Late planning disasters…

Well, like I said in my last blog, adventure has adversity.

It started earlier this week when MyMate pointed out that getting to the ferry in Juneau would require, well, a ferry. It turns out that much of the Alaska highway system is actually run by the ferry department and roads are more like gigantic gorges filled with icy seawater.

This put a bit of a Spaniard in the works for two reasons, firstly it meant that Martin Brabham is right about me being crap at planning, secondly it means changing the whole plan around.

Actually the second issue, the plan, is easy to change because as long as it means riding bikes and camping, we are just fine with it.

The thing about Brabham is irksome, but he is still a nob, so, whatever.

The late race drama continued yesterday:

1. I realised I do not have a spare key for the Much Loved Sprint. The only place around that does motorcycle keys is not open on weekends and I have been too busy mid week to take it in. I went in and the blank is not in stock and will take a week or so to come in. I went out to the Triumph dealer in San Rafael who looked at my key and said, “that’s not a triumph key”. Of course it is a triumph key! Then I remembered that I had had my keys stolen (someone broke in to my house and stole ALL MY KEYS a couple of years ago) and I had to have my bike rekeyed. It turns out I have a Kawasaki key. Which I now have a copy of.
2. I realised that my insurance will expire in the middle of the trip so I have been scrambling to get coverage for me and My Mate Chris. Geico were actually pretty helpful on this matter.
3. I also realised I did not have a registration card for the Sprint and I put the wrong sticker on the Tiger (it is actually the one I got for the Vespa.). I went to DMV services at AAA and got that handled.

–
But then worst of all, the Sprint wouldn’t start when I went to go home!!!

I was not sure what was happening, I put a new battery in a few months ago when I had it serviced.

I started freaking out. The guy who has been working on my Triumphs for the last 5 years is Lawrence at LG Moto Performance , I called him and he said that he is booked up for the next two months!

I freaked out more.

It started getting late and me and my bike were still at my office. I was trying various charging and jumping methods to get it to turn over.

I started to give up.

The next morning, I got this email from Lawrence:

I can not begin to tell you how this made me feel. What I can tell you is that Lawrence is my Tiumph guy, for life!

Lawrence made an effort to take my bike in and look at it. He came in on Saturday and determined that there is a bad regulator. There is only one in California!! He ordered it, it should overnight on Monday, arrive on Tuesday and we should be good to go on Wednesday.

Loads of time before I leave, on Sunday!!

If adventure has drama and stress, then mine has already begun.