Welcome to The ALCAN Run.
What, exactly, is the ALCAN run you ask? It’s a bit of a triple entendre; its main reference, ALCAN, is the Alaska/Canada (AL CAN, get it?) highway. And the run part, well that is an American biker idiom, meaning a motorcycle ride with a purpose; frequently associated with events meant to raise funds/items/awareness for a cause or a group. It can also be a trip. And in this case, that is exactly what it is.
This blog will be my experience leading up to the trip and then it will act as a travelogue, documenting the trials and tribulations of the 8,000 mile journey across Canada & the Western US via motorcycle. As we lead up to the trip, there is a countdown timer in the upper right hand side; it's counting down to departure day. This blog will also serve as an outlet for my usual diatribe of uselessness (of which I have a lot).
What, exactly, is the ALCAN run you ask? It’s a bit of a triple entendre; its main reference, ALCAN, is the Alaska/Canada (AL CAN, get it?) highway. And the run part, well that is an American biker idiom, meaning a motorcycle ride with a purpose; frequently associated with events meant to raise funds/items/awareness for a cause or a group. It can also be a trip. And in this case, that is exactly what it is.
This blog will be my experience leading up to the trip and then it will act as a travelogue, documenting the trials and tribulations of the 8,000 mile journey across Canada & the Western US via motorcycle. As we lead up to the trip, there is a countdown timer in the upper right hand side; it's counting down to departure day. This blog will also serve as an outlet for my usual diatribe of uselessness (of which I have a lot).
So how did this trip come to be? That will be the focus of my next post.
Before I signoff, you are probably wondering what the third entendre of The Alcan Run name is… well, as a Gen X’er who is in his mid-40s, I am a movie geek and this is a subtle reference to the king of ‘70s scifi movies – Star Wars. It references a quote from Han Solo to Luke Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi while in the Mos Eisley Cantina –
"You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon? It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs."
Before I signoff, you are probably wondering what the third entendre of The Alcan Run name is… well, as a Gen X’er who is in his mid-40s, I am a movie geek and this is a subtle reference to the king of ‘70s scifi movies – Star Wars. It references a quote from Han Solo to Luke Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi while in the Mos Eisley Cantina –
"You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon? It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs."
– Han Solo
The argument has been made that since a parsec is a unit of distance, not time, this is a bit of a gaff in the movie. However, Solo was not referring directly to his ship's speed when he made this claim. Instead, he was referring to the shorter route he was able to travel by skirting the nearby Maw black hole cluster, thus making the run in under the standard distance. By moving closer to the black holes, Solo managed to cut the distance down to about 11.5 parsecs.
Yeah, that’s the useless stuff I was referring to... fun facts and fiction from Rob's Almanac!
The argument has been made that since a parsec is a unit of distance, not time, this is a bit of a gaff in the movie. However, Solo was not referring directly to his ship's speed when he made this claim. Instead, he was referring to the shorter route he was able to travel by skirting the nearby Maw black hole cluster, thus making the run in under the standard distance. By moving closer to the black holes, Solo managed to cut the distance down to about 11.5 parsecs.
Yeah, that’s the useless stuff I was referring to... fun facts and fiction from Rob's Almanac!
Check back often to read new posts!
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