Van Halen Getting Along Fine, Taking a Break, And Planning to Extend Tour!Just when we all were beginning to think we were going to get a killer Van Halen album and an entire tour without any drama whatsoever, look what happens! Yesterday, Van Halen POSTPONED (not canceled!) most of their Summer tour dates with no reason given. Immediately, speculation ran wild.

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Posted from Lake Elmo, Minnesota, United States.

This is the last big content update to the site before I leave.  It’s hard to believe that 3 weeks from right now, I’ll be wrapping up packing and will be about to hit the road.

I wanted to create a way to keep people up to date on the trip.  To do that, I’ve created day-by-day posts for every day of the trip.  Each day offers a “Preview”, maps and elevation profiles, live weather data, and lots of images and video.  While on the trip, my plan for each day is to process the best photos and videos of the day, and also upload GPS tracks and detailed write-ups of the experience of the day.  We’ll see if this will be feasible, but I’ll do my best.  Here’s an example of one of the day’s previews.

One other item – I’ve developed a Live Map that displays routes, likely stops, overnights, parks and monuments, and live weather.  When I depart overnight on May 22, I’ll turn on my GPS satellite tracker and it will also show my live location.  I’ll have it on every day I’m riding.

Posted from Lake Elmo, Minnesota, United States.

None of this is really that surprising, but it still has a lot of impact.

Edward Van Halen Is AliveHe started playing, and millions of teenage boys started banging their heads against the wall. Thirty-five hard years later, he’s got a new album, a new tour, and his kid Wolfgang is in the band. What would you give to play Eddie’s guitar backstage at the Garden?

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Posted from Lake Elmo, Minnesota, United States.

I’ve been in serious preparation mode in the last week, as it’s dawning on me that the trip is 7 weeks away, and we have an SAP implementation in May – it’s going to get busy, fast.  Here are a couple of updates on items I’m working on:

Emergency Kit

It’s a morbid topic, but I need to prepare for a worst-case scenario on the trip. Here’s the scenario I’m preparing for:

1. That I go down in a remote area;
2. That my mobile is broken and/or without service;
3. That the bike’s battery is disabled and cannot provide power;
4. That it is dark/nighttime;
5. That it is raining with temps slightly above freezing;

With this in mind, I’m compiling kit/gear for an effective “emergency kit”.  I’ve received some great input from friends and family; here’s the breakdown on what’s in the kit – green denotes “have”, red denotes “need”:

Photos

Posted from Lake Elmo, Minnesota, United States.

I continue to be impressed by the quality of Powerlet‘s products. Last night, I installed the Apple Battery Harness (PPC-026-DB) to my Centech AP-1 switch. Although the Powerlet website states the harness is not compatible with the iPhone 4S, I called customer service and the gal I spoke to said that it does work with the iPhone 4S 95% of the time. With her guarantee that Powerlet would provide a full refund if it did not work after installing, I gave it a go.

Electrical Configuration

For those who are interested in bike/tech geekery, I have the Centech AP-1 switch wired directly to the battery, with a DPST automotive relay wired to the ignition switch. There are eight (8) ports on the AP-1. Port 1 is wired to a standard SAE cable, which in turn connects to a Powerlet SAE to Cigarette Socket Cable. Put in automotive terms, I have the functional equivalent of a powered cigarette socket when the engine is running. Port 2 is taken up by the new Apple Battery Harness I just mentioned.

I do have 1 other electrical cable run – another SAE cable – which is a direct patch to the battery. I use this cable to connect a Battery Tender during the winter.

Posted from Lake Elmo, Minnesota, United States.

It’s hard to believe that the trip is in seven (7) weeks. Given this, and the fact that I don’t own a trailer, I figured it was  time that I call U-Haul to get an estimate for getting my bike – and possibly my friend Kamran’s bike – out to Steamboat. Here’s what I learned:

1. U-Haul rents cargo (i.e., open top) trailers with ramps for a period of 5 consecutive days;
2. U-Haul offers one-way rentals only on trailers larger than – and including – their 5′ x 9′ with ramp;

Then I called Hertz Industrial Equipment, and talked to a very helpful rep.  Hertz rents a 6′ x 10.5′ trailer with ramp.  Their cost?  Dramatically lower – as in, US$385 plus tax to rent the larger trailer for an entire month.  Still expensive, but within reason.  I am going to try a couple of local equipment rental agencies to see if there’s a viable option available.

At the end of the day, unless someone wants to offer up a trailer that can handle 2 bikes, I’ll probably be going with Hertz.

Posted from Lake Elmo, Minnesota, United States.