Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/150909
Packer's Anxiety by JAMES JONES My friend Bill and I have been planning to go to Sturgis for sometime. Bill is the publisher of this paper and is the city's oldest newspaper boy. He has asked me to go with him for years, and I have been wanting to go. For various reasons, I had to rearrange my plans so I am planning on riding a few days with him until we meet up with his other friend Bob, in Nashville. My bike is generally ready for anything, at a moment's notice. Every year bikers rally at Sturgis to enjoy a week of However as we were planning this revelry. trip, I realized that Sturgis is about a 4,000 mile trip. I wanted to make sure I was prepared for this kind of distance. To be honest, there are times when I pack for a trip and I get "packers anxiety." I try to prevent that by being prepared, planning ahead and have everything ready to go the day of the ride. Some people just get on a bike and ride and others like to plan ahead. For a long distance trip, I like to plan. I want to make sure I have the right gear and the bike is prepared. For this trip, I had to pull out my maintenance records to see when my last service was. I also had to make sure I had enough tread on my tires to complete the trip. Sure enough, I had a service due and I wasn't sure if my tires would make the whole trip, so I got a new set. I brought the old tires back and will use them next rotation. About a week before we left, I gave my bike a good cleaning. I have a BMW R1200GS and cleaning her is not on the top of my priority list because I ride her through everything. However, a few times a year, I purposely clean every piece on the bike. This forces me to look at and touch every part on the bike. You would not believe the things that I would not have noticed otherwise. This time I noticed that I had several screws that were loose. Next up was planning the route. Bill and I decided to ride through Deal Gaps on our way to meet his friend. Deals Gap is located in western N.C., and is one of the curviest roads in America and a major motorcycle attraction. Now, my motorcycle cockpit looks like that of an F-16. I have a GoPro camera, a GPS, my iPhone mount and a SPOT (emergency locator device). All of this stuff requires upgrading. I fired up my laptop and ventured into Garmin's new Basecamp software. Every time I see there is new software, I immediately think pain. Of course I needed to figure out the software and there was an update to the GPS (new roads you know). GPS updates are time consuming, but if you ever hit a new section of road with an old GPS you will find it worth your time. Next was more electronics. I just got the new GoPro Hero3 camera and had to spend a few hours setting that up. It has a wireless remote which is a nice feature but I don't have anything on which to mount it. It took about an hour to get that set up and I am excited to see how my videos come out. My son is on my contact list for SPOT locator but he is in Afghanistan so I don't think he will be much help if I get in trouble. I had to go online and update my contact information to some folks actually in the United States and then do a test alert to see if that was all set up correctly. The day before we left, I was packing up. I printed out my checklist and was ready to get busy. My packing list is broken down into different sections. I have a section listed by personal, clothing, information, motorcycle, camping, cooking, and food. Each trip I revise my list based on lessons I learned or what I think might need for this trip. As this was going to be a long trip, I noticed that laundry detergent and quarters were not on the list. I have had trouble in the past getting change machines to work and sometimes just finding laundry soap at a laundry mat is not easy, so I like to bring my own stuff. As I was checking the information section, I stopped my mail using the Post Offices online services (www.usps.gov). I also realized that I could not find my AAA card. I called AAA and they emailed me a temp card and ordered a new one for me. Many hotels offer AAA, and it will pay for JAMES JONES, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcominitself in a matter of nights if you travel more than a few times a year. gweekly.com. August 15 • Bike Night at Mac's Speed Shop featuring The Lonesome Few. Call 910-3542590 for more information. August 24 • Steele Angels Back to School Run Registration 2-4 p.m. at Starr's on Old McPherson Church Road. Ride leaves at 4 p.m. and goes to Crow's Nest on Chickenfoot Road in Gray's Creek. Music, food and door prizes. Bring school supplies or money donation to register. Call 988-5874. August 29 • Fatboy challenge at Mac's Speed Shop 5 people per team, $10 per person. Prizes.Call 910-354-2590 for more information. September 15 • Redneck Trivia Run and Games at Legends Pub. Benefit for Kirk Lewis. Call 867-2364. September 21 • Cape Fear Valley Health Foundation Friends of the Cancer Center RIBBON WALK & RIDE at the Medical Arts Center in downtown Fayetteville. 8 a.m. registration. 9:45 a.m. Ride Begins. 10 a.m. Walk Begins. For more information, visit www. ribbonwalkforcancer.org. Patriot Guard Riders The Patriot Guard Riders is a diverse group of patriots from every state that come together to honor fallen soldiers at funeral services across the country. Visit www.patriotguard. org for more information about the group. REDNECK TRIVIA RUN AND GAMES September 15 • Fun begins at noon • Benefit for Kirk Lewis Thirsty Thursdays $1 off all drinks! 4624 BRAGG BLVD. Focus on the Family 20 Countdown Magazine Adventures in Odyssey Contest & Request Line: 910-764-1073 22 UCW AUGUST 14-20, 2013 Keeping the Main Thing ... the Main Thing. visit us online www.christian107.com WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM