A couple of Ducs in Washington and Oregon - Ducati.ms

RobertVP · Dec 19th, 2009, 7:10 pm

Cabin fever is setting in with a vengeance this year. To help alleviate the symptoms I have been scouring Pashnit and other sites for pictures, stories, anything to help fill the ‘motorcycling void’. Sometimes I don’t know if it helps or just helps reinforce the awareness of what I am missing…

Anyway, I thought that others are probably in the same predicament so it’s time to do some sharing of my own.

This trip took place in late Sept. 2007. Chris and I decided to get in a 3 day ride through Washington and Oregon before the rainy season arrived in earnest.

We crossed the border into the U.S. of A. without incident. It can at times be a long process if the officer is not having a good day. Not this time.

“What is the purpose of your trip?”

“Short vacation.”

“Any drugs?”

“No sir.”

“Any gifts that you will be leaving in the States?”

“No sir.”

“Nice bike. Have a good day.”

“Thank you, you also.”

Gotta like that.

We took I5 south to HWY20. HWY20 is the northernmost West-East highway in Washington. It has some absolutely beautiful scenery and some pretty good riding. As we were getting close to Winthrop a LEO passed going the other way. We were doing the speed limit (well, close to it) since it was already becoming built up with driveways, more traffic, etc. I watched in my mirror and sure enough the LEO pulled a U-turn as soon as he could and gave us an escort into town. Probably something to do with bright yellow and red motorbikes…

Winthrop was the first stop for lunch. Winthrop is a popular lunch destination for riders from both Seattle and Vancouver. Really nice downtown. Small, you see pretty much all of it in these pictures.
http://www.leavenworth.org/modules/p...x.php?pageid=1

Something you can never be too far away from when on a Ducati superbike.

After Winthrop we continued east and south along HWYs 20, 153, and 2 on our way to Leavenworth. Leavenworth re-invented itself about 40 years ago as a Bavarian style village/town. The rail line had been rerouted in the 20s and Leavenworth by the 60s was a dying town. All the buildings in the downtown were remodeled in the fashion of a quaint Bavarian Mountain village. There are activities year round to keep the tourist dollars flowing in. We didn’t do a lot of walking around since we didn’t want to leave our soft bags on the bikes and it wasn’t much fun carrying around 4 days worth of ‘stuff’ including too much camera gear.

After Leavenworth we continued south to Yakima for the night. No pics of the hotel. Nice enough and we could park our bikes on the walkway right outside our room. Makes for an easier night’s sleep.

A ‘reasonably’ early start and we continued south along 97. Just north of the Columbia river and Oregon is the Mary Hill Loop Road. If I am not mistaken Mary Hill Loop Road is a private road that is only occasionally open to ‘outsiders’. During Sport Bike Northwest the road is opened to participants. There are a couple videos on Youtube that are worth watching. I’ve never been able to make the trip and participate in Sport Bike Northwest due to work… Maybe next year. Chris? Vince?

Next we crossed the Columbia into Oregon. Down 97 to 206 towards Condon. Along the way we stopped at a Mountain Identifier. Stand on the platform and it described the Mountains you are looking at. Chris also decided to show off his navigating skills – thank goodness for GPS…

RobertVP · Dec 19th, 2009, 7:11 pm

Condon is what I call a 2 Horse town. It the largest of several very small towns in the north central part of Oregon. We were looking for a place to have lunch. After riding up and down the 8-10 blocks in town we stopped at the Hotel Condon. Beautifully restored a few years ago, it was a real surprise to find in a small town. After a great lunch we decided to check in for the night. That way we could drop off some of our stuff and ride a little lighter for the rest of the day.

The owner of the Porsche and his wife had driven in from Portland for her birthday. We chatted with them the next morning and she challenged us to a race. Her husband didn’t seem very impressed…

I had read about the great roads around Fossil, OR and we were about to experience them. As is often the case we don’t take the time to stop for pics when we are on a particularly good road. So, not a lot of pics.

Strange fossils have been found in the area.

The view from our room the next morning. That is frost on the 999 seat.

The next day we rode north and west. Back to Washington along 206 and 97. Then on WA14 along the Columbia. As we were riding WA14 it started to rain quite hard. A shame because some of the best roads were just ahead. Wind River Rd, Meadow Creek Rd, Curly Creek Rd and NF-25 are all fantastic. They take you northbound from the Columbia along the Eastern edge of Mt. St. Helens. Very little traffic compared to the western, more touristy side. No pics. That was one of the most tiring days I have ever spent of the bike. The concentration needed because o the pounding rain, fear of wet tar snakes, oil on the road (logging trucks do use it) and the want to keep up at least a moderate pace all took their toll. Also we hadn’t discovered the joy of heated gear yet – we were cold.
Thankfully the weather gods did smile on us as we turned on the road to Windy Ridge. The twistiest part of the whole trip and it was dry! Thank you!

Luckily we didn’t come for the view of Mt. St. Helens.

What is left of Spirit Lake.

The rest of the day was spent getting back to I5 and slabbing it home. 3 days about 1,000 miles and a whole lotta fun.

Great, now I miss the bikes even more!

VNSFXR · Dec 19th, 2009, 9:16 pm

Thank you Robert, now I know the location of my work desk top wall paper.

"If I am not mistaken Mary Hill Loop Road is a private road that is only occasionally open to ‘outsiders’. During Sport Bike Northwest the road is opened to participants"

Yes I want to ride that road..........both directions and more than once. Might should start doing some research so we can check it off the list of roads to ride?

Vince

Bill_Anderson · Dec 19th, 2009, 9:30 pm

Great photos. You hit many of the really great roads down here.

For those of you getting cabin fever, my buddy Randy the X Man has made videos of many of our rides in Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and California. Many of the roads mentioned by RobertVP are included.
http://www.nwmotorcycletouring.com/index.html

JPSpinfisher · Dec 19th, 2009, 9:45 pm

Robert,thanks for the outstanding photos !As a Vancouver WA resident many of those roads look very familiar.I think my favorite ride is the road to Windy Ridge-just great!My son and I did a really nice loop through eastern Oregon on some of those same roads,in 2008 on my 2004 ST4s.We really had a good time meeting so many interesting people in small towns -Shanako,Fossil,Mitchell,etc.The roads in that area are fantastic!I dont recall seeing your ST4s in the pics section.You have some very nice mods!Sure would be cool to see a pic of your ST4s with the BST's!Help with the cabin fever here as it's been rain,rain,ice,and more rain.Thanks, Jim.

VNSFXR · Dec 20th, 2009, 2:00 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPSpinfisher

Robert,thanks for the outstanding photos !As a Vancouver WA resident many of those roads look very familiar.I think my favorite ride is the road to Windy Ridge-just great!My son and I did a really nice loop through eastern Oregon on some of those same roads,in 2008 on my 2004 ST4s.We really had a good time meeting so many interesting people in small towns -Shanako,Fossil,Mitchell,etc.The roads in that area are fantastic!I dont recall seeing your ST4s in the pics section.You have some very nice mods!Sure would be cool to see a pic of your ST4s with the BST's!Help with the cabin fever here as it's been rain,rain,ice,and more rain.Thanks, Jim.

The ST4s and the man himself.

JPSpinfisher · Dec 21st, 2009, 7:37 pm

Very Nice ,Thanks!
Jim

JackFlash · Dec 22nd, 2009, 10:52 am

Excellent photos and report, thanks. I have wanted to ride up to that part of the country for some time now. Haven't been there since I was a kid.

Yellow1098 · Dec 23rd, 2009, 12:25 am

Fabulous! Thanks for the tease. Photo 8 from the bottom; I got dizzy taking that one this summer on my Multi. I think the gouges from my center stand are still there.

RobertVP · Dec 24th, 2009, 5:09 pm

A bit of a trek for you to get there, but well worth it. Oregon in particular is interesting to explore. Everything from rain forest to dry, near desert plains. The roads ain't too bad either!

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackFlash

Excellent photos and report, thanks. I have wanted to ride up to that part of the country for some time now. Haven't been there since I was a kid.