E-Ticket Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 After a hellaciously WET spring ... and 100 degree temps just a couple of days before - the Oregon weather gods smiled on the 2010 VFRD PNW Rally in Troutdale, Oregon.... and it was good. Last summer, I was really looking forward to riding to the VFR Summer Summit ride in Dillon, CO with my wife, Susan ("Flying Ant"). But as Murphy's Law would have it - she had her arm broken tumbling down a small waterfall. She's fine now, but it was a major bummer then. :^( So, we were both stoked about having the VFRD Pacific Northwest (PNW) rally right here in our backyard. Woo-hoo!! And commenced to doing some major maintenance and new tires for both our scoot (my '99 Viffer and her '04 Honda 600 F4i) so that we would be ready to go for the big rides. Plus, we were planning on riding over to Devil's Tower, Mt. Rushmore, and a swing through Colorado right after the PNW. And .. but of course, Murphy raises his ugly head again and whacks Susan with a major ear infection - two days before the rally! Good lord, are we cursed or what??!!! So, I was a soloist again. rats. Luckily Susan felt okay enough to show up for the first evening's get-together Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Ticket Posted August 20, 2010 Author Share Posted August 20, 2010 Day 1 - Tuesday evening (8/17) at McMenamin's Edgefield Brewery. The following pics are from Tuesday evening. I put in names where I remembered them - but I met a lot of new peeps for the first time - so my apologies ahead of time for not naming everyone. And for some of those I should know, I'll warn you now that I a real poop-head on remembering names. C'est la vie .... eh. Here's Susan ("Flying Ant") - can't hear out of one ear - and if she turned too quick she'd just tip over: Tony ("Didit"), in the background, handing out the event T-shirts. Many thanks to the McMenamin's Edgefield Brewery for the host site ... and to Honda of St. John's for their helping sponsor the PNW rally! Derek (Axel 7) and Tammy (default event photographer ... <g>) And pardon me for saying this ... and for anybody who knows her ... this is "quintessential" Tammy (LOL!) (Click on picture for video) Miguel ("Hispanic Slammer") was a bit tired of flogging his Veefalo hard for several days to reach Troutdale from Area 51 in Colorado ... and Veefer800Canuck on his right: And if you're prone to motion sickness ... you might want to look away from your monitor on the next video. And no, I wasn't drinking ... or doing meth. :^) (Click on picture for video) "Radar" Mrs. Radar and .... well, I warned you about my crappy memory. But he sure looks happy! Jeffy: And a slew of other Veefer friends and family: Waitress wasn't too thrilled about having her picture taken: And this must be the infamous "Choco" ... aka, Lee from Duvall, WA. How do I know? Because he's drinking a beer! :^) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Ticket Posted August 20, 2010 Author Share Posted August 20, 2010 Chris from Oakland rolled in late and looking tired and hot... and was immediately handed some cool libation which prompted this happy look: Tim from Vancouver: Sarah from Vancouver (her other half, Lonnie, was out of town on work): And a couple of my personal favorites - Tony and Lee doing a dance scene from "Guys and Dolls." "And step, two, three, and now the big finish....." Peeps checking their door prize tickets for winners. Many thanks again to Honda of St. John's...!!! :computer-noworky: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Ticket Posted August 20, 2010 Author Share Posted August 20, 2010 Day 2 - First rides - Wednesday 8/18 Everybody gathered up at 8am in the parking lot to get ready for pickin' ride courses. Oooh... look at all the Viffers and farkles! One of two of the new VFR 1200's ... very nice! Some old-school going on: My good riding buddy, DaveK on his Connie: And Derek Diggler's "Tangerine Dream" And did I mention "farkles"...? Tim's very nice scoot. And Randy's version of a "fly-by" (Click on picture for video.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Ticket Posted August 20, 2010 Author Share Posted August 20, 2010 We then gathered everyone up and started discussing routes and picking groups. I made my pitch for "Route F" as having great curvy roads *and* being able to hit the touristy, picture spots. But alas, the only peeps that wanted to ride with me were my local riding buddies, Dave, Sky and his wife Pam. Shoot. Then it dawned on me. That means a smaller group of like-skilled riders ..... which is way easier to coordinate and lead. And then my smile returned. :^) Randy and Sky already starting to grin just thinking about the cool roads ahead: I wasn't able to get any pictures of Tony's (Didit) "fly-by in the back of the Edgefield as my camera was already put away. So we'll have to wait on Tony's vid. Had a short meeting with our small riding group and went over the basic rules: Rule #1: Make the corner. Rule #2: See the Rule #1. That, and some other basic formation and signaling techniques, and that everyone owns their own throttle and runs the pace that they are comfortable with. Oh yeah, and watch out for deer, deer, deer, and oh yeah, deer. And then we were off! Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of "riding" pics as Dave, Sky, and Pam were on a bit of a clock for the day's ride. So we pretty much rode non-stop except for the big major views and stops. Which is a bit of a bummer - because Route F had some major, cool, and pretty roads!! I'll try to do the route again with the Flying Ant and pop in some more pics later on. We headed out of Troutdale, over the bridge and shadowed the Sandy River for a while. We were pretty lucky with traffic - very few cars holding us up - and most pulled to the side and let us pass! Which was major cool and very much appreciated with much horn-tootling and happy waving of the arm units... I set a brisk but easy/smooth pace to see how everybody was doing. It's easy to do with a smaller group and being able to see how peeps come off of harder/tighter corners and such. And everyone was doing just fine, so just kept notching the pace up once in a while. Major cool roads and curves, but Shipley Rd. was a real hoot! Very, very narrow with driveways so we kept the pace very easy and smooth and just played tourist. Was very tempted to stop and take some pics of the mossy tree corridors - but felt compelled to keep moving as it was still early in the day. One of the following groups caught us and we motioned them on by. As soon as they all passed, I notched up the pace and started following along with them. Weren't those 10 mph corners a hoot! But then we came around one corner and three of the bikes were pulled over to the side. Uh-ho.... It wasn't enough to time to pick up a bike after a crash - so I knew it had to be a mechanical or some other reason. As we pulled alongside, one of the riders gave us a thumbs-up indicating they didn't need help - so we rolled up to the front of the conga line to let the ride leaders know what was happening. "Hey, you've got three riders pulled off to the side. No crash, possibly a mechanical." (Editor's Note: it turned out that SOMEONE had run out of gas 20 minutes from the start of the ride. "Bad dog, bad dog ... no biscuit!" <grin>) "Thanks, I'll go back and check out. Are you part of our group?" "Nope." "Oh! You're the slower group." As I normally run Derek, KeithBob, and Tony's pace up front, I bit my tongue and considered several replies. I settled on the following: "Well,.... we're ahead of you now." And rolled away with a big grin on my face. I don't know at what point where that group broke off for Estacada - but I hope that got to do Marmot Road and the Barlow Trail Road leading up the Zig-Zag ... because they were choice!! Left, right, left, right ... bwaahhhh..... bra-a-ake ....left, right, left, right. Oh yah. And once again, sorry about the lack of pics. Sun popped out and the beyootiful meter went up several more notches. Man, this definitely beats working! :computer-noworky: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Ticket Posted August 20, 2010 Author Share Posted August 20, 2010 Hopped onto Hwy 26 for a short distance and took a bathroom break at Govt. Camp. (Some of these are pics from DaveK ... thanks, bud!) We loaded back up and headed up to Timberline Lodge. It's at about 6000' on Mt. Hood and has a MAJOR-FUN road going up. It has some beautiful long sweepers .... and no traffic ... woo-hoo! It's only 6 miles long but arrived at the top in full-grin mode! You might recognize some of the exterior of Timberline Lodge from the movie "The Shining." And some shots of Mt. Hood. You can just see the Palmer snowfield that is used for year-round practice by ski and snowboard teams: And some very happy campers: Normally, you can see f-o-r-e-v-e-r from up here -- but there was some serious haze going on from some local forest fires. This one is for Susan: (Click on the picture for the video.) Geared back up and headed back down the hill ... wheeeeee-e-e-e-e-e-e....!!! :^) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Ticket Posted August 20, 2010 Author Share Posted August 20, 2010 Headed east, hooked up with Hwy. 35, and then turned right after the White River bridge and headed south on Forest Service Road 48. More high-speed, smooth sweepers ... more sunshine and grinnage. "Ahh-h-hh. Life is good right now. I hope that other group got things figured out and is back to riding. Wheeee-e-e-e-e-e!" Temps started to warm so pulled over and peeled off some layers. Came out of Road 48 aimed straight at Maupin and could see the forest fire smoke off in the distance. We had been steadily picking up the pace all morning long and everybody was motoring just fine. But then I saw that straightaway, realized that Big Red had just turned 40,000 miles that morning, and decided to celebrate a quick blast. Flopped on the tank, twisted that little black thingy on the right .... and wheee-e-e-e-e-e! Hit 140, sat up, and rolled off slowly. Yah, it was a beyootiful day in the neighborhood. :^) :laughing6-hehe: We pulled into Wamic, and stooped for a con-fab. Checked the time, shoot, it was still only 11:30.... so yah, we had picked the pace up quite well! Asked the others if they thought we could spare some time for some road exploring. Sure! Well, the first road went about an 1/8 of a mile ... then turned into gravel. Then the second was this great road ... but it looped right back to where we started from! LOL. I *really* need to get a GPS. Sky said he was sitting behind me laughing as his GPS was telling him that we were headed back to where we started. Too funny. :computer-noworky: So we decided just to boogie on and head up to Dufur. Some more twisty roads and then stopped at the overlook above the Tygh Valley. Absolutely gorgeous. Dave looking very happy to be out and about: Sky doing his impersonation of a German Police Office collecting evidence at the scene of speeding bikes. Busted! PamIAm who is just fine FlyingWithE .... And next stop ... heading out of Tygh Valley. Oh yah... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Ticket Posted August 20, 2010 Author Share Posted August 20, 2010 A ways up the road, we swung off to the left and did Dufur Gap road. For those of you who just droned by ... you missed a good 'un! It simply parallels the highway to Dufur and then rejoins about 10 or 15 miles or so later. Woof! What a great road! Very curvy, very lush (it follows a creek bed) and major way-fun. Sorry about not having any pics - but who the heck wants to stop when you're flopping left after right after left ... and repeating over and over! This road was one of our favorites for the day. When we rejoined the highway it was only 12 miles into The Dalles. Mr. Valentine One started squawking loudly just before town and I notched us right down just before Mr. Revenue Collector rolled by. Thanks, Mr. V! :laughing6-hehe: Stopped at Big Jim's for lunch and had some great burgers and awesome shakes. No pictures, but the burger Sky ordered was just about as big as his head! Good food, good break. Gassed up and headed out the back side of The Dalles onto the Old Dalles - Mosier Highway. Otherwise known as the "Rowena Curves." I'm embarrassed to say that, despite my riding all over the place for many years here in Oregon, I had never been on this road. What a hoot!! Major tight with limited sight lines - so kept the speed in check - and still just had a ball scooting around the corners. But there was one issue. THE WIND!!! Holy crap, I thought we were going to get blown off of our bikes at times. It was just howling and buffeting big time. Even more a reason for being a bit careful, eh! Which then payed off as I rolled around the corner just too see a big ol' buck deer just standing in the road doing his best Hartford Elk imitation. And I was reminded of how much I like my GP Suspension and delinked brakes, slowing hard on the corner. I slowly pulled up on the deer, honking my horn continuously ... and he finally got the message and bounded up the hill. Rode slow for a corner or two looking for his buddies - but didn't spot any other deer. Just one really dead ... really smelly skunk ... in the middle of the road. And was really glad, I didn't hit it. :computer-noworky: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Ticket Posted August 20, 2010 Author Share Posted August 20, 2010 Stopped up on top at the Rowena Crest viewpoint. Despite the wind trying to blow us off of it - we really enjoyed the great views. I'm smiling here ... but I was really missing the wife not riding with us. Waaahh.... Looking south down the Columbia Gorge. What a great day.... North ... check out the white-caps on the Columbia! And west where we headed next: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Ticket Posted August 20, 2010 Author Share Posted August 20, 2010 Dropped down off the hill and had to head up I-84 for a while due to no side roads. Holy crap ... the wind was just howling and smacking us around big time. oof. Luckily we didn't have to put up with it very long and got off at the Ainsworth exit and headed onto to the old Columbia Scenic Highway. Since we had made such good time on the day, we were happy to tootle along, check out the views, and stop at some of the waterfalls. Here's the crew stopping at and checking out Horsetail Falls: Dave decided to bop on home at this point to beat the traffic, so Sky, Pam, and I stopped at Multnomah Falls for some quick pics and cold drinks. And please ignore the big belly ... I really, really enjoyed the great lunch at Big Jim's .... :^) We then bopped on up the road to Crown Point for some more classic calendar shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Ticket Posted August 20, 2010 Author Share Posted August 20, 2010 We were still doing fine on time - so stayed away from I-84 and wound our way back down the hill to the Sandy River and back to the Edgefield at around 4:30pm. 225 miles, miles of smiles ... and no tickets, no crashes, no fatalities .... woo-hoo!! :computer-noworky: Hung out at the Edgefield with Pam and Sky for snackies and then the group later on. Here's the water-tower off the back patio ... which I noticed when I was looking up at the sky with a big happy smile on my face. :^) What a great day. I was about pictured out by now so only snapped a couple more pics. IN CLOSING: Woof. It was only a day and a half for me ... but I had an utterly awesome time. It was so cool meeting up with friends that I had made at the Colorado Summer Summit ... making new friends ... and having just an awesome ride on great curvy roads. <insert really big smile here> A BIG MAJOR THANK YOU to Choco (Lee) and Tony (Didit) for their major efforts in pulling this event together. I am already looking forward to BC Canada in 2011 and the big mystery tour in Colorado in 2012. Catch you on down the road, my friends!! - Randy B. ("E-Ticket") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Vee-Ef-Ar Posted August 20, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted August 20, 2010 Awesome E :computer-noworky: The bikes, the places but more importantly, the faces... everyone is looking fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Ticket Posted August 21, 2010 Author Share Posted August 21, 2010 Awesome E :computer-noworky: The bikes, the places but more importantly, the faces... everyone is looking fun. Yah, we had a fair-dinkum good time .... where were ya', mate! <g> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted August 21, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted August 21, 2010 Thanks for posting the report very nice indeed! :computer-noworky: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer V-FORE Posted August 21, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted August 21, 2010 Thanks for letting me see all that I missed, I wish I would have been able to get away Looks as though everyone had a great time! Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-Ticket Posted August 21, 2010 Author Share Posted August 21, 2010 Thanks for letting me see all that I missed, I wish I would have been able to get away Looks as though everyone had a great time! Gary Just remember your mantra, Gary: "....next time ... next time .... o-o-o-m-m-m-mmmm..." <grin> And when you get a chance, just ride on down to Oregon and do "Route F" as detailed in the Routes for Group Rides on this thread: http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/58559-routes-for-group-rides-during-pnw/ Cheers! E-Ticket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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