Reed's Rat Race

Ty's Mancation 2013 Recap-Day 3 Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground to Nashville, TN I had a wrestless, fitful night of sleep...couldn't get comfortable, the wind was loud and a light rain fell early in the morning.  During one of the periods that I was trying to get back to sleep, I talked myself into giving up and just riding to my sister-in-law's house in Nashville to avoid all the rain and crap weather that had been forecast to dampen my ride for the next two days.  I woke up early Saturday morning, mad at the weather and how it was going to ruin everything.  After a hot shower, I checked the weather and felt slightly better about my chances of completing the day's planned route. It looked that, if I got an early enough start, I might be able to avoid the worst of the weather. I decided that I would go purchase some waterproof gloves in Waynesville about 10 miles away and then pick up my planned route. So I packed up my soggy tent and headed out of camp at about ...

Ty's Mancation 2013 Day 2 Recap 270 miles Cedartown, GA to Cruso, NC What a fantastic day of riding.  I decided to be in no rush to get started this morning since it was 41deg F when I woke up.  So I waited until about 9am to get rolling. For three years, I've been trying to think of a way to get my GPS, phone and bluetooth helmet communicator to play nice together.  I knew the solution was out there somewhere lurking in the back of my mind.  I could get the GPS to talk to my communicator.  I could get my phone to talk to my communicator.  But I couldn't play music through my phone and pick up the spoken directions from the GPS at the same time.  And then a solution hit me while I was riding in the bitter cold last night. So this morning, my first item of business was to track down the one small item I needed to make my plan work.  10 bucks later I was the owner of a new 8gb microSD card...but what I was really after  was the SD adapt...

Ty's Mancation 2013 Day 1 Recap. Caledonia, MS to Cedartown, GA. Why is it that every motorcycle trip I go on includes miles of late night riding in frigid temperatures?  44 deg F on a motorcycle with perforated gear is COLD!!! And stupid me left my cold weather gloves at home. Anyway, my trip has gotten off to a good start.  Clear weather, no major issues and only one minor roadside repair.  While stopped at a light in Gadsden, AL, a guy in the car next to me told me that my tail light was out.  I pulled over at a city park, pulled off all my luggage and stripped the rear of the bike down.  Turns out one of three wires powering the tail light had pulled out of the connector.  I stripped a bit of insulation off to expose more wire, stuck it back in the connector and taped it up with a short piece of tape.  I'll definitely need to get some electrical tape and fix it properly.  I don't have a lot of faith in the repair as it is. Tomorrow I...

Ok,  So it's almost 5 months since our last blog about a trip that was 7 months ago. . .we are serious slackers in the world of blogging!  Just couldn't help it though.  We got caught up in life and took a few pictures here and there, but there just didn't seem to be time to write about it.  It's not that we didn't want to share, we just didn't take the time. So, I'll do a recap of the last 7 months and then you can fill in the blanks with whatever your imagination desires.  Make it magical! Make it exotic! Our life is occupied with the ordinary day-to-day habits, but we Reeds know how to have fun, too! Red Bull MotoGP races were the grand finale to our Cali trip Racers coming down the corkscrew Best Anniversary Trip, Ever! While Ty and Angela were partying in Cali, Jean took on the task as Nanny for the week.  The kids had such an awesome time, they didn't want to leave.  The temperature in Nashville was "Hot-Enough-to-Fry-an-E...

Here's a short clip I assembled from a few of the roads we sampled in northern California.

Wednesday Despite sleeping well, we woke up early on Wed. morning and were on the road by 6:45am. Perhaps it was the fact that I wasn't sure exactly how long it would take us to get back to Mountain View that had me worried a bit. The morning temps were hovering around 51 deg so I hit the switch for the heated grips and raised the windscreen all the way up. Our goal for Wed. was to take scenic Hwy 70 out of the mountains and then head south and west back to Mountain View and the rental place. We had to be there no later than 5pm.  The town of Chester rests on the north shore of Lake Almanor.  The water was like glass as we sailed by.  Aside from a couple areas where we had to wait on road repairs being made, 70 is another great road. It follows the Feather River through the Plumas National forest and has lots of great corners, very good pavement, and great scenery too.  Feather River, a train, and mountains.   More views on Hwy 70 ...