Lamonster
SpyderLovers Founder
Day 1- Gearing Up
I was making plans to head out to Daytona on the RT for Bike Week when I found out that Fred was flying in from Hemet, CA. and riding back home on his RT. He wanted to do lunch but I decided this would be a great opportunity to get to know Fred a little bit better and to share the wind with one of the most well respected motorcycle journalist of all time. If you've ridden motorcycles any length of time and picked up just about any touring magazine I'm sure you've ran across some of his work. He also has a few websites that are worth checking out.
SpyderFred.com - This is his Spyder Blog page
FredRau.net - This is his Adventure Tours page
FredRauMotorcycling.com - This is his online magazine for Touring and Sport-touring
I had planned on making this trip late last year but it just didn't work out. My mom is having some health issues and I wanted to spend some time with her and I have another good friend I need to visit before he goes. At least this way I'll be riding one way with another rider and that's always good on a long trip like this. I use to run from San Diego to Daytona twice a year before I moved to East TN and that was right at 2500 miles one way. I'm not sure how many miles we will wind up doing on this run but I'm sure I'll need a oil change or two before it's all over.
My plans were to leave today but it's been snowing on and off all day and it's pretty darn cold. Right now it's 26 with a high of 35. Tomorrow it's going to get up to 39 with only a 20% chance of snow. I'm a little bit concerned about going over the mountains through Asheville. There's been times I've had to turn around because the ice was too thick. At least I won't fall over on the Spyder. The run to Daytona will be right at 600 miles and I should make it there in about 10-11 hours.
Unfortunately I won't have a trailer on this trip so I'm having to be a little more conservative on what I bring with me. When I take a trailer I take everything and anything I think I might need. This time I'm only taking what I know I'll need and a few little things I might need.
So here's how I'm packing for this trip.
The front trunk "frunk" will be used to carry my riding gear. I have ski pants, chaps, 3 sets of gloves, Gerbing jacket, and I'm storing my spare camera and spare GPS in there. This may seem a little over kill but I've loss a camera on one trip and I've had a GPS go bad on me more than once and seeing I have spares anyway I'm taking them.
The left saddle bag is a little shallower than the right side so I decided to use this for my tools. I'll carry jumper cables and the small hand tools I might need along with a cordless screwdriver in case I need to pop some panels for access. Remember this is #0001 pre-production unit and even though everything should be up to production standards it's still a good idea to cover your butt just in case.
I'll carry my laptop, cleaning supplies and snacks in the rear trunk "rrunk". I'll have my iphone hooked in so I can charge and play my ipod when I'm not listening to the XM raido. I have a CB on this unit too and so does Fred so this will be the first trip ever where I used a CB on a motorcycle. I'm sure it will come in handy for fuel and food stops.
I'll keep my camera, cards, and some snacks in the center glove box. If you look you'll see a piece of tape that says "MKT#1" This was the first RT built for the marketing team. I believe there were 30 units total. Fred got #9 and my first one was #18.
This is where I have all my stuff to wear for the trip. It's packed pretty tight and will make a great backrest. It's pretty much water resistant and I do have a trash bag I can throw over if need be.
My helmet will go in the right bag when I'm parked so I should be good to go. Right now the weather doesn't look that great heading down or in Daytona but there's nothing I can do about that other than hope for the best. I know before I leave that this will be the trip of a lifetime and I plan on making the most of it. We're not doing long days and we'll be stopping and visiting along the way so I'll have plenty of time to keep up on my work and to write my blogs. Hope you guys enjoy the virtual ride with us.
Lamonster- SpyderLovers.com
I was making plans to head out to Daytona on the RT for Bike Week when I found out that Fred was flying in from Hemet, CA. and riding back home on his RT. He wanted to do lunch but I decided this would be a great opportunity to get to know Fred a little bit better and to share the wind with one of the most well respected motorcycle journalist of all time. If you've ridden motorcycles any length of time and picked up just about any touring magazine I'm sure you've ran across some of his work. He also has a few websites that are worth checking out.
SpyderFred.com - This is his Spyder Blog page
FredRau.net - This is his Adventure Tours page
FredRauMotorcycling.com - This is his online magazine for Touring and Sport-touring
I had planned on making this trip late last year but it just didn't work out. My mom is having some health issues and I wanted to spend some time with her and I have another good friend I need to visit before he goes. At least this way I'll be riding one way with another rider and that's always good on a long trip like this. I use to run from San Diego to Daytona twice a year before I moved to East TN and that was right at 2500 miles one way. I'm not sure how many miles we will wind up doing on this run but I'm sure I'll need a oil change or two before it's all over.
My plans were to leave today but it's been snowing on and off all day and it's pretty darn cold. Right now it's 26 with a high of 35. Tomorrow it's going to get up to 39 with only a 20% chance of snow. I'm a little bit concerned about going over the mountains through Asheville. There's been times I've had to turn around because the ice was too thick. At least I won't fall over on the Spyder. The run to Daytona will be right at 600 miles and I should make it there in about 10-11 hours.
Unfortunately I won't have a trailer on this trip so I'm having to be a little more conservative on what I bring with me. When I take a trailer I take everything and anything I think I might need. This time I'm only taking what I know I'll need and a few little things I might need.
So here's how I'm packing for this trip.
The front trunk "frunk" will be used to carry my riding gear. I have ski pants, chaps, 3 sets of gloves, Gerbing jacket, and I'm storing my spare camera and spare GPS in there. This may seem a little over kill but I've loss a camera on one trip and I've had a GPS go bad on me more than once and seeing I have spares anyway I'm taking them.
The left saddle bag is a little shallower than the right side so I decided to use this for my tools. I'll carry jumper cables and the small hand tools I might need along with a cordless screwdriver in case I need to pop some panels for access. Remember this is #0001 pre-production unit and even though everything should be up to production standards it's still a good idea to cover your butt just in case.
I'll carry my laptop, cleaning supplies and snacks in the rear trunk "rrunk". I'll have my iphone hooked in so I can charge and play my ipod when I'm not listening to the XM raido. I have a CB on this unit too and so does Fred so this will be the first trip ever where I used a CB on a motorcycle. I'm sure it will come in handy for fuel and food stops.
I'll keep my camera, cards, and some snacks in the center glove box. If you look you'll see a piece of tape that says "MKT#1" This was the first RT built for the marketing team. I believe there were 30 units total. Fred got #9 and my first one was #18.
This is where I have all my stuff to wear for the trip. It's packed pretty tight and will make a great backrest. It's pretty much water resistant and I do have a trash bag I can throw over if need be.
My helmet will go in the right bag when I'm parked so I should be good to go. Right now the weather doesn't look that great heading down or in Daytona but there's nothing I can do about that other than hope for the best. I know before I leave that this will be the trip of a lifetime and I plan on making the most of it. We're not doing long days and we'll be stopping and visiting along the way so I'll have plenty of time to keep up on my work and to write my blogs. Hope you guys enjoy the virtual ride with us.
Lamonster- SpyderLovers.com
