| Author | Message | ||
     Goldtooth |
Been trying to ride as much as I can lately. I really do not know what has switched in my brain that is telling me to ride everywhere. I have almost stopped driving my cars unless I am with the family. I really use the time on the bike to decompress and try to go see things that I have been putting off. I am still amazed by how much there is to see within two hours of my house in Portland that I have not seen and I was born here and lived 38 years in this area. I like to get out on weekend mornings. My wife and girls sleep a bit later so I get up and get some miles in. Sunday looked to be clear so I made a route Saturday night and left around 7:30 in the morning. I had thought about packing a few tools and plug kit/compressor but decided I didn't need it. Little did I know hours later I would regret that decision. Here is the route:  This route connects Hwy 6 to Hwy 26, two of the major highways to the Oregon coast. I like to explore all of the endless gravel roads that connect the two highways. Sometimes I take the truck with my middle daughter and we spend the day driving around in the forest. Sunday morning started a bit foggy on hwy 26 and chilly. It was 40F when I left the house. Had the heated jacket going though and it took the chill off nicely. Proceeded to Hwy 6 to fill up and head towards Tillamook.      Along Hwy 6     After you drop over the pass, you arrive in the Tillamook Valley. Miles of green fields and cows. And those cows produce cheese. Well they don't but the cheese factory does! It is what Tillamook is famous for.      Too bad it I had no time to stop! Great cheese and pepporoni.    Hit the bay in between Tillamook and Garabaldi   You can just make out the G on the hill  My 2006 Buell Ulysses. Gonna be a whole lot dirtier before the day is over!  This is why I put up with rain in the PNW. Look at this!   Along Miami-Foley rd. One of the best on the coast for any motorbike.  Turned off onto Foss road which would take me over the mountains to Spruce Run Campground off of hwy 26.   At this bridge, the paved road ends and the gravel/broken asphalt/mud road begins. Lots of fishermen out along the Nehalem river today.      I love these types of roads. Kinda wished I was on my KTM though!   10 miles or so in, I can across this odd house/park along an otherwise vacant road. It was gorgeous. All private property and gated off but man was it pretty.  The road went from gravel to really bad pot holed gravel back to nicely graded a few times. The Uly with it's semi bald Pirelli Scorpions did ok. Wished I had more tread and really wished I had better tires later!    Reached Spruce Run campground and went up the hill towards Lost Lake. The climb was pretty steep and with my baldish read tire, I had to use plenty of the Uly's 100hp to get to the top   Started to fog over near the top. It was awesome!   I decided not to drop down onto the lake road as they had just graded the road and it was basically mud and the decent was steeper than I wanted to deal with today. You can kind of see the road surface in this pic.  As I dropped down the other side, the mud road continued. It was a bit sketchy coming down this hill in the mud. Don't want to make a mistake here!  Finally the road turned back to gravel and the Uly and I were happier. Only a few miles down to hwy 26 from here.   As I reached hwy 26, I was going to stop to put my ear buds back in and plug in my jacket. I shut off the bike and heard the fan kick on which is normal. But the fan did not sound normal. Upon closer inspection, it was not the fan that sounded funny. It was my rear tire hissing out air at an alarming rate! I pushed the bike forward to see what the issue was and a sharp rock had lodged itself into the center tread. I pulled it out and this is what was left.  Well that is not good. Thought to myself, man wish I would have brought the plug kit and compressor! Pulled out my phone only to see a "NO Service" status. Where I was parked along the hwy, there were three big pieces of equipment that no doubt had done the mud grading along the road I was just on. Three guys were cleaning them up and parking them and I walked over to ask about a cell phone. Luckily one had one with Verizon and had a signal. Called my wife and told her about the situation. She put the compressor and plug kit in the truck and headed my way. The three guys packed up and I assured them I had help coming and they went back up the road. Later, they would call my wife to assure I made it home safe. Great guys and I was lucky to have ran into them. My view as I waited  About 45 min later, my wife shows up with one of my 9 year old twins. She was pretty worried that they wouldn't find me. It was sweet. We got to work patching the tire. I had never done it before but it was pretty easy. Little compressor did ok.  Filled her up and rode home. I thought all the way home on how the events took place. IF that tire would have punctured in the middle of nowhere it would have been a whole lot different But it didn't. And what about the three guys at the side of the road? What are the chances of them being right where I needed them, right at that time? Even that my wife was by her phone to answer it. It is strange how things can work out if you let them. Life is about how you deal with your circumstances you are given. Think positive and positive things will happen. Anyway, thanks for reading! Till next time! nate | ||
| Buewulf |
Nice! Thanks for taking the time to post this up. Reminds me a lot of the Appalachians, only wetter! Completely off topic, but how do you like that Jardine (I assume that is what that pretty silver thing is down there) compared to the stocker, particularly with respect to noise and midrange (3K - 6K rpm) performance? My pipe is starting to look pretty nappy with the rust, and routine scaling and repaints do not interest me. At the same time, though, I don't want to sacrifice my midrange or regret the boom-booms at 80mph on a long interstate run. | ||
| Goldtooth |
I like the Jardine but like the sound of my buddies Hawk a bit better. It is a bit loud for these backroads when it would be nice to have some peace and quiet. Not too bad on the hwy but I always wear ear plugs or headphones. And it looks awesome! nate | ||
| Etennuly |
Nice write up and great pictures!  You do know.....you have a head light out.  | ||
| Skifastbadly |
I always carry a spare belt, a full set of tools, a compressor, and gooey rope repair kit. The only time I got stuck in the boonies is when my ECM crapped out in Missoula. | ||
| Goldtooth |
For big trips me too. Lesson learned here though! It all worked out and was a fun experience. nate | ||
| Gwelsh |
nice pictures! thanks for posting | ||
| Kag |
All in all you had a great day | ||
| Motorbike |
Cool! Love the pics! Thanks for taking the time to post. | ||
| Fotoguzzi |
I get that Tillamook cheese here in Minneapolis, it's great! nice pics! | ||
| Hdxbones |
Great pictures, and a good story. Thanks for sharing.... | ||
| Pnw_uly |
Nate - Thanks for sharing, and awesome pictures. I thought all the way home on how the events took place. Life is about how you deal with your circumstances you are given. Think positive and positive things will happen. I'm all for the power of positive thinking, but your story and a few recent threads from the Northwest (on the ADVRider site) have me leaning towards one of those Spot! locater devices. Not trying to be a buzzkill, you can only mitigate so much risk, but it's another consideration for when riding solo. Anyway, thanks for sharing, great read. | ||
| Goldtooth |
Yeah I have also thought about one of those. Maybe for the Alaska trip this June but to me it is not much of an adventure if there is no risk. I should have been better prepared but I wasn't. Events that test our resolve build character (if you make it home ) nate | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Nice RR and good story. Thanks for sharing. "It is strange how things can work out if you let them." Not to threadjack, but this reminds me of a college era solo trip I took from N. MN to the twin cities in my POS car where I was fortunate to experience the kindness of strangers. Dead of winter, I worked that day so traveled that night and was anxious to reconnect with my twin cities based college friends. About 50 miles in, my tire blew out. This was during an era some of you may recall where there were few cell phones and no "on-star". Unlike most of my sparsely populated 200 mile trek, the area I was passing thru was populated by some farmers. I pulled the car over to the side of the road and walked up a driveway that ended with a house illuminated by a porch light. A twist of fate, the couple that answered the door were the aunt and uncle of someone I went to H.S. with! They graciously helped me put my donut on, and let me use their phone so I made a couple phone calls, found a tire, and was on my way in a couple hours. These days, I would not think about making that trek without double checking the condition of my well-maintained vehicle and having a cellphone, emergency kit including a retro reflective vest and road triangles and fully equipped tool kit. How many of y'all look back at some of the choices/adventures of the past and think, "wow, it's amazing I/we made it through that"? | ||
| Fotoguzzi |
when I was a 21YO (1975) kid I road my first Guzzi solo all over the west from Minneapolis in total oblivion of mechanical knowledge. I didn't even know how to fix a tube but never needed to. the BMW dealer in Miles City showed me how a VW coil would fix my twin that was running on only one side for the last 60 miles. a real adventure!  | ||
| Pnw_uly |
Now. . . THAT's an Adventure Bike, before the Adventure Bike "Niche". . . Can't remember where I read it, but remember a passage about going off-pavement in the 70's or 80's that went something like: "It was in a day before 'adventure bikes' - - you'd just take whatever bike you owned and equip it to fit your requirements..." Or something to that effect. Neat looking bike, still have it? | ||
| Fotoguzzi |
Don't have that 850T anymore and I've had over a dozen Guzzi since.. the poor V11 Lemans languishes in garage ever since I got my Uly!  | ||
| Ulysapper |
This is why I put up with rain in the PNW. Look at this! I miss it out there! Lived in Olympia, WA for three years but the Army moved me away. Plan on retiring in the PNW, nothing like it!} |
