To Sauda (Merica) and Back

With the weekend of the 26th and 27th July came truly balmy temperatures here in Norway and the long needed practice run for the TransAmericas. Little did I realise that by riding 467 kms I would be enacting the likely crossing of the Atacama Desert, with the mercury hitting 31 degs C most of the weekend.

Naturally, clad in black, this made stationary posing in front of the ladies at ferry stops rather unpleasant but fjord road riding was an absolute dream. It took 5 hours to gather all the essentials together and another 4 hours to ride 200kms to Sauda. The bike is a very different beast when kitted out with upto 40 kgs of essentials and subsequently has the breaking distance of large oil tanker! Note to self: do not use the front brake on gravel when fully loaded!

I was joined in my escapades by DSN's premier offshore geologist, Jamie Simpson. He'd collected his 2001 Kawasaki ZXR1200 in Oslo Saturday morning and so joined my parents and I on Saturday night by the shores of Sauda for a bbq and beers. I doubt for one minute that the real TransAmericas will be this easy but as a practice run it was perfect. I think I'm ready.

Decisions, decision, decisions

Hello folks. I have exactly 5 weeks and 1 day to go before departure from Norway (that's 36 days for the arithmetically challenged) and I've made the bold decision, after a great deal of procrastination, to buy a bigger fuel tank. Boring as this may sound this is a long over due but extremely important acquisition. The current tank holds 15 litres and can't even get me to the shops without the fuel light flashing itself at me. The new 26 litre tank should at least allow me to get back from the shops, and, more importantly, across the 3000km Atacama desert! I will now have piece of mind on the road and this will almost halve the number of pit stops required between Anchorage and Ushuaia. Such a decision doesn't come cheap though, hence the procrastination. Thanks must go to the unknown soldier at http://www.off-the-road.de/ who has kindly given me his tank whilst he waits for another. With a 6 week lead time for such an item I would not have otherwise been able to take delivery of a tank. "Danke schön". Moral of the story: don't think, just buy!