35 Days In The Rockies

"Well Bill, I have bad news for you. We're closing your department."

And with those words, I was free to do something that I've wanted to do since well before I ever saw my first issue of (former sister publication) Motorcycle Escape magazine: Take a long motorcycle tour.

I left word with my network and a few headhunters that I was now "available to the industry," prepaid my rent & utilities, notified my credit card company that I would be traveling, and packed for an extended trip.

There are two things to keep in mind; first, up until this trip I'd been a fair weather rider and had never taken an overnight trip on the bike. Second, I'm a project manager by trade, which usually means that I spend more time planning a vacation than I do on the vacation itself.

This time was different. Finding myself in the middle of a divorce and laid off, I decided that my personal version of a mid-life crisis would be to leave on an unplanned trip and see what happened!

What resulted was a 35 day, 7500 mile trip that carried me through eight states, two provinces, and 11 national parks.

San Francisco To Seattle
Not having touring experience doesn't mean that I don't have travel and camping experience, so I put my Eagle Scout training to good use in developing a packlist, consulting back issues of Motorcycle Cruiser and Escape to round it out. Of course, that meant that I had to buy a tank bag and some touring luggage. After some research I ended up with a Marsee Magnetic Tank Bag and Cruiser Bar Bag.

My friend Pete Puccio heard I was available and invited me up to start the trip with a four day run through the Cascade Mountains in Washington. So, on the last day of April I packed up, left San Francisco, and headed north.

I can see the Northern California coastline over any three day weekend, so I immediately hit Interstate 5 and headed across the Oregon border.

Since I had a couple of days to get to Seattle, I wasn't in any particular hurry-which was a nice change of pace for me. I started off (as usual) with my iPod, and for the first time found it distracting. It went into the saddlebag for the rest of the trip. This was only my second vacation in between jobs, and there is something seriously relaxing about being off work and knowing that there is not going to be 500 emails waiting for you on your return. And even if it was a Super Slab, there was something refreshing about kicking out the highway pegs, leaning back, and rolling along with no real schedule.

I spent the first night outside, at a campsite in Grants Pass with the intention of taking the next two days riding Highway 101 up the coast to Washington. I was sleeping in a hammock when it started raining at 3 A.M.; the following morning I rolled out of the campsite slightly damp, but none the worse for wear, taking Bear Camp Road (using my directions from Yahoo Maps) toward Gold Beach.

I didn't know it at the time, but many of you will remember Bear Camp Road as the ill-fated route that cost CNET Editor James Kim his life in December of 2006.

What should have taken 90 minutes on the map ended up taking over three and a half hours. The road had just been opened and what stared out as a beautiful two-lane highway quickly turned into a washed out gravel road fit only for dual-sports and half-ton trucks.

On one of the more treacherous sections I suddenly found the bike doing a pirouette on the newly installed highway bar. And in case you are wondering, picking up a fully loaded Vuclan 1500 by oneself on gravel is not exactly a simple endeavor. Luckily, the only thing that touched down was the highway bar and there was no damage.

By the time that I reached Gold Coast, it was well after lunch and raining hard. One of the things I was to think of often on this trip is that the great thing about having no plans is that it's really easy to change them.

So, rather than risk a rain soaked Highway 101 for too far, I turned inland on Highway 38 and made my way to Eugene to find a hot shower, a friendly brewpub, and a dry bed.

Day three reminded me why I'm not all that keen on riding in the rain. Except for the constant rain between Eugene and Seattle there wasn't anything to see, take pictures of, or to complain about for that matter.

Driving all day in the rain gives you little time for thinking about anything other than the road, what's in the road, and if the driver of the cage next to you is actually paying attention to the road. I actually saw one guy text messaging as he was driving.

I was in town a day before Pete was free to leave, so I stayed with mutual friend Bob Rankin so I could arrange for my 4000 mile service on the bike, update the blog I was keeping on the trip, and pick up some better motorcycle boots.

While staying with Bob and family, I even had the chance to participate in a little family history: Bob's eldest son Connor joined us for his first cigar.

Northern Cascades To Eastern Washington
Up Highway 5 to Burlington and then east on Highway 20 was our route. Somewhere along the 20 the rain lightened up enough for a smoke break.

Standing in the misting rain after lighting his cigar, Pete looked over at me and said "This does not suck!" As you might imagine, his quip became an oft repeated phrase for the remainder of the trip.

Pete is all about the journey-and he fully intends to enjoy himself on it. So for his four-day trip he brought along 40 Rocky Patel Jr. cigars. This meant that we stopped at every opportunity to enjoy the views and the smokes.

And stop often we did. The Cascade Loop is a beautiful ride; well maintained, long sweeping curves, majestic views, and plenty of pullouts to stop and take in the beauty.

When we started out it was chilly, in the mid-thirties and raining. Somewhere near Washington Pass and Ross Lake it started snowing on us, so we decided to stop lollygagging and get to the other side of the pass.

As we began to descend the eastern side of the Cascades, it began to warm noticeably. By the time we reached Winthrop, Washington around 3 P.M., it was 75 degrees and sunny. It had turned into a beautiful day and we were past ready for a cold beer, so we had a late lunch, and checked into the Duck Brand Hotel.

Over dinner, the discussion turned to "where do we go from here?" After discussing several options, we decided that if we got up early we could reach the Tri-Cities area of Southeastern Washington (on the Oregon border) by Saturday night and stay with some of Pete's friends there before heading north along the Columbia River and staying with friends of mine on Sunday night. That would give Pete time to get back to work, as scheduled, on Tuesday morning.

The ride to the Tri-Cities area was navigated over a zig-zagging network of state highways and county roads. Having come out of the Cascades, these particular roads weren't all that memorable and the best part of it all was just being on the bike-and not being in the rain!

After a grand night at Pete's pal Tim Moon's house (including the obligatory fire pit, adult beverages, and cigars) we started the next morning by making our way to Highway 25 and up the Columbia River.

This is truly a spectacular ride in the spring. While not quite "twisties," there are plenty of opportunities to find the lean limits of a cruiser. The road is in great shape and (except for an occasional log truck straying over the centerline) quite a fun and scenic ride. Our route took us across the Spokane Indian Reservation and into Stephen's County, through Kettle Falls and finally just short of Northport, Washington.

Our intention was to make it to our destination for the evening well before dusk, since the entire route appeared to be a continuous deer crossing, and evening would only make things worse. We made one final stop at the China Bend boat ramp on the Columbia to smoke a cigar and realizing that Pete's part of the trip was about to end...so I hatched an evil plan.