Category: Motorcycles

Sportbike NW: Day 0

Bikes at the Randle Motel

Sportbike NW is the annual motorcycle rally held in Stevenson, Wash. After some agonizing about missing law school orientation last Thursday, we figured five days of motorcycle touring would set me up better for fall semester than sitting in a room listening to a bunch of people talk.

We left Wednesday evening just after dinner and scooted our way down to the tiny town of Randle. Nick and my dad stayed here on their circumnavigation of St. Helens last year, and it seemed like a good way to start our trip. The Randle Motel is under new ownership (new owners are pictured in the background above), and is slowly improving. Our room, for example, had all of its windows this time. Most importantly, for $40 a night it’s hard to beat.

We topped off the evening with a beer and 50 cent game of pool at the Big Bottom Bar & Grill. Here’s where I sheepishly admit that Nick beat me - not because he’s a good pool player, but because I’m a really bad one. In this particular game I knocked two of his balls in and set up the 8-ball near a corner pocket for him. Sheesh!

Post-riding grins

Who knew such happiness could be purchased in the form of 1,001 miles in the saddle of a Ducati 900ss.

John Denver moment

Sing it with me:

My bags are packed; I’m ready to go.
I’m standing here outside the door.
I hate to wake you up with my super-loud pipes.

Cuz I’m leavin’ for Sportbike Northwest.
Can’t say when I’ll be back again.
Oh man, this is gonna be sweet!

Motivation

I did the math today and realized that, thanks to the mandatory grading curve, only 6-10 people in my Criminal Law class will receive an A. Another 20 or so will get Bs. The rest will fall out somewhere below that. I can’t help but think this fact is slightly demoralizing for a group of students who is used to always being at the top of their class.

I think I’ll put this “poster” on my laptop as motivation for my final week of studying. What, after all, is the worst that can happen?

For more motorcycle-related posters courtesy of the Southern Pennsylvania BMW Riders, read on. 

Continued...

Caution: Low Flying Ducs

Nick and dad on the Twisp-Carleton Road

With two free days and gasoline burning holes in our pockets, Nick, my Dad and I finally took the Ducs to Hwy 20 - the grand daddy of motorcycle touring roads.

Hoping to beat the Memorial Day RV rush, we left on Thursday afternoon. The trip up I-5 didn’t set the stage well (too many cars on narrow, chewed up roads), but we found Hwy 530 in Arlington soon enough. Cars were non-existant on this road, but side winds buffeted us all the way to Rockport, causing otherwise perfect lines in corners to look a little crooked as gusts pushed us over.

The worst of the ride over, we stopped at the roadside park just outside of Rockport for a cookie break - fortification for the non-stop fun ahead.

View of the N. Cascades from the roadside park

After gassing up in Marblemount (last chance for 90 miles) we were off for the ride of our lives. The twisties started just outside of Newhalem and didn’t stop until the far side of Washington Pass. We paced a dark green Miata until it couldn’t keep to the speed limit anymore. I roared past it, the Miata sped up to keep pace, Nick said he could smell burning rubber.

The descent from Washington Pass was nothing to write home about - straight, dry and ... well ... boring. We found ourselves in Winthrop soon enough though - three tired puppies.

Dinner was at the Winthrop Brewing Company where they were offering $2 pints and $2 tacos. Yum! It wasn’t long after that though that we collapsed at the Duck Brand for many hours of deep sleep.

Friday dawned clear. After a big breakfast of eggs, oatmeal, beans, bacon and coffee we set off on the side roads, paralleling Hwy 153 south to Lake Chelan.

In Chelan, we stopped off to visit Gary Rittenmeyer - a friend from the “old neighborhood” - at his gorgeous south-facing house on the lake. Unfortunately, we missed seeing Diane who was out of town.

We continued on to Leavenworth where we stopped for a brat and lemonade. Another gas up and we were off on the final stretch home. The roads just outside of Leavenworth in Tumwater Canyon are excellent. Unfortunately, they straighten out somewhere around Skykomish - long before home.

We were right about the traffic: Cars lined up at a near standstill from Gold Bar back almost to Monroe. Fortunately for us, we were going the other direction with free and clear roads ahead of us.

Will we do it again? Most definitely.