To Sparks and beyond

[gregory]

Had a couple back to back weekend rides planned, the first was the Western FJR Roundup (HUGE shout out to Don and Doug for such a great event) and the second was a trip to Oregon to see friends, celebrate a 50th birthday for one of 'em and go and see Journey and Steve Miller in concert.

Trips are coming up fast and the ol BS meter was pegged way in the red, and, with this one, there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. I was going though Uberkul's thread about his Slo-Mo Alaskan photo tour https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php/topic/158536-the-alaska-slo-mo-photo-tour/ and when I came to the photo of all the stuff he was taking, and it just kind of came to me to combine the two weekends into one trip. After some great advice from SacMIke, Iggy and a few others, REI, Amazon and my Visa got together, and procured the necessary items for 5 days of camping off the bike after Sparks.

But, I get ahead of myself.

First Leg:

Western FJR Roundup flyer was on the fridge for what seem like forever. The weekend before I got a little light maintenance done.

Fresh PR2'S, wire in pigtail for battery tender/compressor/ air mat inflater.

Loaded up and off we go

After an hour and half of slab and straight 2 lane, I get to meeting point on

in

I am a little early, and have a nice chat with the post lady who tells me all about the history of the area. After a bit, Doug, Steve and CIndy, Fester (Brian) and BigJohn arrive, and we proceed to ride the very tasty LaPort road. Sadly, there are no photos of the ride on LaPort due to the fact that I was doing everything I could to keep up with Doug and Brian. As long as he stays on the "right" side of the road, that Australian is on fast dude!

Taking a small break from the twistys

Brian and John, AKA "The Dynamic Duo" after lunch and fuel in Quincy (Sorry, food porn pics are few and far between this trip)

Rest of the day was uneventful, finished the ride into Sparks with a few drops of rain here and there and some strong winds. Enjoyed the usual parking lot meet and greet (Props to Karl for the beer)

Friday, I went with Doug, John (local Reno guy on his C-14), SacMike, Brodie on a nice ride that started in........Sparks. I have no Idea where we actually went, as I was following, but it was some great roads that led us down to Tahoe, up and over Monitor pass and the long way home through some farmlands. It was an amazing mix of twistys, sweepers and some long straights that led to Doug seeing how fast that Connie really is. (I must say, Doug's KTM held it's own!)

A no food porn breakfast

John and Doug in Tahoe

Most of how the day looked following John and Doug

There was a plan to stop on top of Monitor for a bio break. But, due to the traffic that was clogging up the road out of Tahoe (bicycle race the next day) once I had a clear path, I did not want to stop for anything, and rode straight through with the biggest **** eating grin on my face.

John from Reno at the end of the Monitor Pass ride.

Dougie Bear

Some of the long and hot racetrack back to the hotel

Massive traffic jam going East back into Sparks. Finally gave up being good citizens, and with bikes and riders overheating, we took to splitting lanes and some of us, just used the breakdown lane to get past the jam.........

After we get back to the hotel, there was this guy yelling at us to get off his lawn

More riders, more tire kicking and the tales of motorcycle riders grow with the shadows. It is off to dinner with one of my favorite people on the planet. I swear Tyler, if you ever let me eat a meal with you again, I will NOT touch your Margarita! (and once more, my most humble apologies to the wonderful Miss Laura!)

The next day turned out to be a short one, and only one photo of the ride was taken. A brief get together for the plan.

Short day, but that's OK, everybody went home in one piece.

Last night of the get together and the Lake side was full of great people renewing friendships or starting new ones and sharing a libation or two watching the "Super Moon" rise on a warm summer evening.

I did learn something on this trip

And something we all know

And so ends the Western FJR Riders Roundup.

 

[gregory]

Edited for unknown reasons!

 

[beemerdons]

Very Nice Work, Goat ******! JSNS!

 

[bigjohnsd]

Nice RR and I will attest that there were no Goats or Sheep anywhere near Gregory in Or around Sparks!

Despite wearing earplugs due to Festar's sonomulent rumble I do believe I overheard the bleating of a goat from the parking lot the night Beemerdon claimed to be drinking whiskey until 0400, JSNS!

 

[escapefjrtist]

Nice summary Gregory!

--G

 

[Old Michael]

Thanks for sharing with us, Gregory.

Good seeing you.

 

[Bugnatr]

After we get back to the hotel, there was this guy yelling at us to get off his lawn

Man, that guy just scared me

 

[airboss]

Why would you be scared of him?...........He's not normal.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

looks like it was fun.

 

[Tyler]

Great seeing you too, Greg!! :wub:

 

[gregory]

Hot damn! SPU how the hell are ya?

 

[beemerdons]

Hot damn! SPU how the hell are ya?

Jeez Marie, get a room you two! JSNS!

 

[gregory]

Sparks was a blast, got to see and meet some of the great denizens of this community, but it was time to attend to the BS meter.

Loaded up and started out just a bit before 7. Saw BigJohn as I was leaving, but no sign of Fester. Said my goodbyes and headed out on a route that Doug recommended. My original plan was to slab it East on 80 to 95 North to the first camp site just SW of Boise. I was never really happy with this plan and after Doug conferred with FJRay, I opted for his route. "you'll be able to run FJR nominal speeds (I did), and there's gas in Denio (there wasn't) As I headed out, I found a great road.

Finally got out of Reno and headed North past Pyramid Lake. Took the opportunity to give props to one of my favorite people that I hope to meet one day. Man, I really do love those Kristas! Thanks Albert, it was great to see you again, I hope to ride with you someday.

After a brief attempt to best my top speed (fell short by 2 MPH, pretty sure the camping gear made a nice air brake) I found Carvers dog rock and doubled back to get a pic.

From the front

Continued on up toward Gerlach, but the IB memorial will have to wait for another day as I have miles to go. I will say that running at FJR nominal speeds, is a great way to make those fuel stops come much quicker. Most of the scenery on this leg looks like the dog rock photo, so I didn't take all that many shots. Had a late breakfast in Lakeview, OR.

As I am gearing up, who should show up in the parking lot, but Brian and Fester on their way to meet another forum member. It was great to see Brian and get a chance to say goodbye (for now). If you get a chance to meet the bloke, you should take it.

Rider and bike both fueled up, I head off for Hwy 140.

As I get to the turn off, I see that the road has been chip sealed recently, but most of the gravel is in the road or brushed off to the side. I am sort of committed to this route (long way the other way) so I decide to see how long the chip seal lasts. For the most part, the gravel isn't bad with just enough left in the apex to keep my speed down. After about 20 miles I get back to blacktop and that's where the tar snakes start. Not just a little slide to the left or right when I hit them, but because they are so frequent and thick, I get a rhythmic head shake going that forces me to again back off the throttle. This goes on for about 10 more miles and then it's back to the chip seal. In reality, the scenery was a nice canyon with a small river and lots of cows grazing, if it wasn't for the 104 degree heat, it would have been perfect. The chip seal once more gives way to blacktop that is free of tar snakes and by this time, I am out there all alone. We have all run up to the upper end of the speedo, but there is something sublime about running 115 to 125 for 20-30 minutes at a time.

Made short work of this valley

As I pull into Denio, I de-gear at the pump and attempt to put the CC in only to finally see the sign that says, "until we get new tanks, NO GAS!"

Awesome, I just hit two bars.

Go into the little store, soak the cooling vest and ask the gal selling me water how far to the next gas. 'Bout 80 miles that way she says. Thank her and re-gear and fire up the bike and scroll to the range screen. 77 miles. I know that I have a decent reserve, so I am not too worried, but I spent the next hour + playing how far at this speed until I finally come across a Chevron that the GPS does not know about with a 3/4 of a gallon to go.

95 North is boring. Long. Straight. Hot. Boring. Nothing worthy of photographing between here and the first campsite of the trip. I did think of Biker Geek though.

Yes, that is real corn.

After almost a 700 mile day, I finally get to the campsite, get set up, and despite the heat and humidity fall deep asleep watching a thunderstorm in the distance.

A new day dawns and I pack up head out with the promise of adventure and run right into.....construction. Lots of construction on this trip. After a brief run through Boise traffic, I find Hwy 21 that heads up into the Boise National Forrest. An awesome road with an unrealistic speed limit of 45. Fortunately, I have the road to myself and take full advantage of it.

After the best breakfast of the trip

I resumed the wonderful 21 until I again hit

Break from 21 to 17 and once again wick it up a bit until.

I want to ride these roads again, hopefully construction free, as they were a hoot. After a great, if hot morning, it was time for a little cool down.

After a quick fuel stop,

I got the flock out of there.

And made to site #2

Not quite as hot as Boise, but still pretty toasty.

 

[gregory]

Next stop was the mythical land of Canada 'EH.

After loading up and heading out at an early hour with no worries for Bambi, I was making great time. I was following my route that I had printed out and placed in the tank bag map slot. Many hours of plying through Google maps went into this leg as there were numerous ways to get to where I wanted to go. Things were going great, and when I went to move page two to the top, it was missing. I can only guess that I used it for last nights campfire. Ah well, I have an atlas in the Givi and I can use some breakfast, so at the next little town, I stop at the local diner and start to load the route into the Zumu (wait for it). Since I had spent so much time I pretty much had it figured out, and in a few minutes the route was loaded in as breakfast came.

Life is good and off I go.

Memorial rest stop for one of my favorite of the Indian Chiefs

When I was in Sparks, I was talking to Doug about my route and camping. He suggested staying at the Grand Coolie Dam because they do a laser light show on the face at night. As cool as that sounds, my route would not take me anywhere near the Grand Coolie. As I am tooling along, the sign informed me that the Grand Coolie was a mere 29 miles down the road (and there it is. Thanks Zumu, or more likely, my route planning skills!)

The backside

The Front side

Can't help but laugh. As much as I would LOVE to blame the Garmin, missing whole cities has been way too prevalent in my life!

Check the rest of the route, and it will indeed get me to my entry point in Canada. I am almost to Canada and I have yet to see one Maple tree or Ice hockey rink! I did manage to capture a selfie though

But I put the camera away after this sign

After a quick chat with a very nice, but heavily armed Canadian border agent, I am out of the US!

And promptly run into: Canadastruction

It's still hot but that's O.K.. After a plate of Poutine and a spirited, one sided conversation with a local who's coffee buddy's did not show, I find my Northern campground for the night at the EC Manning Provincial Park. With the exception of trying to put tent steaks in the ground, it was a great site.

Side cases make GREAT ice chests in a pinch!

Finally, a nice cool night!

Had a great bear free night and in the morning, found one of the local shops for breakfast.

After sucking up a few gigabytes of free WIFI, I fueled up at a childhood memory. Dad was stationed at a small, and now decommissioned Air Force base in Germany called Hahn. When I was there, they had F-4's and then F-16's after we left. I have been back since, but that is a different RR. Anyway, right outside the main gate was an ESSO station that I remember filling up the family Nova in Germany. Tons of memories flooded my mind until I had to explain to the US Border Agent why I was in Canada for 1 day (Got an FJR, what other reason do I need?)

How to tell that your back in the good 'ol US of A!

I have to apologize to this particular group of Harleys (and 1 Valkrie) I did not mean to pass you on 17 like that, but when the motor home started pulling away from you at that construction stop, I had no choice...............

After a mix of amazing coastal roads and jam packed tourist laden 101, I checked out the Fort Casey State Park and Admiralty Lighthouse and gun range. Well, not really a gun range, but a former coastal defense site.

.

Pretty sure I can take out the ferry.

View from the top

Some of the rounds they used.

 

[gregory]

AS I leave the park, I meet up with this very nice lady waiting for the ferry. Seems like she and 5 other friends are going to the Redwoods on a Motorcycle camping trip. Two are on Triumphs, one on a Harley and one on a BMW F 800 GS. We chat while the ferry does it's thing, I thought about joining them, but there were other plans in the works.

There was also a Harley group from Saskatchewan that was on a fishing expedition. Holy crap did they "light up the ferry" with fuel to noise conversion when they loaded and disembarked.

Admit it, there is something cool about a motorcycle on a boat.

I had planned on a KOA in Port Angles, but one of the Dr's I work with, offered up a family beach house for a night. It was easily the best night of the trip and one of the reasons I manages to reset the BS meter to near zero (forgot about that, didn't you?)

You don't normally see Ewoks out by them self's........

Pretty sure an upside down flag is a sign of distress?

I pondered this, because it was part f the reason the BS Meter has been pegged...........But decided that it didn't matter as the sun was setting.....

After a great night in a wonderful setting, I was off for the last day of camping off the bike. This was a must stop, as my daughter's name is Amanda.

I stayed in Ilwaco, which is on the Norther side of the Columbia across from Astoria.

Yes, there was even construction on the bridge

I love lighthouses, and plan on eventually visiting every one on the West Coast. A couple of shots of North Head Lighthouse at Cape Disappointment.

Looks like Bon Jovi was here

Going to finish up........

Final camp site.

My kind of humor. Although, he was only a Commander.

And finally, the last shots of the trip. These were taken at Pacific City, Pelican Pub and Brewery. Great place, great beer. They run the little skiffs right up onto the beach to load them on the trailers.

Final stats for the trip.

3445 miles.

65 hours moving time.

Doug is a human map, but best to check if there is really gas where he says there is.

287 bug strikes to the 3 square inches of my face not covered by the helmet/visor

3 bug strikes directly into my nose.

1 something stinging the crap out of my left leg 1.5 hours into the ride in Idaho on 21 (no idea where he came from)

I now know somebody who lives in Australia, and is a hell of a great guy.

8 construction stops, all at least 100+ degrees with no shade.

I am fairly well set up to camp off the bike.

Cheesecake for breakfast rocks.

The cause of the BS meter pegging the redline remains, but the effect has been reduced to zero.

Thanks for coming along.

Greg

 

[FarWestFastEddie]

Greg, Awesome ride report! thanks for taking us along!

FWFE

 

[Mihalis fjr]

Great ride report and photos!

Thanks!

 

[gregory]

Thanks Eddie, wish I had gotten to ride with you in Sparks. I think I may have to get out of the heat and head for the coast soon.

 

[beemerdons]

Great ride report and photos!Thanks!

+1, Gunny; outstanding Ride Report and awesome Photographs, it could have used a few more goat pics though! jes' sayin' and nuff said, bleet!