LDRydr
A Homeless Nomad
Ken and I did this ride this past Saturday, leaving 7/28 at 5am, finishing up 7/29 at about 2am. The first section is Ken's writeup from the LDRider list, the second part is mine. Ken's getting warmed up to ride in the Iron Butt Rally next month (along with a few others on this forum). Enjoy.
3 weeks ago I was going to attempt an in-state SS1K in my home state of Washington. I sent out an e-mail to some local LD friends asking if one of them would be willing to witness the ride. Dennis responded that he could witness the beginning; he and his wife Karen were headed out for vacation that morning, but would be willing to meet me and be my start witness. He also mentioned that he'd really like to be able to join me on his new-to-him '06 FJR.
I decided not to do the ride that weekend for various reasons, and instead rode over to Shaniko, OR with my wife. The next week, we crewed for the Race across Oregon (an Ultra-bicycle event) so that weekend was out. I penciled in the weekend of July 28-29 for the ride, and asked Dennis if he'd like to join me. We talked back and forth through the week, and Dennis suggested reversing my original route. Then I got to thinking it wasn't long enough (only 1012 miles by Street's 'N Trips) so I revised it a little more. Here is the final route we came up with:
Start & Finish: Vancouver (Salmon Creek, near I-5)
I-5 to Burlington (Corner)
WA 20 to Kettle Falls (Corner)
US 395 to Spokane
US 195 to Colfax (Corner)
WA 26 to Dusty
WA 127 to Dodge
US 12 to Walla Walla (Corner)
US 12 to Tri-Cites (Pasco/Richland/Kennewick) (Corner)
I-82 to WA 14
WA 14 to I-5 (Dennis actually took I-205)
I-5 to Vancouver (Salmon Creek)
By odometer I think I ended up with about 1030 miles, by GPS 1010, so we still cut it a little close. We had a good ride, although less than an hour into the ride I got the first (and only!) HPDA. It was my own fault: we'd been traveling a little over the limit, moving along briskly but not really fast. I saw the State Trooper pull onto the interstate and checked my speed. I backed down to 1 over and against my normal judgment, passed the trooper. As I pulled alongside, he lit the party lights.
"You came up on me at 77 mph", he said, "and passed me at 71."
OK, my GPS is accurate, as is his radar.
"The speed limit dropped to 60 2 miles back."
"Shit."
In all honesty, he was nice about it, and only wrote it for 10 over, and let me know that the 60 zone extended for a few more miles. I could have sworn it was 70 all the way to Olympia. Dennis told me at lunch they had changed the speed limit in that area a year or so ago; my bad that I never saw the sign.
Highway 20 was most excellent. I had not been over the North Cascades Highway since my Dad and I went deer hunting when I was 17. (Jimmy Carter was president if that helps!) That was one of the reasons I chose to add this road to the ride. We had a good lunch in Tonasket (Dennis and Karen had stopped there the week before on their way back from Canada and he had the restaurant all scoped out for us.) There was a long section of new pavement between Tonasket and Republic that was just magical.
US 395 was hot, not surprisingly. We followed the GPS through Spokane; I should have checked before hand where it was taking us! We made it through, but not by the most expedient route. I lived in Spokane for a short time (11 months) about 10-11 years ago and finally recognized where we were going.
US 195 was probably the most boring section; well excluding I-5. It was hot, dry and somewhat uninspired. We made a stop in Colfax to get a splash of gas to mark the 'corner' and refill our hydration. I have a ? gallon Coleman jug with a Camelback hose, and Dennis was using an actual Camelback. I got a liter of water and a 44 oz. cup of ice, which filled it just right. I also got a Starbucks Frapachino. I have been not drinking caffeine for about 4 months as part of my IBR prep, and a little now gave me a nice perk.
WA 127 makes up for US 195. The first part particularly is a roller-coaster ride with great linked corners. I'd forgotten how fun that road is, it was before '03's IBR that I was last over here. Riding it on the GL1800 is way more fun that it was on the GL500, and I remember it being fun on the little bike.
We stopped again in Walla-Walla for gas and dinner. Again Dennis pulled through with a restaurant recommendation, and we had decent Mexican food. And lots of water! Even hydrating on the bike, I needed more water. As we left Walla-Walla, the sun was starting to set, so I switched to my clear shield. Coming into Pasco later in the dark, hordes of flying insects made the clear shield almost as dark as my smoke one! We stopped once again in Kennewick to both mark the corner and make sure Dennis had enough gas to return to Vancouver.
I led the last leg since I have extra driving lights. I have not had a chance to use the new driving lights (Hella FF200's mounted high) and they were not aimed quite right ? as a matter of fact they were way too low. I'm going to have to flip them over on the mounts as they hit the mirrors and I can't get them any higher. Conversely, I think my Hella FF50 fogs are too HIGH, as people kept 'flashing' me. We stopped in Stevenson to put on more clothes (I wore Firstgear Mesh-Tek jacket and pants the whole ride) as the temperature had dropped to 66 F.
Dennis lives close to I-205, and I live close to I-5 which I think explains how we got split up. I-205 is the shorter way there, but I had taken I-5 in the morning so that's what I had in mind. It was all ok except that I stopped for about 5 minutes trying to figure out where Dennis went before it dawned on me he'd taken I-205. Sure enough he was at the gas station when I got there. We filled up with gas and got our ending time receipts, took pictures of the GPS and thanked each other for a great ride. I got home at 1:45 AM, beating the 2 AM estimate I'd given my wife from Kennewick. I felt pretty good all day, with just a little issue from my earlier leg/back problem. Everything on the bike worked OK, although I did find a few minor things to do (like the aux lights). I'm confident that in 15 days I'll be ready to leave for St. Louis and a few days later I'll be ready to start the IBR.
Ken, Lunatic Adventurer
IBA # 257, IBR '03
Vancouver, WA USA
What happened in Spokane was there was construction where 395/2 meet up with I-90. We needed to do a little slog on I-90 going west but the construction had the onramp to I-90 closed. I had muted the voices in my head (not that she would have helped) and Ken was probably watching the cagers and we simply continued south, missing the detour. Sure glad for that auto-reroute function!
Adding to Ken's thoughts, the ride went pretty well. It was my first chance to take my new (to me) '06 FJR out for a longer ride. Gotta tell ya, I'm liking the large fuel tank, even though I have to learn how low the reserve will take me. My indicated avg MPG was 45+ until a nasty headwind all along Hwy 14 caused it to drop to 42.6 for the trip, as indicated by the trip computer.
The N. Cascades route (Hwy 20) was beautiful and only interrupted by three squid riders who were passing in blind right-turn corners like they had the right-of-way in the oncoming lane. The towns of Winthrop and Twisp had many, many riders of all types parked on the streets, I wondered if maybe there was an H-D rally going on nearby that I wasn't aware of.
Most of the route from Tonasket to the Tri-Cities area the temp was in the 90's. Not bad when you're moving but killer as we slogged through all the traffic lights in the Spokane area. My cool-vest helped.
As Ken already mentioned there were plenty of LEO's to be seen along I-5 north. But not a single one across the N. Cascades (lucky for the squids). While we were stopped in Colfax another rider asked us for directions to Spokane. We told him to simply head north from right where we were stopped and added that we'd seen no LEO's all way down from Spokane. Another rider overheard us and thought that was strange as he'd come south (like we did) earlier in the day and said they were thick as flies, in both cars and on bikes. Relishing our good luck as we pulled out and headed southwest out of Colfax on 26, with Ken in the lead, my V-1 indicated radar activity behind us. At first I thought it may have been a door opener on a building, but as we moved out of town it continued. At first I couldn't see anything in my mirror but a few miles later I saw him way back, slowly gaining on us. I tried flashing my lights at Ken, hoping he wouldn't get his 2nd award of the day, and I kept my speed at 1 or 2 over the limit (hard to do on the FJR). Ken was concerned about why I was falling behind and as he turned south on 127 10 miles later I pulled up beside him and explained the situation as we watched the LEO continue west on 26.
After Mexican dinner in Walla Walla, and finding our way through the maze known as Tri-Cities we continued in the dark towards Hwy 14 west to take us home. An almost-full moon added some additional light, which I was thankful for since I've yet to get any aux lights on the FJR. The wind picked up and at one point had its way with me and sent the FJR over the centerline, something that's never happened on my Electra Glide. Except for the occasional semi passing by in the opposite direction (and flashing lights at Ken) we were mostly alone on the highway. The V-1 did pick up one more LEO at one point but we were at the limit in the dark. Riding through the twisting curves in the moonlight, along the Cape Horn area overlooking the Columbia River Gorge, was a first for me and easily done on the FJR. A local woman, hiking in the same area with her husband later that day (Sunday), would fall to her death after the two somehow got separated.
Once again back in Vancouver, congratulating each other on a good ride and comparing GPS's, we talked about the ride. For me it's always a somewhat surreal moment when you stand in the same place where you stood some 20 hours before (for this particular ride) and ponder all the places you've seen and the miles you've covered in such a short time (know the feeling, Dale?). And to think that there's some folks who've never been from one side of the state to the other, let alone been there and back in under 24 hours. Is it any wonder I love motorcycling?
If anyone's interested there are just a few pics and the route here.
Dennis
Vancouver WA USA
IBA #24916
3 weeks ago I was going to attempt an in-state SS1K in my home state of Washington. I sent out an e-mail to some local LD friends asking if one of them would be willing to witness the ride. Dennis responded that he could witness the beginning; he and his wife Karen were headed out for vacation that morning, but would be willing to meet me and be my start witness. He also mentioned that he'd really like to be able to join me on his new-to-him '06 FJR.
I decided not to do the ride that weekend for various reasons, and instead rode over to Shaniko, OR with my wife. The next week, we crewed for the Race across Oregon (an Ultra-bicycle event) so that weekend was out. I penciled in the weekend of July 28-29 for the ride, and asked Dennis if he'd like to join me. We talked back and forth through the week, and Dennis suggested reversing my original route. Then I got to thinking it wasn't long enough (only 1012 miles by Street's 'N Trips) so I revised it a little more. Here is the final route we came up with:
Start & Finish: Vancouver (Salmon Creek, near I-5)
I-5 to Burlington (Corner)
WA 20 to Kettle Falls (Corner)
US 395 to Spokane
US 195 to Colfax (Corner)
WA 26 to Dusty
WA 127 to Dodge
US 12 to Walla Walla (Corner)
US 12 to Tri-Cites (Pasco/Richland/Kennewick) (Corner)
I-82 to WA 14
WA 14 to I-5 (Dennis actually took I-205)
I-5 to Vancouver (Salmon Creek)
By odometer I think I ended up with about 1030 miles, by GPS 1010, so we still cut it a little close. We had a good ride, although less than an hour into the ride I got the first (and only!) HPDA. It was my own fault: we'd been traveling a little over the limit, moving along briskly but not really fast. I saw the State Trooper pull onto the interstate and checked my speed. I backed down to 1 over and against my normal judgment, passed the trooper. As I pulled alongside, he lit the party lights.
"You came up on me at 77 mph", he said, "and passed me at 71."
OK, my GPS is accurate, as is his radar.
"The speed limit dropped to 60 2 miles back."
"Shit."
In all honesty, he was nice about it, and only wrote it for 10 over, and let me know that the 60 zone extended for a few more miles. I could have sworn it was 70 all the way to Olympia. Dennis told me at lunch they had changed the speed limit in that area a year or so ago; my bad that I never saw the sign.
Highway 20 was most excellent. I had not been over the North Cascades Highway since my Dad and I went deer hunting when I was 17. (Jimmy Carter was president if that helps!) That was one of the reasons I chose to add this road to the ride. We had a good lunch in Tonasket (Dennis and Karen had stopped there the week before on their way back from Canada and he had the restaurant all scoped out for us.) There was a long section of new pavement between Tonasket and Republic that was just magical.
US 395 was hot, not surprisingly. We followed the GPS through Spokane; I should have checked before hand where it was taking us! We made it through, but not by the most expedient route. I lived in Spokane for a short time (11 months) about 10-11 years ago and finally recognized where we were going.
US 195 was probably the most boring section; well excluding I-5. It was hot, dry and somewhat uninspired. We made a stop in Colfax to get a splash of gas to mark the 'corner' and refill our hydration. I have a ? gallon Coleman jug with a Camelback hose, and Dennis was using an actual Camelback. I got a liter of water and a 44 oz. cup of ice, which filled it just right. I also got a Starbucks Frapachino. I have been not drinking caffeine for about 4 months as part of my IBR prep, and a little now gave me a nice perk.
WA 127 makes up for US 195. The first part particularly is a roller-coaster ride with great linked corners. I'd forgotten how fun that road is, it was before '03's IBR that I was last over here. Riding it on the GL1800 is way more fun that it was on the GL500, and I remember it being fun on the little bike.
We stopped again in Walla-Walla for gas and dinner. Again Dennis pulled through with a restaurant recommendation, and we had decent Mexican food. And lots of water! Even hydrating on the bike, I needed more water. As we left Walla-Walla, the sun was starting to set, so I switched to my clear shield. Coming into Pasco later in the dark, hordes of flying insects made the clear shield almost as dark as my smoke one! We stopped once again in Kennewick to both mark the corner and make sure Dennis had enough gas to return to Vancouver.
I led the last leg since I have extra driving lights. I have not had a chance to use the new driving lights (Hella FF200's mounted high) and they were not aimed quite right ? as a matter of fact they were way too low. I'm going to have to flip them over on the mounts as they hit the mirrors and I can't get them any higher. Conversely, I think my Hella FF50 fogs are too HIGH, as people kept 'flashing' me. We stopped in Stevenson to put on more clothes (I wore Firstgear Mesh-Tek jacket and pants the whole ride) as the temperature had dropped to 66 F.
Dennis lives close to I-205, and I live close to I-5 which I think explains how we got split up. I-205 is the shorter way there, but I had taken I-5 in the morning so that's what I had in mind. It was all ok except that I stopped for about 5 minutes trying to figure out where Dennis went before it dawned on me he'd taken I-205. Sure enough he was at the gas station when I got there. We filled up with gas and got our ending time receipts, took pictures of the GPS and thanked each other for a great ride. I got home at 1:45 AM, beating the 2 AM estimate I'd given my wife from Kennewick. I felt pretty good all day, with just a little issue from my earlier leg/back problem. Everything on the bike worked OK, although I did find a few minor things to do (like the aux lights). I'm confident that in 15 days I'll be ready to leave for St. Louis and a few days later I'll be ready to start the IBR.
Ken, Lunatic Adventurer
IBA # 257, IBR '03
Vancouver, WA USA
What happened in Spokane was there was construction where 395/2 meet up with I-90. We needed to do a little slog on I-90 going west but the construction had the onramp to I-90 closed. I had muted the voices in my head (not that she would have helped) and Ken was probably watching the cagers and we simply continued south, missing the detour. Sure glad for that auto-reroute function!
Adding to Ken's thoughts, the ride went pretty well. It was my first chance to take my new (to me) '06 FJR out for a longer ride. Gotta tell ya, I'm liking the large fuel tank, even though I have to learn how low the reserve will take me. My indicated avg MPG was 45+ until a nasty headwind all along Hwy 14 caused it to drop to 42.6 for the trip, as indicated by the trip computer.
The N. Cascades route (Hwy 20) was beautiful and only interrupted by three squid riders who were passing in blind right-turn corners like they had the right-of-way in the oncoming lane. The towns of Winthrop and Twisp had many, many riders of all types parked on the streets, I wondered if maybe there was an H-D rally going on nearby that I wasn't aware of.
Most of the route from Tonasket to the Tri-Cities area the temp was in the 90's. Not bad when you're moving but killer as we slogged through all the traffic lights in the Spokane area. My cool-vest helped.
As Ken already mentioned there were plenty of LEO's to be seen along I-5 north. But not a single one across the N. Cascades (lucky for the squids). While we were stopped in Colfax another rider asked us for directions to Spokane. We told him to simply head north from right where we were stopped and added that we'd seen no LEO's all way down from Spokane. Another rider overheard us and thought that was strange as he'd come south (like we did) earlier in the day and said they were thick as flies, in both cars and on bikes. Relishing our good luck as we pulled out and headed southwest out of Colfax on 26, with Ken in the lead, my V-1 indicated radar activity behind us. At first I thought it may have been a door opener on a building, but as we moved out of town it continued. At first I couldn't see anything in my mirror but a few miles later I saw him way back, slowly gaining on us. I tried flashing my lights at Ken, hoping he wouldn't get his 2nd award of the day, and I kept my speed at 1 or 2 over the limit (hard to do on the FJR). Ken was concerned about why I was falling behind and as he turned south on 127 10 miles later I pulled up beside him and explained the situation as we watched the LEO continue west on 26.
After Mexican dinner in Walla Walla, and finding our way through the maze known as Tri-Cities we continued in the dark towards Hwy 14 west to take us home. An almost-full moon added some additional light, which I was thankful for since I've yet to get any aux lights on the FJR. The wind picked up and at one point had its way with me and sent the FJR over the centerline, something that's never happened on my Electra Glide. Except for the occasional semi passing by in the opposite direction (and flashing lights at Ken) we were mostly alone on the highway. The V-1 did pick up one more LEO at one point but we were at the limit in the dark. Riding through the twisting curves in the moonlight, along the Cape Horn area overlooking the Columbia River Gorge, was a first for me and easily done on the FJR. A local woman, hiking in the same area with her husband later that day (Sunday), would fall to her death after the two somehow got separated.
Once again back in Vancouver, congratulating each other on a good ride and comparing GPS's, we talked about the ride. For me it's always a somewhat surreal moment when you stand in the same place where you stood some 20 hours before (for this particular ride) and ponder all the places you've seen and the miles you've covered in such a short time (know the feeling, Dale?). And to think that there's some folks who've never been from one side of the state to the other, let alone been there and back in under 24 hours. Is it any wonder I love motorcycling?
If anyone's interested there are just a few pics and the route here.
Dennis
Vancouver WA USA
IBA #24916
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