The Blog Is Moving

Please visit our new blog from now on at FreeKraig.org. You can purchase a T-shirt to help fund Kraig's legal defense. There is also a petition you can sign here. Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. I am feeling for all the Americans in my circumstances who are still in jail and who don't have hope of being released. I was extremely lucky in that a local family took me in. Most American tourists don't have that luxury. Hopefully with your help we can do something about it. Thank you!

The Prosecutor Won't Budge! Please Sign This Petition!

My trial date has been set for the 24th of January, 2013! I have to be here for another 5 months at least. Then I might still get jail time! Please help me. Sign the petition and share it on your Facebook wall. Thank you so much! I love you all! -Kraig

http://www.change.org/petitions/canadian-government-release-kraig-jacobson

Incarceration

I can't divulge too much information at this time because I've got charges pending here in Canada. Some of the basics. I was arrested on July 16, 2012 at the border of Canada and spent 18 days in Jail. Kevin rode home on July 29th and I'm out on bail while I await either a trial or a plea. The defense attorney wants 4-6 months from me. That's all I can really say right now. Updates will be posted as I find out more.

Cleveland Rocks!

Yesterday we left the hotel at 11am and set out to find a remedy for my hurricane drenched phone. We had to use Kevin's phone's navigation which had really spotty service. I bought a new battery for my phone so now I have two working batteries and my phone has now completely dried out. This would have been a really annoying trip if my phone was destroyed. We rode for what seemed like forever because we had to make up an extra 200 miles we lost yesterday. We had to miss Cedar Point :( But we made up for it by meeting some new friends Kristel and Charlotta Enfio! We had fries and ice cream at a place called Sweetie Fry. Then we went to a screening of a ridiculous cult film where the audience just screamed out the entire time and threw thousands of plastic spoons whenever a picture of spoons showed on the screen. Then we segued into Troll 2, which is an even worse movie! The next morning we had crepes at a place called Luna which puts Utah crepes to shame! We are making plans to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and it is currently a downpour. We are planning to leave here at around 7 to head up to Buffalo to crash at a punk rock venue. No idea how that is going to work. Stay tuned!

Midnight Ride

Just got in to Madison. Last minute errands set us back 5 hours. But we still got to ride along the Mississippi on the Great River Road and we caught the Iowa sign while there was just a hint of light left. Our cousin Sheresa was gonna take us in but schedules conflicted so we're staying with awesome people named Solomon and Cissy. Real mattresses to sleep on. A shower. Feels almost like we aren't totally homeless right now. Tomorrow: Chicago!

Minneapolis, MN

Today we got to hang out with the cousins. Kate and Jess are adorable and out of their minds. The youngest, Jess, has a family of imaginary brains that live in her head. They all have names and lives and she was sad because they all recently moved to Italy. The older of the two, Kate, is in love with an evil character from My Little Pony. Adorable as they are our intercom communication device was in shambles after being unattended for a few hours. Luckily their father, Spencer, is a genius fixing things (practice makes perfect in this household) and he got it back together even stronger than before. Showers, laundry, and a charging station for all our gear is just what the doctor ordered.

The only thing I forgot to pack was shoes. So wearing motorcycle boots, shorts, and a t-shirt I walked into Target and bought some sweet top of the line flip flops. Then we visited Dawnell and her lovely kids as they gave us a magic show and a tour of the house. They graciously lent us their minivan for the day so we could explore this cool city. We went to the 5-8 club and got their famous Juicy Lucy burger. Then we went off to see the Walker Art Center in downtown with the giant cherry spoon, the stone arch bridge which looks out over the Mississippi river and the old mill factories, and the lakes in the area. Dinner was had at Hell's Kitchen where the chandeliers had knives dangling from them and a live jazz band was playing. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone travelling the area. Tomorrow we head back out on the road to Madison!

Amber Waves of Grain

Four hundred and fifty miles of riding in one day should be the furthest we ever have to travel in a day on the whole trip. It was long and mostly monotonous. A lot of I-90. We started off in Pierre, SD where a nice man named Koz helped us tighten the chain on Kevin's bike and adjust the brake light. A measly $25 for piece of mind and we were off. We rode all the way to Chamberlain on some back roads that took us past a lake, an old broken down strip club for the local farmers called the "Prarie Chicken", and through some dusty construction zones. Then we took the interstate to Sioux Falls then up through western Minnesota to Minneapolis. Western Minnesota is beautiful rolling farmland covered in corn as far as the eye can see. Ever 30 miles or so we would need to slow down for a small town. From this point to Minneapolis the sun had gone down and we were riding in the dark. It's kind of calming at night, quiet and isolated, a nice break from the bustling daytime traffic. We arrived in Minneapolis a few minutes before midnight local time. 

Surprise

South Dakota

Pancakes were made on the back of out motorcycles for breakfast. Lunch in Custer, SD. Gas out here is weird because you can fill up before you pay! Needless to day we forgot to pay in Custer so we gave money to dad to pay them on his way back to Utah. Next stop Crazy Horse. Mount Rushmore is where Dad and we parted ways. We grabbed some power bars in Rapid City and headed out to Wall Drug then the badlands. We hit the badlands right at sunset. It was incredible. I can't believe this stuff is in America! We were way behind on schedule so we just rode. For hours. In the pitch black night. Don't always trust google maps is the moral of this story. My navigation system put us right in the middle of some guys farm at 1am. I hand entered some GPS coordinates I found on some guys blog and followed that. We setup or tents and passed out. This morning we were surprised to see where we stayed the night...

Devil's Tower

July 8

We snuck across the street to grab continental breakfast from a neighboring hotel as ours didn't offer it. We strapped our gear to the bikes and set sail over Bear Tooth Pass. It was some if the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen in my entire life. I felt like I was in the Swiss alps. Yellow and purple wild flowers sprang up everywhere in the huge grassy fields around the glacial lakes that dotted the landscape. It was cold but worth it for two reasons: prettiest ride so far and it would most likely be the coldest our ride would ever be. After a few hundred miles of barren fields we arrived at Devils Tower. We camped the night in what seemed like someone's front yard.

Yellowstone

July 7

Today we started out on highway 89. Lunch was in Jackson Hole at a place called Mile High Pizza Pie. We got to Old Faithful right before eruption so we only had to wait a couple minutes. Normally the geyser erupts every 60-90 minutes. Bison were everywhere and I almost hit one! From there we headed up to Mammoth Hot Springs and had dinner. Then it started raining. Then pouring. Kevin didn't have a waterproof jacket and dad didn't have waterproof pants so we decided to call it a night in Cooke City. We pitched in for a hotel because it was too dark, cold, and wet to try to find a suitable camping spot. There was no data coverage after Jackson so I had to rely on my memory of the route.

Now Entering Wyoming

Sorry it's been so long since we've posted. We haven't had much time or service out here in the western wilderness.

July 6

Today we had a really late start trying to get everything in order making sure we didn't leave anything behind. We stopped in Bear Lake at Quick and Tasty for the famous raspberry shakes and double bacon cheeseburgers. A few miles up the road after lunch or GoPro decided to make a break for it. Lucky dad was behind us to catch it bounding down the road.  The housing on those cameras is pretty much bullet proof so the camera wasn't harmed at all. Lightning, rain clouds, and increasing darkness forced us to make camp about an hour from our intended destination. We started out rocky but as time goes on I'm certain things will become smoother and more routine.

Here's our promo video for the trip! Be sure to check us out on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TheLoneRiders. Please consider donating, every dollar helps!

Kraig and Kevin's 10,000 Mile Motorcycle Adventure! from Kraig Jacobson on Vimeo.

Finished Trip Map

Here is the absolutely completed route of the trip!

Picture Version
Google Earth Version

Southern Utah Trip

This is the route we took through southern Utah. Kevin will be updating with the shenanigans that took place.

Helmet Intercoms Ordered

Research online yeilded that the Cardo Scala Q2 Pro Multiset was the best way to go given our budget. Got the set for about $300 from RevZilla. Hopefully it's all it's cracked up to be. We're leaving on our mock trip to southern Utah in about a week and a half. The idea is to get all the kinks worked out on this trip so our big one will be smooth sailing.

New Mexico

Just added White Sands National Monument, Roswell, and Carlsbad Caverns to the adventure.

Still Working

We have been dealing with some DMV and insurance issues lately but I'm happy to say that all is well at the moment and we will maintain our departure date as planned! Kevin still needs to take the motorcycle safety foundation course and we still need to make panniers for our gear (panniers are side luggage).

Driving in the city has been a pain. Still more fun than a car but I can't wait to be out cruising America's highways and byways!

Mediocrity

My rebuttal to the doubt.

Lights, camera...

Got our GoPro cameras today! 

Final Route

Here is an amalgamation of the different routes of our trip. 

Our original plan was to head into California but we won't have time this trip. We are basing next years trip entirely around the Pacific coast though!

Fundraiser

Hi, everyone! Kevin here. I have some great news! I've been in touch with the American Cancer Society to see about getting this set up to be something more than a simple motorcycle trip. Kraig and I have been hesitant to post about this side of things because we didn't want to get in trouble for using the society's name without their permission, but after working with them a little I feel confident enough to make it public. The American Cancer Society is currently working to get us the necessary logos and signage that we'll be using throughout the process. I'm very much looking forward to working with them. We'll be taking donations beginning now through our GoFundMe page (the link is in the top right corner of the page) from now until the end of August. At the end of August, we will donate the funds that we've earned to our local Relay For Life. While we will be on the other side of the country during the relay itself, The American Cancer Society representative that I spoke to assured me that wouldn't be a problem. If you'd like to participate in a relay yourself (there are tons all around the country) or if you'd like to learn more about it, you can go to this page: http://www.relayforlife.org/learn/index

EDIT: After working with the American Cancer Society a little more, it looks like we'll need to set up a separate website for donations to them. While we work on that, please refrain from donating to the cancer fund through the GoFundMe link. We'll be leaving that link up for anyone that wants to help out with operating costs, but that fund won't be going towards cancer. Thanks!

EDIT 2: I've got our donation page set up through the American Cancer Society. As you can see on the right side of the page, there are two donation links. If you use the top link to donate, all proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. If you donate to the bottom one, we'll be using those funds to help us cover operating costs (e.g. gas, food, etc.). If we earn more money for operating costs than we use, we'll be putting the excess towards the American Cancer Society.

2 Day Prep Ride

Here's a map of the two day 670 mile ride through southern Utah we're doing to break us in.

Our new GoPro cameras have been ordered! I'm getting antsy, we are missing out on filming so much of the planning process!

Best Food in the Nation

We're going to hit some of the most famous eateries in each of the cities we visit. Here is a list:

Chicago, IL - Gino's East Pizza
Amarillo, TX - Big Texan Steak Ranch
New Haven, CT - Louis Lunch
Albuquerque, NM - Frontier Restaurant
Nashville, TN - Rooster's Texas Style BBQ and Steakhouse
Philadelphia, PA - Jim's Steaks
Washington, DC - Horace & Dickie's
Portland, ME - The Lobster Shack
Cleveland, OH - Melt Bar & Grilled
Oklahoma City, OK - Steak & Catfish Barn
Minneapolis, MN - Matt's Bar
NYC, NY - Brick Lane Curry House
NYC, NY - Di Fara's Pizza
Cape Cod, MA - Captain Parker's Pub
Boston, MA - Barking Crab

NEW BIKE!

Thanks to Dave, we now have a Kawasaki Vulcan 750 for the trip! I felt that the 425 was a little to small and old to be safe. So Kevin is going to inherit the Maxim and I'll be riding the Vulcan.

It still needs new tires but other than that it's good to go!

Why, you ask?

A lot of people have asked me why I would want to go on a trip like this. The answer is simple: I don't want to waste a second of this life. I hear a lot of people say things like, "I'll travel when I retire" or "maybe next year." When I hear those excuses, I can't help but think, "Well, what if you don't make it that far?" I know it's a terrible thing to think, but the sad truth is that none of us can really be sure that we'll wake up tomorrow. Which brings me to the matter of making this adventure more than a bunch of memories. There are people, right now, who don't know how much longer they'll have on this earth. There are people who didn't have the opportunity to live a full life. I want to give those people a second chance. That's why I'm doing this fundraiser.

Plans Through Oklahoma City, OK

Here is a day to day breakdown of the trip:

• Day 1 Alpine, UT - Alpine, WY
• Day 2 Alpine, WY - Red Lodge, MT
• Day 3 Red Lodge, MT - Spearfish, SD
• Day 4 Spearfish, SD - Chamberlain, SD
• Day 5 Chamberlain, SD - Minneapolis, MN
• Day 6-7 Minneapolis, MN - Chicago, IL
• Day 8 Chicago, IL - Columbus, OH
• Day 9 Columbus, OH - Cleveland, OH
• Day 10 Cleveland, OH - Warren, PA
• Day 11 Warren, PA - Rochester, NY
• Day 12 Rochester, NY - Saranac Lake, NY
• Day 13-15 Saranac Lake, NY - Boston, MA
• Day 16-17 Boston, MA - New York, NY
• Day 18 - 19 New York, NY - Washington DC
• Day 20 - 22 Washington DC - Myrtle Beach, SC
• Day 23 - 24 Myrtle Beach, SC - Tail of the Dragon
• Day 25 - Tail of the Dragon - Nashville, TN
• Day 26 - 27 Nashville, TN - Oklahoma City, OK

7,700 miles so far!

A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With a Single Step

Our main goal is to ride to NYC and back taking the most scenic back roads in the country. To save money we are going to be camping most of it. We have family in Minneapolis and a friend in Columbus. Other than that we are completely on our own!

I've spent a lot of time on planning out this trek that I should have spent doing research for school projects, this is way more fun! Here is our first day. We start out in beautiful Alpine, UT and hopefully make it to Alpine, WY in about 5 1/2 hours.

1979 Suzuki 425 LN - Decommissioned

1979 Suzuki 425 LN

I found this bike in a friend's aunt's backyard all covered in spider webs and weeds. I traded a Pina Colada SoBe for it. When we first cranked the engine over water shot out of the cylinders through the spark plug holes! I have no idea how it runs but it does. The only problem is if you let it idle too low it will shut off (this includes while driving it).

There was a lot of work to be done. I rebuilt the carburetors, checked the valves, cleaned out the fuel filter, added oil, replaced the spark plugs and the battery, adjusted the clutch lever, replaced most of the bolts on the engine, and re-seated the tires.

Before we leave we still need to coat the inside of the gas tank, reupholster the seat, new handlebars, weld foot pegs, drill out the broken oil drain plug and replace it, add new oil, replace the rear brakes, replace the broken speedometer cable, and last but not least it needs a new coat of paint.

UPDATE!

I decided the bike was too high risk for such a long distance trip so I'm going to finish getting it road worthy and sell it to fund our trip.

1983 Yamaha Maxim - Kevin's whip

1983 Yamaha Maxim

Remarkably good condition. I did spend a little more than a drink for this one but there are no problems. There is a worn out bearing in the clutch box but that shouldn't be a problem.

It Begins!

It hit me that summer was fast approaching and I needed a bike. My old '89 Suzuki needed a lot of work done and I was itching for something so I bought a '83 Yamaha Maxim, which was in surprisingly good condition. Needless to say, my Suzuki came back from the shop in working order. I now have two bikes. My brother mentioned that we should take them on a road trip. I thought he was joking... After a few days of nagging we both sat down to see how possible our options were.

They say we would have to be crazy to do this... I think we can do it anyway.

Kev

Kraig