Thanks Bert

As the trip begins to wind down, I realize how much Bert has played a significant part of the ride. We are now at 10,150 miles and he has never let me down. All he asks for is food, good shoes, and an occassional bath. We have been through bad rain storms, 12,000 foot accents,  65 miles of bad gravel roads, a flat tire, three lay downs, weeks of 90 plus degree rides, and five near misses.  What a loyal friend.  I may not take Bert to Alaska next year, but he will be in my garage forever.

• Bert has few complaints as long as the octane is the right grade and the oil level is correct
• Bert is designed to Tour. He doesn't need to go to the beauty parlor every evening. In fact, he likes to be dirty and bug covered because he knows he has put in an honest ride and it's the ride /experience that is more important than what others may think

What I began to notice, at about 5000 miles, was that people seemed to immediately notice Bert amongst the other pretty-boy bikes and they came over and wanted to talk. Kind of like the Red Sox with their disgusting, dirty, bashed up batting helmets. This bike is cool, you can tell he is here to ride, whatever the situation, and somehow he will purservere. 

A few more days of Picts and stories and then the ride will be done for awhile until the Alaska journey.