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Steve Rossier rides his motorcycle across continent
Cape Gazette (Delaware) ^ | Tue, Dec 7, 2004 | Karl Chalabala

Posted on 12/07/2004 12:29:39 PM PST by martin_fierro

Steve Rossier rides his motorcycle across continent

By Karl Chalabala

Steve Rossier rode through Alaska with a shotgun strapped to the front of his motorcycle, on the lookout for bears.

“I felt much more comfortable because of it [the shotgun] when I was in the bush,” he said. “People were telling me to watch out for bears. I was just pulling off dirt roads and camping. But there was only one night I heard anything. It could have been a bear or a moose. I always slept in my clothes so I wouldn’t have to roll out of bed in my skivvies.”

Rossier, in celebration of his 50th birthday, rode his 2003 Triumph Bonneville America motorcycle, which his girlfriend Pam found on eBay, to the Arctic Circle and back in a trip he titled “My 17,000 Mile Pub Crawl” in his journal. His trip took him through 29 states and three Canadian provinces in 10 weeks during the end of summer that ended with his “record day” when he left New Orleans and pulled in his driveway in Rehoboth Beach 26 hours later.

He moved to Sussex County two years ago to set up the Home Depot. He liked the area and decided to stay and work as an independent contractor.

Rossier is a tall man with a long frame and a handlebar mustache who spoke very plainly about his journey. He did not have a mid-life crisis and try to escape his troubles. His girlfriend even met him in Las Vegas, where they celebrated their anniversary with wine and a prime cut of beef at the Luxor Steak House.

No, Rossier just wanted to see his country, which happened to take him through Canada when he went to Alaska. Rossier, who lives in Camelot, said everywhere he went, the people were friendly and the beers kept coming.

“I couldn’t even tell you how many drinks people bought for me,” he said. “The natives, in particular, were very friendly, the Native Americans, the native Canadians, the native Alaskans.”

Rossier said he didn’t have any bike trouble. He did go through two sets of tires, one-and-a-half sets of brakes and four oil changes. The bike’s tail light went out in the only “break down” of the trip.

“My Triumph dealer was really happy to hear that,” he said.

While his bike ran well, the journey did present some difficulties. Rossier said he saw smoke 500 miles away from Fairbanks, Alaska – where devastating wildfires burned a record 5 million acres in a fire that lasted all summer. His book of pictures from the trip, a medley of stunning landscapes and people he met on the way, shows what he saw when he finally reached the fires. It looks like a black-and-white photo from another planet.

“There were trees burning on the side of the road as I drove by,” he said. “It was spooky.”

The westernmost portion of trip ended at the edge of the Arctic Circle. Rossier said up to that point the trip was fairly comfortable, but even in the summer the Arctic Circle can get cold.

“I camped out under the stars in the Arctic Circle,” he said.

“I didn’t have a thermometer but it had to be in the single digits. I had my riding mittens on my feet. That morning I had to start a fire to thaw out. Between that and the smoke Alaska wasn’t an easy ride.”

He did thaw out on the ride home though. He did not come straight back. Instead Rossier took a circuitous route through the American southwest, after spending his anniversary in Vegas. He went from one of the coldest places in the world to one of the hottest.

“I camped out in Death Valley,” he said. “I’m not a spiritual guy at all but that night I had my Zen night. It was such an awesome experience. That night really stands out. I got out of my tent that night and hit my head on the stars.”

Rossier described all the landscapes he saw as gorgeous. And he saw a few famous ones - Banff-Jaspers National Park in Canada, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park, Mount Rushmore, Devil’s Tower in Wyoming and Homer, Alaska.

He drank a few beers with new friends in bars where patrons checked their firearms with the bartender. He slept on a few couches. He rode through a hailstorm and a few rainstorms.

But he fulfilled his dream and got to do everything he wanted.

“I couldn’t have done this without my girlfriend Pamela Ivins, my best friend Holly Lane and my daughter Danyelle Rossier,” he said. “Without those three girls, this trip wouldn’t have been possible.”

Rossier said the trip did not completely satisfy his wanderlust, but his next one probably won’t be so extensive.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Hobbies; Miscellaneous; Outdoors; Travel
KEYWORDS: bike; crosscountrytrip; hooligan; ironbutt; motorcycle; triumph
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To: JoeSixPack1

21 posted on 12/07/2004 1:52:43 PM PST by killjoy (My kid is the bomb at Islam Elementary!)
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To: AdamSelene235
I drove one from Moscow to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Did you have a choice? ;-)

22 posted on 12/07/2004 2:09:41 PM PST by Hank Rearden (Never allow anyone who could only get a government job attempt to tell you how to run your life.)
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To: Hank Rearden

Seemed a logical choice. Everyone knows how to fix them, plenty of spare parts in the FSU.


23 posted on 12/07/2004 2:12:05 PM PST by AdamSelene235
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To: AdamSelene235
Seemed a logical choice. Everyone knows how to fix them, plenty of spare parts in the FSU.

Yes.. in Khazakstan, man who drive motorcycle has very big, how you say... khrom.

24 posted on 12/07/2004 2:48:55 PM PST by killjoy (My kid is the bomb at Islam Elementary!)
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To: killjoy
My first guess for the location of your Ural pic. was Nicaragua given the vegetation and prevalence of commie transport. Unfortunately, the license plate text rules out Central America. Laos, who'd a thunk it. I suppose they did receive some, uh, charity from the USSR.
25 posted on 12/07/2004 4:48:18 PM PST by AdamSelene235
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To: BraveMan

"Guys, I need help wearing the old lady down . . ."

Well Braveman . . do what I did. I turned 50 this year and I had not ridden in 30 years but I decided as someone stated above life is not a rehearsal and this was something I was going to do. My wife hit the ceiling, but I kept nagging and nagging til she finally said "if you want a motorcycle just get the d__n thing". Within 5 minutes I was out the door and 2 hours later I had my bike.
She still wasn't pleased but I upped my life insurance and she got the best vehicle(my truck) as compensation. This happened last month and I've not regretted a minute.



26 posted on 12/07/2004 5:09:07 PM PST by BipolarBob (Yes I backed over the vampire, but I swear I didn't see it in my rearview mirror.)
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To: AdamSelene235

That was the exact color of the one I saw. Thanks for the pic. :-)


27 posted on 12/07/2004 6:53:50 PM PST by JoeSixPack1
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To: martin_fierro

That's it!

<|;-)~~


28 posted on 12/07/2004 6:55:18 PM PST by JoeSixPack1
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To: BraveMan
Guys, I need help wearing the old lady down . . .

I'll hold her, you hit her! :-)

29 posted on 12/07/2004 6:58:04 PM PST by JoeSixPack1
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To: JoeSixPack1; blackie
I did see a Russian "Uro" with a sidecar today. The big fat guy who had it said it was a Russian copy of a Guzzi. Perfect shape.

Are you sure it wasn't a "Ural"? Russian copy of a BMW?

30 posted on 12/07/2004 7:16:29 PM PST by uglybiker (In GOD We Trust. All others pay cash)
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To: uglybiker

Uh, yeah!! Ural! :-)


31 posted on 12/07/2004 7:28:09 PM PST by JoeSixPack1
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To: AdamSelene235
Laos, who'd a thunk it. I suppose they did receive some, uh, charity from the USSR.

Yes, in Vien Chang (Vientiane). Pretty cool bike. I have some more pictures of it around here somewhere. Unfortunately it didn't have the sidecar with it. The picture was taken in April of this year.

32 posted on 12/07/2004 7:28:18 PM PST by killjoy (My kid is the bomb at Islam Elementary!)
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To: JoeSixPack1

C'mon man, you ride! You know that Guzzis are too wierd to be copied! ;-)


33 posted on 12/07/2004 7:48:37 PM PST by uglybiker (In GOD We Trust. All others pay cash)
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To: JoeSixPack1
That was the exact color of the one I saw. Thanks for the pic. :-)

That's the "tourist" model.

I really wanted the Patrol with a driven sidecar wheel.

Or the Gear Up.

Sadly at the time all of those were being shipped to Saddam to fight the US.

34 posted on 12/07/2004 8:30:38 PM PST by AdamSelene235
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To: BipolarBob
My wife hit the ceiling, but I kept nagging and nagging til she finally said "if you want a motorcycle just get the d__n thing". Within 5 minutes I was out the door and 2 hours later I had my bike.

YESSSS !!!

Now just point it south, until the land stops. Put it on a boat, head east until the land starts again. Point North until the land stops, then east.

35 posted on 12/07/2004 8:38:20 PM PST by AdamSelene235
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To: JoeSixPack1

I showed my lovely wife this thread. She cautioned me to "never refer to her as an 'old lady' again". Damn, strike two . . .

You're sure you can hang on to her, right?


36 posted on 12/08/2004 6:38:48 AM PST by BraveMan
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To: BipolarBob
Good for you! Ride safely and always stay alert. I practice constant threat assessment . . .

Getting the motorcycle is the easy part. Convincing the Missus to ride along, well therein lies the difficulty for me. She tolerates, even enjoys, the little day rides up & down the lakefront and through the country. A Grand Adventure like this however is another matter entirely.

During all our previous adventures (before the kids came along) it seemed we were rain magnets. I was seriously considering contracting my services to various drought stricken regions. I need to get some of the Beemer riders to chime in; they know rain gear . . .
37 posted on 12/08/2004 7:02:09 AM PST by BraveMan
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To: uglybiker

Love those copies. :)


38 posted on 12/08/2004 7:46:50 AM PST by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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