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Our Journals: Round
The World by motorcycle:
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We invite you to
read or browse our journals as we doin, do it to our
excess by doing
The Dragin' Run |
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September 9th, 2006 -
Waiting in Ulaan Baator, Mongolia
Greetings
from Ulaan Baator, Mongolia. Today is
September 09, 2006 and we have been on the
road for eight weeks. To date the Dragin’
Run has been more like a painful crawl with
one mechanical failure after another
compounded by a major screw-up by the
Russian visa support company, Visa To
Russia. Because of the earlier delays, we
did not have enough time on the first
Russian visa to get to Moscow where we are
going to have our bike professionally fixed
by the BMW dealer there so we ordered
another visa on August 27.
Janet and I rode to Harhorin, site of the
Erdene Zuu temple and ancient capital of
Chinggis Khan (Mongolian spelling) expecting
that the Letter of Invitations would be in
UB. Not so. In fact the Letters of
Invitation weren’t sent out until September
5th or 6th. Since it takes four to five days
to get the Letters of Invitation via UPS and
an additional two days to get an expedited
visa here and since the trains to Moscow
only run on Tuesday or Friday it doesn’t
look like we will leave here until Friday
the 15th.
Two days ago I heard a terrible grinding
sound coming from my clutch or transmission
and I about lost it. When Janet and I got
back to Gana’s Guesthouse where we are
staying, we talked, argued and bickered
about the feasibility of continuing the
Dragin’ Run. The bike, so far has been a
disaster and many of the spare parts we were
provided either won’t fit and when they do,
their useful life seems to be measured in
days. Further, there doesn’t seem to be any
reliable mechanics here that can fix the
problems we have. If this is an indication
of what we will face in other parts of the
world, does it make sense to continue?
The bottom line is that we will continue the
trip no matter what. This decision is
predicated on several issues not the least
of which is our commitment to our sponsors.
Each of you have contributed to the Dragin’
Run with the understanding that we would
ride not quit. So ride we shall.
Our trip to Moscow now has a greater
significance. Once there, if the bike can be
repaired and made substantially more
reliable, reliable enough to make it the
rest of the way round the world, we will
continue. If not, we will buy a pre-owned
bike. This will necessitate our reorganizing
equipment, dumping some things and replacing
others.
While our actual riding has been limited we
do have some experience with what has worked
and what hasn’t. Perhaps a short recap is
appropriate here.
AEROstich
Our Darien riding suits have been superb. I
am really pleased that we went with
AEROstich for these. When I first started
researching riding gear, some people
suggested we go with BMW suits designed for
hot weather. Now that we are stuck in UB
with two days of snow the jacket inserts
have really shined. We have ridden in the
rain and in very warm temperatures and have
been comfortable in all conditions. Andy,
you have a winner here and I am happy to
recommend the Darien line to any and all.
The Combat boots have served us well both on
and off the bike. Dry, warm feet are
essential to us old folk.
I also found out why the ‘extreme dry cell
battery failed—a faulty voltage regulator!
The battery wasn’t getting charged when the
bike was running. I’m surprised it worked as
well as it did.
As far as my complaint about the Ortlieb
water bladders, my fault, they work fine. In
fact every item that I have received from
you has performed flawlessly, without a
single exception.
LDComfort
Of all the equipment we have, we probably
have more experience with this underwear
than any other item. We live in it day to
day. We have to, we don’t have anything
else. Not only has it kept us drier, it has
also served to keep us warmer as the
temperatures here in Mongolia have dipped
below 00C.
Bar Enterprises
It seems like every time I pack up the
sidecar Janet come to me as I am fastening
the cover saying, “don’t forget my pillow.”
She has had this temperature sensitive foam
pillow she refuses to travel without. I had
grown to hate the damn thing until I
realized that our seats are made of the same
or at least a similar material. The seats
are incredible. They really have saved our
collective asses especially here in Mongolia
where what are called roads aren’t and where
long distance riding is the norm.
The frightening thing is that if we do have
to buy a new bike, I will either have to
adapt our existing seats to the new bike or
get a new seat because neither Janet nor I
will ever use anything but a Bar seat again.
In fact the same thing is true about all of
the equipment we have and both Janet and I
are looking forward to the day when we can
meet with you in person, to say thank you,
to share some time, and maybe a few stories.
Still on the road,
Jack and Janet |
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