Fly and Ride 17 FJR

[escapefjrtist]

Awesome pics Fontanaman. 

~G

 

[Panman]

Jim glad you stopped in and glad you enjoyed the sandwich.

We will be here till this coming Monday and get to our next destination Tuesday the 24th north of Santa Barbara.

I suppose I should up date our travels in the post I started.

 

[Fontanaman]

Daily Ditty

March 19, 2020

Silver Linings

Let's continue with the silver linings theme as negativity is weary.

This morning I heated up a burrito for breakfast. Silver lining I had breakfast.

I got going about 9:00am and it was 42 with blue skies. Silver lining was the weather was great today.

I got to see Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox today. Silver lining is fantasy is a good diversion.

Why is it named Babe the Blue Ox when clearly this Ox is male?

I got to see big Redwood trees today.

My Garmin 590 is paired to the Garmin app. It told me Hwy 101 was closed and told me on a 2.5 hour detour. Silver lining is the Garmin thought the traffic light controlled one way road on Hwy 101 was a lane closure. I will refrain from a Garmin rant here, damn my lip is bleading. I just want an Android Auto Head Unit for a motorcycle than can be controlled by gloves and connect to my phone.

I got to see the Pacific Ocean today and that is the silver lining.

I got to ride on Hwy 199 today. Silver lining is its a nice twisty road and I had a clean pass except for a couple of knuckheads who could not read the slower vehicles used turn out signs. They were dispatched quickly not be bee seen again with a well deserved salute.

I entered Oregon today. Silver lining is I am fine and closer to home.

I used DoorDash today to have food delivered to my hotel. Was great!

To be continued.

 

[Fontanaman]

Daily Ditty

March 20, 2020

How about more silver linings today?

Using the McDonald's app on my phone I order breakfast and walk to the store next door and stand in app order stall 4. Within 5 minutes I have breakfast. Silver lining is I have breakfast and I am learning to be more flexible.

Today was a blue sky day with some haze and moderate temperatures. Silver lining is it is a nice day for the final day of this trip.

My route takes me along the Columbia River Gorge. The Gorge is a natural venturi and the Silver lining is it is not blowing today.

I decide to get off the freeway give you a show of the Columbia River Gorge. Silver lining this ride report will be better for it!

The white wood guard rail is a used to add character to the highway as this was used back in the day over 100 years ago. Motorist are in the debt of Sam Hill and Sam Lancaster for this wonderful road. The engineering alignment generally had a maximum grade of 5% and curve radius of 200 feet.

There are several waterfalls on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. This is Wakeena Falls.

Horsetail Falls

Now back on the freeway on the way to Mosier.

The Columbia River. Silver lining I was here today!

Self portrait. Silver lining is I didn't drop the camera.

In Mosier Oregon on Hwy 30.

This is for you Hppants. Once Joey told me he wanted to rider every Rowena Curve when he comes out west despite this being a short but sweet section of road. Silver lining I am the the Rowena Curves, again, darn.

The Ice Age Floods carved these cliffs and created the spectacular water falls. Please take a couple of minutes learn about this dramatic landscape. There is also a video in page too.

Also near Bonneville Dam there was a large landslide and here is a 5 minute video from Nick Zentner a Geology Professor at Central Washington University. Nick is a natural at teaching.

Mt. Hood in the distance. Silver lining was it was a clear day.

John Day Dam. Silver lining it didn't breach today? That is dark humor and should be banned from silver linings!

Back in Washington State on the north side of the Columbia River. State Route 14 is a nice road.

Interesting rock formation on the right.

Heading home. Silver lining is I made it home safe and sound.

To be continued. Yeah there is a bit more.

 

[Bugnatr]

Where is the Rowena Curve and any trouble getting a hotel room the last few days?

 

[Fontanaman]

Where is the Rowena Curve and any trouble getting a hotel room the last few days?

Rowena Curves are near The Dalles Oregon.  No trouble getting a hotel although that could change quickly.  Food was not a problem either - DoorDash worked good as did the McDonalds app.  I had to adapt from my normal routine and that gets harder as I get older.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Thanks for letting us follow along and glad you're home safe and sound Fontanaman!

~G

 

[Fontanaman]

Daily Ditty

March 22, 2020

The Epilogue

In total I road about 4650 miles. From Lafayette to Spokane, a 9 day ride, I road 3400 miles for an average of about 375 per day.

The tires on the bike when I bought it made it home. The were are a set of Pirelli Angel GTs and I believe there were new are nearly new.

At 16,850 miles the front tire measures 5/32" in of tread while the rear had 8/23" in. Now at 21,500 miles the front tire measure 3/3/2" in of tread while the rear had 5/23" in. The measurements were taken adjacent to the wear bars at the near the top of the tire.

The front tire is a starting to square off just a bit while the rear is has a nice radius. I won't make any other comparisons because my 09 is GP front suspension and a Penske at the rear while the 17 has ES suspenders so it is hard to tell how the tires performs with much different suspension systems. In addition most of the miles I traveled were on the flat roads.

Front tire.

Rear tire.

When I left on this trip, our home, recently flooded due to a plumber's error installing a water conditioner, was waiting for repair. My wife needed foot surgery to remove a bony growth on her toe and needs a dental implant.

When I returned home nothing had changed except my wife has a mild case of bronchitis. No work was done on the house. The work starts tomorrow. Due to COVID-19 Linda's medical and dental work is postponed until things return to normal. [Rant] And I don't want to hear the cliché "This is the new normal." In my lifetime there is nothing normal about the coronavirus spreading around the world and it will eventually run its course. [/EndRant]

I had enough going on at the beginning of this trip to tilt the stress meter. Then while on the trip the coronavirus epidemic explodes nationwide and the unplanned events impact the trip. As a result I started to suffer from anxiety. My blood pressure was up during the trip and to be safe I went to a hospital where I was diagnosed with higher than normal blood pressure and an EKG test was normal a big Silver Lining! Yesterday my wife Linda, a former Nurse Practitioner, checked my BP with an old school tool and found it 134/80. I am still not settled but I am trying to avoid stressors such as the news. I have started to re-appropriate farkles from the 09 to the 17 and this has a calming effect. Silver lining is my situation is much better than many others in the country and I have a bit of anxiety medication at home.

Hopefully you can find silver linings in your life today. Thanks for following along.

The End.

 

[philter]

This thread was a silver lining for me. 

 

[Niehart]

+1

 

[escapefjrtist]

Heck Fontanaman, those tires have enough tread left for a three or four day "box" ride! Hope you get the house back together soon. Just doing our bonus room / closet project left us in shambles for a month.

~G

 

[Cyclepath]

That was an excellent set of road report segments. Thank you sir!

 

[Fontanaman]

Heck Fontanaman, those tires have enough tread left for a three or four day "box" ride! Hope you get the house back together soon. Just doing our bonus room / closet project left us in shambles for a month.

~G

Yeah the box is on my mind.  Right now I don't want to stay in hotel rooms and eat take out with the coronavirus on the increase.  Oregon has closed their State Parks so camping is out. 

 

[old1959]

Good trip report and glad you’re home to now focus on health, both of you, and house. Take care my friend 

 

[Mount Rainier]

Daily Ditty

March 20, 2020

How about more silver linings today?

The Ice Age Floods carved these cliffs and created the spectacular water falls. Please take a couple of minutes learn about this dramatic landscape. There is also a video in page too.

Also near Bonneville Dam there was a large landslide and here is a 5 minute video from Nick Zentner a Geology Professor at Central Washington University. Nick is a natural at teaching.
 

Nick almost got to your question about the feeder dikes/fissures tonight Jim.   Perhaps he felt he answered it on an earlier question.   It was a good question!



Keep Going!

 

[VMaxChuck]

Thanks for sharing! It's too bad for me that the West Coast is so far away from Michigan..... :scooter:

 

[Fontanaman]

17 hours ago, Mount Rainier said:

Nick almost got to your question about the feeder dikes/fissures tonight Jim.   Perhaps he felt he answered it on an earlier question.   It was a good question!

Hi Jim.  I have been watching Nick's Live Series Videos.  Very enjoyable - it is like being in college again without testing or studying, just get to listen to a a very educated person talk about a subject I find interesting. 

And he answered my question.  The fissure followed a northwest line of an ancient and very hard plate (forgot the name of the plate).

 

[Mount Rainier]

Hi Jim.  I have been watching Nick's Live Series Videos.  Very enjoyable - it is like being in college again without testing or studying, just get to listen to a a very educated person talk about a subject I find interesting. 

And he answered my question.  The fissure followed a northwest line of an ancient and very hard plate (forgot the name of the plate).

Jim

I had to laugh, I'm sure along with everyone else, when he gave the middle finger salute to the Muffler Boy last week.   His contribution to understanding northwest geology is priceless.  His teaching style is exceptional.  His students love him.  My niece had him while at Central years ago and says he's the best.  Sometime even he admits he might not be getting through to all his students however.   Have you heard his story about one of his students setting in on all his classes and upon completing an exam  the student confessed she was confused by a number of question referring to the Cascades?  She indicated she had no idea where the Cascades were.  It turns out she lived in Tacoma and went home almost every weekend via I-90.....   

The Washington Scablands are fascinating in many ways.  Maybe we'll run into each other on one of the many explorations/adventures to be enjoyed right in our backyard. 

Keep Going! 

Here we are at Drumheller Channels last fall.