Fontanaman
Robin Trower
Plans can change fast and when my step daughter's 1997 BMW radiator failed Friday evening it changed my weekend. She was going out of town for the weekend but not now. The orginal plan was to spend time home with wifey but that went out the window because because they decided to spend time together at 9:00pm on Friday.
No problem. This just means more motorcycle time and after all it is riding season here in the Park! The Park is my reference to motorcycling in the State of Washington.
Now where to go? I decided to head to Windy Ridge at Mt. St. Helens and continue testing my new GP Suspension for I had made some adjustments over the past week. The route. After all this road is not open often and it is one of the best roads in the state. Darn easy choice.
Before leaving the wife said she wants a BBQ tonight I offer getting steaks on the way home. I know just the place! I was on the road at 8:00am, a bit of a late start but it felt good to sleep in. The sun was up and it was about 57 degrees out while the forecast high was going to be in the low 80's. Perfect riding weather.
I headed to Orting where people were settng up a for Summerfest in the Parks a community event running until 6:00pm. Clearly this was not going to be a good way to return home.
Going to Windy Ridge also means I could stop and at the Cottage Bakery and Cafe a coffee shop with new owners in Eatonville, Wa where I enjoyed a croisant breakfast sandwhich with ham, cheese and an egg along with coffee, of course. Nice little shop and I plan on make this a habit!
It was a hazy day in Western Washington, thanks to smoke from fires in Siberia. Hazy days are no days for mountain photography. This didn't bother me too much for I had been taking a lot of photos while riding lately. This takes time and effort and today I felt like just riding.
I after breakfast it was off to Elbe and Morton. In Morton I found poeple congreating for a parade on the main highway for the Logger's Jubilee Parade. The road was not close, yet, but this too was not going to be a good route for returning home. This set the rest of my route, up to Packwood and over Cayuse Pass to Enumclaw and the Green River Meat Market.
US 12 from Morton to Packwood is a boring stretch of road and I started thinking about my next maintenance tasks. Next up would be a final drive fluid change and and oil change. I didn't have any oil and with an empty saddle bag I could stop at the Yamaha dealer in Enumclaw to get oil and a filter.
Soon I was in Randle and heading south Forest Service Road 25 to test the suspension. Unfortunately FS 25 is in poor shape, a bumpy road at best, until you reach the intersection with FS 99. It keeps me on my toes and I miss a couple of bumps with a resounding thud you can feel in your core. The new GP Suspension is a vast improvement over the stock setup and it is along roads like this you can really appreciate the upgrade.
The reason to ride here is the Forest Service Road 99. Just click here and check out the twist fest. The pavement is in petty good condition and in some place is excellent.
As predicted the views of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens were hazy at best so I just enjoyed the road. lamenting the sapplings along the road are encroaching and are begging to ruin the site line in the blow down area. Come get it now folks while the getting is good for the character of this road will change for the worst with time.
Arriving at Windy Ridge there are quite a few motorcyclist so I strike up a conversation with the fellow bikers. One fellow comments tehre are more dual sport and sport touring motorcycle up here than Harley's. My respons was yeah with 2 inches of suspension travel would you ride your motorycle up here?
Here is the view of Mt. St. Helens on this day shot at the Windy Ridge view point.
To the right of the mountain is the new and improved Spirit Lake now some 300 feet higher pre-explosion (May 1980). You can see the smoke hazy along the ridge line.
After enjoying a cigar and lots of bs'ing' I depart. Along the way I notice the rear shock needs a bit more rebound damping so I found a place to make the adjustement safely. Ah much better now!
Still on FS 99 I catch up with a fellow on a Gold Wing and became facinated, for a few turns, how he seems to know how far he can lean it over before touchdown. He floor boards were consistently about 1 inch from scraping. Not bad. I didn't peg him for a good rider because he and his significant other are wearing tank tops, tennis shoes and jeans. He motions me around and off I go enjoy the remaing smooth pavement before FS 25.
Now on bumpy FS 25 northbound I catch up with a Harley Road King. I like to call 'em Road Things. Anyway he is two up and for a while tries to stay ahead of me but after a particuliarly rough section let's me by. The road is so rough, unless the person ahead of you allows the pass you might not want to try because you can't rely on the tramac being smooth. Perhaps someday the Forest Service will fix it without removing the turns.
I refuel in Packwood, paying $4.07/gallon, ouch, thanks to higher oil prices and the recent refinery fire in San Francisco. I am off to Cayuse Pass where I find Hwy 123 is being repaved making for a slippery surface. Arriving in Enumclaw I get 2 gallons of oil and a filter. Next up is the Green River Meat Market. Check out the reviews on Yelp. where the display case looks something like this:
Yummy!
New York Steaks for me and Tenderloin for the wife.
Ready for the BBQ.
So there you have it the 300 Miles for Oil and Steaks.
No problem. This just means more motorcycle time and after all it is riding season here in the Park! The Park is my reference to motorcycling in the State of Washington.
Now where to go? I decided to head to Windy Ridge at Mt. St. Helens and continue testing my new GP Suspension for I had made some adjustments over the past week. The route. After all this road is not open often and it is one of the best roads in the state. Darn easy choice.
Before leaving the wife said she wants a BBQ tonight I offer getting steaks on the way home. I know just the place! I was on the road at 8:00am, a bit of a late start but it felt good to sleep in. The sun was up and it was about 57 degrees out while the forecast high was going to be in the low 80's. Perfect riding weather.
I headed to Orting where people were settng up a for Summerfest in the Parks a community event running until 6:00pm. Clearly this was not going to be a good way to return home.
Going to Windy Ridge also means I could stop and at the Cottage Bakery and Cafe a coffee shop with new owners in Eatonville, Wa where I enjoyed a croisant breakfast sandwhich with ham, cheese and an egg along with coffee, of course. Nice little shop and I plan on make this a habit!
It was a hazy day in Western Washington, thanks to smoke from fires in Siberia. Hazy days are no days for mountain photography. This didn't bother me too much for I had been taking a lot of photos while riding lately. This takes time and effort and today I felt like just riding.
I after breakfast it was off to Elbe and Morton. In Morton I found poeple congreating for a parade on the main highway for the Logger's Jubilee Parade. The road was not close, yet, but this too was not going to be a good route for returning home. This set the rest of my route, up to Packwood and over Cayuse Pass to Enumclaw and the Green River Meat Market.
US 12 from Morton to Packwood is a boring stretch of road and I started thinking about my next maintenance tasks. Next up would be a final drive fluid change and and oil change. I didn't have any oil and with an empty saddle bag I could stop at the Yamaha dealer in Enumclaw to get oil and a filter.
Soon I was in Randle and heading south Forest Service Road 25 to test the suspension. Unfortunately FS 25 is in poor shape, a bumpy road at best, until you reach the intersection with FS 99. It keeps me on my toes and I miss a couple of bumps with a resounding thud you can feel in your core. The new GP Suspension is a vast improvement over the stock setup and it is along roads like this you can really appreciate the upgrade.
The reason to ride here is the Forest Service Road 99. Just click here and check out the twist fest. The pavement is in petty good condition and in some place is excellent.
As predicted the views of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens were hazy at best so I just enjoyed the road. lamenting the sapplings along the road are encroaching and are begging to ruin the site line in the blow down area. Come get it now folks while the getting is good for the character of this road will change for the worst with time.
Arriving at Windy Ridge there are quite a few motorcyclist so I strike up a conversation with the fellow bikers. One fellow comments tehre are more dual sport and sport touring motorcycle up here than Harley's. My respons was yeah with 2 inches of suspension travel would you ride your motorycle up here?
Here is the view of Mt. St. Helens on this day shot at the Windy Ridge view point.
To the right of the mountain is the new and improved Spirit Lake now some 300 feet higher pre-explosion (May 1980). You can see the smoke hazy along the ridge line.
After enjoying a cigar and lots of bs'ing' I depart. Along the way I notice the rear shock needs a bit more rebound damping so I found a place to make the adjustement safely. Ah much better now!
Still on FS 99 I catch up with a fellow on a Gold Wing and became facinated, for a few turns, how he seems to know how far he can lean it over before touchdown. He floor boards were consistently about 1 inch from scraping. Not bad. I didn't peg him for a good rider because he and his significant other are wearing tank tops, tennis shoes and jeans. He motions me around and off I go enjoy the remaing smooth pavement before FS 25.
Now on bumpy FS 25 northbound I catch up with a Harley Road King. I like to call 'em Road Things. Anyway he is two up and for a while tries to stay ahead of me but after a particuliarly rough section let's me by. The road is so rough, unless the person ahead of you allows the pass you might not want to try because you can't rely on the tramac being smooth. Perhaps someday the Forest Service will fix it without removing the turns.
I refuel in Packwood, paying $4.07/gallon, ouch, thanks to higher oil prices and the recent refinery fire in San Francisco. I am off to Cayuse Pass where I find Hwy 123 is being repaved making for a slippery surface. Arriving in Enumclaw I get 2 gallons of oil and a filter. Next up is the Green River Meat Market. Check out the reviews on Yelp. where the display case looks something like this:
Yummy!
New York Steaks for me and Tenderloin for the wife.
Ready for the BBQ.
So there you have it the 300 Miles for Oil and Steaks.
