Saturday, August 24, 2013
In the morning after breakfast I listened to Kevan Ibbotson's Best of Bodger Fixes. Bodger fixes, if you don't know is when you're in a tight spot and you have to figure out a way to get something working to continue on. Bailing wire and bubblegum, McGyver-esque fixes. He had pictures for a lot of them and they were hilarious, but had a point too. Your job when you're in the boonies and something breaks is to figure out a way to cobble something together in order to get your bike to someone better qualified to really repair it. Along the way Kevan had some little tips to keep in mind, tools that you should definitely have, and the firm belief that you really need to know your bike before you get into the great beyond. Things to think about having: duct tape, electrical tape, 2-part epoxy (like JB Weld), bailing wire, and hose clamps to name a few. This is in addition to a small selection of general purpose tools that can be used on multiple parts on your bike. Something else? Keep your bike clean. When it comes to troubleshooting electrical issues, you're going to wish you had kept some of those electrical areas clean.
Nevil Stow was back at 10am for his discussion of bear safety when camping. In Alaska and parts of eastern Russian, it's a really serious subject and you're really "meals on wheels" so being prepared is a necessity. The key is understanding bear behaviour and avoiding bear hot spots - places where you know the odds are high that they will be in an area you want to go to. Bear spray is a useful tool to have, but you need to realize that it is only really effective when concentrated on the bear's face. Which really means when the bear is about 10 feet away. Frontiersman makes a good bear spray product.
At 11am I went to Grant Johnson's tire changing clinic. Now two years ago I tried to change my own tires and failed miserably. Mine are tubeless tires, but even though Grant was using a spoked wheel with an innertube, the theory is the same. Of course he made it look easy, but with a couple of helpful tools and techniques, it's not impossible. I think I'm going to buy an old used wheel and practice at home. This is a skill I need to have.
After lunch which took too long, I ended up falling asleep and missed the 1am and half of the 2pm sessions, so I just decided to wait for the 3pm session. This was one I was also very interested in: Tracey and Miles Martin's "Life in 12 kilos" talk. Packing light. That's the name of the game. A heavy bike is a dangerous bike, so reducing weight is a must. Tracey discussed their philosophy of packing and the products and methods that worked for them on their trip to South America on a Ural. One of the mottos she found was this aboriginal saying: "The more you know, the less you need." There's definitely some wisdom there. Another saying that they made up themselves was to pack so that they only had "one trip to the room." If it took two trips for the two of them, they were carrying too much. Here's a few of the things that they used or helped them with their packing:
Tom Clark
I'm a Senior Software Engineer at Intellitect, living in Spokane, Washington. I also do a little development work on the side. And I love riding motorcycles all over the country with my friends.
