Epilogue

Just about everything worked, but here is what I found that worked exceptionally well:

1. The bike. 2008 KTM EXC-R 450, what more can I say? It just worked. Being nearly brand new probably helped too though. I changed the .6 liters of engine oil about every 2 days going through about 8 or 9 liters of high quality oil (either Motorex or Mobil 1). This wasn’t such a hassle for me as I had plenty of time each night and carrying 3 liters of oil at all times wasn’t so bad. Here is a link to all of my farkle.

2. Moose Heavy Duty Tire Tubes. They didn’t bust, enough said.

3. Wolfman Small Expedition Rear Bag. I never had to thing about this bag. It didn’t burn on the exhaust (I had about a 1/8th inch gap), it didn’t tear while I was beating it around and dropping the bike, it didn’t move around and required no modifications to the bike and had surprisingly few re-tightens. Good stuff.

4. Enduro Engineering Comfort Seat: I had monkey butt only one day. And that was because I was wearing old cotton underwear and sliding around in the seat and heat all day. Otherwise, monkey butt was not an issue.

5. Scott’s Steering Stabilizer. It’s expensive but well worth the investment. Mandatory suspension upgrade in my book.

6. My laptop! How? I dunno, I fell directly on it in NV and I’m still typing on it right now. HP Pavilion dv1000.

7. Sicass Racing Rearview Mirror. I never had to put a screwdriver on it once. One less thing to worry about.

8. Under Armour Base 1.0 Crew Long-sleeve shirt. Quick dry.

9. MSR ISDE Pant. Big pockets placed perfectly. Quality material.

10. Garmin GPSMap 478. Yes I had mapping problems but that was solely my fault. The battery issue was not, but I was running off the bike’s electrical system. Other than that, it’s bulletproof.

11. Keen sandals: Perfect in every way… except fashion.



What failed to meet my expectations:

1. Firstgear Master Waterproof Summer Rain Gloves: Once wet, virtually impossible to get on and off. And what are they doing wet in the first place?

2. Cotton underwear: leave it at home

3. Fox coolmax socks: Still wet…



What I would have done differently:

1. Purchased a quality voice recorder. I thought I would remember all the thoughts that I had throughout the trip, but I didn’t. I’m sure it would be easy to rig it up to make it easy to record on the fly.

2. Ride longer. I rarely rode past 4pm and never in the dark. Had I rode longer I could have…

3. Scheduled more side trips and soak in the historical sites a bit more.

4. Not drink so much. Riding the TAT is too much fun in and of itself, drinking too much that one night set me back a little bit and spoiled some fun.

5. ATGATT. This would have saved some road rash and possibly two fractured bones (I’d still wheelie all the gas out though)



Lessons Learned:

1. I didn’t really learn anything “new”, however a lot of the teaching of my parents and all the little idioms and sayings we hear everyday were reinforced… “the hard way”.

2. Patience

3. Sacrifice

4. I learned (and I’m still learning) more about myself. I learned that I’m a pretty good “leader” when I’m by myself and like to be a “follower” when in a group. I’m most definitely an introvert, not necessarily always shy or depressed, but I gain energy through introspect rather than yapping it up with others. There are also many attributes about myself (riding skills and degree of kindness come to mind) that I thought were higher than they really were. As I told several people that I met along the way, “this has been a very humbling experience”.

5. If you have no other choice but to ride through a flock of birds, keep your line.

6. If you stall out on a steep slope, and it’s possible to turn around, just go back down and go back up faster than your first try… you can wear yourself out trying to pick up where you left off.

7. Treat everyone with kindness and respect, it’s truly contagious, just like cruelty and disrespect are.



Final thoughts:

1. Seeing the environment and climate changes first hand is priceless.

2. Sam Correro, creator of the TAT, is a true pioneer, well deserving of all credit.

3. If you have the desire to do this (not everyone does) or something similar… make it happen.

4. I need to do this sort of thing much more often. I still have a lot to explore and learn.



A friend asked me when I got home to sum up my trip in a few words… that’s easy: Mind-expanding.



Trip Favorites:

Favorite Sight: Crater Lake (I know, I know, not very original, but it’s the truth)

Favorite Scent: The array of pines and evergreens riding through Oregon.

Favorite Sound: Mountainside brooks

Favorite Taste: Fried Chicken meal in Oark, AR!!! Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm!

Favorite Feel: All the kind people.