1) Genchi Genbutsu and Gemba. If you have spent any time in Lean Manufacturing you have probably herd these terms. The first one means "go and see" and the second one means "the real place". In laymen's terms it means don't take other peoples word for it. Get off your ass, and go find out for yourself. I did tons of research and read conflicting reports about tires, brakes , road conditions, fuel and on an on . There were a lot of unknowns. There aren't any more.
2) Buy Once Cry Once. Buy the best gear you can afford. A leaky tent can ruin a trip. An ill fitting jacket can make you miserable. Wasting time trying to fix cheap gear only pisses you off. All my gear performed flawlessly because I researched it and bought quality .
3) Get a comfortable seat. If you can't crank out a few hundred miles with out your ass hurting, back pain or numbness you are either on the wrong bike for the trip or you need to change your seat. I never stopped riding because my ass hurt, Even with the 1200 mile day . The Russell Day Long seat is a god send.
4)There is no such thing as bad riding weather just bad riding gear. OK, that may be a little far fetched. Make sure that you have a good rain suit. The "Rev It" rain suit that Deb got me is awesome. It packs small and after riding for hours on end it keeps me completely dry.
5) If you're camping have a large dry bag and a dry wet bag that goes in it. Sitting around until 9 or 10 AM waiting on your tent to dry out waste valuable riding time. Wad the tent up and put it in the small bag. Put that bag in your big bag with everything else you need to camp IE Sleeping bag, Pillow, Air Mattress etc. strap it down and go
6) If you are on a shitty gravel road up north and see a sign that says warning loose gravel get ready.
7) A set of Heidenau K60 scouts will go the distance while a set of brake pads wont.
8) Riding up North and Riding down South are completely different. Camp sites in the South are not well marked while up north There are places to camp every where and they are clearly marked. If you're planning a trip up north don't worry about having all your camp sites pre-determined.
9) Carry extra fuel. There may be fuel stations every 100 miles but they may not always be open. A lot of the places don't take credit cards so getting fuel at 4 AM is tough.
10) Riding with a SPOT Tracker provides a piece of mind. I read a lot of reports about how poorly the SPOT performed (see #1). It worked great for me all the way up to the Arctic and back. I never had issues sending a signal .
11) If you see this sign you're about to be dodging sheep
12)It's good to Step out of your comfort zone but plan accordingly. I was really nervous about taking the trip alone. I wasn't 100% sure about my riding skills on the Dempster or other roads up north. I had already determined that this was not a do or die ride. If things looked too bad I was ready to turn around. I also had plans incase something went south. The trip was awesome.
13) Don't take fruit into Canada.
14) I'm glad I'm not from Colorado. Every one knows where Texas is and has either visited there, lived there, or has friends or family there. I had a Texas shaped sticker on my bike and it resulted in more conversations than you can imagine. This only works with a handful of states. Slap a sticker in the shape of Colorado on your bike and you'll have people asking what part of Wyoming your from.
15) If you wait until everything is perfect you will never do anything. Most of the things I spent days or weeks worrying about never came up as an issue. I could have spent another month planning the trip or waited until I had weeks to take off but I am glad I didn't.
