This is our wild pet raven "Bonjour" sitting in the top of our Grandfather tree. The tree we estimate to be 800 years old. Its huge, and so is the bird. We have been feeding Bonjour and his mate pretty much every morning for the last six years. He's wild and untameable because the former owner of the property used to shoot at him. And these birds never forget. But here he is, waiting for his morning treat.

Here, I'm installing a new TPMS (Tire-Pressure Monitoring System) in the front tire. I've been working on the bike for a month, and it's just about ready to go.

The weather has turned cold so I have done a long fast. 32 days this time. It felt so good to be on this quest, knowing that it's helping the body. I wasn't quite ready to stop, but Jenny strongly suggested I quit the fast and get busy training for my upcoming hike. I haven't gone hiking in a while and am very much looking forward to it. I miss the Connection with Nature, which you don't get on a motorcycle. Riding is fun and adventurous, yes - but a Connection with Nature, not really. However, on the flip side while hiking I will miss the friendly motorcycle riders. But on the trail I anticipate meeting lots of friendly international (clue) hikers. And meanwhile I'm still planning another long ride for late this winter.

Jan 1: My new-to-me bike in our living room, striped down and ready to be worked on. My shop is unheated and the weather has turned cold, so working inside is much more comfortable. I'm adding a bunch of farkels taken off my old bike (D7 Driving Lights, CANsmart, HyperLites and bracket, Voltmeter, 2nd GPS, Zoleo Mount, new TPMS in both tires, etc), then doing the scheduled maintenance (Final Drive Oil Change, Lube Drive Shaft, Valve Check, Brake Bleed, ACF-50, etc). Link

My old bike, ready to be sold. It's a 2015 BMW R1200 GS Adventure. The buyer will get a fabulous motorcycle, ready for a long trip.

My most recent Ride: Nov 25, 2024 - "Recycled Roadrunner"

Ray's Iron Butt Rides

Jenny making bolsters for Ray-Way Kife Kits. The knife kits are a popular item. They make good gifts, and we sell lots during the Christmas holidays.

2024-10-07 Training ride. The bike got 68 mpg on this five hour ride, and used 2.0 gallons of gas. Map I'm keeping track of the fuel mpg because the bike doesn't have a fuel level gauge, and want to do longer trips. These training rides use less than a full tank of gas, so no fill-ups required mid trip. Still, it's pretty amazing that I can ride five hours on one tank of gas and then some.

The Saddle Mountain loop I did today (Map) is part of the NMBDR and it's classed as "easy" but I have tried it twice before on the Dakar and haven't been able able to punch thru. So it's not so easy. Today I did, but it took all the skill I could muster. It brings to mind the differences in skill levels of different riders. Some people struggle while others flow - mainly the ones who have been riding dirt bikes and enduro motorcycles most of their lives. I'm not an advanced off-road rider by any means, but I'm working on it.

PS:Just discovered the rear wheel bearings are cooked (2 of 4). That might account for the low gas mileage on yesterdays ride. (Bearings subsequently replaced 10-16)

2024-10-02 Training ride, 89.9 miles. The bike used 1-1/8 gallons and got 80 mpg. Map

2024-10-02. I'm having a lot of fun riding around New Mexico.

2024-09-23 Traning ride on Luna Rd; 115 miles. The bike got 80 mpg - mostly off road but also a bunch of high-speed highway.

2024-09-20 Training Run. Luna Rd-Reserve-Luna East. 4.25 hours, 114 miles.

I like to work on things, so when I bought this old truck for cheap, I went to work on it.

The truck is put back together, and loaded with my daily fence building equipment. I used the 75 pound jackhammer almost every day this summer.

We drove to Colorado and picked up a motorcycle, then I started doing a bunch of Iron Butt rides. These rides lasted all spring, until Jenny left for her Pyrenees hike.

whenever I buy a vehicle, of course I have to take it apart - to fix or add things.

With Jenny hiking in the Pyrenees, I worked on my fence project every day. Here I'm tightening a length of fence with a come-along tied to the truck.

We have fifteen chickens and they are all pets. The money from selling the eggs doesn't even begin to cover the expenses because they are spoiled rotten and get lots of fresh produce.

Jenny spent three weeks in the Pyrenees. Here she is hiking with her legs wrapped to cover the dogs bites.

The first two dog bites sent her to the hospital. A week later, the third dog bite sent her home.

I have to dig the post holes with the jackhammer because the ground is hard and rocky. My hat is covered with sticky fly paper to cull the biting flies.

We dug the corner posthole extra deep.

The cows had trampled the fence at the corner, so we're replacing the post with a stronger one.

Jenny's garden

This is one of my two motorcycles: my BMW G650 X-Challenge, aka "Ray's Hot-Rod." (I sold the K-bike last year, and my beloved F650 Dakar wore-out, so I'm parting it out.) The X-Challenge has become pretty much a cult bike with a small but ardent following. It's so lightweight and powerful that it's more for the advanced rider; but it's so reliable. When I first bought the bike, years ago, it was customized to the hilt with farkles. But I removed and sold all the accessories and returned the bike to factory specs. However, I kept the Wilbers rear shock, but I also completely re-did the wiring. I just put a new rear tire on it (new rear TCK-80, and a well-used front Dunlop D606), and here I'm cleaning the chain. Not many like the 606 but it's my favorite front tire. It wanders all over the place in sand, but its just trying to find the best line; so it requires a loose grip. Give that and it flies. Note: I don't like my bikes to shout out for attention; I make them look more plain Jane.

Ray's Cannonball Run
Coast to Coast in 42.5 hrs

Parting out the Dakar

A Quick Rundown of Ray's Books

(2023-05, Still going strong after 30 years in business, Jenny takes another batch of packages to the PO. Thank you - one and all - for your support!

Northern Paddling Adventures

We have eighteen chickens. They are all pets. Each one has a different personalty, and they are so much fun!

Tarp Pitching

On Sale Trail Life and Tarp Book Essential (both books purchased together for less than $15 each).

Trail-Life Now Shipping! This is the original version, not a revised one. Same size, same great information, same photos but the photos are grayscale this time, not color (The cover is still color).

Trail Life history

We had fun revamping Trail Life for this printing. We didn't want to print the book in color this time because of the expense. A person might think that taking the color out of the pages would be easy, but every photo had to be reworked, and every illustration. And the new book is 1/4 inch shorter, so we had to give the book a slightly new layout.

We adhered to the original text, tempting though it was to revise. For after all, we have hiked many thousands of miles since we wrote the fist edition in 2008. But original text is still pretty good, we think. The basic concepts have not changed. And some of these concepts in Trail Life are still pretty advanced for most readers, even today.

As such, we recommend everybody read this new printing. It has a new feel to it; its easier to read; and a person could still learn a lot.