I decided last minute to take a trip just for the sake of taking a trip. The route will be from home to Las Vegas and north of the 93 through Ely Nevada to Twin Falls Idaho up to Boise Idaho and then over towards Bend Oregon and stopping at Corvallis. I will spend the day and Corvallis and then head to the Oregon coast and down the coast past Coos Bay Oregon to Eureka California to San Rafael California and then head home.
Map of the route:
My chosen steed – 2008 Suzuki Vstrom 650 equipped with rear Givi hard bag, BMW soft bag on the passenger seat with built-in backrest, Suzuki tank bag, Cee Bailey touring windscreen, and headlight guards.
I also wore my homemade heated jacket underneath Light Armored motorcycle jacket.
The ride to Vegas was ordinary.
I expected eastern Nevada to be sparce but when I got on route 93 North, I found it to be rather beautiful with interesting rock formations and scattered lava.
The ride up eastern Nevada was unnecessarily dramatic. I went past a gas station believing I could make it to the next one but the problem was I didn’t know where the next one would be. Many of the small towns along the way did not have a gas station and my low fuel light came on and I was quite a bit away from the next town. I adjusted my speed so that I got better gas mileage so I could extend the little bit of gas that I have left. H-Town I went through legally search for a sign of a gas pump or gas station with none to be found and very little fuel in the tank. Finally I came to a town and I figured this was the end of the line because it just wasn’t any gas left and the next town was quite a bit away. This is when you have to start getting creative and imaginative kind of like the TV show MacGyver from the eighties. You have to work with what you have not what you don’t have. That was MacGyver’s maxim. As I went through this small town, and a rather nice little town, I figured I could not leave without gas. My first line of defense was to go through the entire town and look for a gas station. If there was no gas station in the town, I was going to have to knock on a door and pretty much beg for fuel. and pay whatever they wanted for it. They had rather large lawns and I figured they would have equally large lawn mowers which would require a lot of fuel so that they would probably have some fuel stored in the garage.
The motorcycle gods continue to watch over me. I was nearing the end of the town, when I saw what kind of appeared to be a gas pump but it looked like it hadn’t been used in a while. I pulled over in front of the pump and walked into the little general store that was next to it. I asked the gentleman if there is gas and he said yes and I honestly could not believe how good I felt at that moment. The wave of relief flooded through me and my nightmare was over. You have to understand that being on a motorcycle in a really remote area that you are not familiar with is a little bit daunting but to be low on fuel, aside from being pretty stupid, is even more daunting and is frightening. It makes you quite humble.
I restrained mile elation and I gave the gentleman some money and pumped the gas in the bike.
Here is the holy gas station:
Here is the face of relief:
With the unnecessary drama concluded, I proceeded on my journey. I got through the desert area of Nevada and darkness fell. I was gassing up at another gas station and a couple of women ask my direction and was concerned about me hitting deer because this was the time that dear across the highways to go to their sleeping ground. After a brief conversation another gentleman issued me the same warning. I turned on my auxiliary lights much to the Chagrin of opposing traffic and kept a sharp eye for any wildlife. Fortunately I saw none and made it into Twin Falls at around 10:30 at night. I stopped at a gas station to fuel up and found a Motel 6 and spent the night there.
Total miles- 750
The next morning, I looked outside and saw wet pavement and cloud cover. It looked like I was in for a wet second day.
The good news was that I have some incredibly good rain gear. The bad news is that the boots that I thought would be waterproof were not waterproof.
As I rode across Idaho and into Oregon I hit patches of rain. I was mostly on a nice Highway in Idaho but once I got into our again I wasn’t on a major road. It was like a country road but it was very lovely actually. Nice pleasant scenery along the way he’s mostly what I saw. I got into Bend for dinner and to gas up the bike. I knew that temperature for going to drop and the ride in front of me was going to be in mountain roads and a forest. I had to decide if I wanted to cut my second day short and spend the night in Bend or press on and make it to my sister’s place in Corvallis. If anyone knows me then they know that I pressed on because that’s what I do.
The ride from Bend to Corvallis was not very pleasant. It was as expected. The road was very windy and I gained altitude and gaining altitude in Rain usually means fog. Fog and rain and altitude and cold and darkness is a rather poor formula for a motorcycle rider. Fortunately I have very good lights and fairly steady nerves so I navigated my way through the Mountainside and came down into the Corvallis area. You got to my sister’s house around 9 o’clock at night. It was great to see her and my nieces.
Total miles- 550
On day three I was going to spend the morning and part of the afternoon with my family. We just hung out and ran some errands and had a very nice time. I wanted to stay longer but I need to get back home by Sunday and today was Friday.
I enjoy spending time with family on Long motorcycle rides because it breaks up the ride and it makes the ride more interesting. It isn’t about putting a bunch of miles on the bike but it’s about what you see and who you see and your experiences along the way.
My ride to the coast of Oregon was about an hour and this is where the most beautiful part of the ride was.
Newport, Oregon:
I am an octane fiend and when I see high octane gas I just cannot resist putting it in the bike whether it needs it or not.
I made my way down the incredibly beautiful Oregon coast trying not to get too distracted by the beauty.
Darkness fell and I was hoping to get into California by the night. I stopped at Gold Coast Oregon for gas and was referred to a small grocery store where they had a nice Deli in which I could get a sandwich and a drink.
I went to the grocery store and found the deli area. As I was waiting to order my sandwich, a gentleman asked me if that was my motorcycle parked up front. I responded that it was. We then engaged in a discussion about motorcycles which was joined by several other people and I actually had probably six or seven people in a very nice discussion including a couple of women who were at the deli. To me this is what makes a motorcycle ride so incredibly Pleasant. It’s the connection with regular people who just would like to talk find out about you and you find about them. Also this is what makes motorcycle riding not really lonely because you interact with people you would otherwise never see. You need all different kinds of people and it’s just a great way to connect with Humanity.
I had a wonderful custom-made sandwich and I ask the clerk if there was a place I could eat and she generously offered me the break room in the back of the store.
Breakroom:
the break room is small but exactly what I needed. It was a dry quiet place where I could get my nourishment. Okay the Coca-Cola was for the caffeine and it’s not exactly nourishing but I do what I gotta do to maintain my alertness and it works.
Interesting Lee the clerk at the deli warned me about animals on the highway and she said please be very careful. Those were her last words to me as we said goodbye. Within an hour I came about 2 feet from hitting a fairly large possum that darted out into the road. It shook me up momentarily and I remembered her words. I thought about calling the store just to let her know but I did not.
Across the border of California and arrived at Crescent City and decided to spend the night there. I had a very nice chat about Halloween with the hotel clerk before I went to my room and got some very needed sleep.
I woke up on day 4 to more wet weather. I made my way down the beautiful California coast before my root brought me in land. It was a fairly unremarkable ride and I landed in San Rafael where my best friend and his wife were.
I arrived around 5 o’clock so there was plenty of time to spend with them. His wife had a friend staying with them so I met her as well and we all had a very nice evening together.
I woke up on day 5 to some rather unpleasant weather. I waited for the weather to clear which allowed me to spend more time with my friends. As soon as the weather cleared I saddled up and headed out. Little did I know what I was about to ride into.
I don’t mind riding in rain because I have really good gear and I am extra careful. I don’t really care for wind very much because you can’t see it and it is unpredictable. Rain and wind are not pleasant. Although the storm had passed there were some residual weather cell and I went into a rather ferocious cell as I was crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. So I am 300 feet above the water dangling on a steel Bridge with cars all around me and this swirling nasty monsoon trying to knock me off the bike. It only lasted about 2 minutes but it was a very tense 2 minutes that I really could have done without.
Anyway I made it through and was heading to wards a college friend’s place to reconnect. She and I played in The College orchestra together. A friend of mine from my present Orchestra died recently from breast cancer. She and I and this college friend all played in our College orchestra. As I thought about my friend who passed away I found my college friend online. If it wasn’t for the passing away Vicky I might not have reconnected but in any event we did reconnect.
Time had been really good to her and she looked fairly much the same. We had a very nice afternoon making lunch at her place and talking about old times.
I said goodbye to her and headed on my last stretch home.
As soon as I get home my mind starts to wonder about my next trip. I just love being on the road. Being on the road on a motorcycle kind of makes me think of these guys in the old west with their horses he would just ride. You connect with the land and with people along the way which is something you don’t do in daily life as much as we should. As soon as I get home I yearned to be back out on the road again with my motorcycle and my gear experiencing nature and the land and meeting people even if they are just short meetings and seeing friends and seeing family. Its the best.
Total miles- About 2400
markdobkin 