Brian A. Hopkins
Adventure Rider Wannabee

Moab, Utah: "Pride Goeth Before the Fall"*
Apr-May 2005

"Against my will, in the course of my travels, the belief that everything
worth knowing was known at Cambridge gradually wore off. In this
respect my travels were very useful to me." --Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

Cast of Characters, collectively known as "The Clan of the Turtle" (slow and steady wins the day!):

Chris "I forgot my toothbrush; can we stop at the store?" Marlow.

Rich "I brought lots of maps and know where all the nearest
Internet cafes are located" Desmond.

Brian "My job is to provide all the drama on this adventure"
Hopkins (your host and hereafter referred to in the first person).

 

 

Two-wheeled Stars of the Show, otherwise known as our "trusty steeds":

Left to right: Chris's Suzuki DR-Z400, Rich's Kawasaki
KLR-250, and my Triumph Tiger.

Another shot of the steeds: Tiger, KLR, and DRZ.

 

 

Photo Credits:  All photos by me, except where credited to Chris or Rich.

Text: Written by me, of course; Chris or Rich would have picked on me even more than I picked on myself here.  They did not endorse, review, or approve any of this -- though they may very well give me a swift kick in the ass after they read it.

Pre-Adventure Preparation:

I watched a bunch of motocross racing with my daughter.  Yes, we always wear
our helmets when watching motorcycle racing on television, don't you? And, yes,
I do most of my training from the couch. "Oh yeah," I'm thinking as I watch the
young studs (half my age) on their dirt bikes, "the Tiger and I can do all that."  Then
I packed for the trip -- which is more than I can say for Chris.  Rich ... well, Rich
prepared by buying maps ... lots and lots of maps.

Oh!  I also rebuilt the forks on the Tiger.  Here's a pic of the
bike sans its front end and forelegs.  Looks pretty insect-like,
doesn't it?  Rich came over and helped (pretty good help for the
price of a beer!). Chris was supposed to be home packing and
getting his video setup put together, but we all know that didn't
happen.  ::sigh::

 

 

And now for the Big Adventure....

Click the dancing tiger to continue.

* I realize that the correct quote (Proverbs 16:18) is "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall," but I've chosen to abbreviate for my purposes.  The big guy won't mind.