Thorax O’Tool and the Long Ride

Thorax O’Tool visits the farm on the first leg of his long motorcycle journey.

[spoiler=”Click for full video transcript.”]ADAM: Hello, Earthlings! You’re watching Adam the Alien, I have with me Mister Thorax O’Tool from Tacoma, and uh, what’s today’s date?

THORAX: Today is…June 26th?

ADAM: Very good.

THORAX: Sunday!

ADAM: Very good! Not Saturday the 25th, like you told me it was gonna be.

THORAX: Sorry about that again. My bad.

[THEME SONG PLAYS]

THORAX: Hello, camera.

ADAM: Been a while since we’ve done this!

THORAX: Yes it has been.

ADAM: So what is it you’re doing?

THORAX: Well, I am riding my bike, here.

I live in Tacoma, which is, you know, just very close to Seattle. So I’m riding from Tacoma down to Monterey. I’m taking I-5 on this side of it to get all the miles behind me. Gonna be in Monterey for a couple of days, ride Big Sur, go to the aquarium. Then I’m gonna ride home up Pacific Coast Highway and then 101 all the way up the coast.

I started planning this idea last year. I like to take a road trip every summer, and last year I went island hopping up in the San Juan Islands. And I was kinda formulating what I was gonna do this year, and I was just like, “Oh, what if I went down to California and back?”

ADAM: This setup is beautiful.

THORAX: Thank you!

ADAM: I just can’t believe how elaborate and in-depth you got with it.

Tell us about how well you overthought this.

THORAX: Well, okay now, I don’t wanna jinx myself by saying I overthought and something unexpected happens.

Under this seat I’ve got my tools. You know, wrenches, screwdrivers, box wrenches, uh…allen, keys, zip ties, those things.

Up here, I’ve got some spare oil, spare clutch cable, spare lever, spare spark plugs.

This side, I’ve got a few things, like a water bottle, jumper cables, uh…trail mix. And on the other side I’ve got my rain gear, because knowing my luck, it would rain on the coast.

Back here, I’ve got stored some things like my disk lock, and another water bottle, and…I’ve got a couple of other little oddball things in there, too.

Then I’ve got my clothes and some snacks in here, uh…Thermarest for being on the ground, with my sleeping bag and my two-person tent. My heavier leather jacket, which is a bad idea right now, but on the coast, it’ll be good.

And then a spare visor that’s got, uh, the anti-fog thing going on with it.

Oh, and then of course my setup here, for my phone. I’ve got this little mount here, and then this USB cable runs under the tank, under the seat, and I’ve got a USB outlet that comes off of a little fuse from the battery. So I can keep my phone charged while I’m out in the middle of nowhere.

ADAM: I’ve never seen anyone prepare so well for being on a motorcycle.

THORAX: Well, you know, you gotta try, I guess. And then, you know, my bike doesn’t have the advantage of being, like, a Goldwing or something like that, that has a million bunches of storage. So I had to think creatively. Like, “How much can I fit on here? What do I really need? What’s most important?”

And obviously, you know, sleeping bag is important. Tent’s important. Clean underwear is really important!

ADAM: Why did you decide to do this? Why do you take a road trip every summer?

THORAX: It’s just good to be out. It’s good to get away from everything, it’s good for me to spend some time kind of thinking. It’s good…I need, I *need* that reflection time. It’s more apparent to me now than in the past, even.

It’s just good to get out and do something different, and just get…just get away.

I’m very much a homebody, so I’m always at home, hanging out with the cats or feeding the chickens. So it’s just kind a good to break out of my normal tight little box.

And I work a job that I don’t like, with terrible hours. So taking a vacation is getting away from it. It’s kind of wonderful.

ADAM: How do these trips give you perspective?

THORAX: You know, it just gives me, I guess…like a recharging, like you would recharging your batteries or something. It’s refreshing to me to be out.

It doesn’t, like, solve anything with jobs and things I dislike, but it definitely resets my tolerance to deal with it better.

ADAM: That’s all for now. I’m Adam the Alien.

THORAX: Bye!

ADAM: Fare thee well.

As a quick aside, we just watched Rocky Horror Picture Show here last night,. So another guy here, after my friend left, said that he was surprised that he made it out alive. ‘Cuz he looked like Eddie from Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Whee!

OFF-CAMERA: Woo-hoo!

ADAM: Woo-hoo!

ADAM: Anything you want to add?

THORAX: Um, VLOGTAG!

ADAM: No one’s made Vlogtag videos in years! What are you doing to me?

ADAM: Fare thee well, good sir!

THORAX: Thank you for the visit, Adam! I appreciate it.

ADAM: Thank you for stopping by!

THORAX: It was nice to see you.[/spoiler]