January Rides - Ducati.ms

Bill_Anderson · Jan 27th, 2008, 4:35 pm

Last Tuesday (01/22) was the second of what was predicted to be three sunny, cold days in the Seattle area. Wishing to take advantage of the sunshine, I rode Hwy. 530 through Darrington to Rockport, then took Hwy. 20 west to I-5. The temperature was probably in the high 30's in the sun, much cooler in the shade.

I stopped at one of my favorite photo spots west of Darrington and took some photos. It was also a chance to warm up my hands, which were getting cold when riding in the shade. As I was photographing, the already low winter sun set behind the ridge. This gave the mountains and the field behind my bike an entirely different look, so I snapped a second set of photos.

There was snow on the ground around Darrington and it was fun to be riding through the woods north of Darrington with snow on both sides of the road.

The worst road conditions were on Hwy. 20 west of Rockport, where there were patches of ice on the centerline which sometimes spread over into mid lane. I did not stop to look for eagles along the upper Skagit River as I wanted to get to I-5 before sunset.

Bill_Anderson · Jan 27th, 2008, 4:46 pm

The following day (Wed. 01/23) was supposed to be the last of the sunny days, so I took another ride up north. I made another swing of Fir Island and got some good photos of a Bald Eagle and some Trumpeter Swans. The Snow Geese were not where they were on my ride Monday, but I noticed a large flock airborne in the distance.

I rode in the direction of the flock and at one point I was directly underneath geese flying in the same direction I was riding, a very odd sensation. They joined more geese already in a field behind a farm house. There were thousands of geese in the field.

I continued on north and rode Chuckanut Drive, a twisty road on Chuckanut Mt. above Samish Bay south of Bellingham, WA. To the west are fantastic views of the San Juan Islands. At one point a bald eagle was flying parallel to me above the side of the road.

I did not follow my own advice about staying on open roads, for I turned on Old Samish Road and headed southeast towards I-5 and Lake Samish. The road was completely shaded and frost was on the ground right up to the shoulder.

I was so very close (and yet so far) from I-5 when I saw that water from near a residence (leaky pipe?) had flowed onto the road and completely frozen over. I stopped and let a car behind me go around, then followed it in the oncoming lane to avoid the worst of the ice. When I could not see far enough ahead to safely ride in the oncoming lane, I pulled over to my lane and SLOWLY coasted over the ice, making sure to stay upright with no sudden moves. Fortunately I was going down hill. I managed to stop at the stop sign at the bottom of the hill and put both feet on the ground: ICE. I slowly pulled onto the main road and then slowly made the turn up ahead to the I-5 on ramp. That was the first time I have ridden on ice. I never enjoyed skiing on ice and I enjoyed riding on it even less.

The rest of the trip was an uneventual straight shot down I-5. Thursday night I discovered that one of the brackets for my rear AWACS trunk had sheared. It must have happened on the ride down I-5 as Wednesday's photos do not show the trunk sitting an odd angle like it was Thursday night.

**John** · Jan 27th, 2008, 10:14 pm

Thanks Bill,

I think I saw that same flock over my house the other night. I was out with the new dog around midnight when I was surprised to hear then see a V shaped flock flying overhead. The dog picked up on them as well and kept an eye on them til they dissappeared. I didn't know geese traveled at night. As you know birds of all types use the Central Valley as a flyway when they are migrating. Its common to see them and I think its a great thing, they have been doing that I suppose for millions of years. A few miles west of Sacramento adjoining Hgywy 80 is the Vic Fazio Flyway. Went there during the migration off season, but nevertheless there were a lot of different kinds of birds to see. Its really cool to go there during the great migrations because the place is alive with zillions of birds taking a pitstop enroute North and South, depending.