My Dad and I set out on another cross-country two-wheeled epic, and this one didn’t disappoint. We headed out through Nebraska where Dad literally hit an antelope (yes, an actual antelope). Not to be outdone, I blew out my rear brake line somewhere along the way, because why not keep it exciting?
We climbed over Beartooth Pass again and dropped into Red Lodge, a favorite stop, then headed north through Glacier National Park and along the Going-to-the-Sun Road again, still as stunning as ever. Then my front brake line decided to explode in Washington, leaving me with zero brakes in the middle of the Cascade Mountains near Diablo Lake.
Limped the bike into Tacoma on sheer willpower, then overnighted parts and swapped out both brake lines in an AutoZone parking lot, because we do our best wrenching when we have an audience.
The journey kept rolling, back up to Whidbey Island, then down through Seattle, along the Oregon coast to see Goonies Rock and Thor’s Well. We hit Crater Lake, dipped into northern California and Nevada, and wrapped things up with a detour through Dinosaur National Monument and Rocky Mountain National Park before finally heading back home to Ohio.
This trip had it all: insane views, moose in the bighorns, attacking antelopes, catastrophic brake failures, parking lot repairs, and some of the best riding I’ve ever done. An absolute hell-ride in the best possible way.
Moto-Misel 