Today was a road day as we are working our way back home; however, we had to pit early this morning at the BMW shop. My brake light was on for 2 days, which isn’t safe and forces Mark to ride behind a lot so cars know when I’m stopping (they see his lights). For Mark it’s not so much a guessing game as were are talking to each other on our radios.
When I put my riding pants on this morning I also noticed fluid all overt he bottom of my pants. Then all over the lower right side of my bike and front brake and wheel. We thought maybe my brake fluid was leaking which caused the brake light to stay on. The shop mechanic was also caught by surprise when he tried to start my bike. The start button was near impossible to push with all the dust stuck in it.
After he took it back to the shop he came right back in a few minutes and let us know my right front fork seal had blown, which caused all the fluid. He also figured out the brake issue and fixed it. Shortly thereafter he said my right front fork was scratched from impact which likely caused the seal to blow. Alas, they had no forks to replace mine and informed me since it was from a crash it would not be covered by warranty. Considering I dropped my bike 4 times, it’s likely the fork took a shot the past 10 days. It was rideable, no safety issue so we pressed on to Butte 2 hours away.
While in Butte, on recommendations from my friend Babe, who used to live there, we hit Pork Chop Johns for a pork chop sandwich and Bonanza Freeze for a slowda (slushy ice cream mix). We also cruised up to the Granite Mountain Miners Memorial.
From there, it was another 3 hours to Idaho Falls. It was brutal. Hot. Windy. Uncomfortable on the bikes. They just aren’t comfortable road cruisers after several hours. By the time we hit Idaho Falls both of us were tired, sore and generally ready to freak out. We met some of Marks co-workers from FireEye for dinner (my former employees) then got a room for the night. We took a short ride to MarCellars to have a drink and when leaving ran into William and June Cutler, friends from IF, having dinner outside Snakebite and chatted for a few before turning in for the night.
Just liked the trip started, it’s 10:30pm. I’m posting to the blog and Mark’s been sleeping for 30 minutes already. Sawing wood. This guy is a pro. I’ve never seen anyone fall asleep this fast consistently in my life. Another 3.5 hours of riding to get back to Park City tomorrow.
A year of planning. Buying equipment. Putting our kit together. Reading trip reports. Watching videos. 12 days of riding. 2800 miles when we are done, half on dirt. We’re both exhausted. Our bikes, and Mark took a beating. I can’t wait for the next trip! Planning will start in a few weeks I’m sure.
We’ll post some follow up/lessons learned and planning info for anyone that wants to join next year. We already have a few thoughts on how we will approach all this for next time.
2geeks2bikes 
You guys are wild!! Sounds amazing and I wish I was there. I did something very similar with 4 of my friends and in a car after my HS graduation. We travelled all the way from Wichita KS to NE Canada and then across Canada/Pacific Northwest down to CA and back. All 20K + miles in a beat-up 1978 Phoenix Pontiac, with no windows and futon mattresses as seats over metal frames, that we bought for 50 bucks from salvage yard and fixed up the engine with help from my friend’s mechanic Dad. Still so many memories!!
Readjng through your adventure gives me a very distinct pleasure and almost melancholy trying to reminiscent old times. I’m too fat and too old and too many other responsibilities to do this. But would definitely someday do a similar bike trip cross-country someday.
Congrats and welcome back home!!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
We’ll hold you to your word. You’ll have to join us on one of our trips.
LikeLike