Timber Me Ginger's Solo Cross Country Scooter Adventure!
- Thread starter SarahBlessington
- Start date
SarahBlessington
Sarah Blessington
Okay hi!!
I managed to brave Death Valley and not die of dehydration
Hurray!! It was so beautiful and impressive. A Little crazy spending the night... Only three other people were in the campground with me, and of course they had to be right next to me. I guess they figured the crazy girl on the scooter had the best spot It didn't go below 109 and with the howling lava wind, I didn't get much sleep, but the star show was AMAZING!!
Here we are watching the sunrise:
The night before Death Valley, I got a great recommendation from a waitress in Lone Pine to camp at Mount Whitney's base camp area, up Whitney Portal Rd. I also had an incredible view of the stars but was woken up about 2 am to 'HEY BEAR'. I decided it was best to just pull the bivy over my head and try to hunker down and sleep, as I wanted to get to Death Valley as early as I could in the morning. Waking up, I saw no bear tracks, so I guess the folks he found first scared him off on his way.
It's an OR Gortex bivy. I LOVE having the bug screen, and have woken up floating in a mini river, and have never soaked through. Combo that with my Sea To Summit coolmax insect repellant sleeping bag liner (which I also use in my hammock for hotter nights), and I am stoked The big green blob you see is the liner covering my inflatable pillow I had it on top of my 35 degree sleeping bag. Having a good sleep means so much toward having a good ride, so I don't like to skimp too much on that regard, but some how everything still fits! I could use a better sleeping pad... but everything else works great for now
I like my little solar Luci Light too. It packs suuuper small and I have the one that changes color, so I can have some disco mood lighting in the wilderness. Nothing like a dance party in the woods I say!
The camp host had just come to check to make sure I was alright, and stopped dead in his tracks. "I already thought you were a little crazy when you said you were by yourself, but I thought you were just being silly when you said scooter. You weren't kidding!!"
I seem to get that quite a bit
And then there was yesterday... I left Las Vegas at about 9am, and didn't make it to Phoenix until 7:30pm... LONG day to say the least. I started out my ride going around Lake Mead, which was lovely and I was pretty much by myself. Connecting onto Highway 95.... Yeah... I was not alone, and definitely did not plan for the Sunday surge of people fleeing Vegas back down to Phoenix. I had a small reprieve when Google Maps took me onto Route 66, I even had a segment with no wind!! It was glorious. Stopping by the last little iconic shop to get a mandatory route 66 photo, this couple stopped by my scoot and asked "Are you on ADV Rider?"
-"Why yes I am!"
-"I knew it! We've been following you since before we left New Zealand to ride on Route 66!"
Yep, amazing. I am constantly reminded with how small this world is
After chatting with them a bit, and hearing about their travels, I headed off on my 'avoiding highway' route. About 1/4th of a mile on 66 and I took a right down a road that quickly turned to dirt/gravel/sand. Looking up I saw the sign 'Unimproved Road Next 18 Miles'. Hmm... Looking at my gas, I realized I might not have enough to go back to the last gas stop. As I didn't have access to cell service, I also didn't have the ability to check and see what was ahead. Deciding to go for it, I took off down the road.
AHH! The rest of my day battling insane drivers (including a Rolls Royce that passed me on the shoulder), paled in comparison to the nerves that I battled on this non-road. BUT, I made it!
My next hurtle of the day was running out of gas, which was by far the best running out of gas experience ever as 1) The next gas station was 1/2 a mile away, 2) I was walking down the road for barely two seconds before I was offered a ride, 3) Person that offered me a ride was SUPER nice, 4) He gave me a ride back, and 5) Another motorcycle pulled over to just check and make sure I was all right as I was packing up
Just another day on the bestest battle scooter there ever was!
I managed to brave Death Valley and not die of dehydration
Hurray!! It was so beautiful and impressive. A Little crazy spending the night... Only three other people were in the campground with me, and of course they had to be right next to me. I guess they figured the crazy girl on the scooter had the best spot It didn't go below 109 and with the howling lava wind, I didn't get much sleep, but the star show was AMAZING!!Here we are watching the sunrise:
The night before Death Valley, I got a great recommendation from a waitress in Lone Pine to camp at Mount Whitney's base camp area, up Whitney Portal Rd. I also had an incredible view of the stars but was woken up about 2 am to 'HEY BEAR'. I decided it was best to just pull the bivy over my head and try to hunker down and sleep, as I wanted to get to Death Valley as early as I could in the morning. Waking up, I saw no bear tracks, so I guess the folks he found first scared him off on his way.
It's an OR Gortex bivy. I LOVE having the bug screen, and have woken up floating in a mini river, and have never soaked through. Combo that with my Sea To Summit coolmax insect repellant sleeping bag liner (which I also use in my hammock for hotter nights), and I am stoked
The big green blob you see is the liner covering my inflatable pillow I had it on top of my 35 degree sleeping bag. Having a good sleep means so much toward having a good ride, so I don't like to skimp too much on that regard, but some how everything still fits! I could use a better sleeping pad... but everything else works great for now I like my little solar Luci Light too. It packs suuuper small and I have the one that changes color, so I can have some disco mood lighting in the wilderness. Nothing like a dance party in the woods I say!
The camp host had just come to check to make sure I was alright, and stopped dead in his tracks. "I already thought you were a little crazy when you said you were by yourself, but I thought you were just being silly when you said scooter. You weren't kidding!!"
I seem to get that quite a bit
And then there was yesterday... I left Las Vegas at about 9am, and didn't make it to Phoenix until 7:30pm... LONG day to say the least. I started out my ride going around Lake Mead, which was lovely and I was pretty much by myself. Connecting onto Highway 95.... Yeah... I was not alone, and definitely did not plan for the Sunday surge of people fleeing Vegas back down to Phoenix. I had a small reprieve when Google Maps took me onto Route 66, I even had a segment with no wind!! It was glorious. Stopping by the last little iconic shop to get a mandatory route 66 photo, this couple stopped by my scoot and asked "Are you on ADV Rider?"
-"Why yes I am!"
-"I knew it! We've been following you since before we left New Zealand to ride on Route 66!"
Yep, amazing. I am constantly reminded with how small this world is
After chatting with them a bit, and hearing about their travels, I headed off on my 'avoiding highway' route. About 1/4th of a mile on 66 and I took a right down a road that quickly turned to dirt/gravel/sand. Looking up I saw the sign 'Unimproved Road Next 18 Miles'. Hmm... Looking at my gas, I realized I might not have enough to go back to the last gas stop. As I didn't have access to cell service, I also didn't have the ability to check and see what was ahead. Deciding to go for it, I took off down the road.
AHH! The rest of my day battling insane drivers (including a Rolls Royce that passed me on the shoulder), paled in comparison to the nerves that I battled on this non-road. BUT, I made it!
My next hurtle of the day was running out of gas, which was by far the best running out of gas experience ever as 1) The next gas station was 1/2 a mile away, 2) I was walking down the road for barely two seconds before I was offered a ride, 3) Person that offered me a ride was SUPER nice, 4) He gave me a ride back, and 5) Another motorcycle pulled over to just check and make sure I was all right as I was packing up
Just another day on the bestest battle scooter there ever was!
JohnIndenver
New member
tears of joy. You made me and my wife Sarah, running out of gas on a motorcycle is easy to do. Especially if you're bucking a strong head wind. You're twisting the throttle further than normal which increases your fuel consumption.
Here's a simple trick if you have a throttle that you twist, (Do the following with the motor turned off); Using a marker or tape, mark on the bottom area of the throttle housing and throttle grip, the position of both when the throttle is closed. The two marks should be right across from each other.
Next, rotate the throttle fully open, then mark on the grip when it lines with the mark you made on the throttle housing. What you see on the throttle grip is the limit of throttle swing between closed and wide open.
Next time you're riding with no head wind, look at the position of the mark on the throttle housing and where it is in relation to the two marks on the throttle grip. That's your normal fuel consumption rate. If you're closer to the wide open throttle mark than normal, you're consuming more fuel that normal.
I hope this all made sense?
Here's a simple trick if you have a throttle that you twist, (Do the following with the motor turned off); Using a marker or tape, mark on the bottom area of the throttle housing and throttle grip, the position of both when the throttle is closed. The two marks should be right across from each other.
Next, rotate the throttle fully open, then mark on the grip when it lines with the mark you made on the throttle housing. What you see on the throttle grip is the limit of throttle swing between closed and wide open.
Next time you're riding with no head wind, look at the position of the mark on the throttle housing and where it is in relation to the two marks on the throttle grip. That's your normal fuel consumption rate. If you're closer to the wide open throttle mark than normal, you're consuming more fuel that normal.
I hope this all made sense?
IncorpoRatedX
Explorer
If you're in phoenix and need a place to camp or work on your bike just give us a shout. We are on the east side of the valley out near the canyons. The shop is usually open most days and if I'm not around my girlfriend is. We both ride mopeds for fun but the longest we've gone on one ride is 300 miles. You're brave, I wish you luck and I'll be following along!
SarahBlessington
Sarah Blessington
SarahBlessington
Sarah Blessington
Thanks! I just passed though Phoenix and left in a bit of a hurry as 100+ degree temps were starting to melt me haha. Hope you guys are staying cool and thanks so much for the offer!
SarahBlessington
Sarah Blessington
Will do!
unkamonkey
Explorer
Back when I had my Harley I had a siphon hose in one saddlebag to help people that had smaller tanks on their bikes. Real bikers don't care about what the other person is riding. We were just happy that they were out there riding. The three bike's are all gone but I still have that siphon hose.
Be safe and keep posting.
Be safe and keep posting.
Scott Brady
Founder
Thanks for stopping by the office- travel safe!
Herbie
Rendezvous Conspirator
According to her IG, she's in SLC, UT. Making good ground!
SarahBlessington
Sarah Blessington
And hello again
SO, things are still good! I did some math today and realized that I have done 2,159 miles since I left on June 7th, making that 46 days of Scooter Life! And, I've only done four states, and am definitely NOT in North Carolina hahaha. Well... We'll see how long this thing really does take me.
Here's my route so far:
Also, just in case I haven't said thanks for all of the wonderful advice with gloves: THANK YOU!!! One of the many reasons why ADVRider rocks I ended up swapping out my gloves for another pair at Cycle Gear, and then instead of black hands and lost circulation, I got a few blisters, and super raw knuckles. I also managed to snag a super fancy burn line below the glove. I just can't seem to remember to put sunscreen there...
BUT, I don't loose circulation, and the blisters have turned into calluses I may try swapping them out again, but it looks like the gloves that will actually work. The Elk/deer skin ones that I think would work require online ordering, and well, I don't have much of an address these days! Plus, $50 goes to A LOT of gas
Gosh, so I guess I left you all headed into Phoenix!
Here's where I've been since then:
Prescott, AZ- Got to hang out at Overland Journal (thanks guys!), eat some tasty food at the Raven (Seriously, so tasty. And the beer selection is on point!!)
Sedona, AZ-Mainly drove through. There were a LOT of people about and I was ready to get to Flagstaff. I did manage to stop at an overlook, and buy some handmade earrings
Flagstaff, AZ- Hung out an at the awesome Grand Canyon Hostel, met some fantastic people, watched a bagpipe performance and recharged all of my electronics Leaving Flag, I did get to help out a fellow two-wheeler who had run out of gas! Happy to keep the kindness exchange going.
Page, AZ- This was my scariest so far. No shoulders, INSANE inconsistent crosswinds, and massive traffic. Every gas station I would pull over at, I would hide inside the gas station, let the feeling come back into my arms, and try to psych myself up for the next leg. I'm sure it was beautiful, but my neck was too sore to look around. That sucked :-( . Once I hit 20 to cut up into Page, the traffic was mostly gone, the wind was more manageable, and the road was beautiful. I am so grateful that the hardest days are combo'd with some of the most beautiful rides, or I'm honestly not sure if I would still be on the road. Pulling into the campsite for the night and chatting with the host, we got to talk about Hawaii, traveling on a plane (he hadn't before), and other fun things. His excitement for all that we talked about helped bring the joy back into me Next step? I met three road bikers that were traveling from Brooklyn to LA and they were fantastic. We swapped small packing tips, road stories, and just relaxed our bones.
Bryce Canyon, UT- YES!!! This place is magic!!! Sadly I only had time to spend one day there as I have a bit of a deadline to get to Colorado. I WILL be back! The ride up there was absolutely beautiful, and the ride up 12 from Bryce was even more spectacular. I hiked, met new friends, went to a geology talk, and marveled at everything my eyes met. Another note about route 12 out of Bryce and traveling on a Sunday.... DON'T do it if you even remotely have a small range! All of the gas I was passing was either grown over and forgotten, or was closed... Oh right. I didn't even think about that when I entered Utah. I ended up needing to change my plans and sort of wing it and just barely coasted into a gas station down by a highway. I chose roads that looked like they went mainly downhill, slowed a bit down, and kept an eye out for safe places to pull over if she did decide to drink her last gas fume. This ended up being my lead decision to stay in Provo for the night.
Provo, UT- Ok, one of the highways up to Provo was actually the scariest road I have been on as of now. I guess that's great that I am learning how to read a wind landscape... hah. But when you see giant dirt/sand/dust cyclones surrounding you... Yeah, it sucks. I got hit by one while I was filling up for gas and it almost knocked me over, filling my ears, nose and mouth with dirt. THAT was a hard moment to get back on the scoot and head out. I am still not sure how exactly I am able to swallow my fear and do it, but I seem to keep being able to find that gumption, throttle and lean like the dickens. Again, somehow, I managed to find a road down in the valley that didn't have the wind howling through, and it was some of the most majestic landscapes of my journey to date. Also, my music playlist was on point, so my last 50 miles or so up to Provo ended up being absolutely fantastic!
SLC, UT- I had a great time hanging out and meeting new friends here as well My phone did have a melt down and I lost all of my stored gps locations and addresses that were saved in text messages, so that was kind of terrible. But I did some nerding out with my phone, and eventually got what I needed!
Logan, UT- As far north as I think I will go on this journey! Super beautiful up here too.
Next? Off to Colorado and then... Well... I still don't have an idea haha. I'll be working on that!!
Until next time!
-Sarah
SO, things are still good! I did some math today and realized that I have done 2,159 miles since I left on June 7th, making that 46 days of Scooter Life! And, I've only done four states, and am definitely NOT in North Carolina hahaha. Well... We'll see how long this thing really does take me.
Here's my route so far:
Also, just in case I haven't said thanks for all of the wonderful advice with gloves: THANK YOU!!! One of the many reasons why ADVRider rocks
I ended up swapping out my gloves for another pair at Cycle Gear, and then instead of black hands and lost circulation, I got a few blisters, and super raw knuckles. I also managed to snag a super fancy burn line below the glove. I just can't seem to remember to put sunscreen there... BUT, I don't loose circulation, and the blisters have turned into calluses
I may try swapping them out again, but it looks like the gloves that will actually work. The Elk/deer skin ones that I think would work require online ordering, and well, I don't have much of an address these days! Plus, $50 goes to A LOT of gas Gosh, so I guess I left you all headed into Phoenix!
Here's where I've been since then:
Prescott, AZ- Got to hang out at Overland Journal (thanks guys!), eat some tasty food at the Raven (Seriously, so tasty. And the beer selection is on point!!)
Sedona, AZ-Mainly drove through. There were a LOT of people about and I was ready to get to Flagstaff. I did manage to stop at an overlook, and buy some handmade earrings
Flagstaff, AZ- Hung out an at the awesome Grand Canyon Hostel, met some fantastic people, watched a bagpipe performance and recharged all of my electronics
Leaving Flag, I did get to help out a fellow two-wheeler who had run out of gas! Happy to keep the kindness exchange going.Page, AZ- This was my scariest so far. No shoulders, INSANE inconsistent crosswinds, and massive traffic. Every gas station I would pull over at, I would hide inside the gas station, let the feeling come back into my arms, and try to psych myself up for the next leg. I'm sure it was beautiful, but my neck was too sore to look around. That sucked :-( . Once I hit 20 to cut up into Page, the traffic was mostly gone, the wind was more manageable, and the road was beautiful. I am so grateful that the hardest days are combo'd with some of the most beautiful rides, or I'm honestly not sure if I would still be on the road. Pulling into the campsite for the night and chatting with the host, we got to talk about Hawaii, traveling on a plane (he hadn't before), and other fun things. His excitement for all that we talked about helped bring the joy back into me
Next step? I met three road bikers that were traveling from Brooklyn to LA and they were fantastic. We swapped small packing tips, road stories, and just relaxed our bones.Bryce Canyon, UT- YES!!! This place is magic!!! Sadly I only had time to spend one day there as I have a bit of a deadline to get to Colorado. I WILL be back! The ride up there was absolutely beautiful, and the ride up 12 from Bryce was even more spectacular. I hiked, met new friends, went to a geology talk, and marveled at everything my eyes met. Another note about route 12 out of Bryce and traveling on a Sunday.... DON'T do it if you even remotely have a small range! All of the gas I was passing was either grown over and forgotten, or was closed... Oh right. I didn't even think about that when I entered Utah. I ended up needing to change my plans and sort of wing it and just barely coasted into a gas station down by a highway. I chose roads that looked like they went mainly downhill, slowed a bit down, and kept an eye out for safe places to pull over if she did decide to drink her last gas fume. This ended up being my lead decision to stay in Provo for the night.
Provo, UT- Ok, one of the highways up to Provo was actually the scariest road I have been on as of now.
I guess that's great that I am learning how to read a wind landscape... hah. But when you see giant dirt/sand/dust cyclones surrounding you... Yeah, it sucks. I got hit by one while I was filling up for gas and it almost knocked me over, filling my ears, nose and mouth with dirt. THAT was a hard moment to get back on the scoot and head out. I am still not sure how exactly I am able to swallow my fear and do it, but I seem to keep being able to find that gumption, throttle and lean like the dickens. Again, somehow, I managed to find a road down in the valley that didn't have the wind howling through, and it was some of the most majestic landscapes of my journey to date. Also, my music playlist was on point, so my last 50 miles or so up to Provo ended up being absolutely fantastic!SLC, UT- I had a great time hanging out and meeting new friends here as well
My phone did have a melt down and I lost all of my stored gps locations and addresses that were saved in text messages, so that was kind of terrible. But I did some nerding out with my phone, and eventually got what I needed!Logan, UT- As far north as I think I will go on this journey! Super beautiful up here too.
Next? Off to Colorado and then... Well... I still don't have an idea haha. I'll be working on that!!
Until next time!
-Sarah
Last edited: