Getting Ready for the Big Ride

Last week I got three necessary items:

My double travel rack from Road Master Motorcycle Luggage Racks (www.motorcycletravelrack.com) The first thing I appreciated was the quality of the build and the paint work, excellent in my books! I bolted it onto the rack I already have on my FatBob and it doubled my capacity to carry bags.

I then got my Kuryakyn Trunk Bag from (www.Motorcycle-Luggage.com) which again was high quality and it looks like it has a lot of capacity. I simply placed it on the rack and tightened down the straps into the camp buckles and it was there to stay. I already had another Kurakyn bag so I strapped it down on the front of the rack. The first thing I noticed is that there was a space between my passenger seat and the rack so I strapped a T-Bags tank bag that I had been using on the Harley rack. Now I have three removable bags for the trip. Sweet!

I went to Jim's Harley-Davidson in St. Pete (www.jimshd.com) and got a clear quick removable windshield for the FatBob. I've never had a motorcycle with a windshield but we plan on travelling over 3000 miles and I've been told that a shield is a necessity. Now on my first day out I found that the wind buffetted my helmet at about 55 miles an hour on up but it settled down and was bearable at around 70. I checked and this is suppose to be normal. I spoke with a biker friend and he said he had his cut down two inches at a body shop and that did the trick. With mine I could lower it about an inch and a half but it only got worse. So it looks like it is something I have to get used to. I would appreciate any suggestions.

The whole idea is to be able to remove all of this quickly when I get to my destination in Canada so that I have a clean bike when I attend the Port Dover Bike Day.

Today I'm ordering travelling food. If I were to eat in all the fast food restaurants along the way I would be guaranteed to gain 20 lbs in a month so I'm ordering raw nutrient dense whole foods from The WholeFood Farmacy (www.revital.wholefoodfarmacy.com). I've been consuming this type of food for over a year and find it tasty, satisfying and convient. I can store a couple of one pound bags of Phi Plus in my bike bags and eat that whenever I get stuck for good food. I used their product line to lose over 35 lbs of unnecessary fat and I don't want to gain it back. You all know it's easy to gain weight and a bitch to get off.

Next week we're going over to Greg's Custom Cycles (www.gregscycles.com) to see if we can make Phil's Raider look unique! If he does do handlebars or something radical I'll let you know. As they say in the North "Film at 11:00!"

I don't see what else I need to get but I'm open to suggestions.

Paul Turnbull