6th September 2013 - Planning the Adventure

Alan and I planned this ride for over 12 months and the first thing we did was book the Harley Davidsons. Not knowing a thing about Harleys apart from that they made a lot of noise. (I always said that Harleys don't have a throttle they have a volume control). We asked Rafe and he recommended we get some Road Kings as that was what he was riding - he called his "Old Blue". So after a bit of research we found Chesters Harley in Reno which was close to where Rafe lived in Lake Tahoe. It was not a cheap exercise and cost us nearly $1500 each for the 9 day hire. The bikes were almost new 2013 models so that was a bonus. A Road King is the low end Harley touring model with a large clear screen and fixed panniers. It had a 1600cc V twin engine and came with cruise control and ABS. We paid our deposit and then spent the next 12 month working out what we would wear on the ride. The route that Rafe had planned was across Nevada and Utah into the canyon country and ending up in the Grand Canyon North Rim and then coming back through Moab, Mesa Verde and Telluride in Colorado. He made all the bookings and planned all the stops and places to visit. It would be 2,700 miles all up (4,300 kms) averaging 300 miles per day so we would be moving along. Rafe told us it would be mild to hot weather wise - he didn't forecast that it would rain every day, but that's another story to be told.

Our Route 2700 miles

Alan decided to go with his usual riding kit - weather proof two piece riding suit, full face helmet and heavy riding boots and gloves. He had fallen off enough times to know protection was a good idea. Colin wanted to get more into the Harley style of riding gear and he brought a pair of riding jeans (Kevlar reinforced), weather proof riding jacket, Blundstone boots, special cruiser gloves and as he was planning on using the standard Harley open face helmet a pair of goggles. The last item proved to be a god-send when the weather turned nasty. Colin also added his old dark glasses, a bandana and a skull and crossbones face mask just to ad a bit of "outlaw" to the look. We figured that two panniers would be fine for the luggage we wanted to bring including a set of water proof pants. So as the day approached, Alan flew into Reno from San Francisco after a cruise with his wife Jacki in Canada and Colin flew into Reno direct from Melbourne via LA. Rafe was there to meet us both.