Man, I'm hearing it from everyone on this one. Many of the riders with whom I discuss the trip are the types who have a five year-old Harley in their garage with about a thousand miles on it. Still, even some of my hardened biker buds look at me like I'm crazy. Comments include:
- "Do you have a will?"
- "Can I have what's left of your bike if they don't find your body?"
- "If they do find your body, can I have that cool NSA coin?"
- "Do you have a living will because bears don't always kill their prey?"
- "Is your life is so empty that you think you have to do shit like this?"
- "Why don't you fly into Alaska and rent a motorcycle to ride around up there?"
- "Don't ride your Harley. The roads are rough and you might get scratches and dings from the Dalton Highway pebbles."
- "Ride up to Alaska if you must, but rent a KTM or BMW for the trip up the Dalton to the Circle."
- "Bear food..."
- Talk all you want, but you'll won't really go."
I think I'll just keep my mouth shut and not discuss it anymore. Yeah, right. Anyone who knows me knows I can't keep my mouth shut about anything.
None of the comments even remotely resonate with me; nor do they deserve a response. I have to admit though that that last one is a little haunting. I'm a goal driven person and get depressed without a long term goal or something to look forward to. Planning a trip like this offers me a goal to reach for while yielding short term rewards as things fall into place. It also offers a nice diversion from the geek work world of my job at IBM. The logistics are a bit daunting, but nothing I can't overcome. There are also plenty of people offering encouragement and support and expressing envy over not only having the time to do it, but the drive. I've even had a few people I know from various Harley related forums offer a place to sleep or wrench if I need it.
