Following the meeting in Mena, AR, I was off to Oklahoma. As I mentioned in my last post, it was time for a new set of tires. Tim Kiser of Tim's Yamaha in Mena, AR (http://www.timsyamaha.com/) did an awesome job of calling all around to dealers and now had me all set up to get a new set of tires for the bike at Sehorn Yamaha (http://www.sehornyamaha.com/) in Shawnee, OK. When I got there, these guys treated me right, not only on the price, but immediately mounted the new tires and set me back on my way. The network is pretty impressive.

Back on the road, I could feel the weather front setting in which got me to thinking that, if I am going to even have a chance at getting to some folks in the northwest before winter, I was going to have to make some adjustments in my route. Del Albright had suggested to me earlier in the ride that perhaps I should go as far as I could to the northwest and then come down that coast instead of continuing in the intended clockwise pattern which would lead me up the west coast near the end of the ride. I knew at the time he suggested it, I might need to consider that option and now was that time. The current front was reaching clear down to OK making for 50+/- degree weather that included rain.

I had some other work to do to catch up on BRC stuff and needed a day or so to take a break and I used that time to study the longer term weather patterns being predicted, considered the adjustments and logistics I would need to make, and ultimately concluded it was time for an iron butt run diagonally across to our home office in Pocatello, Idaho. That is what I did, in an arching run that allowed me to just skirt the edges of the front moving across the country. After a little over 1400 miles of riding, I am now in Pocatello, getting ready to set out a little further to the northwest for meetings with enthusiasts in south eastern Washington and points beyond.

I have to tell you, that I holed up for a couple days here in Pocatello with not much communication. I apologize for that, but can't say I'm sorry. I had good reason. As you know, I have been out on the road here and haven't seen my wife for nearly 8 weeks. Pocatello is the closest point to where we could meet, so she came over to spend a couple days with me. AWESOME!!! I also had some work in the office that demanded some of my attention, so I took that opportunity while I was here too.

Today, I am back to it. The current plan, as the map should reflect shortly, is to head west toward the coast, go as far north as is practical (fronts predicted to move in there) and then turn south, stopping to meet folks along the way. I need to make my way to the BRC Fall Board meeting which is being held just ahead of the SEMA show in Las Vegas the 27-28 of October. Following that, I hope to loop back over into California and then back across the southwest to about where I was before the "Weather Reset" where I will turn back north to head for home.
Stay with me 'cause this isn't over yet... Then there is the second phase of this yet to come. I'm calling the Tour/Ride portion of this the assessment phase. With all the information gathered, BRC and its members will have an extensive action phase with lots of work to do to Turn the Tide on what is happening.