The Idea.

I will be turning 50 years old this year and like most of us dumb ass guys want to do something to make it memorable. I had actually planned on doing the BAJA 500 and went as far as buying and setting up the bike for it. Trained hard over 2 summers and actually was confident in finishing. Then the economy turned sour and that dream just drifted away.

The back up plan that surfaced earlier this year was to do part of the Trans America Trail or TAT. The TAT is a series of dirt, gravel and primative back roads that run from Jellico, TN to the Oregon coast with as little black top mised in as possible. I have a BMW R1200GS Adventure and figured weather permitting I could do at least half the trail this year and finish it up next year.

Then one night Charlene saw me drooling over the new GEAR-UP motorcycle on the URAL page. She asked if I would ever think of taking our son along on the trip if we had a URAL. We talked about it for a few days and the next thing I know, I have a new URAL in the garage.