The Road Ahead

I'm sitting here in an industrial park on the outskirts of Istanbul waiting for the motorcycle shop to open up. I didn't want to drive through traffic to find this place so I woke up at 5am and got myself ready and checked out quickly.

I probably woke up the entire hotel when I fired up my unmuffled engine in the underground parkade. My god! What a racket. I remember when I used to like Harley's for the noise they made, I must be getting old.

I think I was a little too anxious because for the first time since starting this trip I actually found the place easily. It took me about 15 minutes from the hotel and now I have to wait for about three hours for it to open. Time to do a little maintenance. Maybe reattach my side view mirror? That would be useful. My neck is sore from all the 180 degree shoulder checks.

The loss of my helmet camera is a terrible blow to the documentation of this trip. It was so easy just to slide the switch on the camera and it would capture everything I would see. I think I have come up with a mounting system for my handheld camera so I can attach it to my handlebars and capture everything my motorcycle sees. I'm going to give it a try. The downside is I don't have that many batteries for that camera. I was counting on the helmet cam to do most of the footage so I bought five batteries for it. Enough for two days without a power source. I have attached a little AC power inverter with a USB power plug to my battery. I'm hoping I can charge my handheld as I travel.

I feel better today. If all goes well, and I get a muffler for my bike I'm going to make the crossing over to Asia today. If it doesn't go well, I'll make a bee-line for Romania. I may have to push my bike through the border crossing to not attract attention. I know the Bulgarian police will love me. They'll treat me like a Euro wielding pinata ripe for fines and bribes. They will be so happy to actually have a REAL reason for pulling me over.

We'll see what the day brings. I'm looking forward to the road ahead. I must remember to rest.