Preamble
Sam and I went of a Father�s Day ride sponsored by Action Motor-Sports in Fairview, OR. There was a pancake breakfast from 7 to 9 am, with lunch scheduled for the Coyote Caf� in Sisters, OR. There were 5 routes designated, from a little over 125 miles to 405 miles. The ride cost was a $10 donation to Multiple Sclerosis.
The Route
We chose the longest route, 405 miles according to the ride map. City streets took us to highway 26 out of town. Highway 26 took us to highway 211 in Sandy. Follow 211 a short distance to highway 224, and follow that through Breitenbush, and on down to Detroit Lake. In Detroit Lafe, turn onto highway 22, and follow it to US highway 20. Take US-20 on to Sisters for lunch. Leave Sisters on highway 126, and then take Holmes road as a �short cut� to highway 97 into Terrabonne. From Terrabonne, head north on 97, and take the highway 197 turnoff. The route continues north up highway 197 to Dufer, and then takes side roads through Parkdale, and finally into Hood River. Turn east onto highway I-84 in Hood River, and slab it back to Portland and home.
We made a slight detour, as the gas station in Dufer was closed at 5:30 PM Sunday evening, and one of our riders would not make it to Hood River. Although Parkdale was noted as a gas stop, we decided not to chance it, and continued on 197 into The Dalles, crossed the Columbia River into Washington, and then turned west on highway 14. We took highway 14 all the way to I-205, and headed home from there.
The Rides & Riders
We had five of us in our group to start the day, but lost one at the lunch stop. Sam and I were two-up on my 1982 Honda GL-500, and we joined with Jim on his Yamaha XJ-650 Maxim, Darren on his 1982 Yamaha XJ-750 Seca, and a gentlemen who�s name I did not get on a new Honda CBR-600F4i.
UJM�s
The three of us that rode together all day were all riding �UJM��s � or Universal Japanese Motorcycles. It was interesting that they are all 1982 models, and are also all shaft drive. Jim�s bike is a �cruiser� with lots of chrome, high bars, and a small tank. Darren�s bike is a �tourer� with less chrome, a bigger tank, straighter bars, and integrated luggage. My bike is somewhere in between, with a fairly large tank, high bars, and add-on luggage available. All three proved very capable of a longish day ride, although Jim�s tiny tank proved a little bit hampering late in the day. At an early stop, we ran into a group of Honda Gold Wings and got to discussing what kind of motorcycle we would like to have next. Jim would like a Yamaha FJR-1300, a large & fast sport-touring bike. Darren prefers the Gold Wing, a luxury-touring bike, while my choice would be a Honda ST-1100, another large sport-touring bike. In a way, we all have smaller, less expensive versions of the bike we lust after.
The Ride
Sam and I were out late the night before Contra dancing, and did not get a very early start, so we did not even get to Action Motor Sports until about 8:30. I paid our entry fee and grabbed a map. Neither one of us were especially interested in breakfast, so we skipped that. I�d noticed the two Yamaha XJ�s when we pulled in (in a sea of sport bikes and cruisers) and thought they looked like our �type� of riders. Being two-up on a 500cc bike, I did not want to get into a fast group of sport-bike riders, nor did I want to get into a group of slow cruisers. I know, pre-judging is bad, shame on me. I approached Jim and asked if Sam and I could join them, and he said sure, they had one more guy, and he was trying to round up a couple more. Then I asked which route they were going to take. �The long one.� Jim told me. Oh, uh, OK. �Sam, you up for a 400 mile ride?� He thought he could, and I checked the map for possible bail routes in case he (or I!) got too tired.
The five of us left about 10 minutes later on four bikes � the other couple of possible riders were still eating � with Jim in the lead, CBR next, then Darren and finally Sam and I bringing up the anchor position. This would change throughout the day, as Jim, Darren and I took turns taking point, but seemed out �default� order. Jim lead us through town, and we were into Sandy before I figured out we were going counter-clockwise on the map, not clockwise as I thought would. Jim set a nice pace, right about the speed limit, which we kept too all day. There were times I�d like to have wicked it up a bit in the twisty, but for the type of ride this was, conservative was definitely the wise choice.
Highway 224 is a pretty ride through the foothills of the Cascades. Unfortunately, this was a typical late spring Oregon morning, meaning it was chilly! Neither Sam nor I had brought the best cold weather clothes, although I did have my fleece vest and a spare pair of nylon pants. I put the vest on at the first stop, and Sam donned my spare gloves over the top of his motor cross gloves. Other than a brief period in Madras, it stayed pretty cool all day. Someone kept saying �At least it�s not raining!� at which point everyone else said �Shuddup, before you jinx us!� The jinx pixies were ignoring us though, as it did not rain at all.
Before the first gas stop in Breitenbush, we all got a first hand peek at why we wear protective gear. Two riders had gone down in this early part of the ride. The one was still in the side of the road, in obvious pain, with a good case of road rash on his back. He�d been wearing a t-shirt and little else. I�m not really sure what happened, as it was not a particularly sharp corner. The other we saw at the Breitenbush gas stop, and she was OK. She had just purchased an Aria full-face helmet, which now had a divot in the chin-bar. She was wearing a leather jacket, gloves and chaps, and was relatively unhurt; after getting help righting her Harley big twin, she had rode it to the gas stop, and was continuing on. I heard her husband comment that they were going to go home and throw away the beanie helmets they�d been wearing prior to buying the full-face helmets.
I led from Breitenbush to Sisters, since I was just in Sisters a couple months ago to pick up my bike. Our CBR buddy did not stay for lunch, so Sam, Darren, Jim and I went in to eat. This was they only real bummer of the day, as it the service was slow and the food mediocre. A very nice waitress did help, keeping it from being a total disaster. Coyote Caf� is a �touristy� restaurant, and I think we�d have done better the little locals caf� in town, or maybe I�m just prejudice that way. I much prefer small local caf�s when I�m traveling.
Jim took over again leading out of Sisters, and shortly thereafter, Mr. Wind joined us. I am beginning to think that it blows ALL the time on the dry side of the Cascades. Holmes road was a great detour, lots of nice curves and very little traffic. The wind was a cross wind at times, which can get really interesting. Darren got a little hot into one of the corner, and spooked himself a bit, but no harm no foul. I was having fun backing off from Jim and then running back up on him through the corners. We never scraped anything, so we weren�t really attacking the corners, more like just swooping through them. Big fun if you ask me, and Sam seemed to enjoy it too.
Did I mention the mountain vistas? Going east, they are mostly behind you, but the Cascades in this area can only be described as majestic. They seem to just float in the blue sky, with snow glittering on their peaks. Today, there were streaks of clouds adding to the majesty, and in all it was just a breathtaking view. I do love the scenery over on the dry-side with the pine forests, rock out-croppings and dry farmland being in total contrast to the wet-side we live on. I�d love to have a cabin over here in the foothills somewhere.
At the gas stop in Madras, we all took the extra clothing off, as standing in the sun it was getting warm! 10 miles up the road, it was cool again, and next stop we were all adding clothes again. Actually, it was not bad until we crossed over the Columbia, and the clouds closed in again. Somewhere on highway 14, Sam appropriated my fleece vest, nylon pants and spare gloves. He looked like a plump marshmallow boy. Here while it was still warm, we stopped in Maupin for a break and Sam an ice cream. I love the road into and out of Maupin, twisty, narrow with next to no traffic, and the pavement is in pretty good shape to boot! Just watch the hairpins just before and just after Maupin, as they are usually gravel strewn.
I led out of Maupin, and off we went to Dufer. Sam of course made lots of jokes about the name of this little farming community. I just cursed at it, as the �main� street is what I think is referred to as chip-seal. Lots of small pea-gravel over tarmac, it was a bear to ride on! It�s 5:30 in the afternoon, and the one gas station is closed. A very nice, very pretty lady in a SUV stopped and told us that the owner lived in the double wide a couple blocks behind us and would open up. We rode to his place, but no one was home. Jim figured he only had 30 miles to reserve (there is that small cruiser tank!), and we all thought that the gas stop in Parkdale was to iffy on a Sunday evening, so we made the decision to head to The Dalles for gas, cross the river and ride highway 14, rather than fighting the wind and semi�s in I-84. Back over the lovely chip-seal I lead, and north, with Mr. Wind tagging right along.
At the Texaco in The Dalles, we ran into another group of Gold Wingers, and got talked with them. We�d been seeing groups of Gold Wings all day, and they told us there was some kind of convention going on with THOUSANDS of Gold Wings! I don�t doubt it, as we literally saw over a hundred of them. This group was headed in the opposite direction as us, with the wind at their backs, lucky dogs. We gassed up, got drinks and just took it easy for a nice 15-minute break and then headed over the Columbia River bridge, Darren taking point. We turned west on highway 14, more or less directly into the wind. Highway 14 is much better than I-84, as long as your not in a big hurry. 2-lane and slowing for a number of small towns, it lends itself to a nice leisurely pace, and the corners are a lot more fun than anything on I-84. Since it parallels I-84, there is little to no semi traffic, a boon on a windy day like this!
We saw lots of wind surfers in the river, not surprisingly. I saw a para-sailer, and pointed him out to Sam. Sam made hand signals showing he thought the guy was crazy. Hey, some people think motorcyclist are crazy, so who are we to judge? The river looked cold though, dark with quite a bit of chop. And we thought we were chilly on the motorcycles.
We stopped at a nice overlook for photos and a break, and Sam tried his best to give me a heart attack by leaning over the edge, just above the 125� drop into the river. I have a horrible fear of heights, and can�t deal with edges, and Sam knows it. Today he pushed it just a little too far, and I snapped at him to get the hell away from the edge. We were both tired, but managed to just shrug it off. We decided to stop in Camas and have burgers for diner, and swap contact information. It was already 8 o�clock, and lunch was a long time ago.
Darren pulled into the first hamburger joint we came to, the Burger King in Washougal. We scarfed our food like we were all starving and chatted about the day. We said our good by�s in the parking lot, and all mounted up for the last ride home. Highway 14 took us to I-205 south and Sam and I waved as Jim and Darren took their exit. We headed on south, and made it home to Milwaukie shortly after 9. Total mileage per my odometer was 413.5 miles, from the gas station about a mile from my apartment back to my apartment. By far the longest ride Sam and I have made two-up. Baby-wing ran flawlessly, as did both Yamaha�s. Says something for 20 year-old Japanese motorcycle technology.
I�m starting to think that Sam and I could do a SaddleSore 1000 two up. 1000 miles in 24 hours�.hmm, I may have to buy him his own Butt Buffer seat pad first though!
Final Comments
Jim and Darren made great ride partners. The riding styles and motorcycles of the three of us complimented each other pretty well. Riding alone, I may have ridden a little faster, and I got the feeling Darren may have ridden a little slower, but the pace was comfortable for us all. We took lots of rest breaks, which on a fun ride like this is important, particularly when you have 14 year-old on as pillion. Having additional people to talk too and BS with at stops was nice too. Sam and I look forward to riding with them again. End