs to spend some time down there. It’s trualy amazing!

Tana and Brady have re-vamped their You Tube page ( formally Colorado ADVlogs) as they get ready for Tana’s shot to qualify for the GS Trophy international women’s team. They  also have a Go fund me page  to help raise some funds. Tana and Brady both have an adventurous spirit with  hearts of gold that are living the ADV life whenever and wherever they can. They  hosted me last summer before I went ride across Utah.  Like, share and donate if you can!

GO FUND ME LINK

MEERKAT MEDIA WEBSITE

MEERKAT MEDIA YOUTUBE LINK