Push Day Ride

9/7/2017

Alright. Gather round, folks. This is gonna be a quick story but I have pretty pictures.

My kiddo's birthday is on September 10th. This is a "push day" ride to celebrate all my hard work 19 years ago birthing him. I'm going to spend the weekend with him in Oregon, where he's been staying with his dad for the last few months. I have missed him. I wanted time to explore some new routes in NorCal, which meant departing from as far north as possible on Friday to take advantage of daylight.

Thursday I was delayed getting out of town. Rather than stress I decided to leave way after traffic died down and get as far north as I could. I rolled out of San Francisco at 7:40 PM. I had no idea which route I would take or where I would stay that night. I just needed to fly and would figure it out later.

My speedo's backlight was out so I could not see what time it was or my speed. I rode for 90 miles and had dinner at a Mexican place in Cloverdale. I arrived 20 minutes before they were closing and they kind of hurried me along.

Cloverdale would have been a spot for me to make a left and head west on 128 for another hour, minimum, to stay in the coast town of Fort Bragg or, I could head straight north via 101 to Ukiah or Willits. It was already crisp out so I chose to stay inland and found the cheapest motel in Ukiah on Travelocity. After inhaling my burrito I trudged onward for another half hour. I arrived in Ukiah at 10:45 PM. While checking into the motel I asked for a ground floor room and got one.

I unpacked some of the stuff from my bike and noticed the parking lot there seemed a bit busier than it should for 11 at night. Hmm. Weird. I realized I forgot my toothbrush so I rode to buy one. The gas station clerk where I bought one told me the hotel was tweeker central and that cases of bedbugs had been reported.


FUCK. I'd already paid and checked in.

Back at the hotel I backed the bike into the room and googled how to check for bedbugs. Once I was assured it was clear I got ready for bed. It was after midnight and I had a long day of riding planned.

Awesome

The DR looks so purposeful with the Giant Loop/gas minimal packing. No fluff.

Great to have a ride with some meaning, not just scenery/moto fun.

You have done more miles in the last month than I've done all year.My goal next year.ride as much all year as twt does in a month..or week.

Look forward to hearing more.

Thanks Scott. Riding brings me a lot of joy. Sometimes it just puts me further away from what's bothering me for a while or gives me quiet time to process life, plan, etc.

9/8/2017

I woke up. DR was with me. I hadn't been bit by anything as far as I could tell. The DR had dropped one single drop of oil on the floor overnight. I pushed her out and noticed I'd left tire tracks on the fake hardwood linoleum floors. So I wiped it up but not before taking a picture.



I had seen some squiggles on a map near Hoopa, off 96, that were unpaved. I wanted to check them out and then take the road from Seiad Valley over to Copper in Southern Oregon. I didn't get to do that. The road to Copper is closed due to fire and I didn't make as good of time getting to Hoopa as I had hoped. I'll explain that in just a moment.

I set out from Ukiah and blasted north on 101 to HWY 162 where I headed east towards Covelo and the Round Valley. HWY 162 is a great road, one of my favorites and sparsely traveled, too. Here's some photos of the glorious curves, which are frequent on this road.


Looking down to the road I'd just ridden.

Curve after curve here.

My little workhorse.

In the town of Covelo I gassed up and had some chocolate milk. That is my breakfast of champions on the road when I am trying to make time somewhere.

Then, I was off via Mina Road. I took this route to the rally. I like it and it lets me avoid 101, HWY 36 construction, etc. Plus, it's unpaved. This time, I snapped pictures for you. It's not a remote road even though it looks like it on a map. I see cars every time I come through here.

After some rolling ups and downs there's a sign warning of a steep grade for the next several miles. This spot is right before a series of switchbacks that bring you down to the Eel River. Mina is truly lovely. It's a bit silty right now but a recent rain in the area had the dust on lock down. The drivers that I did encounter today were a lot more courteous than the drivers from my last trip.

Photo one of the road

Same curve, different angle.

More DR because I am a dork.

After the pavement begins the road turns to a 1.5/2 lane wide road that is in terrible shape. Big potholes, parts of the road missing, gravel everywhere. It's fun to ride and there are some amazing views of the surrounding mountains.


Turn after turn after turn. Sometimes you have wide open vistas, sometimes you're in the trees. I love it.


The view. You can see the smoke in the distance from the fires, the Chetco Bar near Brookings and the other at the southern end of the Applegate Valley. I was fortunate because a rain had cleared out a lot of smoke from the air. I sometimes feel like I was born under a lucky star. The weather was perfect and the air clear.

I made my usual stop in Kettenpom. I almost rolled past but old habits die hard, I suppose.



I am so glad I did because I had a cuteness overload here. On the porch in front of the store was a mama with her young child who was about 18 months old by my guess. The kiddo had some sweet spiderman jammies on. I said hi and waved to the kiddo as I walked inside to buy a water. When I came out the little munchkin said "braap braap?" to me. My interest was piqued! Turns out the little munchkin was a girl who just loved Spiderman and "braap braaps". Her dad has a little 100 that they ride around their property every day. I asked if the little girl wanted to sit on my bike.

YES! She fearlessly sat on the DR650 and made braap noises. I was smitten. She was such an adorable little mountain baby. I did not snap a picture of her for the ride report because I try to be respectful of peoples privacy. But suffice to say I had a HUGE grin on my face.

I also snapped a picture of the store kitty, who is an outside cat pushing 17 years of age.

KettenKitty!

Stoked on my conversation with braap baby and mama I headed down Van Duzen. If you have never ridden this road, you really should. It's more gorgeous twisties among the trees with very little traffic. There's gravel in the corners but most of the road is in really excellent shape with just a few rough sections. It's hard to get a good photo of the twistiest bits since there's not always a safe place to pull over. But here's a little sample.

Loving this story!!

Fantastic roads and story TWT, looking forward to more!

-Bill

9/8/2017
Continued

My goal was Mad River for lunch. The last half dozen times I have come through I've either not stopped at all or not waited for a burger. That is a shame because their burgers are really good. Today, I was in and out in 20 minutes. This may be a burger bar record. There were four dudes there on ADV style bikes. I did not say hello.


My next road was Forest Route 1 from 36 to Willow Creek on 299. I had some serious business to attend to on this portion of the ride.

A few years ago a friend of mine, Lance, passed suddenly from the swine flu. His wife was devastated and all of his friends were left shocked. Lance was a smart ass and genuine smart guy. he was also a total weirdo and that's why we loved him. Here we are years ago at his place. I had randomly popped by his house one day and got a huge squishy hug.



His wife gave me some of his ashes. I've been holding on to them a few years now. Two summers ago I was on Forest Route 1, camping. I'd drunk some bourbon and was listening to Devil Makes Three while watching the most insane sunset. All I could think of and feel at the moment was Lance's presence. I decided then to leave some of his ashes here. I've been putting it off, this letting go, but this trip I remembered and since I was flying solo it was perfect.

I stopped here: Latitude: 40.62403 Longitude: -123.56956 I spent a little time here. Maybe a bit too much. It changed my afternoon plans but I was okay with that. This is the beauty of riding solo. Do what you want, all the time.


Looking west. Fog rolling in from the ocean.

Looking south

Looking north.

Looking west towards the Trinity Mountains.

It's the weirdest thing, I rarely carry this little cigarette case. When I opened it up I saw the magnet his wife had made that say "Lance is my co-pilot". The black part on the bottom of the magnet is meant to be a road because one of Lance's favorite jams is by Robert Earl Keen, Jr. The title is "The road goes on forever." It just seems to fit Lance and it fits my life now as someone who loves to wander. I left the cigarette there with Lance's ashes, which scattered in a strong breeze that was blowing.


I spent more time up here than I had planned but did not want to rush what was a serious moment for me. I kept some of his ashes in the jar I had packed them in so he could, truly, be my copilot for this trip.

Here's a link to the song in case you want to give it a listen.
[YOUTUBE]iJRWtKePKuY[/YOUTUBE]

Further down the road I took this photo. There was a fire here a few years back. I love the greenery popping up and the contrast of the black and white charred trees with the bright green. The colors are beautiful. I was fortunate to have clear skies from the recent rain I mentioned. Some of the potholes on this road had become puddles. I've never seen that up here before. It was pretty neat.


My last trip I passed the normal junction I take to get to 299 and took a sign that pointed me towards Salyer. I had liked that road quite a bit so I took it again. The road is in superb shape. I could see more evidence of the recent rain.



When I got to Willow Creek it was already 4:30. Shit. I was further delayed by some construction south of Hoopa. I decided to take the road from Happy Camp to Cave Junction instead of my planned offroad squiggles. This meant I could stop by a friend's place en route to where I was meeting my kiddo. His son was murdered in Portland a few months ago. He needed a hug. Even though I have mentioned death twice in this ride report it wasn't a sad ride for me. I was doing this out of love for those who had left us and those who remained.

Here's the road from Happy Camp to CJ.

This is all smooth pavement with a lot of deciduous trees mixed in with the evergreens. It makes for a very green ride this time of year.


I'm starting to like these rearview mirror shots.

After this point it had turned too dark to get any more good photos. I succeeded in hugging my friend and managed to get to the meetup point with my kiddo a little after 9 PM. I took 199 to Fish Hatchery to Southside to 238 towards the campsite where I'd spend the weekend with my kiddo. I grew up in this area. It always amazes me how well I remember the roads out here.

doc4216 said:

Loving this story!!

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GB500guy said:

Fantastic roads and story TWT, looking forward to more!

-Bill

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Thanks. It's kind of short and sweet but I only had the weekend and I did manage to get some lovely photos.

DR Riders Rock!

Glad you survived tweaker motel. On Ray's ride, they stay at Best Western. $$$ I've also stayed at $$ Travelodge and $ Super 8. Not bad. Good move bringing DR inside!

What is that big white jug on the back? Prefer panniers on my DR vs.
Giant Loop. Using inner bags, panniers never come off bike, just grab inner bag and go at motel. Keeps weight more forward and lower than Giant Loop type luggage and you can access stuff without having to dig or remove from bike like can happen with Giant Loop.

Great routes! I like Mina rd. too ... but not on a Ducati!
Hey, I know that Cat! Spent a long afternoon with him waiting for a ride for me and blown up Ducati ...

Where is his buddy? Both great Cats.

Hope you can continue your report!

This is the old Discovery Inn where he starts the Garberville Enduro in Ukiah. MEH. I'll stay at the Travelodge in Ukiah next time.

The big white jug is for water. I like carrying water with me in the summer/warmer months in case I get stuck for a while on the side of the road out in the boonies. Fuel range is not an issue, I get 200 miles from a tank. That white jug of water would have been nice to have had when your bike broke down. It would have helped Big Mike to wet him down when he was so close to heat stroke.

re: Giant loop, I like them a lot and after my Eastern Oregon Tour I have them pretty well sorted out. One side is sleeping bag, the other side has a bag of clothes. Some tire tubes, my tent, first aid kid in easy reach and flip flops instantly accessible. I find the Giant Loop to provide a bit of a back support when my sleeping pad is strapped on to it.

I don't have all that much more to share but will get this report knocked out by the end of the day today. I have chores to do right now and a VERY dirty DR that wants an oil change so we can SMR tomorrow.

two wheel tramp said:

Thanks. It's kind of short and sweet but I only had the weekend and I did manage to get some lovely photos.

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I'll say! Lovely photos and a lovely story!

Thank you for sharing it with us




WoodsChick

Thank you, WoodsChick.

So you lead me down Oregon 205 to a well traveled dusty Northeast California gravel road and keep these roads to yourself !? If not for a Fields Station cheeseburger and Cedarville breakfast I wouldn't ride with you for like 24 hours!

Hey now! At least I brought you home. Not that you've noticed.

Wanna go ride these roads? I mean, you can't even quit me for 12 hours.

Great story! Thanks for posting!

two wheel tramp said:

I had no idea which route I would take or where I would stay that night. I just needed to fly and would figure it out later.

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... don't let "perfect"
be the enemy of
"good enough" ... arty

... great RR ...
"Lance is my copilot" ...

Thanks John.



9/10/2017

PUSH DAY!

I had spent Saturday the 9th being a bum hanging out with my dad, kiddo and seeing my niece and nephew. I hadn't done any riding other than to let my niece ride pillion on the DR around dad's property at very low speed. She was thrilled and her only comment was "FASTER".

Sunday I woke up very early. I had exploring to do and a long way to go to get home. This was what I enjoyed as I packed up my tent and prepared to roll out.


My kid thinks motorcycles are for dorks and has no interest in riding one but he's always willing to help me get my bike ready to leave for a trip. It may not have been the most fun way to spend the morning of his birthday but he did it with a smile. Bag packed, chain lubed, oil topped off, some coffee down the hatch and it was go time. But first, some squishy kiddo hugs and birthday wishes.

By 9:20 I was headed towards a road that had piqued my curiosity for almost a decade, well before I started riding motorcycles. I used to do a lot of walking and hiking on the BLM lands in Southern Oregon and had heard there was a back way between Williams (the town where I was born) and Cave Junction. I wanted to check it out.

Dad said it was paved. I didn't care either way. Dad was wrong. I was perfectly OK with this. The first few miles of the road were paved. There were ferns growing all over the side of the road and dappled sunlight on the road where it snuck between tree leaves. It was very peaceful and pretty.

Then the road turned to gravel and became wider for a bit before narrowing again. I passed some BLM crews out in the woods as I burbled along. I realized I needed to snap a photo so I finally stopped and took these photos. I was having a great morning.





I did come to a fork in the road and went with my gut re: which direction to take. That started me on a long descent towards Cave Junction. Nice. The road became paved once more and was in really nice shape. It was still cool and shady. I passed over a little bridge that went past a creek. A quick peek to my right as I rode and I decided I needed to turn around. I was glad I did.





I was loving having the forest to myself on a cool late summer morning. These type of landscapes feel like home to me a in a way nothing else does.

Shortly after this bridge I came to a stop sign. Where the fug was I? Sign said Grayback road but this wasn't the same Grayback I took from Happy Camp a few days ago, and where I was headed again. Interesting. I filed the location into my memory for future exploration and beat it towards Happy Camp.

My first stop of the day was 18 miles west of Happy Camp at this little splashy spot.



I stayed here for 20 minutes. Long enough to eat a bite and admire the wildlife. FROGS! Dozens of them.


This is where the pictures will become sparse simply because I did not stop. (I'd like to think we've all ridden 1, too. ). From here I went to Orleans. Gassed up. Rode west. I wasn't sure if I would take the lost coast or... Got to 299 and decided to head west from there. I did pull into a vista point to snap a photo:
SWEEPERS! Fun even on the DR.

From here, rode to Fortuna without stopping. Gassed up. Time check. Google map check. Quick snack. Total break time was 20 minutes.

Decided to take 101 to Leggett so I wouldn't get to the City too late. The section of 101 from Fortuna on towards Garberville and Leggett is rather nice, big sweepers surrounded by trees. Through Leggett where I ran into some cool old cars that looked like they had taken part in a rally. They were cooking through that section and it was cool to watch. I haven't been through Leggett since the slide closed it last winter. I had missed it. What a great stretch of road.

In Fort Bragg I made a decision on the fly to ride the coast all the way down since it doesn't take much longer than cutting over via 128 to 101 and is way prettier. The sun was getting lower in the sky and that gave the whole coast a beautiful golden glow. The light was magic.

I gassed up again in Gualala and now the sun was beginning to set. To avoid some traffic that was making things slow on 1 I took a left up Fort Ross Road and rode Myers Grade to meet 1 again, cutting over once more on Bay Hill. From there, I decided to take 1 south to Olema. It was almost dark as I rolled through Tomales. I was glad that I had decided not to make the day any longer by taking the lost coast but do look forward to getting up there soon.

By 9:15 PM I had ridden 530 miles and was back in San Francisco, a whole world away from where I had started that morning. I got the same chills I get every time I ride over the bridge at night and see the City Skyline. I had left home that morning and returned to another home that night. I was glad to be back and glad that I had spent a little time with my kiddo on his birthday.

Anyhow, that's my story, I am sticking to it and I appreciate you guys reading along.

Great RR Reama! Love the DR setup. Imagine its way more fun on dirt roads than the Weestrom was! My son and I drove up to Bend Oregon for the eclipse, but we trailered our dirt bikes so we could explore a bit. Oregon is a great place for bikes!

Hi Leo! Yes I love the DR. It's been a great bike. How is your KLR treating you?

I rode in Eastern Oregon (RR here) last month. I definitely want to go back and do some more unpaved stuff.

two wheel tramp said:

9/8/2017


Here's the road from Happy Camp to CJ.

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Funny, I never saw you TWT. Great ride Reama!