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OK folks, we're off again on our fourth annual VFRD (unsanctioned) event. Myself, Squamishvfr, V-fore, and an un-associated gsxr rider will be travelling as follows. Overview of departure Start with Aug 31 route below https://goo.gl/maps/pp9xQ Overview of return https://goo.gl/maps/UdD63 DAILY ROUTE SHEETS Aug 30 - Get to Marysville Aug 31 - Marysville to Troutdale, OR 7h8m 298M https://goo.gl/maps/OPBR0 NF-25 Sep 1 - Troutdale to Steamboat Inn, OR 8h4m 279M https://goo.gl/maps/MurMJ 224 & 46 NF-11 Quartzville Sharpscreek Sep 2 - Steamboat Inn to Susanville, NV 8h20m 416M https://goo.gl/maps/KIhi6 Craterlake Subwaycave Sep 3 - Susanville to Yosimite NP 5h55m 300M https://goo.gl/maps/j0WxQ Sep 4 - Yosimite to Quincy, CA 6h58m 305M https://goo.gl/maps/HIkxo (Could stay in Reno instead) Sep 5 - Quincy to Crescent City, CA 7h49m 397M https://goo.gl/maps/n13Fq or https://goo.gl/maps/eDTy7 or possibly https://goo.gl/maps/8kuOB Sep 6 - Crescent City to Tillamook, OR 7h16m 363M https://goo.gl/maps/B2wCl Sep 7 - Tillamook to Marysville(/Victoria) 5h09m 281M https://goo.gl/maps/WNAHX Any and all are welcome to join us for part or all of the trip. Or just chime in with suggestions, all are welcome. Cheers, BC

Not a major ride to be really proud of, nothing like the multi-day trips people are posting, but still a very very enjoyable 1-day ride in the mountains of the Washington state. http://goo.gl/maps/Gbthl So I finally opened my Cascades 2014 season yesterday. Rolled the dice on the weather, and I got lucky! I had been looking forward to this ride for so long that I just could not make myself delay the ride. The morning was pretty miserable, so I did not leave early. The forecast said it was going to improve later in the day, so I left around 11:30 am and headed toward Sumas, WA. Got through the border, filled up in Sumas, WA (I love US gas prices!), and then it was Hwy 9 to Sedro-Wooley, WA and then Hwy 20 to Winthrop, the plan was to do Winthrop and back as I didn't have time for the big loop. So I ended up doing a 700 km / 430-ish miles trip. (posting this on VFRD and a local forum as well so provided both metric and imperial numbers) The weather could not make up its mind all day, constantly changing between ran and sunshine. The rain was not bad at all, nothing crazy, sometimes sprinkling for only 10 mins and sometimes raining steadily for a good 45 mins. I have said it before, and I’ll say it again: I LOVE MY TOURMASTER HEATED GEAR. It was a chilly day, average of 13-14C (55F) in the cloudy parts, going as low as +5C (41F) in the Rainy Pass, and as high as +22C (72F) in Winthrop. But overall it was cold and damp, I had my liner on low the whole ride, neck warmer, base layer, and even my Tourmaster winter gloves, and let me tell you I was very happy I brought all that! :D It was my first wet trip. Obviously after several years of year-round motorcycle commuting in Vancouver (rain or shine) I have seen WAY MORE rain than shine, it’s Raincouver we’re talking about here after all :P but my longer rides have always been rain-free. I have always done 1-day trips so far – just the way my schedule has been working since I started riding in 2010. I try to make the most of it by going about 1000-1100 km / 620-680 miles in one day on average though :) Anyways, it ended up being a fantastic ride! Because of the forecast and weather conditions, there was pretty much zero traffic, virtually no bikes, no cars, no RVs, no cops. I was careful in small towns of course… as usual, I saw police cruisers on 25-35 MPH streets waiting for unlucky tourists to zip through the town going 50. It was simply amazing to have all those roads to myself. When it rained it was even better in a way because I had to really focus on the road, poor visibility and all, while feeling cozy and warm in my heated gear, tucked in behind the windshield… it was a very zen experience. Then I would suddenly get to a patch of blue sky in the clouds, it's nice and sunny, the roads are dry, and I’d be like “Yeah, I made it! PAAAARTYYYYY!" I could almost hear my Viffer responding "Engaging VTEC in 3-2-1... and .. Take off!” I would still prefer a sunny ride, not like I would make the effort to plant it so I could go riding on a rainy day, but riding in the rain was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. It was sunny from Diablo, WA all the way to Winthrop, going through Rainy Pass which is my favourite part of the ride. I usually struggle to make myself pull over and take a photo… but yesterday I actually managed it :) Not the first time I ride that road but every time I am blown away by the gorgeous scenery, simply amazing. Had a coffee in Winthrop, chatted with a group of bikers from the Vancouver Island who all turned out to be retired cops. I love random conversations with random people you meet on rides. Gas station attendant in Winthrop told me about his pit bull that developed a taste for killing sheep on his farm … I have to say it was the first time in my life I had a discussion on that subject :D Finished my coffee, the group of retired cops wished me to have no contact with their not-yet-retired colleagues lol and I headed out. Have I mentioned empty roads yet? :D My Viffer was very happy! I love that V4 song… especially with the VTEC note added to it. I swear I love that bike more and more with every ride. It’s been 3 years and about 40K km / 25K miles now (that’s without multi-day trips!) and I still think it’s the perfect bike. On the way back it was pretty much the same, no traffic, some rain, some sunshine, lots of fun. In the deer country just outside of Winthrop I had to be careful as it was close to sunset. I saw one deer casually cross the road right in front of a car in the distance, and just one turn after I had to break hard to let several deer cross. They were accompanied by a bear too… crazy, I know. It was not a good spot to pull over so I don’t have a photo of that strange group of friends crossing the road. It was dark by the time I crossed the border around 10 on my way back. The border guard was more interested in my bike and my day than anything else, asked me a few questions about the ride, the road, weather, he actually asked me only one border-crossing related question, and it was almost as an afterthought... oh, by the way, are you bringing anything into Canada? Pretty much like that LOL Got home by 10:40pm, had a hot shower, dinner, a couple of beers and went to bed feeling amazing. What an awesome day! My Pirelli Angel ST's are completely done now, there really was not enough meaningful feedback from them in the rain anymore... well I did like 20K km / 13K miles on them so it's time. I am in love with the Angels, amazing tires IMO. Ordered as set of Angel GTs today from Motorcycle Superstore. Here are some photos. Yes, it’s not all my ramblings, there are pictures to go with this story! Thanks for reading! Winthrop, WA Poser shot. I wish I had a proper camera with me

Just getting around to posting links to this incredible trip a group of seven friends on six bikes took across northern Washington state and southern British Columbia the last weekend of July, 2011. It was 1,150 miles of hard riding over three days, most of it in challenging but gorgeous terrain. It's an amazing route, the only part of the 1,110 plus miles that wasn't great were the short sprints up and down I-5 at the beginning and end. It was a diverse group of bikes and riders, my VFR, a BWM GS, Kawasaki ZRX, Yamaha FZ1, a Versys and a Councours. There were four of us in our fifties and sixties and three in their thirties. The days were long, we stopped only for gas and we got into camp late both nights. The North Cascades Highway in Washington and the roads in southeastern B.C. have to be among the best rides anywhere, particularly the B.C. parts where the roads are beautifully maintained and you are so far from any population centers that even on a holiday weekend the traffic was light. Put on your headphones for the video by the Versys rider, Ian. The soundtrack will surprise you. The route http://g.co/maps/gzzqs Pictures http://canadaridejul....com/pictures/8