ALASKA AT EIGHTY - RIDE DAY 3-4

Time to play catch up with the trip...

RD -3 The tire had a roofing screw in it. Monday AM the local auto mechanic located and pulled it out, inserting worm plugs. Rode to Taos, bought a scissor jack the I hope to never use... and a bottle of Slime. The guys at the tire shop could not get much of the Slime into the tire. Left Taos at noon heading west on RT 64. Here the High Plains west of Taos reminds me of US-50 crossing Nevada.




Checked the weather radar once in Chama, decided to stay south of Southern Colorado and avoid the afternoon mountain rains, Could see all the dark storms in Southern Colorado but stayed dry in northern New Mexico.



In Farmington, turned north to link up with CO-491 near Cortez that will take me to Monticello, Utah where I spent the night.





RD-4, since I lost a day due to the flat rear tire. made a foolish decision to try to ride two days worth of the planned route. Instead of the 350 +/- days, gp for 600 miles.

Left the motel at 1:30 AM. Temps a cool 58 degrees. 50 miles north Moab is 81 degrees at 2:30 AM. From Green River to Spanish Fork, you cross mountains, the temperature dropped to 42 degrees, had to stop and pull out a top I brought to use in Alaska.

Morning rush hour traffic from the south going into Salt Lake City was white knuckle time. Once past SLC, the day warmed up, and up and up. Near Ogden, it was in the 90's. By the time I reached Boise, it was a sweltering 100, tagging 104 at times. The hotter it got , the more frequently I stopped to wet done the clothes. I had shed the heavy riding jacket back in Utah.
Every one has their own ideas on how to stay safe and comfortable when temperature are this hot. I subscribe to the desert Arab method, wear light colored, loose fitting, breathable clothes that protect from the sun rays, allow moisture to evaporate, drink lots of electrolytes and water. 

Having read all of Hubert Kriegel's sidecar tales, I learned you dress for the weather. Your chances of sliding across the pavement are much less likely than they are you getting sun burnt or frost bite.

By the time I reached Ontario, Colorado on the Idaho border, had ridden 679 miles, with a 62 degree temperature spread.

p.s. RD = Ride Day

Sidecars and Travel related blog
www.ridingthehorizon.com

ALASKA AT EIGHTY - DAY FIVE

This afternoon there was a crew laying out objects in a grid pattern in the empty parking lot behind the condo. They measure precisely each row, the distance between rows, and the distance between each object in that row. It was six person team doing all the work. 

When done, they had laid out twenty rows with ten objects in each row.  After retrieving the binoculars, I discovered these objects were drones. This was my first opportunity to witness close at hand the set up and operation of a drone light show. 

• 

Drone light shows are more common here as the danger of forest fires worsen each year.

 Now every thing is set, we wait for nightfall and the show.

When a 200 drone squadron launches...

When the drones rose quickly overhead, going above the condo building. They were soon out of sight, 

so I rushed outside to the front of the building to capture this video.

You are not seeing about eight minutes of the ten minute show. I was behind the drone so when images were made, it was hard to discipher it, plus the operator said it is a short show due to drone battery life.

That was so cool to see a drone light show this close to the behind the scenes action. I cannot begin to imagine the complexity of managing fleets of drones in warfare.

*********

The big negative of the day was discovering a flat rear tire on the Goldwing. Then my travel air compressor did not work... grrrr. 

No jack, no air compressor and no ideas what happened. 

First solution, install a new fuse to get the compressor working. The tire seems to air up some, at least rideable to town. Then found out no tire shops or auto parts... stores are open until Monday... this is a holiday weekend. Grrrr...

Without a jack of sorts, I cannot raise the rig to rotate the tire, to find what caused the air loss.

Sunday, True Value hardware opened. Darn, they sold their only auto scissor jack last week.  Next closest jack would be in Taos, twenty-five miles away.

There is a small, one man auto repair shop in Angel Fire. He returned my call to say he'll be back in town to open up Monday morning, 9 AM.

So that is where we stand on Sunday.

The adventure continues...

Ride safe, Ride far.

CCjon

ALASKA AT EIGHTY - DAY 3-4

Staying a couple of days in Angel Fire, NM. watched the small mountain village July 4th parade...





Next morning was the local Rotary Club Pancake Breakfast... $15 donation.



Had a nice chat with neighbors and locals, yet most "locals" are people from other states. Angel Fire is a ski resort village that attracts people mainly from Texas and Oklahoma. Why? Because Texas and Oklahoma don't have ski resorts.

The Texas Aggie joke is, if God wanted Texans to ski, he would have made bull sh*t white.

Then there are the Albuquerque residents who come up to the 8200' elevation to escape the hot summers.

Now that Colorado ski areas have gotten so expensive, more and more people from Colorado are buying here as it is their closest, still affordable, ski resort.

Tomorrow it's back on the road heading northwest.

ALASKA AT EIGHTY - DAY 2

Logged another 400+ mies today, stopping in Angel Fire NM for a few days to handle some chores.

Found the ranch of his dreams in NM. 

Most of the day was spent outrunning rain clouds. 



But in the end, they found me in the last four miles in the mountains.

Re the eight gallons of fuel, I removed the seat in the tub, making room for cold and hot weather gear, plus the eight gallons of fuel for that last stretch from Coldfoot to Deadhorse, 240 miles with no service, no houses, nothing, just follow the Alaska pipeline across the tundra.

On an earlier trip I met a BMW rider the side of the road without any fuel to make the last twenty miles . He said the winds were so bad it cut his mpg way down. Is better to have too much than not enough.

Alaska at Eighty Day 1

Got a late start, hot and very humid in Houston, the starting gas ticket, @ $2.539 a gallon

beautiful wet clouds follow me

Stopped to remove rain gear as looks clear ahead,

What I left behind

was in and out of rain all day. Temps from 101 to 72.

Took Rt 6 all the way from Cypress to Quana, then left to Childress for the night.

ALASKA AT EIGHTY

After the 2025 USCA National Sidecar Rally in Topsham, Maine, it was back home to Texas, unpack the Goldwing rig, then load the cold-wet-hot-dry weather gear for a run up to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. There to start the IBA UCC challenge to ride from Prdhoe Bay to Ket West, FL in less than 30 days.

The current oldest rider to complete and document this challenge was 76 years old when he did it. I turned 80 in May, so my goal is to raise the bar a notch or two on this challenge.

The turn out for the Topsham rally was great, friendly smiles, sidecarists and beautiful rigs.







Now it is time to return to my lone wolf style of riding. 'cept now it is more like Grey Wolf. Back home the gear is packed, waterproofed and ready to load. 



Will load everything tonight with a planned pre-dawn departrure tomorrow July 2nd.

The next week will be riding from Houston up to Bellingham, Washington to catch the Alaska Marine Highway ferry on July 11th north to Haines, Alaska. From there vist a few spots I missed in my earlier Alaska rides before heading futther north to Pudhoe Bay/Deadhorse.

Thoughts to ponder...

We were wild with joy because tomorrow
We would leave the known world behind.
What a wonderful feeling . . .
To be able to decide your own life and destiny
Obeying without limitations your own mysterious call,
And dreams and passions.

Quote: Douchan Gersi

A Peek inside the Zine

Work continues on the photo zine,  growing into more than just a handful of photographs.  

A storyline is emerging...  evolving with each draft as it grows.

To give you a peek inside...

Here are a few draft pages from the zine.

another...

and another

Each image and word is examined and crafted to create the right tone.

Have been looking at paper samples to find the right material 

that has the desired heft and texture,

 that allows the ink to lay down precisely.

Making one's first zine is a slow creative process of discovery.

Ride safe, ride long

CCjon

Creating a new book: Embracing the Darkness

Have been wanting to create a photography zine for some time now. 

 One that I could print, edit, bind, and share without resorting to outside sources.

After our trip last Fall to Spain, I felt I finally had enough of the right material

 to complete the storyline. Then, I researched how to produce the book, the mechanics and the artistic.

Today, it is in draft form to be tweaked further.

 Now I'll rely on several photographer friends to critique the layout, the images,

 the storyline, make suggestions to smooth the literary and the visual flow, 

plus find aberrations or flaws in the text or images. 

For now though, here is the cover for 

Embracing the Darkness.

( Any and all pages might change before it is finalized )

But for now, in February 2025, it is a work in progress.

Ride safe, ride far,

CCjon

Valladolid - Marcin Ryczek, Polish Photographer

If you are interested in and have read much about Black & White photography, most likely you have seen this award-winning image called:

 "Man feeding the Swans"

by Marcin Ryczek

Marcin and I met quite by accident last Fall in Spain. 

We both were out early one morning photographing the Pisuerga River that runs through the middle of the city.

Standing on the far side of the bridge looking back toward the city, I captured this early morning mist photo. Marcin was taking photos from the middle of the bridge. He is the far figure, about halfway down the bridge, facing the river.

Crossing back toward town, I noticed a tall man taking photos with a very nice Nikon camera and lens, like what a professional would use. As is my habit of talking to strangers, I commented in Spanish about being a great morning for photography. That's when I learned that Marcin does not speak Spanish. We both tried English and that clicked for us. Talking there on the bridge we shared tips on good spots for images, angles, light, etc. Things photographers always talk about, boring our spouses to no end.  

 Marcin explained that he was there participating in a two-month-long cultural exchange program in the city which included two other international artists, one in music and the other in interactive arts.

Marcin had a translator assigned to him as not everyone in the shops and cafes in Valladolid spoke English. Even fewer speak Polish as Valladolid is not an international tourist destination.

 Marcin and I hit it off and got together a half dozen different times over the next two months. We took a photo walk to check out shadow patterns on stucco walls, looked for where the resident storks have nests, talked of image concepts, and shared views on photography as a hobby and a career.

From our conversations, I learned that Marcin is a very accomplished, talented, award-winning photographer from Krakow.

The conclusion of the cultural exchange was for Marcin to have a gallery show with the best photos he had captured during his short time in Valladolid. The daily pressure on him was intense, to capture, edit, print, and present a gallery show demonstrating his artistic vision. Nevertheless, he accomplished it on time with great images that drew admiration from his Spanish hosts and the public.

Marcin's lady friend Patrycja came in from Poland to attend the gallery showing.

 

During this last week, I told Marcin I would like to take a few portrait shots of him in the gallery where his photos were on display before he returned to Poland.

Marcin commented that no one takes his photo as he is normally busy shooting photos of others. He suggested a photo that reflected on his style of photography, high contrast black & white. 

On the final evening of his gallery showing, Marcin, Patrycja and I gathered for a challenging low-light portrait shoot. The tiny intense LED lights illuminating the walls with his photos made the photo session more difficult.

In the background of this first portrait, you can see a reflection of one of Marcin's prints

 floating on top of two other framed pieces of his work as he tries to be serious.  

He commented that people expect him to be very distant and secretive based on the subject matter and his style of photography.  While in reality, Marcin is a very friendly, engaging person. 

I think you can see both personas here trying to be serious, yet the playfulness around the eyes gives away his true nature.

Then we thought he should be holding a camera to emphasize

 that his profession is photography. Below is version #6 of the photo shoot.

I think I like the first one stronger. What do you think?

Then we convinced Marcin's model friend Patrycja that it was her turn to pose.  She jumped right into character like a professional, adding content and emotion to each shot. 

Patrycja first created a sense of painful suffering that tied in perfectly with one of Marcin's images in the background. One of Marcin's photos of a priest and a shadow of the crucifixion taken here in Valladolid.

Then Patrycja went for an uplifting Joan of Arc inspiration in front of another of Marcin's images.  

The moods she created for the camera were fantastic. Made capturing her image so much easier.

And for me?

  

Well, I felt honored that my new friends would place their trust in me to create images

 that reflected their mood and personalities, truthfully and honestly.

 It was a very fortunate pleasure to meet these two creative personalities, Marcin and Patrycja,

To spend some time with them in Spain,

 learning more about how Europeans view black-and-white photography 

with craft, passion, and dedication.

Stopping to talk to a stranger standing on a bridge opened a door 

for learning and sharing life experiences.

Thank you Marcin and Patrycja...

Ride safe and far, my friends.

CCjon

 

p.s. To learn more about Marcin and his photography, go to: https://marcinryczek.com/

       Marcin is a very talented, award-winning photographer building a career with image making.