Escaping rain in the PNW

[jrb_nw]

Couldn't take another gray, wet week in the Pacific Northwest, so Sunday afternoon I packed up my gear and headed out the Columbia River Gorge, headed east. Was hoping to avoid the wet Memorial Day weather and log some miles to a warmer locale.

Day 1 - Well, I made it all of 40 miles before I went back to put on the larger Parabellum windscreen. Ahhh... Much better and quieter. I made it to Pendleton, OR that night, about 220 miles, not including my extra 80 mile loop.

Day 2 - headed from Pendleton down to Twin Falls, ID, on I-84, being chased by rain most of the way. Had a nice lunch in Boise mid way. And um, this thing cruises nicely at 85-90... Wow.. effortless... Rain was moving into Twin Falls and I wanted Mediterranean food so I hotelled it again.

Day 3 - rode directly south from Twin Falls on US 93 through Nevada. Nice two lane, the way I like it. Cold and wet at 6000 ft but kept moving and running fast in the rain. South of I-80 the road was so empty I was cruising at 90-100 at times and can say the Super Ten is solid as a rock... Hit an indicated 125 a couple times but it wouldn't pull more at that altitude without a downshift. Finally I found sunshine and 72 deg 100 miles south of Ely, Nevada. Gorgeous campground at Cathedral Gorge, near Panaca, NV. Warm and dry, campground looking out on the rock formations and lots of blue sky!

Day 4 - Today I rode into St. George, UT... it's too hot! 85 deg and climbing... what was I thinking? Ha ha, what a whiner. Looked at the map and decided to head for Flagstaff 270 mi away (at 7000') where it is cooler. Great ride through the Kaibab Plateau. Very windy after that through the Navaho reservation - at least 100 miles of 40 kt crosswinds and dust. It beat me up a bit, and I think the larger windscreen makes it worse. So I got another hotel room so I can sleep well tonight and hope to camp tomorrow again.

Well, 1500 miles so far and effortless. This is a great bike... just put gas in the tank and ride. Solid, comfortable, and stable at speed. Lots of compliments and attention, especially in camp. Even got off on some dirt roads for fun but gotta watch the sandy spots as I'm still on the original tires and it washes out pretty easily. Need the little compressor so I can air down. Not sure where I'm headed next - probably up through central Utah, Park City, then home to Portland. Need to be back early next week. I really like riding without a planned itinerary. Should be about 3200 miles in 7-8 days.

Sorry, pics still in the camera... forgot to bring the cable...

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[advswede1981]

Man, that sounds like an awesome trip you're on! If you decide to make a run for the border and head towards Tucson let me know and I can try to make it out and show you some sites with my bike.

 

[jrb_nw]

Thanks man, I appreciate it. It looked like it was going to warm up further so I decided to head back to the West Coast. Here's a recap:

Day 5 - Rode west on I 40 to Kingman, AZ, then headed north on US 95 to Las Vegas. It was very hot in the desert. I went for short ride on some dirt roads to check out the views and when I came back to the freeway three BMW K1600 GT's were enroute so I caught up to them. We were running 80 mph sustained in 95-100 deg temps and the S10 did not even notice. After working through Vegas with temp at 104 I remained on 95 north and stopped for the night in Beatty, NV, just outside Death Valley, where it hit 111 deg that day.

I give kudos here to my First Gear Kilimanjaro (white/silver) and Olympia mesh pants which allowed enough ventilation to be tolerable. Big improvement in airflow with the S10 vs my BMW R1200rt so it all works. And on cold days the liners go in for warmth.

Day 6 - Rode north and west to Reno on some very remote two laners, where I visited my brother, then I continued on up to Susanville, CA, in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains. Camped outside Susanville where it is beautiful high desert/juniper terrain.

Day 7 (today) I rode north to Bend, in central Oregon where I am enjoying dry 70 deg temps. Doing some real estate hunting. It is gorgeous up here and if you are an outdoors person they have it all - world class fly fishing, great mtn biking, kayaking, etc. Today I also got off on some nice dirt roads again for fun.

I've covered 2800 miles in 7 days, so I'm averaging 400 miles/day with no issues. I do however notice the buzz in the grips and may attempt to quell it with weights or a bar snake when I get back. Other than that no problems, no oil burned, and 40-45 mpg. This is a really great motorcycle.



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[oregon-rider]

::008:: thanks for sharing. If you ever make it back this way turn at La Grande and come up to Wallowa County for some great riding. I might even drink a beer with you at Terminal Gravity ::003::

 

[advswede1981]

Again, I'm jealous lol. How many freeway miles did you rack up, or did you try to stick to highways instead? What are your recommendations of traveling with the bike for many miles in a day on a freeway?

 

[True Grip]

Trips without destinations can be the best. Sounds like u really enjoyed it.

 

[jrb_nw]

Thanks for the comments guys. Yes, I really needed this trip for some mental clarity over some matters I've had to think about. Nothing beats a long motorcycle ride with no particular destination to help clarify things. And of course it is so much fun!

Advswede, I tried to avoid freeways but did ride out of Portland to Twin Falls on I-84, as I was trying to stay ahead of the weather. I also rode from Flagstaff to Las Vegas on freeway, again, to make time and get to where I could relax the pace and enjoy the scenery. The rest was all two lane, and out west here much of it is really remote.

My tip for freeways has always been to run fast, not just to get it over with, but also for safety. When we run slightly faster than the flow, events are unfolding ahead of us not behind, so we are more aware and in control of our safety.

That said, my bike has more buzz between 4000 and 4500 so I am often above that zone on open country freeways (80 mph), below it on two laners and in most urban areas. You couldn't ride that fast in western Oregon due to low speed limits but in Idaho and Arizona speed limits were 70 or higher.

oregonrider, thanks for the offer, would love to meet up out there some time. I really love your neck of the woods, and hope to do some camping out that way this summer.

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[advswede1981]

Do you still use your stock seat or modified it somehow? Also, how do you avoid cramping? If I'm riding for 1 hour + my leg always seems to cramp up, and I've toyed with the idea of getting foot pegs but don't want to go for the touring look too much lol. Any suggestions for ergonomics etc would be really appreciated.

 

[jrb_nw]

Do you still use your stock seat or modified it somehow? Also, how do you avoid cramping? If I'm riding for 1 hour + my leg always seems to cramp up, and I've toyed with the idea of getting foot pegs but don't want to go for the touring look too much lol. Any suggestions for ergonomics etc would be really appreciated.

Well, this is a bit of a problem. The seat is stock which doesn't seem to cause me any issues, other than butt burn after a couple hours without a break...

But the bigger issue is I had some knee pain on left leg (at the kneecap) that came and went during the trip. It really caught me by suprise as I never had that before. I do have a bad knee but it is the other one - lol. I'm not sure if I twisted the knee wrong when mounting the bike or what (I'm 5'9 so it's a stretch to get the leg over the dry bag so I sometimes stand on the left footpeg and rotate). Off the bike it was fine - no issues walking around and if I took a break for pictures or a meal it helped for awhile. So it may be due to the bend in the knee. I raised the seat to the higher positionn and left it there and it seemed to help a little.

For cramping are you sure you're hydrated? I often get cramps if I don't drink enough water. Or maybe you need to stretch your hamstrings more often.