“Just two things are necessary for success in this life: One is a sense of purpose and the other is a touch of madness.”
—John Harricharan
Tag Archives: pan american
A Bad Day on Fairbanks Roads
I was driving on Airport Road yesterday near downtown. I never drive Airport, because the road has stop lights. I live in Fairbanks, why would I seek out stop lights? There are options.
Unfortunately, there was a wreck at the intersection with Cushman. The police were already there, and traffic cones were put out to vear traffic. One of Fairbanks’ Finest was throwing a temper tantrum over a cone that was knocked over. That was a tad embarrassing: Acting like a two year old in public may reflect well on North Pole, but not on Fairbanks. I wasn’t impressed.
Then I saw the motorcycle. It was fairly messed up after getting hit by a full size pickup, but I was hoping not enough to cause any serious injuries. The rider, it turns out, was from Japan. He was riding the Pan-American with a companion, who was on a separate bike. They had just returned from riding the Haul Road down from Deadhorse, and were going to the Visitor Center to find camping info when the second rider through the intersection was hit. He died on the way to the hospital. Damn. We get quite a few motorcycle fatalities in Alaska, so I’m never surprised by them. I guess it’s the fact that he just completed the Pan-American and was headed back south that makes it worse than usual. Damn.
As of this writing, the police have not stated how the accident happened, or who…if anyone…was at fault.
Earlier in the day, an 11 year old kid walking to school, was also hit by a car. He was actually in the cross walk with an attendent one block from school when a car ran a stop sign, ran up over the curb and at some point even drove through a hedge and hit the kid. He also died at the hospital. There is no doubt, in this case, who was at fault. Honestly folks, can we at least make some effort at paying attention here? There is no excuse for this in Fairbanks, Alaska. We have no traffic, there is no reason to be in a hurry, and the cell coverage sucks anyway, so just put that damn phone away while you are driving.
This isn’t rocket science.
Update: The driver of the truck was not at fault in the motorcycle death. Both vehicles had a green or yellow light.
16,130
That is the final tally for Leg I.
16,130 miles. 3 countries. 2 Canadian provinces and 1 territory. 15 U.S. states. 15 Mexican states. 2 bribes.
The Rover is now sitting peacefully, with its Bosch starter, in San Antonio, Texas waiting for me to make enough money to start Leg II of the Pan-American.
Joshua Tree
I was scolded a bit today for coming to a halt on the blog. “The trip didn’t end yet and you left us hanging in Mexico!” All true, but I have not been in a “sharing” mood. I did hit the road over the weekend, leaving San Diego for Joshua Tree National Park. If things go well, I expect I’ll update more, even though I have no idea what/where/when ……
You can fill in the blank.
The Rover still has me concerned, but that is mostly due to the unknown and the Gunshy Factor. Mentally, I’d be feeling better if the 40 year old parts failed, and not the 4 month old parts… but I wasn’t given a choice in all of that, and craftmanship is a dying art.
The winds were howling last night in the park; it felt like I was riding in a ship at sea when I climbed up into the roof tent. The Rover is parked so that I am somewhat sheltered by the truck, as I hide out behind the open tailgate, with a Smithwick’s. A particularly nasty gust hits the tent and the awning support rods shoot off into the air like a released spring and land behind a large boulder.
The rain hits before midnight, but by morning there is no sign of it in the dry sand. I raise the hood of the truck to check everything. This act attracts three Harley riders from Hutchinson, Minnesota. We chat, exchange stories, and find out that we all know some guy in Fairbanks. There is a guy from Buenos Aires who drives out of the campground in a mid-eighties Land Cruiser that has been completely converted: only the cab is original. He stops and fans the flames by telling that he has driven up from Ushuaia and is on his way to Alaska. DAMMIT! I want to tell him that it is still -40 degs in the Yukon, but I don’t. We trade info on the routes we’ve taken and I give him a couple of Alaskan secrets.
The Rover’s first gas tank gave me 12.8 MPG, which is dreadful compared to the 19.2 we were getting prior to the meltdown. The last fill showed that it had improved to 13.65, still nothing to write home about. The linkage to the gas pedal has been troublesome again, and I noticed that a bolt was left out when the motor was re-installed. I’ll have to crawl under there in the morning, remove the plate and tighten that all up again. I’ll have to make do with the missing bolt, since it is an odd size, but it’ll get me to a hardware store.
Changes
I’m going to disappoint a lot of people with this one.
For the past several days, I have been redesigning the trip. I’ve been thinking that this is going to have to be a prelude to Tierra del Fuego.
The Rover has been running fine, but there are things that I have to do to it so that I can maximize the chances of this being successful, as well as maximizing my enjoyment of the trek.
One issue is my range: the gas tank is just too small for this type of run. The jerry cans are suppose to be there for an emergency, but I’m relying on them as if they were an extension of the tank. Twice, someone has tried to steal the fuel cans from the roof. If I lose them when I really need them, I’ll be in trouble. I knew this was an issue before I set out, but I didn’t see the jerry cans as something someone would try to steal. I only locked the frame because I happened to have an extra padlock that matched the one on the fuel cap.
The second issue that I want to improve is the GPS. I’ve read all these tales from other trekkers who grow to call their navigation system The GPS God or other such high ranking names of affection. Unfortunately, I’m down here with the Boo Radley of GPS mapping. “World Maps” by Garmin is simply horrible. My unit has basically become a high tech speedometer for kilometers. It gives Bad Information, which in my opinion is worse than No Information. Driving the Old Rover solo while trying to look at a paper map is just not the best proposition. For once in my life, I’m actually in favor of adding some technology to it. I didn’t plan this out well, mainly because I’ve never used a GPS in my car, so I didn’t know what to expect. Garmin should be utterly ashamed to be marketing this product, it really is that bad.
I also really want to take some time to do some things to The Rover to make adjustments for the heat. My Rover was brought into Canada originally, so it has always been geared for colder weather. Driving in 90+ degrees for eight hours at a time is just new for both of us. I can see now that I can make some improvements to make us both more comfortable.
In the end though, it does boil down to money, and I think I am going to come up short here. I left Alaska much later than I had planned, mainly due to work on The Rover. The roads are going to dictate speeds less than even I had planned on with a slow Rover. I’m not in the position that I can miss this summer’s construction season. I honestly expected to be in better shape here than I am, due to a couple of unforeseen, non-trip related expenses. It happens, it’s life.
When I did get the late start from Alaska, I thought about delaying the trip until September 2011, but I was impatient and just wanted to be on the road. I’m extremely happy that was the decision I came to, even if it wasn’t based on any type of logic. This has been a great drive in its own right, with close to 9000 miles driven. Without this drive, I wouldn’t have the information I have now to improve the trip. I needed a test run… an extended test run, in my 109.
I want this trip to be successful, for that to happen I have a few more things to do.
So. The decision has been made. I’ll work on The Rover, add some things, convert some things, pack more spare parts, improve my Spanglish, budget for the corrupt officers and try to recruit a co-pilot for a September 2011 take off.
Be patient with us. We’ll get there, wherever “there” happens to be.
The Pan American Highway
Several years ago, I thought about making this trip. Fortunately, or unfortunately (depending on your thought process), I already owned the vehicle that I wanted to make the trip in. As my friends would all tell you: I can never go the easy route when it comes to vehicles. The time has come to make the attempt; the vehicle is as ready as it ever will be. I may make it; I may not. I decided a while back, to take this in steps. I would not get caught up in the destination, I would just experience the travel.
I fought the idea behind this blog for a while, but in the end it allows people I care about to take part in the trek along with me. If I pick up a few stowaways along the way, all the better. I’ll do my best to maintain it, but I don’t want to be tied to it to the point where I will spend more time reporting than I do exploring. For those of you who find out about the blog well after the Rover has departed Alaska, or Minnesota, or Iowa… my sincerest apologies. This isn’t done with any malicious intent, I’m just taking things as they come and seeing how far this old Series can go. I’m not really the type to put the plans too far ahead of the Rover.
This, should be a lot of fun. Feel free to check in when you can.
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