Getting Ready & Overwhelmed

Based on Erin's suggestion I have gone ahead and set up a blog - my very first - as a way to allow everyone to track our progress on the trip. It literally took 5 mins and seems like a handy tool for this very type of situation. Good idea Buddy!

So here it is - my very first Blog.

The truth is I am starting to get a little overwhelmed. Anyone who knows me really well knows that I have travel anxiety, and it is starting to kick in. I have not packed a thing yet for the trip, but I did order some new gloves and socks for the trip and they arrived today in the mail - in a package - so I guess that sort of counts. I also went to the Yamaha dealership yesterday and picked up some saddlebags, which are really nice - to help carry all of our gear. My concern was that if I had to carry it all in a backpack it would cause me to get fatigued, so this way we can strap a lot if it on the sleds and let them do most of the work.

I have been corresponding with some locals and other riders who frequently ride the trails in Ontairio, and they have been a wealth of information in planning this trip. One guy even offered to talk to me on the phone, which we did, for 3 hours. He lives in Appleton and has been riding in Ontairo for 10 years, and had a lot of good insight and based on his suggestions I have altered our route a little bit. Instead of taking the train to Hearst we are now going to get of at Hawk Junction, which is the halfway point, and then ride up to Hearst. It has added some miles but will prevent us from having to ride the train for 10 hours; this way we will be able to get some riding in on Sunday and that will be more fun. He did scare me a little when he told me it is not ideal that there are only 2 of us going on the trip. I guess there are some pretty long stretches of 80 or more miles where there is litterally NO civilization, so if something were to happen to one of us it would present a very difficult situation for the other. I guess we will need to take extra precaution to make sure nothing happens.

I will post the route later along with a map for those who who want to keep score. Erin has also threatened to post pics of me packing the car - sounds exciting.

Stay tuned.

S-