Blackie emerges from the shadows

I'm not much of a blogger, but here goes....



Blackie?

Long story - Slacker Shack related. As I seem to favor black motorcycles and cowboy metaphors, Blackie (aka JRP) it is...



Acknowledgements

First, a shout of appreciation to the supportive wives: Lynne and Deb. They have tolerated past P-Rock/Blackie schemes, but none this extreme. We have received nothing but support and enthusiasm for this little adventure - we are lucky bikers.



Second, to AP, Dave and the team for the time away. While I plan to be on-line intermittently, it's a long time gone. Appreciate the support and cover.



Third, to my riding partner Pete (aka P-Rock). Due to a number of personal distractions this winter/spring, P-Rock assumed the bulk of the early planning for the trip (obvious if you've read the blog) - I'll attempt to make up some time on the back half. Thanks bro. (In addition to riding/planning expertise, P-Rock has become an quite proficient at disassembling/reassembling a BMW K1200LT - a skill I hope proves of no worth in July).



Lastly, a shout out to the gang at Snuzzles. Holly - I'm stopping over for trip apparel this week. The Snuzzles logo is about to meet the Arctic Circle...



The Bike

The bike is now ready to go. Every dude needs a good name for his mount, and Blackie had chosen Rocinante - the literati among you will recognize this as Don Quixote's noble horse. I thought this apt as P-Rock and I tilt at our Yukon windmills. I have revisited the name after an unpleasant bike-related experience Memorial Day weekend. I awoke to a very smelly house, and tracked the odor to the garage, where underneath Rocinante was 4 gallons of fuel that had been in the tank the night before. A massive fuel leak is nasty business, worsened by the fact that this occured 5 weeks to launch and the bike had a whopping 1100 miles on it. Thought yet undecided, Rocinante may be replaced by the more colloquial Stinky.



Pictures/Videos

P-Rock and I plan to be armed with cameras (and video hopefully) - I suspect we'll run into creative limitations in the blog. For that reason, I'll be posting stills and video to my SmugMug site (not much there now - will be adding soon):




http://jrpimages.smugmug.com/gallery/8654567_ByKRt/1/571241572_FhJSF

More blogging soon. Blackie