January Gravel Road Ride

So far we have lucked out with the recent weather in Oregon.  While it is winter, we haven't had any snow in Corvallis and the days of rain have definitely been less frequent than last year.  We'd been eyeing the weather forecast for this weekend and following three days of pretty good rain were a few days of sunshine.

We made a plan to ride to coffee and then tootle around some gravel roads after and see where the day would take us.

We left the house just after 9 am.  The temperature was 44˚F (6.6˚C) and the fog was thick.  The 5 mile ride to coffee wasn't that pleasant.  I had my yellow lensed glasses on to see better but the condensation on the visor (and my glasses) by the time we got to coffee was not fun.

We sat around and chatted until 11:30 when the fog burned off and the sun came out to play. Four of us were heading off together for a wee adventure:  Andy, aka Polar Bear was on his orange Triumph Tiger, Brad, aka Troubadour was on his Suzuki DRZ 400, his buddy Jeff, aka Lefty, was on his Suzuki DRZ 400. I Trobairitz was on my trusty mostly trusty Yamaha TW200.

(Brad, Andy, and Jeff getting ready to ride)

We took the back roads to Philomath and then headed west to Woods Creek Road.  It is a road we know well and enjoy its gravel and elevation changes. We meander up then down.  I usually worry about the downhill side as it doesn't see a lot of sun and can be quite muddy.  This time it was the uphill climb that was rather muddy, but the downhill side was fine. There were a few large puddles, probably the largest I've ever ridden through.  Nice to know my Sidi Livia Rain boots are still waterproof after all these years.  Jeff found out the hard way that his boots weren't quite sealed.

We made a few turns and stopped at a clearing where we've stopped a few times before.  It gave the guys a chance to water the tree stumps and take a break.  We were on a ridge so we could see the other hills around us.

(My TW 200 with tail bag - the packhorse of the day)

(A view of the coastal mountains)

(The view without the bikes)

(Troubadour's DRZ 400)

(From the left - Polar Bear, Troubadour, and Lefty in the helmet)

While we were here a gentleman rode up on his Triumph Scrambler Street.  Nice looking bike. We chatted for a bit and before he left Lefty asks him to take a group photo of us.

(Troubadour, Polar Bear, Trobairitz, Lefty)

From the clearing we rode into Burnt Woods where we could stop for fuel. Well, Lefty and I needed fuel, Troubadour has a Clark tank on his DRZ and Polar Bear's Tiger is a fuel tanker so they were good.

(Troubadour and Polar Bear)

(Polar Bear basking in the rare winter sunshine)

(Lefty after fueling up his DRZ 400)

At Burt Woods we turned East onto Highway 20 for two miles and then turned North on Clem Road. I was last out this way in May 2016.  In fact it was just after Clem Road when I hit reserve on the TW and was almost out of gas. (Notice I fuelled up at Burnt Woods this time).  I wrote about that ride HERE.  

It was a mile or so up Clem Road when the ride went a little pear shaped.  We were headed uphill after a left hand corner when I heard a loud "bang" and then nothing.  The bike was running but I had no forward momentum.  I called to Troubadour and Lefty on the Sena radios that I was stopped.  Polar Bear rode up behind me and said my chain had come off.  I said "my chain came off?"  Which the other guys heard in their helmets and turned around.  Polar Bear's battery had died on his Sena so they couldn't hear him talking to me.

I was sitting there with my hand on the front break not wanting to lift my foot off the muddy road to use the back brake. Troubadour had to steady the bike while I put the kickstand down and could get off the bike.  Nothing like being stuck uphill on a muddy road between two blind corners and the road doesn't have a shoulder.  I can't think of a safer spot, can you?

(Chain came off the rear sprocket)

While I was unlucky that the chain came off, I was lucky in two things:  1) the chain didn't come off at highway speeds a few short miles before; and 2) it didn't come completely off and kill the bike.  Troubadour has a nice little tool kit on his DRZ so the guys went to work.

(Troubadour and Polar Bear fixing the TW -  Lefty turning off the Go Pro)

(Troubadour working on the muddy TW)

(A view down the hill from where we'd been)

(Troubadour's DRZ and a view up ahead of where we were going)

The guys got my bike race ready - thank you gentlemen and we motored forward.  I couldn't believe in the time we were there not one vehicle came down that road.  Last time we were on it there was quite a bit of traffic.  Luck was on our side.

We linked up more gravel roads and took the back way into Fort Hoskins, where we used the restroom facilities and had a snack.  It was about 2:30 by this time.  Our destination was the Yeasty Beasty pizza place in Monmouth.  You may remember that name from our Polar Bear ride two years ago.  You can read that post HERE. Because of the time of day we decided not to take the longer gravel route, but to take some tarmac into Monmouth.

We arrived and found parking out front.  It was now 3:30 so Polar Bear said his goodbyes. He had a longer ride home and was chasing daylight.  Troubadour, Lefty, and I went in for a bite of pizza. The food was not great, but we were hungry.  

(Mini Greek veggie pizza with no cheese)

While eating we discussed the best way to head home.  We were heading south to Corvallis, but Lefty was heading back to Albany, which is about 11 miles east of Corvallis. We decided to head back the way we came on Helmick Road until it intersected again with Highway 99.  Our goal was to do as little of the highway as possible and in that we succeeded.  After linking with Highway 99 we went about a block south and Lefty turned left onto Suver Road and we turned right onto Airlie Road.  About a mile in we stopped at De Armond Rd (a gravel road of course). We have passed that road a lot of times before, but we weren't sure where it went.  

When stopped Troubadour checked the map on his phone, while I took a few pictures.

(Troubadour checking his phone during the golden hour)

( A selfie with cockeyed glasses, I had to pull them out a bit to keep them from fogging up)

(Last picture of the day was the sun reflecting off a pond in a field while we were stopped)

I am pretty good remembering directions so Troubadour read them off to me - right on Rifle Range Road, right on Coffin Butte Road and left on Tampico Road, which would take us back to Highway 99 just a lot further south and mostly gravel.  Got it.  It was a nice little route that we will take in the future.  We popped out on Hwy 99 and continued to leapfrog side roads all the way into Corvallis.  It was just getting dark when we got to town.

We pulled in the driveway at 5 pm to 50˚F (10˚C).  Almost 8 hours since we'd left the house and yet only about 100 miles (160 km) on the odometer - most of them gravel.  It was a good day.

No one got hurt and everyone made it home safe.  I think everyone might be checking their chain tension today though.

Update:  As linked on Troubadour's blog - Lefty put together a short video montage of part of our ride.  It gives you an idea of some of the terrain.  A link to YouTube HERE.

- Au Revoir

" People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness.  Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost." - H. Jackson Brown

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