[ST] Motorcycle Trip Pics from CA to Seattle

[peter.chittum@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Hey there,

It is more than a month since I got back, but I finally wanted to share a
few pictures from the road trip I took last month from the SF Bay Area to
Seattle. I don't have all the pictures developed and uploaded, but here are
the prelim ones. The trip up, I took three days, and saw lots of stuff. This
pretty much captures most of what happened on the trip up, but I'm missing a
few pictures of Mt. Rainier. 

The pics are here:
http://picturecenter.kodak.com/share?invite=pEKr4N7p2kasMkOLhh7k

The ride went as follows:
May 30: In preparation, I went up to my aunt's house in Petaluma. This would
give me a more northern jumping off point and allow me to make my first leg
to Eugene a bit more palatable. 

May 31: Petaluma, CA - Eugene, OR. (~450 mi.) 
Wow! At the time this must have been the longest single day I've ever done
on the ST. I know there are others out there who would laugh at this, but
this was, without a doubt one of the most gruelling days I've ever spent on
a bike. If it weren't so fun at the same time, I wouldn't have enjoyed it
nearly as much as I did. My route was up U.S. 101 to CA-128. CA-128 to
Albion where I hooked upwith CA-1. I really liked 128, lots of varied roads,
from tight challenging stuff to long sweepers. Followed a guy on a Gold Wing
for a bit until he waved me past. Almost got taken out by a tree branch
partially blocking the road, fortunately, I was taking lots of following
distance and was able to avoid it. At 1, I hit the coast and up I went
through Mendocino. I hadn't been there since I was 8 years old. Had a lot of
fun on the Coastal Hwy. 

After Rockport, Hwy 1 turns inland again to hook up with 101 near Leggett. I
have found Nirvana. Man, this piece of road beats anything I've ever ridden.
Lots of curves, great surface. Wow. 

Once I hit 101, I stayed on that road until Crescent City. It is certainly,
not the ideal motorcycling road, it goes back and forth from 4 lane to 2
lane, but it still makes for a pleasant ride. At one point, I had a CHP
officer come by me, clock me, and push on. That was a bit of a tense moment,
as I never know exactly how fast I'm going thanks to our notoriously
optimistic speedo on the Sprint.

At Crescent City, I faced a dilemma. It was pushing into the evening, and I
still had plans to get to Eugene where my free room and board was (friends
of my mother). Keep on going on 101 and then take 126 a small road in to
Eugene? Turn inland on 199 and turn north on I-5 at Grant's Pass? The first
option would give me nicer riding throughout, but I was already dog tired
and that would have meant going through the mountains around dusk, being
even more tired. The second option would still give me some nice riding
between the coast and Grant's Pass but I-5 would come at a time when I'd be
ready to make some serious time. As I came up to the interchange, I wrestled
and then I gave...Grant's Pass it was. Through the mountains and into
Oregon, it began to heat up. Hwy 199 was again a lot of fun. Great mountain
roads, lots of sweepers. At Grant's pass I rested for about 30 minutes while
I rehydrated, stretched, and got ready for the last blast up I-5 for the
day. A few hours later, I was in Eugene, stopping every rest area because my
body was so f**ked up. At one of the stops, I nearly dropped the bike as I
forgot to put my side stand down. My hosts, Candy and Dick served me up some
Lasagna and nice conversation after many long hours of listening to the
wind. 

June 1: Eugene, OR - Portland, OR (~200 miles).
Heading out of Eugene, I actually started south on Bailey Hill Road to
Lorane Hwy to Territorial Hwy looked like a great way to start out. It was.
Mostly made of wide open sweepers, I relaxed into what would turn out to be
a pleasantly short and manageable day compared to my previous marathon.
Territorial took me back around and then up by some lake to the west of
Eugene. I stayed on Territorial through until somewhere near Junction City,
where being a bit low on gas, I hooked up with 99 (strait and flat) and went
into Corvallis for some fuel. 

Side note, about not being able to pump your own gas in Oregon. All of the
pump operators in Oregon were happy to let me pump my own, as long as they
took my card, swiped it, and took the pump handle off of the cradle and
handed it to me. What do I know...I just shrug and let them do their thing.
It is the law after all!