Mark Weeding and Rosana Davison

Hi Mark

Hi Rosana.

We would like to thank Derek Yap of Camphora Pte Ltd and Hii Chun Hui for their generous cash contribution. we will update later on what did we use for it.

Thank you again.

Cold road yesterday!

One of the best value sheltered place we stayed in north america. Castor, Alberta, Canada.

http://www.castor.ca/

this town had a population of 1000. maybe that's why the lodging is cheap/affortable.

locals looked at us strangely when we walked into grocery stall to get our body fuel because there wasn't much tourist in this town. the strange look was a postive look from them. they were curious and welcoming.

Cooking in room is not advisible to all readers. (as shown in the picture)

then we visit a small muesum in Castor. only open 3 days a week, 2 hrs each day. when we arrived there, the lady incharged of the muesum is about to lockup the door. she was very kind to open the door again and showed us around.




want to perm your hair using the old school way? direct electrical current...

We noticed that her movement is very slow. she had very minor movement disability but able to drive a car to this musesum 3 days a week. She was always talking about the days when she was a little girl, in the 1930s. one of the above picture where u can see some military uniform, one of them belongs to his husband. she donated to this muesum after her husband pass away few years ago. another set of uniform belongs to his brother-in-law, which was donated few years ago after he passed away. these uniform had gone through the world war.

She will turn 86 soon. when will we see her again?

After 'hiding' 2 days in Castor for the weather to turn better, we headed south to Montana,USA. I had ordered a set of Metzeler Tourance tire to Mark Weeding's house in Miles City, Montana. it was a 2 days ride from Castor to Mark's house. we told him that we will be there on the 8th Oct but we reached the town of Miles City on a day earlier.

On my mind was just telling Hope Too and his tires to last until Mark's home and not to give us any problem on this long, lonely and cold road.

'Mark,Mark,Mark,Mark....' was what happened on my mind while riding. To reach Mark's home safely.

We went to Walmart and top up our grocery, 13 miles before Mark's home. we do not know if he was at home (or not) as we did not have his phone number. Just browsing on the shelf in Walmart (name of big grocery stall in USA), he showed up in front of us! Mark only visits Walmart once a month and we were so lucky to meet him there!

We followed him to his house after that.

Miles City.

Mark Weeding's product.

He had a ranch of 1 square mile. visiting his ranch was like a Safari experience. He explained to us about his job and the industry.

Pro!

Looks cute? it is a pest in the farm.

Mark helped me to change the tire. Mark bought a bed specially. Mark gave us warm and comfort, a shelter from the cold weather. Mark cook us meal and brought us to town for entertainment. Mark bouught us beer. Mark gave us a safari tour on his ranch. (you have to be Mark's friend to experience this!). When we left, Mark gave us hot coffee, cookies and handwarmers to take away! He and his girlfriend, Rosana Davison, gave us money to take away! They put it in an envelop so when we left his place and had lunch, we realised that there were money and money inside the greeting cards he gave us!

Other being a great host, i must say that Mark surely know his area well. He is able to show me on map nice place to ride and route advice. I guess he had scored an A-plus for his geography lessons! There are so many places to explore and ride in North America which i am proud of him to explore his own country first before going to other countries!

Thank you Mark Weeding and Rosana Davison for everything! it's getting too comfortable to stay with them and we had to make a hard decision to leave the comfortable nest.

We have to go online to check the weather ahead for the next 10 days on the possible route that we are heading. We have to skip yellowstone park because of the weather. Also today, where i am typing this blog, we are staying in a motel for 2 days till tomorrow where the weather WILL BE BETTER for us to ride again. Yesterday we rode at below freezing point for the whole 6 hours journey. the lowest was -8.2 degree celcius! Our neck and nose nearly broke.

Mark's property. Can you see Samantha? of course not, because she was behind the camera.

Mark certainly understand how to handle and breed these guys. i had my hats off to him.

The tire that i will not use again. Continental attack. all my previous rear tires on this trip lasted for 18000-22000km (road tire).

The first one, a Pireali, lasted from singapore to greece, about 22000km. It went thro the tough road of Karakurum and Baluchistan desert.

The second one, Metzeler Tourance. from Greece to Argentina and used in the rugged terrain of Bolivia, to Brasil and changed at Viedma, Argentina which lasted 17000km.

The 3rd set, a Metzeler Enduro 3, (made in Brasil) a 50/50 tire that lasted the Ruta 40 of Argentina, supposing to last 50% lesser than the Tourance but i got the rear changed till another 10000km, the front lasted 13000km.

The 4th set, with Metzeler Enduro 3 and rear Metzeler Tourance, (made in Brasil) lasted me from Chile till Denver in USA, crossing the bad roads in Peru and some of central America, about 19000km.

The 5th set, Continental Attack, a road tire, that bought me to Alaska and back to USA. Road in Alaska were not so bad as we thought but the rear tire only lasted 12000km. what a shame.

The 6th set, ermm, Im going back to Metzeler Tourance. I only changed the rear while the front, the Conti Attack, still usable. We are carring an extra front tire now.