Maupin, OR (Oct 2nd - Oct 4th)
Friday Night
Weather: Crappy. First there was rain, then there was rain and wind, followed by rain, wind and heavy fog. It gradually got worse and worse throughout the ride until I got there. Visibility was down to around 33 ft/10 m by the time I got to Maupin. Ever heard of flying by instruments? I was "riding by instruments" a lot on the way there (check GPS for upcoming corners, ride accordingly, hope you don't get rear ended by some crazy driver who thinks that it's ok to go full speed when you're almost blind).
Worries: just about everything. Deer, visibility, getting rear ended in the fog, poor traction in the wet, getting lost and not finding any fuel on Hwy 97 (150 mi before you find a fuel station is what I would call unusual)
Remarks:
I left work at 4pm to get to Maupin before a reasonable hour. I knew I would hit traffic and budgeted for roughly 6 hours of riding, including 2 fuel stops and dinner.I hit traffic pretty much straight away on the 520. Someone had flipped their car right next to the 405/520 intersection, so it was causing all sorts of crapola traffic. Once I got past that, it still didn't get any better, even on the I-90. I was running pretty far behind when a BMW M3 started making its way through traffic pretty quickly - using them as bait for any potential LEO's running around I managed to bump up my average speed. I ended up getting to Maupin at 9:30, roughly 30 minutes before my expected arrival time. No mobile reception, so unfortunately I could not report in that everything had come together just nicely.
The Guys
Dave and one of the Kevin's came down to meet me in the car park when I pulled up. I was dripping wet from head to toe and pretty cold, so after exchanging pleasantries we headed inside. My heated grips had been causing me trouble and the guys thought I was joking when I said that I was blistering up from them being too damn hot (more on that later). George and big Kev were inside, enjoying a drink or two before heading to bed. All of them, especially Dave, were very welcoming and it felt right at home. Dave is a really nice bloke, helped me dry out my gear where his was previously and sorted me out. I was pretty fatigued from the ride and was glad to finally be somewhere warm and dry.
Saturday
Weather: Less crappy. Light patches of drizzle in the morning, followed by several decent showers after big Kev cursed us, and about 2 hours of patchy cloud. Wind was gusty and strong.
Comments about the route: Daaaaaamn... I gotta ride with these guys more often.
Road quality: Ranged from average with rocks to excellent
Route taken: Will add a link later.
Remarks:
"To Fossil with some fossils"
George was leading, Dave was sweep, and George warmed us up on some decently nice roads. After taking us through some of the twistiest roads I'd ever seen, we gassed up and headed out to Fossil. Again, George didn't disappoint and provided a great route to get there. We checked out the visitor center which had some pretty awesome fossils there, skipped the tour for lunch and grabbed a bite to eat. We headed back to Maupin through a slightly different route, slightly faster corners with pavement in such good conditions I leaned the V-Strom with it's high clearance all the way over to the edge of the tires. A phenominal way to end the day. By now the rest of the FJR riders had turned up, so I did the only thing a lone Suzuki rider amongst many Yamaha FJR riders should do: I parked right in the middle amongst all the bikes :). I also had to pick out a piece of shale that penetrated the center of the rear tire.
Sunday
Weather: Well, it did LOOK good. Crappy weather after 11am not too dissimilar to Friday night (fog wasn't as thick), all the way through to Seattle.
Road quality: Very f*cking bad to decent (back in Washington; one can only hope for decent roads anyway)
Worries: Frostbite on the hands (no heated grips)
Remarks:
When I turned the bike on, the first thing the grips did was catch fire. After turning them off the fire went out by itself, but the plastic throttle body took a while to cool. It eventually locked in the wide open throttle position, which required some force to break through, and eventually resulted in an unwanted throttle lock (throttle stayed in the position you left it in last, rather than snapping closed). Took an extended break at the first fuel station to pull the throttle apart, carve out the excess plastic with a knife and put it back together again. 40 minutes later and we were on our way.
Cougar was very interesting to ride through. There's very few places I've naturally ridden at the advised speed limit on the turns, but around Mt. St. Helens was one of them. The road surface was rough and bore the scars of falling rocks; the corners were blind, off camber and had steep drops without guard rails on the edges. This combined with poor visibility due to fog and relatively heavy rain meant I was doing the advised speed or below through most of the corners. Once I got past that... If the GPS gives you an option of staying off the I-5, stay off the I-5. I had 4 cars try to merge with me in 4 seperate occasions only to realise I was there when I either kicked their car or honked my horn. Traffic was terrible and drivers were inconsiderate. It was raining and cold, and drivers had IQ's roughly that of the surrounding air temperature. The wetter it got, the dumber they got. I was very glad to get home.
Pictures of the good stuff:
All the guys there were riding Yamaha FJRs
The Crew
Fossil outside the visitor's center in Fossil, OR
Dave Black, my room mate. The dude snores LOUD.
Kevin, posing in front of his black FJR.
Imperial River Co, in Maupin OR. Where we stayed.
Weather: Crappy. First there was rain, then there was rain and wind, followed by rain, wind and heavy fog. It gradually got worse and worse throughout the ride until I got there. Visibility was down to around 33 ft/10 m by the time I got to Maupin. Ever heard of flying by instruments? I was "riding by instruments" a lot on the way there (check GPS for upcoming corners, ride accordingly, hope you don't get rear ended by some crazy driver who thinks that it's ok to go full speed when you're almost blind).
Worries: just about everything. Deer, visibility, getting rear ended in the fog, poor traction in the wet, getting lost and not finding any fuel on Hwy 97 (150 mi before you find a fuel station is what I would call unusual)
Remarks:
I left work at 4pm to get to Maupin before a reasonable hour. I knew I would hit traffic and budgeted for roughly 6 hours of riding, including 2 fuel stops and dinner.I hit traffic pretty much straight away on the 520. Someone had flipped their car right next to the 405/520 intersection, so it was causing all sorts of crapola traffic. Once I got past that, it still didn't get any better, even on the I-90. I was running pretty far behind when a BMW M3 started making its way through traffic pretty quickly - using them as bait for any potential LEO's running around I managed to bump up my average speed. I ended up getting to Maupin at 9:30, roughly 30 minutes before my expected arrival time. No mobile reception, so unfortunately I could not report in that everything had come together just nicely.
The Guys
Dave and one of the Kevin's came down to meet me in the car park when I pulled up. I was dripping wet from head to toe and pretty cold, so after exchanging pleasantries we headed inside. My heated grips had been causing me trouble and the guys thought I was joking when I said that I was blistering up from them being too damn hot (more on that later). George and big Kev were inside, enjoying a drink or two before heading to bed. All of them, especially Dave, were very welcoming and it felt right at home. Dave is a really nice bloke, helped me dry out my gear where his was previously and sorted me out. I was pretty fatigued from the ride and was glad to finally be somewhere warm and dry.
Saturday
Weather: Less crappy. Light patches of drizzle in the morning, followed by several decent showers after big Kev cursed us, and about 2 hours of patchy cloud. Wind was gusty and strong.
Comments about the route: Daaaaaamn... I gotta ride with these guys more often.
Road quality: Ranged from average with rocks to excellent
Route taken: Will add a link later.
Remarks:
"To Fossil with some fossils"
George was leading, Dave was sweep, and George warmed us up on some decently nice roads. After taking us through some of the twistiest roads I'd ever seen, we gassed up and headed out to Fossil. Again, George didn't disappoint and provided a great route to get there. We checked out the visitor center which had some pretty awesome fossils there, skipped the tour for lunch and grabbed a bite to eat. We headed back to Maupin through a slightly different route, slightly faster corners with pavement in such good conditions I leaned the V-Strom with it's high clearance all the way over to the edge of the tires. A phenominal way to end the day. By now the rest of the FJR riders had turned up, so I did the only thing a lone Suzuki rider amongst many Yamaha FJR riders should do: I parked right in the middle amongst all the bikes :). I also had to pick out a piece of shale that penetrated the center of the rear tire.
Sunday
Weather: Well, it did LOOK good. Crappy weather after 11am not too dissimilar to Friday night (fog wasn't as thick), all the way through to Seattle.
Road quality: Very f*cking bad to decent (back in Washington; one can only hope for decent roads anyway)
Worries: Frostbite on the hands (no heated grips)
Remarks:
When I turned the bike on, the first thing the grips did was catch fire. After turning them off the fire went out by itself, but the plastic throttle body took a while to cool. It eventually locked in the wide open throttle position, which required some force to break through, and eventually resulted in an unwanted throttle lock (throttle stayed in the position you left it in last, rather than snapping closed). Took an extended break at the first fuel station to pull the throttle apart, carve out the excess plastic with a knife and put it back together again. 40 minutes later and we were on our way.
Cougar was very interesting to ride through. There's very few places I've naturally ridden at the advised speed limit on the turns, but around Mt. St. Helens was one of them. The road surface was rough and bore the scars of falling rocks; the corners were blind, off camber and had steep drops without guard rails on the edges. This combined with poor visibility due to fog and relatively heavy rain meant I was doing the advised speed or below through most of the corners. Once I got past that... If the GPS gives you an option of staying off the I-5, stay off the I-5. I had 4 cars try to merge with me in 4 seperate occasions only to realise I was there when I either kicked their car or honked my horn. Traffic was terrible and drivers were inconsiderate. It was raining and cold, and drivers had IQ's roughly that of the surrounding air temperature. The wetter it got, the dumber they got. I was very glad to get home.
Pictures of the good stuff:
All the guys there were riding Yamaha FJRs
The Crew
Fossil outside the visitor's center in Fossil, OR
Dave Black, my room mate. The dude snores LOUD.
Kevin, posing in front of his black FJR.
Imperial River Co, in Maupin OR. Where we stayed.