I suck at delegating. I usually do things myself and look up what I don’t know on the web or in the library. Then I take stuff appart, “fix” it, put it back together, and repeat the process when inevitably it still doesn’t work.  Its a side effect of my testosterone poisoning. For this little trip I can’t be independent. I need to lean pretty heavily on friends.  It’ll be a good lesson for me.

Since I won’t leave till the Fall for BA, I applied for a Middle Fork Salmon permit. Launch dates are given by lottery. A group of us has applied for various dates and if one of us gets a permit, we all ride. I requested four dates in June. This is a trip I wouldn’t have dreamed of running on my own. It requires a lot of logistics and raft support. As an Eastern kayaker, I don’t know any rafters and the logistics are pretty daunting. If it works out I’m going to be relying on James and his contacts for experience and support.

I’ll also need some help with the bike. I bought the KLR. Its in great shape but it will need a few mods if I’m going to take it to Argentina. I’ve gotta say that when I was test riding it, it was hard to get my mind around the idea of riding this beefed up bicycle all the way to South America. I won’t be the first to do it, but the vehicle felt so small and vulnerable, and the road’s long and dangerous.

I don’t have a lot of experience working on engines. I’ve looked on line and there’s a huge community around the KLR 650. The basic bike has been available for about 20 years and its popular in South America, so getting parts and service shouldn’t be a problem. Shannon has also offered to help. He loves tinkering with engines and really knows his shit. He’s also expressed interest in riding with me for a while. Maybe to Guatemala, the first real destination, where I’ll take immersion Spanish classes for a few weeks. I’d love it if he did ride with me for a while. It would be great to have him along for a lot of reasons. He’s a good friend. I think starting off riding with him is what I was thinking of when I wrote the “Good judgment” post below.