Roland met with his motorcycle nemesis: crosswinds. He hated it, and couldn't take it any more. Originally he had planned for us to meander along the Columbia river for a while before going Southeast to Baker City but the winds blew us towards Walla Walla.
Which turned out to be a good thing as meanwhile the clouds had built up, and another shower was to be expected.
Walla Walla, as stupid as the name might be was a charming little town with lots of restored old buildings, and a Starbucks on their main street calling our names.
While we waited for the rain to pass by we used the free wi-fi to plan an alternate route on the iPad. Roland was disappointed that he couldn't manage to ride the route he had planned for the day but for me it was more important that he realized his limitations. Safety first.
The forested areas were cooler, and we had to zip in the liners. While at it, we got a visit from a half wild looking dog with a bloody nuzzle. We couldn't help wondering what he might have had for lunch. I'd like to think he was deep with his face in... berries?
Whitman National Forest: An ocean of trees
While rolling into Elgin, OR looking for a gas station the thunderstorms caught up with us, and forced us to take shelter in a little fast food shack. We were not the only ones. The rain was pouring hard, and thunder and lightning had a party directly above us. That would have been scary to ride in.
Twenty minutes later...
... the sky opened up again as if nothing happened.
Once again we packed in the rain gear as the sky cleared up and gave way to clean and warm air. We were closing in on today's end of the trip but with some extra time at hand we decided to detour through the Umatilla County.
Farmland, blue skies, empty secondary winding roads. In short... rider's paradise.
Maybe another center line challenge?
Another stretching and watering break.
Can't get enough of the puffy clouds.
The winds were still going strong but steady not in gusts.
That's not the right way... at least not with the Harley. The GPS suggested to follow the gravel road but the Sporty doesn't like going off road.
We made it to the Super 8 in Baker City and sent out smoke signals to fellow bloggers we planned on meeting tonight. While some were already hanging out on a nearby campground we enjoyed the pleasure of a cranked up A/C and a marathon shower in the hotel while waiting for Brad and Brandy to arrive.
The IMBC 2012 with its participants:
Roland (non blogger) from BC
and yours truly from BC
It was quite impressive to hear about the distances that people had ridden to get here. Richard on his Beemer Airhead came all the way down from Alaska (by way of California for a family reunion), Karen on her V-Star made it across the country all the way from Ontario a.k.a. Flatopia. Erik rode over from Wisconsin on his big mean green Ninja. For Brad and Brandy it was somewhat on home turf since they live in beautiful Oregon, and Bob, Roland and I came down from British Columbia, Canukistan.
As a matter of fact the Canadians (Bob, Roland, Karen, Brad and myself) outnumbered the Americans.
For a change we found a restaurant that would cater everybody's needs: Crave a Bowl (formerly known as Porchibee's Grill) offered veggie and vegan options. It was delicious, and healthy and filling. Two thumbs up!
Next stop: Enterprise, OR chasing the tail of the devil.
Oh, your blue-sky pics have left me speechless. I love the center line pictures! That sky is a seriously pretty blue. I'm kinda starting to drool over that weather, so I'd better move on. Thanks for the update!
ReplyDeleteWe have craved this kind of weather for a very long time. It was certainly a gift from the weather gods.
DeleteAwesome photos - as always!
ReplyDeleteGusty crosswinds are bad ... just ask Andrea, she doesn't like them very much either. Must be pretty tough on a scooter which presents a much bigger target for the wind and the smaller wheels not getting enough centrifugal force built up to handle this better. On a "normal" it's all about relaxing the grip on the handlebar and letting the bike do the rest, as Andrea found out when we were around Lake Tahoe. On a scooter - no idea. Potentially similar but likely even more scary. Bow to Roland for handling it!
I had scary experiences as well hence the change to a bigger and heavier bike. It made me feel safer. And Roland did the right thing. I guess relaxing is the way to go but you need enough confidence in your riding. I guess Roland would do much better now with another 2,000km of riding experience under his belt.
DeletePoor Roland! Crosswinds are irksome especially for us tall chaps.
ReplyDeleteWhat does the "I" stand for in IMBC? it cannot be International as USA and Canada are either colonies or ex-colonies??
Nikos, of course it is "i" for international. Blame it on the North American arrogance but we find that people of diverse background (from Chinese or Japanese or German, or British roots) may well be called an international crowd, don't you agree?
DeleteSounds like guys had a great time. Maybe I will be able to make it next time!
ReplyDeletePS: I feel compelled to point out that a gravel road is a road and thus not "off road" :-) hehe
I knew you would say that. I might have been able to handle it but I didn't want to push our luck.
DeletePps: since you are moderating the comments why the frustrating capcha? Google's new spam filtering works well and is why i turned it off on my sites. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI hate these things too. Any idea how to get rid of them?
DeleteSettings > posts and comments > word verification > off
DeleteThanks in advance!
Gotcha, and done (I guess).
DeleteBeautiful sky shots. I've never been to Walla Walla, but with Starbucks on main street it can't be all bad. They make nice rest stops.
ReplyDeleteRoland shouldn't feel bad about not liking the crosswinds, we ran into some high ones on our last 30 miles stretch, no fun at all, but no other choice to get home.
Thanks to you and Roland for riding out. We had so much fun with everyone. That map shows our distance as being a tad unfair though me thinks.
It will always be tougher to handle crosswinds with a full fairing bike. The Sportster however, managed the gusts particularly well.
DeleteAs for the distance... lets pick a more challenging location for you next time ;-)
I agree with Roland, wind is the enemy!
ReplyDeleteOne of the first times I tried to ride to the coast on Sam I ended up turning around for home. It was raining and windy, but it was the wind that scared me to death. I couldn't stay in my own lane. Fortunately with time it gets better. Sometimes even fun now (with in reason!).
I'm loving the Eastern scenery. Maybe I was born on the wrong side of the mountains.