Gone Riding

The day has finally arrived.  Up at the butt crack of dawn (sounds like a new dinosaur - the 'butcrakodon") and we're off.

(I need one of these for our house)

Have a great weekend everyone and we'll see you on the flip side after the IMBC.  Here is a link to my review of 2010's IMBC.  click ---> link.

- Au Revoir

"I've spent my entire career on horseback or on a motorcycle.  It boxes you in, the way people perceive you."  Sam Elliott

Scooterpie's Challenge

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Princess Scooterpie, aka Mistress Scooterpie of ScooterMayhem, threw down a challenge this morning for folks to post up a pic of their favorite non-riding footwear and also one of their riding footwear.

I figured sure, why not.

It didn't come out too clear as I should have used a flash, but this picture shows my favorite shoes.  

The back row gets worn 90% of the time.  The others on special occasions or sometimes just because.

(Back row:  everyday winter Keens, everyday summer Keens, Sidi riding boots)
(Front row:  Fancy heels, favorite fancy sandals, funky heels)

(Sidi riding boot & favorite heeled sandal)

(Funky sandals just for fun)

(Sure makes the Sidis look huge)

On a side note this did get me to count my pairs of footwear.  If I include all hiking shoes, sandals, riding boots, Bog boots, dress shoes, heels, and those worn out pairs I for some reason haven't thrown out, I have 35 pairs.  I think it is time to let some go.  For a minimalist that is way too many.

- Au Revoir

"I can be whatever.  I can wear shoes or don't wear shoes.  I can tie my hair up or wear it down.  It doesn't matter."  - Joss Stone

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New Dancing Shoes

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Okay they aren't really dancing shoes but Max will be doing the twist(ies) in them.

I was still running the stock Dunlop Qualifiers on Max and had just over 5500 miles on them.  The wear bars were starting to get awfully close on the rear and we figured they probably had about 1,000 miles of life left in them.

Great, except for the fact we'll be doing at least 1500 miles this coming up weekend for the IMBC.   We figured we'd best be prudent and order and mount new ones prior to leaving. The rear was also quite squared off so handling should be improved with the new Shinkos.

The new Gladius tires arrived Friday so Troubadour and I installed them yesterday.  I did help him some, but you know he did the bulk of the work.  I was really good at toting and fetching and I can stand on a tire and hold it down with the best of them.

A few years ago he made a bead breaker bar, a box to hold the tire, and a spin balancer that work really well. He described some of it in this post.  Click ---> link.  Here are a few pictures from our day.

(Securing the wheel on the box)

(Breaking the bead)

(Putting on the new tire)

While we had the front wheel off the bike he also took the opportunity to attach the Fenda Extenda with the supplied stainless steel screws.  Until now we'd just gone with the adhesive method so we didn't have to remove the wheel.  Here is a pic of him grinding off the pointy end of the screws.

(Grinding pointy ends of screws)

The old and new rear tires compared......

(Left - new Shinko:  Right - stock Dunlop)

.......and taking inspiration from Dar, aka Mistress Scooterpie, and her 'Shoes Glorious Shoes' post I shall include one picture of fancy shoes on the bike (not that I'd ever ride in heels).  Seeing as how Max's footpegs are further to the back of the bike, I couldn't get the same angle for the picture as Dar so I improvised.

(Frame sliders can double as highway pegs)

I think mounting the tires was the last bit of prep work for Max before the big trip.  We still have packing to sort out, but as long as I have my toothbrush and lipstick I'm set.  I think even the route to Baker City has been agreed upon - 340 miles (547 km) not as far as I thought for day one.  I finally looked at a map last week sometime.  At least it wasn't last minute.

Four more sleeps until we hit the road.

- Au Revoir

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." - St. Augustine
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Riding the Aufderheide

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During Saturday morning coffee last week, SpartanBabe and her husband Josh invited us to go for a ride with them Sunday.  I was reluctant to be setting an alarm for our last day to sleep in, but agreed.  How could we resist?

The alarm went off at 6 am Sunday morning and we were up and out of the house by 7:30. We were to meet them in Brownsville at 8 am.  To get to Brownsville we headed east to I-5 and rode 11 miles South on I-5.

We made it to the rendezvous point and a route was discussed.  A 200 mile (321 km) loop over the Aufderheide Scenic Byway was the plan for the day.

Off we went heading southwest with Josh on his V-Strom in the lead, SpartanBabe on her Triumph America, Troubadour on his Tiger and then I rode sweep on Max.

Our first scheduled stop was in Oakridge for fuel and a snack.  We'd not eaten breakfast before leaving the house.

I took a picture or two while snacking.  Not great pictures, but, I was reminded - it was a gas station.

(First official stop of the ride)

(Josh, SpartanBabe, Troubadour)

From Oakridge we backtracked west a few miles and then turned north on Forest Service Road 19 at Westfir to ride the Aufderheide.  The scenic byway is one of the major motorcycle destinations in the central cascades and is only open May through October weather permitting.  58 miles of twists and turns and ups and downs through the cascade range and around Cougar Reservoir/Cougar Dam between Highway 58 and Highway 126. We were running it from south to north.

We started off at a slower pace getting used to the corners until Troubadour took the lead. We picked up the pace from there and all were having fun.  We stopped at Box Canyon for a lunch break.

(Box Canyon - where you can reserve and camp in the old guard station)

The following pics were taken at lunch.

(V-Strom, Max, Bella, Lucy)

(Max flirting with Bella)

(The bikes at lunch)

(Josh & Troubadour)

(Surrounded by forest)

(Driveway to the Guard Station)

(Cool fence at the entrance)

(looking north - where we're going)

(looking south - where we've been)

(a close up of that corner to the south)

A woodpecker decided lunch could be found in the roof of the guard station.  His serenade rang throughout the forest.

(Woodpecker - camera on full zoom)

Back on the bikes and we headed north.  Next stop - Cougar Reservoir/Cougar Dam.  And damn, when we stopped at the damn dam to take a picture of the damn dam, it was damn hot. And when I say it felt damn hot, I mean over 90˚F (32˚C) and we didn't have on mesh gear.

(Cougar Reservoir - looking east)

(Cougar Reservoir - looking a little north east)

(Access road over the dam - notice the reservoir on the east and 500 ft drop on the west)

(Looking down Cougar Dam)

(West over the valley)

(looking over the retaining wall we noticed wildflowers)

(Pretty wildflower - hard to get a picture while blowing in the wind)

(SpartanBabe was happy to find shade)

(Troubadour and Josh)

We hopped back on the bikes and rode to the junction with Highway 126.  We needed to find a restroom and happened to find a little general store that suited our needs.  We stopped for a break and drank a lot of water and ate a few Popsicles to try and cool off. We soaked our neck buffs in water and that helped cool us off a bit.

Josh thought that instead of heading west into Springfield and into the heat we should head northeast to Highway 20 and over Santiam Pass into Sweet Home adding about 80 miles to the loop.  All agreed and off we went.  Unfortunately that was a major route for motorhomes and it was slow going until we got to the junction.  After turning west on Highway 20 traffic was a lot lighter.  We enjoyed the dappled shade going over the pass as well.

We stopped in Sweet Home for fuel or Max would have been on fumes by the time we rode the last 37 miles home.  Josh and SpartanBabe kept going as they only lived 10-15 miles down the road.  We took a break to stave off dehydration.  Had something cold to drink and a snack and rode home.  We made it home by 4:30 pm, tired and with 276.8 (445.46 km) more miles on the odometers.  

Max seemed to handle well except for being able to feel all the little bumps in the road. It felt better in the corners though, so I think it is a trade off.  At least the larger bumps don't toss my butt off the seat anymore.  I think my biggest complaint at this point is my fingers/right hand going numb.  We think that is due to the low bars and wrist angle when rolling on the throttle.  

Max has over 5500 miles on him now and new tires have been ordered.  The front came in today and the rear should be here on Friday.  He'll be sporting new shoes for the IMBC.

- Au Revoir

"Summer has set in with its usual severity." - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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Traipsing Through Tillamook - Day Two

** I've been having issues with Blogger - the first time I posted this today,it saved as a draft instead.  The second time I posted it cut it off part way and I didn't realize it until a few minutes ago.  Finished it for the third time - hopefully third time lucky and it is all there now.

Troubadour is out on a dual sport ride with some friends today so I figured it was a good opportunity to finish up my posts on Tillamook.

Sunday morning brought a challenge when it came to breakfast.  It wasn't that the hotel didn't offer anything in their continental breakfast, but by 9:00 am it had been picked over enough there wasn't any vegan offerings and it was too busy and crowded in there for us.  We had some bananas and strawberries in the room and then walked to Starbucks for coffee and had a muffin from Fred Meyer.  luckily they have a pretty good natural food section.

We packed up the room and were checked out by 10:45 am.  Troubadour had to be out on the range by 11:15.

By the time I dropped him off the sun was shining and it was warming up.  I had over five hours to putter around and my first stop was the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum.

When I arrived at the museum I noticed across the street was a bench shaped like a cow.

(Cow bench - complete with knitted hat)

(Backside of cow bench)

(A good place to rest perhaps)

(Tillamook County Pioneer Museum)

(Originally the Tillamook County Courthouse when built in 1905 until 1932.
Established as a museum in 1935)

They had many different rooms in the museum such as the Military Room, Pioneer Room, Native American Room, Transportation, Victoria Room, and Everyday Pioneer Life.

(Native American beaded gauntlet gloves, Circa 1910)

(Homestead Certificate #5221 issued to Nils Anderson signed May 16, 1898
under the hand of President William McKinley)

(One heavy pioneer wrench)

(Lugar - Pearl-handled officer's gun used by German Troops in WW I and II)

(Civil War medal issued to D.D. Austin, a captain in the Union Army)

(Ever wonder how a beaver can chew through a tree?)

(Victorian Chandelier - unknown year)

(Black - laced shoes sold by Haltom's Dept Store in 1915)
(Ivory - high topped shoes with modest french heels bought in 1911 at Pennington's Store)

(Stage coach made in 1906 for the Trask River Toll Road, last run was Dec 31, 1911)

(Model 1909 Buick, bought by Cyrus Randall for $1,000)

(Model 1902 Holsman, P.W Todd bought it in California for $1,100 and shipped to Oregon via boat)

(All  three in a row)

(1925 Maytag washing machine - came with a gasoline engine)

(Coffee Mill - love the iron work)

(Moonshine still)

(1896 Kodak folding 4x5 #4 cartridge camera)

(Telephone with 1919 Tillamook telephone directory)

(Butter churn bought new in 1905 and used by Chas Johnson on his farm on the Nestucca river)

(Leg push/pull milking machine made by Mekring Miller of Maryland)

(Steam donkey - Tacoma Wide faced Yarder)

(What is a steam donkey you ask?)

From the pioneer museum I headed a few miles north to the Blue Heron French Cheese Company.  Not because I have any interest in cheese, but because of the farm animals I could see and also the old vehicles on display.

(Blue Heron French Cheese Company, Tillamook, OR)

The animals......

And the cool old vehicles and farm implements.

(Land Rover diesel four-wheel drive station wagon)

(a little rusty)

(I am not sure what this was used for)

(Allis-Chalmers tractor - for you Erik)

(Old logging truck)

(Logging truck, Corvallis Fire Dept tanker, and double decker tour bus)

(Such an odd sight to see on the farm - and with Idaho license plates)

(A different rig - not much left of it)

After leaving I headed to the Tillamook Cheese Factory a mile or two up the road.  The first time we were there was in 1994 and it was a lot different.  Less people and less commercialized.  You could actually see in the vats from the observation decks and see staff stirring vats of curds and whey by hand.  Not so much any more.

(Tillamook Cheese Factory, Tillamook, OR)

(vats of cheese in the making)

(Packaging big blocks of cheese to age)

(packaging and weighing)

(Quality control?  Checking weight?)

After leaving the observation area I wandered by the cheese sample area and the dozens of people lined up for free samples of cheese. Sure glad I wasn't interested in that. I walked by two ice cream parlors and a deli and into the gift shop.  In the gift shop I saw this sign and thought it went well with my sense of fashion.

(Ahhhhh Gilda - a women after my own heart)

I still had a few hours before picking up Troubadour so I had a protein bar for lunch then stopped by Starbucks for an iced black tea lemonade.  I played a few games on the iPad and then drove to the range to wait.  He was finished about 5 pm and we had a little picnic dinner of hummus, pita chips and crunchy veggies.

I volunteered to drive home figuring he'd be knackered from teaching all weekend.  He did ask me to stop a few times on the way home to take pictures.  If you haven't seen it, check out his post on the marshmallow farms.  Click link here ---->  link.

- Au Revoir

" Set out from any point.  They are all alike.  They all lead to a point of departure." - Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish
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