After we managed to dodge the rock slide and all of the downed trees, we made it to some beautiful landscape.

The trail led us to a road that was completely destroyed. It looked like a tornado had gone through. Huge pine trees were down and rocks were everywhere. We got off the bikes to check it out and there was no way around. We found a road about a mile back that we could take to reconnect with the trail. It ended up being an awesome road and it felt like we were riding a ridge top.

When we reconnected with the trail, it had turned to pavement. We stopped to check the maps and that’s when we realized we were about 30 minutes from the coast! The two guys let me go first, so I could finish by myself and so they could finish together. That last stretch was an emotional roller coaster. I couldn’t believe it. I could smell the ocean and the winds had picked up. I rode into Port Orford around 3pm and went straight to the beach. It was the most out of body experiences I’ve ever been through. 47 days, just under 6,000 miles, 11 states and over 210 hours on the bike. I MADE IT!

This video really sums up everything. I don’t think I could get a word out for the first 30 minutes. I was smiling ear to ear while fighting back some tears (I lost that battle). I really just don’t know how to explain what I felt. Trans America Trail Final Day (link takes you to the video on YouTube, too large to put here). The other guys rode down towards me and we high fived and took some pictures together. After about an hour of soaking in the views, we headed up to grab some food and much needed beer(s).

We said our goodbyes and I left to head north towards Portland and they left to head south towards Medford. It’s crazy how these guys only rode one day with me, yet will be such an enormous part of this ridiculous Adventure. Kevin and Turner, I don’t know how I would’ve made it to the finish line without y’all. God has put a solution right in front of me whenever there has been a problem on this journey and I’m blessed. I decided to cut the trip in half to Portland (5 hour trip). I’ll stay in Florence, Or tonight and head to Portland in the morning!

I’ve tried all week to post but either my app crashes or I have too much to post. I decided to split it into two parts, so I can upload all my pictures and videos for these days.

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I could barely sleep I was so excited. I was SO CLOSE to the finish line! I started prepping the bike around 7 am and so were the other Tennessee guys. We decided to roll together for the first part of the morning since all three of us were using the same maps. We grabbed gas and some coffee and hit the trail.

The first part of the trail was awesome. Hard packed gravel with a steady incline. The views were just awesome.

We ended up coming to a large metal gate. Of course it was locked. I had seen this gate in previous YouTube videos and on some other websites, so I knew we just had to get around it. After convincing the group it wasn’t illegal (I hope), we managed to get all three of the bikes over. There was a small area on the right that had just enough room for two tires.

As we were about to leave, a German guy on a KTM 690 and a Polish guy from NJ on a KTM 1090 rolled up. We hopped back off to help them and especially help get that big bike over. Of course they were great riders and didn’t need much help getting through.

I told those guys I was going to hang behind and film my last day. We said our goodbyes and planned on meeting back up on the beach. We ended up constantly passing each-other from bathroom breaks and rest stops. We rode together until we finally split apart around 1pm.

I rode through some gorgeous pines until I rounded the corner of mountain to what looked like a rock slide. It only got worse from there.

I ended up coming to a completely blocked path. Their was a giant boulder in the middle of the trail and the only way around was a single track wide enough to fit your handle bars. The other side was a thousand foot drop off. I decided to wait and pray those two guys were behind me. I started taking everything off my bike right before they showed up. It took every bit of all of our strength to get those bikes through. It was absolutely crazy.

The rest of the trail was rough. It took us an hour and a half to go a quarter mile. There were about 100 downed trees we had to go under, over, through and around. It was crazy. I’m so blessed to have had those guys with my for my last day. I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through it alone.

The rest of the afternoon was awesome! I’ll have that on part. 2!

When I left the flee hotel, I went straight to the Dry Creek General Store to top off fuel and pump my veins with caffeine. I didn’t get much sleep from some unwelcome bugs and wanted to be able to concentrate on the trail. Things got very interesting throughout the day. The trail, leading out of Dry Creek, was just breathtaking. Awesome roads with a steady incline and I felt like I was riding mountain sides all morning.

It was literally like this from 8am until 11am. What a treat for the second to last section of the trip. Then things got pretty damn sketchy. I was on a remote trail that kept looking over the mountains and I could see a wall of smoke that kept creeping towards me.

The trail ended up taking me to a dead end. It looks like the state closed off the trail and did a pretty good job at it.

There were some tracks between the rocks and over the berm, but that would require me to unload all my gear and ride the clutch over. The other side was grown over so I decided to find another route. This is where things got really crazy. The smoke started getting hazy and then thick. It ended up getting so thick I couldn’t see 20ft in front of me and there was a red glow. I then started to ride through falling ash. Adrenaline started pumping and I started riding faster. I knew I was about 10 minutes from a main road and tried to get there as fast as I could.

I made it to the end of the road to only go into the back of a blockade. The forestry ranger wasn’t happy. He was pissed at why I went through this blockade. I explained to him the trail wasn’t blocked and showed him the road on the Garmin. He made a radio call to block the road and said I was within the 10 mile radius of the burn zone. Holy Sh*t!

He said I couldn’t reconnect on the trail and I had to detour to Tillard. I wasn’t about to do that because of fuel so I rode the paved road until I found a dirt road that would reconnect me to the trail. I finally found one and rode on!

This is where things got crazy yet again. About 20 miles to my hotel, the trail went vertical. Pictures don’t even do it justice. It was hands down the most vertical ascent I’ve come across, even after the Colorado passes. It was straight up and thick, loose gravel.

It had 4 switch backs to the top. (Switch back is a road that continuously switches direction dramatically). I made it past the second, only to lose traction and wreck. The situation got pretty serious. I couldn’t continue because of where the bike stopped. If I had someone with me it would be a different story. Because I was alone, the only option was to turn around and start the descent. It took me an hour to turn that bike around without it tumbling down the mountain. Riding down was also sketchy. After losing my rear brake on the Imogene Pass, my front brake was taking a beating. I made it down and found a trail to reconnect around the mountain. I FINALLY made it to the Wolf Creek Inn just outside of Glendale, Or. Believe it or not, as I’m unloading my gear off my bike, two guys roll in on a Honda 650 and a DRZ 400. They parked right next to me and they both had Tennessee plates! I was pumped! It was a father/son duo who started from South Carolina.

The hotel was awesome which was such a change of pace from the small towns I’ve been in. They were also pumped to have riders from the Trans America Trail.

We drank some beers together and reminisced about our travels. It was nice eat dinner with other people for once, especially guys that could relate to what I’ve gone through. Tomorrow is the last day, and hot damn was it a tough one.

I left Crescent, Or for Dry Creek and man was it a gorgeous day. I FINALLY got out of the smoke from all the wild fires and enjoyed blue skies for once. It was a very chill and easy going day.

The trail was awesome today. Hard packed gravel and some challenging large rock gravel but not enough to be a big deal. I took my time trying to slow down and enjoy the rest of my days on the trail. The Umpqua and Deschutes National Forrest’s are jaw dropping. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like those places. Hundred foot pines and blue river water. It was just awesome. It was finally not hot and the day was just right.

I couldn’t find a single campsite that had room in it and all the hotels were packed. I was tired of sleeping alone in the woods so I detoured 15 miles to the only place that had a room. I feel bad for saying this because the old man who owned it genuinely made an effort to make the place nice and worked very hard, BUT I woke up to about 30 flees in my bed at 3am. MY WORST NIGHTMARE. I jumped into the shower and dowsed myself in scolding hot water. I threw all my gear outside in the parking lot (thank god everything was in dry bags) and literally slept in my tent outside on the yard. I was pissed and tired and the old man was very understanding and made everything right.

The next morning was freezing and I was so tired. I sucker it up and having the finish line so close, adrenaline was pumping through my body. The next couple of days were really intense and I’m excited to share them!

I left lakeview around 9 towards Silver Lake. The views were awesome and roads were great. A lot of massive pines and tons or greenery.

About 25 miles in, I saw a nice wide creek in a meadow and thought I’d try my luck with the fly rod. It was an AWESOME spot.

Next thing I knew, it was 5pm and I hadn’t even thought of where to stay. I ended up making camp right on the river.

It was a really cold night. There is a fire ban so I couldn’t heat myself up. I woke up to about 30 cows screaming. Cattle have been my least favorite thing about this trip. I packed up and headed towards silver lake. I came across a some awesome backdrops and a tree that blocked my trail. I went around in the sand and it wasn’t a deal breaker.

I made good time, filled the bike up with fuel around noon and headed towards Crescent, OR. The road for the next half of the day was wild. A LOT of sand and large rocks. I then went through a pristine valley on a really nice gravel road that road the hilltops.

After that, the sand intensified. I was on nothing but sand. I aired down my tire to 15psi in the rear and 12psi in the front. I leaned back and pinned the throttle. Sand has honestly become fun to me. The moment I took the sand for granted, I went around a corner at 20 mph and hit a soft sand spot and completely ate sh*t.

The rest of the ride after this section was very pleasant. I came across an awesome railroad track and some great looking woods.

I showed up to Crescent at 6 and went straight to the bar to get a beer and WIFI to find a room. There was a 300 mile marathon that weekend and all the rooms were booked. I managed to find a room 20 miles north in Chemult, Or. I got there by 9 and should be out in the morning bright and early!

I want to apologize for the grammatical errors. The app I am using uploads my original drafts and is a nightmare to make corrections. Today was an absolutely insane day. So I go from Winnemucca, NV and pick up the trail in Mcdermitt, NV and go to Fields, OR for fuel and then head to Cedarville, CA. The day got pretty intense. The ride was pretty secluded and very much like the desert.

As you can see in the background of my pictures, the smoke was very thick. It was like a constant fog. I rode through mostly sand and some serious dust powder. The ride was hot and rough. The roads were consisted of sand, powder and large extruding rocks I had to constantly avoid. The trail took me to a gorgeous little canyon full of cattle.

At the end of the canyon was a huge fence with a large no trespassing sign. Panic started to set in. There was one road through this canyon and I was on it. I didn’t have enough fuel to turn around so I backtracked about 12 miles until I found a trail that would take me around the canyon. I stopped at the Fields General Store and Motel. They’re the only place with gas in the entire area. They even just installed a separate tank full of ethanol free 92 octane. Ate some granola and had one of their shakes. It was a nice treat from the desert heat. As I’m leaving, the trail took me to a dried up lake bed that was pretty wild.

The scenery changed from flat desert to mountain backdrops. I dealt with a lot of sand and talcing powder. The last 20 miles of Nevada was tough. The powder was like moon dust and you have more control on sand than this stuff. I tried to stop midway and take a picture of the powder, but when I slowed down my front tire dug in and I dropped the bike.

At this point, I was just trying to maintain enough momentum to keep going. The border of California and Nevada was very dramatic. It was pretty weird feeling going from absolute desolation to pristine woods

When I arrived in Cedarville, there were no options for hotels and the smoke was so thick camping was not an option so I headed to Lakeview, OR to grab a spot to stay. The road to Lakeview was really easy and nice. I can’t begin to tell y’all how thrilled I was to see green. It was an overwhelming feeling of safety and comfort. I haven’t seen greenery in over a week.

The hotel I booked a room through somehow overbooked me. It was already dark and I was exhausted. I was trying my hardest not to blow up. The owners of the hotel next door heard what happened and reached out. They put me up for the night and were some very nice people. I’m really going to try and slow down these next few days so I’ll start around 10am tomorrow.

I slept in because I only had one section to conquer to Battle Mountain. Around 10:30 I did my daily pre check on the bike and noticed my rack had cracked from the absolute rough was of the day before. The rack is secured at four points on the bike. Two of them snapped in half.

I didn’t know what to do. All the weight of my panniers was now resting on my rear fender. I had two options. Find some local who could weld my rack back together at noon on a Sunday in a town of 600 people or strap everything down and highway it to Winnemucca to find a welder. I walked across the street and sat in front of the only gas station and asked every single person that walked in if they knew of any one who could weld. I finally struck gold! A lady gave me the number of a guy named Tim Rosener who owns 4J Fabrication. His shop is behind his house and he had the rack welded back together in about 30 minutes. It was really impressive.

I was back on the road and on my way towards battle mountain. It was very pretty but the smoke from the Forrest fires in California was ridiculous.

At 2pm and then arrived to Winnemucca for oil and a tire around 5. The next morning I went over to Sonoma Cycle and they threw my tire on and let me change my oil on the lift.

They even fixed my chain adjusters and loosened some bolts I’ve been battling since Colorado. It needed up being around 3 when we finished and my next stop, Fields Oregon, didn’t have any where to camp and hotels were full so I stayed one more night in Winnemucca. I plan on getting up at sunrise and heading to Mcdermitt, NV to pick up the trail.

I left the campsite at sunrise and headed towards Eureka, Nv. This was one of the loneliest (not in a negative way) days I’ve had yet. I rode for about 6-7 hours and didn’t see another human or man made object. I was completely alone in the middle of the Nevada desert.

It was still very dusty and hot. The ride was actually peaceful and I made a point to turn off the music and just be in the moment of the day. The weather was perfect and it was really fun riding through old desert roads. Later on, not listening to music started to give me a little bit of anxiety about all the noises my bike was producing. My dad used to joke that when he would fly over a body of water, he would convince himself he’s hearing all sorts of made up problems with the plane. That’s exactly what I experienced being alone in the desert. I was convinced my engine would grenade or my chain was too loose or this or that. Anyways, nothing of the sort happened and the bike performed great. I think I went through probably 5 cattle fences set up by the BLM. There were a couple that definitely snuck up on me.

About mid-day, the trail turned into a canyon. Good lord was it sketchy and over grown.

The canyon had a whole series of trails that I kept getting lost in. It was unbelievably hot and the road was harsh. I was in there for about an hour until it spat me back out into the open. The last part of the day was absolutely surreal. I ran into a pack of wild mustangs that ran beside me for a couple of minutes. From then on I followed a single track that would disappear and reappear every so often. All I knew to do was trust my navigation and not hit sand.

I made it to Eureka, NV around 6pm. Now Eureka was definitly one of the most interesting places I’ve ever been. It’s situated right on the “Loneliest Road in America.”

What made it even more interesting was where I happened to book a room. I stayed in the Jackson House Hotel which was built in 1877. While I was getting dinner, I tried to find it’s history. That was a mistake. Apparently it’s still an active “spiritual” building and was a location for an episode of Ghost Hunters. Also, everything in there is still original. Completely freaked me out. The good news was I was so tired and fell asleep so fast that Satan himself couldn’t have woken me up if he tried. Tomorrow I head for Battle Mountain and then straight to Winnemucca for oil and a rear tire!

I left Richfield (made a mistake in my last post saying I stopped in emery, I forgot I had pushed through about half way to Kanosh, UT) and headed for Nevada! The first section was pretty brutal. A lot of steep hill climbs with large, loose gravel. I saw a few black tail deer and a bunch of rabbits.

The second part of the day was awesome. It was clear and there was a good amount of wind which cooled things down. Everything was super dusty and dry but that also let me run faster on those flat gravel valley roads.

I made it into Nevada around 3pm and barely dodged a huge rainstorm coming out of the southwest.

It was too late for me to push through to the next town and the only hotel was a gas station casino, so I decided to pitch camp in the Great Basin National Forrest. This ended up being a huge score. Made camp at 7500 feet next to a creek on a hill looking into the valley. It was awesome!

The next day I got up and started packing when I realized my two liters of oil was missing. I don’t know how it could’ve happened, but it somehow fell off riding through the valley. This oil isn’t common or easy to find. The ONLY bike shop in the area was in Winnemucca, NV so I gave them a call and they said they would have my oil by Monday. I decided to go ahead and get a new rear tire while it was going to the shop. This meant I had to camp one more day before heading to Eureka on Sunday. So I decided to go fish the stream nearby and caught a couple of brook trout until I slipped and busted ass in the creek.

I went back to camp and decided to ride into town to pick up some beer and a steak. It was another awesome night and I head to Eureka tomorrow!

I left Moab as early as I could and hit the trail. It was the hottest day I’ve ever experienced. I will say, the road out the first part of the morning was pretty spectacular.

I then had to go through the Utah desert, which was miserable. The trail took me through about 20 miles of nothing but sand. This is where things got a little scary. It’s 108 degrees and not a cloud in sight. My bike was starting to overheat because of the sand and my Garmin decided to overheat and shut off. On top of all of that, half way down the trail a large storm had previously washed out the sand road. This made me follow the river road that took out the trail, thinking I was on the right path. The sand became very thick and I realized the mistake I had made. Panic started to set in. I got off the bike and picked a direction to walk to hopefully find some sort of track. About 200 yards north I found two motorcycle tracks. I went back to get the bike and followed them. They finally took my back to the trail. At about the end of the trail was a closed metal gate. I was furious and started freaking out because I didn’t have enough fuel to turn around and go back. Fortunately, the gate was dummy locked and I went through. It was a long road to Emery, UT but I finally made it. Instead of pushing through to Nevada, I stayed the night. I was beat and it was the best option. I can’t wait to get out of Utah. It’s been gorgeous but the elements have been absolutely brutal.

I left Dove Creek around 9am (I didn’t feel bad sleeping after Imogene pass) and made my way towards Moab, Utah. The day wasn’t very exciting, just a normal dirt road that seemed to lead me back to the prairies. It was crazy how after going west from telluride about an hour, the landscape went from mountains to prairie. Almost as if god drew a line with the mountains.

I arrived in Utah around 1 pm and it was so hot. Just trying to wear my protective gear was brutal, I was sweating everywhere. I was just happy to finally be out of Colorado. Colorado 100% tested every skill and resource I have. It was nice to let that go and move on to the next state.

The rest of the ride toward Moab was nice. Really solid gravel roads with an awesome backdrop.

The first section of the trail took me to a lookout point that was absolutely incredible.

Pulling into Moab was crazy. It was like stepping foot on mars. The ride in was phenomenal.

I got a hotel because the temp was 108 and there was no way I was camping at red rock in that heat. The next morning (July 24 ) I took my bike over to Mad Bros in Moab. They replaced my brake fluid and gave me a functional rear brake. They also noticed oil had been leaking from the gasket seal behind the front sprocket. I thought it was just the degreaser and oil from the chain. They had me out at about 1pm and at that point, it was 103 degrees. I decided to stay one more night just to avoid the heat. Tomorrow I head to Nevada!

We woke up early and grabbed some breakfast in Ouray. We then set our sight on Imogene pass. The second highest drivable road in the lower 48 was definitely on the bucket list. The ride to the beginning of the trail was nice and tame.

The trail starts behind a small active mine and the terrain changed dramatically. The first 20 yards up the pass, my right side pannier hit a tree and flung me off the bike. Wreck #4. It was at a terrible angle and had to drop the clutch to get up out of the middle of the trail. About 200 yards later my dad laid his bike down.

It was also at a very awkward angle so I had to walk down the mountain to help get the bike back up. It was pretty much like that for the next 4 hours. It was brutal. We could barely get traction, the altitude was cutting the power of our bikes in half, we were loaded down and the trail was just about vertical. We were the only two (heavy) bikes on that trail.

We were almost to the top and I got stung in the face by a bee. It was pretty hard to try and stay positive. The last leg of the trail to the top was insane. We had to take a breather and soak in the views.

We were one more attempt away from having to turn back. We finally made it and it was surreal.

A thunderstorm had rolled on and was right on top of us. We started the decent and it was as vertical as the ascent. About a mile down, my rear brake fluid got so hot it boiled over and I lost my rear brakes. Hands down one of the scariest moments of my life. I managed to get the bike to a stop on a switch back and had to basically ride down in first gear and feather my front brake. We were both beaten, scared and emotionally drained. It was the toughest day I’ve ever experienced. We made it into telluride and everything seemed like a blur. It took us 6 hours to get over the pass and countless tumbles. I think there was an obvious reason why we were the only two on bikes. We got a bite to eat and had to split our separate ways. I had to keep going on the trail and my dad had to head back to Denver. It was pretty emotional departure after what we went through and I genuinely don’t think I could’ve done it without him. I rolled into Dove Creek at 7pm and scored a hotel room. I head to Moab in the morning.

Side Note: I’m writing this in Utah and WiFi has become scarce. All the editing I do is done with my iPhone so I’m sorry for the delay. Hopefully I’ll get caught up here soon, along with all my videos.

Pass day! We got up at 6:30 to try and beat all the traffic going up to engineer pass. The road to the pass was incredible. We were in a canyon with smooth gravel roads.

We were pumped! We only saw a few other people and it wasn’t very hot. I had read that the going up engineer pass was the easy part and that was true, to an extent. The majority of the way up gave us some pretty awesome views. It felt like we were riding the very edge of a cliff all day.

We finally made it to the top of Engineer Pass. It was awesome. We had a pretty good time getting up there and was a huge accomplishment for the both of us.

Now getting down the mountain was another story. It was intense. Actually it was enough to be checked back into reality and realize how deadly this really can be. Going down was like trying to stop on a rockslide at a 45 degree angle. The GoPro doesn’t do any of it justice. I’m happy we were together because if something were to happen, it wouldn’t have been a good situation. Not only was the decent tough but we were on the edge of the mountain. This is where things got tricky. My camera ended up dying and the road turned to complete sh*t. It was very steep and the road was made up of mini boulders. To add salt to our wounds, a massive thunderstorm rolled in. We were trying not to panic but the trail was slowly turning into a stream. At one point, my bike died out of no where on a one way road with a Jeep trying to pass going the opposite direction. Luckily, my kick starter fired her right back up and we made it off the mountain. As we were waiting to get on the highway, I had to get off the bike and air up our tires. I was wet and miserable. We made it to Ouray around 4pm and man what a cool town. It was in the middle of a bowl and mountains surrounding the town.

There were even a few bucks feeding in the neighbors yard.

It was a nice treat and we enjoyed the afternoon. Tomorrow we head to Telluride via Imogene Pass. The second highest pass in the lower 48. Should be wild!

We woke up around 7 and packed up camp. Turns out we slept 200 feet under the continental divide! Awesome surprise to wake up to.

The weather was on our side and we had a great ride down. The roads were a little rough but nothing too terrible. The scenery was awesome.

We arrived in Lake City around 3pm in a full on thunderstorm. Grabbed a beer and some late lunch to find out every single hotel was booked. We finally scored a cancellation got a cabin.

Lake City was awesome. It’s the only town in the entire county. There were more UTV’s than people. I tried to knock out some bike maintenance but the nut locking the chain adjuster wouldn’t come loose to tighten the new chain. I was getting frustrated and found some guys from Switzerland on KTM’s to see if they could help. One of the guys said the same problem happened to him and to put coins in the adjuster to tighten the chain. It worked!

Tomorrow we hit Engineer Pass to Ouray! Excited to ride the first pass.

I’m finally back on the road! The past couple of days have been prepping for the second half of the trail. The bike received some much needed love. Cleaned air filter, front and rear sprockets, a bath and a new chain. G-Force in Denver put me at the front of the line and had me out in a couple of days. My dad flew into Denver and we met up around 1 pm to head towards Poncha Springs, CO. We arrived in Poncha Springs around 4 and tried to make our way towards Sargents, Co. The pavement ended and the trail was gorgeous.

We made it half way through the section around 6pm and decided to set up camp. We were in the middle of no where, 10,700 in elevation. I have a tent set up and my dad was using a hammock, so the goal was to find level ground with trees. We found a soft spot and set up camp.

It was a good spot. There were a few jack rabbits that tried to get in my dads hammock and a black tail doe that was searching our area for leftovers. It was awesome. We could still hear a few vehicles coming up the mountain later in the evening, but nothing of concern. There is a current fire ban so we couldn’t light a fire. I had my propane setup and we cooked dinner and waited for the darkness. Well… it got cold. Really cold. It went from 80+ to the lower 40’s. I had to bundle up and somehow had a great nights sleep. Tomorrow we will head for Lake City, CO and then conquer the first pass!

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I have a lot more videos that I’ve tried to upload, but weak WiFi in these small towns has made it almost impossible. The moment I get a connection strong enough, I’ll dump all of them!

I rolled out of Trinidad pretty early, I just couldn’t wait to see what Colorado has to offer. Out of Trinidad, it was mostly rolling hills and some prairies, then turned into nice gravel roads through the mountains.

The only bad part was that most of these roads were completely washboard. Either way, the view made up for the discomfort. The day was perfect, I was happy and I couldn’t believe I had actually made it to Colorado.

It was about mid day and I was rounding a corner and ran into two guys on the trail! First people I’ve seen on the trail since I started in North Carolina I was pumped! It was two British guys named John and Terry who were on European bikes they had shipped from London to Canada. I came up on them while John was changing a flat and we talked a bit.

We rode together and it was nice being able to be with some other people for a change. About 10 miles later we ran into another two people on the trail. I couldn’t believe it. This time it was a father son duo on two brand new Honda Africa Twins. (Side story: the father and son had just lost their mom/wife from cancer 4 months ago. They decided to go live it up and do this trip together. The son is 18 and on a 500 pound monster but was handling the bad boy like a champ. It was a pretty emotional story) We all stopped to talk about the trail and swap some stories.

It was awesome! We got back on the bikes and headed out as a group. The day was perfect. Well, as it would enfold, the moment was perfect and the day turned to sh*t. We got to our first mountain trail that had a cattle barbed wire fence. One of the Brits held it open as I passed. We were in for a rude awakening. The trail turned into large broken rock and steep hill climbs. I felt a little more confident knowing I had some guys with me if I needed help so I rode a little harder than I typically would. We ended up getting to a fork in the trail. To the right was a hard single track and to the left was the original trail. Of course the British went right (which they would soon severely regret) and I went left. I got about 5 or so miles until I noticed the clouds getting darker and darker. Not long after, I was in the middle of a wicked thunderstorm. It began to flash flood everywhere and the temp dropped from 85 to 45 in a matter of an hour. I was prepared for the rain but not the cold. I made it to a highway and it became pretty scary. I could barely see in-front of me and lighting was striking everywhere. I found a house on the hillside that looked empty, ditched my bike under an aspen and jumped their fence to get under their awning. I stayed for about 30 minutes until it seemed like it was letting up. Turns out it wasn’t. Yet again I was in the middle of this storm on a bike. I went about a mile from that house and the road was blocked by the game warden. He said their were a couple of land slides and it’s impassible. I told him I had to go through and he said he’d let me ride down to check them out. I got to the first landslide (a bike easily could’ve made it) and not 100 yards in front of me, another landslide hit. Screw that, I turned around and started back tracking. I made it back to the game warden to find the British guys were there. They said the hard section was deadly and had to turn around. We found a town called Beulah and headed for safety. Of course, the only way there was over a mountain off road. 30 minutes later we were finally there. To add insult to injury, the roads were covered in mud in town and the first stop sign I came to, I hit the front brake and completely wrecked. I hit the ground and the bike slid across the street. Wreck #3. My gear did its job and the Brits helped get my bike back up. I was pissed, wet, cold and defeated. Of course, the only hotel in town was closed so we had to ride 20 miles to Pueblo, Co. we made it around 7 and snagged a hotel. Best shower and bed of my life. I slept in and headed to Denver the next day for some repairs. I’ll be in Denver until Thursday morning where my dad will be joining me for the next few days. Huge shout out to Ben Thomas and his roommate Clayton for giving me a place to stay and work on my bike!

Sorry for the delay, these past couple of days were intense. I left liberal, KS at 8:30am and headed to Boise City, OK. I was so excited to get out of the state of Oklahoma, I think I was wide open to the state line. The last 5 miles in Oklahoma were the absolute worst. I passed by this farmers house and the road turned to sand. When I mean sand, I mean Florida on the gulf kind of sand. It stopped the bike dead in its tracts and flung me over the left side of my handlebar. I had just lost my gas cap vent tube so fuel was pouring all over my leg. I got up as fast as I could and managed to get the bike upright and I walked it out. The road turned into a one way road covered in sand.

It ended up being easier than I thought and I got through this section pretty quickly. I’m beyond impressed to know guys before me have gotten through on giant BMW’s and 1,000 pound machines. The very last road leading to the border was completely flooded (of course).

I noticed some motorcycle tire tracks veering off to the right into the field and thought I might as well follow them. The field was nothing but sand. Either way, I’ll take sand over mud any day. The tracks led around the flooded mess and took me to yet another flooded road.

I followed the same tracks and it got me around successfully. It was really cool to see tracks from the guys that were ahead of me. Made me feel like I wasn’t the only freaking person out here. It also looked like they had some trouble with the mud. I’m just happy I didn’t have to deal with it much.

I finally got through all the crap and made it to New Mexico. I’ve never felt such relief and happiness to get out of Oklahoma. I stopped right when I crossed the border to try to get a picture of how significant that moment was to me. (It’s a little crooked from trying to level an iPhone on a dirt bike fender)

I headed straight towards the mountains and started to finally not feel so damn hot. I came across an old house that was legitimately in the middle of no where. So naturally I had to check it out.

Shortly thereafter, I made it to the mountains and had my first taste of some serious trails. It started to rain on me but right when I got over my first mini mountain, it was nothing but beauty.

I rolled into Trinidad, CO around 8pm and found a single room in an Airbnb. I MADE IT TO COLORADO!!

I left Alva at 8am this morning and hit the plains. Today was one of the biggest test of my skills I’ve had so far. The first portion of land was great. Hard gravel and a lot of hills.

As I was leaving Buffalo, OK, I noticed a huge storm cell in front of me. Checked the radar and sure enough, there was a large storm forming, moving from west to east. I pulled over, threw on my rain gear and embraced the suck. Wearing all that gear is the worst. It’s heavy and hot, almost to the point that I’d rather be soaking wet. I didn’t get rained on until about 50 miles from Buffalo. Then the terrain turned to sh*t. It went from gravel to silt then to white sand and slick mud. It still blows my mind that I was able to keep that bike up hitting sand and mud at 40+mph. I wish I had more footage but I was too busy concentrating not eating sand to film. The worst part was a tractor trailer, full of cattle, passed by going the opposite direction in the mud and sprayed me with a 5 foot wall of mud/sand/rock. My bike and myself were covered in mud from head to toe. It was so surreal I couldn’t even be mad. At that point I was ready to get the hell off the plains and back into civilization. I lucked out and hit hard packed dirt all the way and managed to get into Liberal, Kansas around 5pm. I drove straight to a car wash and dowsed the bike and myself. Headed out early tomorrow for New Mexico and Colorado!

Not much happened today. I had to wait on a rear tire that I had ordered the day before. Amazingly, it was dropped off at 11am and I was on my to Ponca City Kawasaki to have it put on. While the tire was off, we discovered that one of the two ball bearings in the rear was busted and the other needed repacking. We packed the old bearing and, luckily, they had one bearing on hand. We also fixed my grinding clutch handle and cleaned and oiled the chain. I was out of the shop around 3pm and decided to make my way towards Alva, OK. Rode in a straight line for about 3 hours but it was very pretty and the heat cooled down significantly.

One of the roads even took me right under the wind turbines.

After that, there wasn’t much more to see other than some cattle and dust. The trail spat me out about 10 miles away from Alva, so I put my feet up and booked it.

I have a full day tomorrow and the goal is to get to Liberal, Kansas by the afternoon.

I finally made it to Oklahoma! I’m sorry for everything I’ve ever said about the Memphis heat because Oklahoma is the hottest place I’ve ever experienced. It’s like putting a hair dryer in your mouth. BUT, it’s one of the coolest places I’ve ever ridden. I hit a few old bridges and then onto the straight roads of Oklahoma.

The roads were hard packed gravel, which you could fly over. I was averaging 60-70 mph and felt very comfortable. The oil company’s have done a really nice job maintaining theses roads.

I ended in Newkirk, OK and was finally able to get my hands on a cold beer. I’m in desperate need of a new rear tire (could only get my hands on a TKC80) and found a place in Ponca City, OK that could get one in by the 12th. Hopefully I’ll be on the road by the afternoon.

Sorry about the last post, limited service caused the pictures and videos to not load. Here are the photos from yesterday:

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I left Clinton, AR at 9am and headed straight into the ozarks. A lot of thick gravel roads and winding hills. Saw more deer than I’ve ever seen and traffic seemed to pick up. I wish I had more footage to share (still on the gopro) but I’ll have that edited by tomorrow. I stopped at the end of a single track for lunch,

and then made my way to the famous Oark General Store.

I shortened the day and finished on the top of White Rock mountain in Arkansas and set up camp. I could’ve made it to Oklahoma, but the temperature in OK would’ve been 100+ and what better opportunity to slow down and sleep at 3,000 feet.

Turns out that 50 yards from my tent was a cliff side facing West. The sunset was unreal.

I left oxford around 9am and headed for the delta. Turns out the delta is exactly how it’s always been, flat and hot. I pinned the bike and tried to make it towards Arkansas as quickly as possible. The trail took me on heavily graveled roads that slowed me down dramatically. I went through Crenshaw and then just north of Moon Lake towards Helena. I finally crossed the bridge around 11am.

I rode for about 45 minutes until I can to Trenton, AR. There is an old store there that is a TAT destination. An old man runs the store and has everyone stop, sign in, and grab a picture. It was cool to be able to see who all was ahead of me. Apparently, I’ve been trailing two German guys on BMW’s for about a day.

I stayed for about 10 minutes to talk about who has been through this summer and then headed out. I hit a few mountain roads (one somewhat creek crossing) but mostly straight gravel roads and pavement. placeholder:// I landed in Clinton, Ar around 6pm to call it a night. Pretty relieved to be out of the Mississippi and Arkansas delta.

Starting this post off with a huge thanks to Bridges and Lauren for letting me stay with them in Pickwick. They even let me put the bike on the porch so it wouldn’t get drenched in the rain.

As I was about to leave, Bridges informed me that I left my boots and pants outside and they were soaked. After 30 minutes of sticking a hair dryer in my boots, I was on my way south towards Ripley, Ms. The first 5 miles turned into a dead end with a bridge washed out. I headed back north and cut back onto the trail. The day was gorgeous and the rain pushed some cold weather down from the north so it was very pleasant. I stopped at a small, pretty cemetery with a hug oak tree and ate lunch. It was peaceful and I was happy to get off the bike for a little while.

After lunch, it was a lot of state forest gravel roads and blue skies. The KTM handled great and it was a blast flying over those groomed roads.

I made it to Oxford, Ms around 5:30pm. The next day, July 8, was spent doing bike maintenance. The KTM 500 needs a lot more love than the classic ADV bike. I have to change the oil and filter every 45 hours. The bike was just at 40 hours so I stole my brothers garage for the day and knocked it out, along with chain maintenance and some clutch adjustments. I head out from Oxford in the morning and will try to make it to the beginning of the Ozarks by tomorrow night.

 

Side Note: Huge thanks to my dad. Most of this wouldn’t have been imaginable without him. He has gone the extra mile for me and my goals and I couldn’t be more grateful. Thanks Pops!

Today was the first day of struggles, failures and success. I left Sewanee around 10 am and made my way towards Counce, Tn. Everything was feeling fine and going smooth. Hit my first water crossing of the day and spent some time messing with the camera and getting some footage.

It was pretty hot but not terrible. About 10 miles later, I had another water crossing. This time, I had a little help from the locals.

About 10 minutes later disaster struck. I started to hear some clicking and felt the bike beginning to bounce. It almost felt like the chain was slipping so I stopped to check it out. I was on a backroad used by logging companies without service or a human in sight. I went through the bike and was convinced I was just hearing things until I ran my hand down the chain. My sprocket was literally being held onto the bike by one nut and bolt.

The hardware was eating away at my swing arm and created a gash. I Managed to put some spare nuts and bolts on the sprocket until I could find a permanent solution. As god would grace me, and with the help from my dad, I found a place called Offroad Adventures in Leoma, Tn. A few minutes on the Phone, I made my way there.

Mark Donovan greeted me as I rolled in and was more than helpful. Basically a saint. He hooked me up with what I needed, sold me a front tire and switched out my brake pads. We went through the bike one last time and I was on my way. If you need anything on the trail through TN, Mark is the guy to see!

After I left, the weather became much cooler and the backdrop only got prettier. Even though today sucked, it ended with a smile.

Today was my first solo trip on the TAT. I left Highlands for Robbinsville, NC around 11 am. I got there at about 1 and started to head west.

I wish I had more pictures and video but the moment I left the pavement, it started down pouring. This is the only picture I was able to take before getting drenched.

I went through four creek crossings and somehow managed to keep upright. The KTM did great and the only thing she needed was her chain tightened and some bolts double checked. I rode for 6 hours and knocked out two sections of the trail. The last portion ended in Pelham, TN, but thanks to Missy and Horace Carter, I detoured south to Sewanee and will be spending the night in their beautiful home (thank you!). I will be heading back on the trail around 9am and spend a lot more time filming tomorrow. 222.4 miles today.

Happy fourth! Today was spent getting my life together and trying to consolidate gear. I went through the bike and hit every nut, bolt and screw I could find. It feels tight and secure. I gave the girl a bath and some much needed TLC on the chain.

The trip tomorrow starts from Highlands and puts me near east of Tellico Plains, TN. The original route I was supposed to take has a road closure that would push me back half a day. My dad informed me of the closure and we decided it would be more timely to start near Tellico Plains. It’s not a big detour, considering we’ve ridden it before, but will definitely save me some time. I’m very excited and hope tomorrow has as good of an ending as the past previous days.

We started today at about 9 am and hit the road. We spent about 6 hours in the saddle and it was 90% pavement. It was a nice break from Saturday, but still beautiful. We road about 60 miles from Hot Springs until we hit dirt. It was easy and fun all at the same time

On the Trans America trail, there are three different sections to follow on the Garmin. The color blue (original route), green (easiest sections), or red (hardest sections/single tracks). We came across two red sections from Hot Springs, which we intended to conquer. Fuel became an issue and I was unable to feel confident enough to make it through the first red section, so we bypassed the section and found fuel. We then hit the second red section of the trail, which was a lot easier than expected. Majority of the section was on pavement, which was kind of disappointing. The second part was made up of moderate off road trails and ended with some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen (GoPro footage to validate, coming soon). The trail spit us out in Cherokee, NC. We made our way to Sylva, NC and then to Highlands for the fourth. I’ll be back on the trail the 5th of July. After that, I’ll be on to new territory!

First day on the TAT. We arrived in Lenoir, NC at 11 am and unloaded the bikes. We hit the trail at about 12 and headed into the mountains. 100% thought this was going to be a quick, easy day that would only take us a couple of hours. 8 hours later we finally made it to Hot Springs and feels like we got our butts kicked. The first 6 hours were on nothing but rocky gravel, sand, and dirt.

The bikes handled really well. The Green Tractor chugged along up the mountain with out a problem. Actually, it was pretty impressive watching my dad on that heavy a$$ bike. The KTM seems like it has endless power. As fun as it gets. We ended up catching lunch at Betsy’s Ole Country Store & Trout Pond in, what seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, Collettsville, NC.

When we headed out after lunch, we chased some deer up the mountains and dodged Subaru’s left and right. We got about an hour up the trail when my dad realized he didn’t latch one of his pannier lids and it flew off. Not a big set back, but cost us about an hour. After a couple of hours on pavement, we arrived in Hot Springs at about 7:30. Awesome day.

We finally arrived in NC! The bikes are ready and we got all of our gear laid out and ready to go. The Gopro’s and cameras are on the charge and we are excited. We take off to Lenoir, NC at 8 am (3 hour drive) and make our way back west towards Maggie Valley.

My Beautiful iron horse taking me to Oregon

(2012 KTM 500 exc):

Gear for the Trans America Trail:

Today is the day before I leave for my trip. It took me about three hours to get everything packed and ready to go and it’s starting to look like I’ve got everything I need. It’s gonna be one hell of a ride.  Found out the stator  failed us and our lithium battery was running at 12.8 V when I needed around 14 V. We managed to get a new lithium battery along with a 195 stator for the KTM 500. Steve Bledsoe was kind enough to put the stator in the bike and go through it one last time before heading out on the Transamerica trail. Dad and I loaded KLR/KTM onto my truck and I’m headed out first thing in the morning to Highlands, Nc. Hopefully everything is smooth sailing!