Greetings
Had a great time, solo, from Central Oregon to South East British Columbia via Washington and Idaho. Then on to Bozeman, MT before looping home via Lolo Pass, Lewiston, ID and the delightfully twisty, much elevation gained and lost route, South through Washington and North East Oregon.
Had some long days. A mix of camping and staying with friends - the reason for the journey was checking in with folks in B.C. and Montana.
My older bike (is a decade "older"?), a V-twin, performed admirably. My only complaint is the poor fuel economy. But I had a load of camping equipment along with the normal clothes and riding detritus, so a bit of weight.
And I chose to follow the speed limit a bit in Montana where 80 MPH on the slab is maximum. The bike likes going faster, and I finally had occasion to use fifth gear. 82 MPH according to the GPS. I love having the cruise control.
It was hot. No: HOT! I drank lots of water and cold beverages, and kept my (cotton) T-shirt wet under my armored riding jacket. Didn't wear my riding pants from motorcycle days; first time on a trip without them.
Had one day of light rain total, adding up an afternoon/evening and the next morning. Tents and rain make for delightful camping!
If you want a twisty road, and you're in the West, NorthEast Oregon and SouthEast Washington have some good ones. The Clearwater River in Idaho, and its attendant road which culminates at Lolo Pass will put smiles on your face. The twisties are a workout, of course, and I saw my skills sharpen as I tried to apply some of the ideas put forth here on SL.
If you're interested, here's a more specific route, including the two time-wasting mistakes I made AND the time-wasting mistakes made by a combination of maps without sufficient detail; GPS' ignorance and well-meaning people not knowing their own town.
Travel Day 1 - Redmond OR to Spokane WA. (Note that Spokane has two parks named "Riverfront Park." One is Riverfront STATE Park. They are not the same. I spent 2.5 hours toodling around Spokane, asking for directions, etc. ad nauseum, before a kind soul said "Follow me" and took me to where I needed to be. Enjoyed setting up my tent in the dark. The stars were good solace.)
Travel Day 2 - Spokane to Cranbrook BC.
Travel Day 3 - Cranbrook to Bozeman MT via Missoula. My mistake here. No need to go through Missoula. I missed Hwy 141 in Montana. Oh well. I lived in Montana for a while; it's beautiful pretty much everywhere. (Butte? Not so much.)
Travel Day 4 - Bozeman to Lolo via Missoula. I had intended to go SouthWest through Ennis, the Big Hole, and Hamilton, MT, but weather convinced me to stay North so I headed back West on I90. Love that 80 MPH!
Travel Day 5 - Camping again, this time with rain, in Idaho. Two nights.
It was in Lewiston, outside the Albertson's Grocery store, where I heard two remarks about my Spyder. Going in, I heard from a young guy "Nice bike! Very cool!" "Thanks," I replied.
Returning to the bike with dinner in hand, putting in ear plugs etc., I heard a voice behind me say "I see they make motorcycles with training wheels." I made no reply.
His was the first such derogatory comment I've ever received. I had a good reply at-hand (at-vocal cord?) but wisdom prevailed and I remained silent. Many people in Idaho carry weapons. I've never felt safe when traveling there and try to not spend much time in the state. Curious: Montanans also enjoy being armed and dangerous, but I'm not nervous there. Go figure.
Travel Days 6-7 - From Lewiston the route goes South to Enterprise OR then West to La Grande, Baker City, John Day, and then home to Redmond.
I planned on nine days, including time with my friends, but day nine was exhausting, mainly due to my mistakenly missing the correct turn for the highway out of Asotin, WA. I wasted about two hours following the Snake River South, before finally saying "STOP! This isn't right. Correct direction; wrong road." Two hours out and back, then the correct road and all was well. But that two hours cut into the day and I was pooped. So ten days it was. (NB. that not all days were travel days.)
Lessons learned?
Had a great time, solo, from Central Oregon to South East British Columbia via Washington and Idaho. Then on to Bozeman, MT before looping home via Lolo Pass, Lewiston, ID and the delightfully twisty, much elevation gained and lost route, South through Washington and North East Oregon.
Had some long days. A mix of camping and staying with friends - the reason for the journey was checking in with folks in B.C. and Montana.
My older bike (is a decade "older"?), a V-twin, performed admirably. My only complaint is the poor fuel economy. But I had a load of camping equipment along with the normal clothes and riding detritus, so a bit of weight.
And I chose to follow the speed limit a bit in Montana where 80 MPH on the slab is maximum. The bike likes going faster, and I finally had occasion to use fifth gear. 82 MPH according to the GPS. I love having the cruise control.
It was hot. No: HOT! I drank lots of water and cold beverages, and kept my (cotton) T-shirt wet under my armored riding jacket. Didn't wear my riding pants from motorcycle days; first time on a trip without them.
Had one day of light rain total, adding up an afternoon/evening and the next morning. Tents and rain make for delightful camping!
If you want a twisty road, and you're in the West, NorthEast Oregon and SouthEast Washington have some good ones. The Clearwater River in Idaho, and its attendant road which culminates at Lolo Pass will put smiles on your face. The twisties are a workout, of course, and I saw my skills sharpen as I tried to apply some of the ideas put forth here on SL.
If you're interested, here's a more specific route, including the two time-wasting mistakes I made AND the time-wasting mistakes made by a combination of maps without sufficient detail; GPS' ignorance and well-meaning people not knowing their own town.
Travel Day 1 - Redmond OR to Spokane WA. (Note that Spokane has two parks named "Riverfront Park." One is Riverfront STATE Park. They are not the same. I spent 2.5 hours toodling around Spokane, asking for directions, etc. ad nauseum, before a kind soul said "Follow me" and took me to where I needed to be. Enjoyed setting up my tent in the dark. The stars were good solace.)
Travel Day 2 - Spokane to Cranbrook BC.
Travel Day 3 - Cranbrook to Bozeman MT via Missoula. My mistake here. No need to go through Missoula. I missed Hwy 141 in Montana. Oh well. I lived in Montana for a while; it's beautiful pretty much everywhere. (Butte? Not so much.)
Travel Day 4 - Bozeman to Lolo via Missoula. I had intended to go SouthWest through Ennis, the Big Hole, and Hamilton, MT, but weather convinced me to stay North so I headed back West on I90. Love that 80 MPH!
Travel Day 5 - Camping again, this time with rain, in Idaho. Two nights.
It was in Lewiston, outside the Albertson's Grocery store, where I heard two remarks about my Spyder. Going in, I heard from a young guy "Nice bike! Very cool!" "Thanks," I replied.
Returning to the bike with dinner in hand, putting in ear plugs etc., I heard a voice behind me say "I see they make motorcycles with training wheels." I made no reply.
His was the first such derogatory comment I've ever received. I had a good reply at-hand (at-vocal cord?) but wisdom prevailed and I remained silent. Many people in Idaho carry weapons. I've never felt safe when traveling there and try to not spend much time in the state. Curious: Montanans also enjoy being armed and dangerous, but I'm not nervous there. Go figure.
Travel Days 6-7 - From Lewiston the route goes South to Enterprise OR then West to La Grande, Baker City, John Day, and then home to Redmond.
I planned on nine days, including time with my friends, but day nine was exhausting, mainly due to my mistakenly missing the correct turn for the highway out of Asotin, WA. I wasted about two hours following the Snake River South, before finally saying "STOP! This isn't right. Correct direction; wrong road." Two hours out and back, then the correct road and all was well. But that two hours cut into the day and I was pooped. So ten days it was. (NB. that not all days were travel days.)
Lessons learned?
- Oil checks every other gas fill up and day's end worked well.
- Having more detailed maps would have been useful.
- Two different GPS apps on the phone plus an updated Garmin 595 on the bike were worthless when most needed.
- I'm not as young as I once was.
- My body knows how to yell at me.
- Carrying tent, sleeping bag etc. in a duffel strapped (Yay ROK straps!) to the passenger seat is a major hassle when adding fuel.
- Would I do it again? In a flash!
