Category: Motorcycles

The Great Oregon Loop

The bags are packed for our second moto trip of the year. Nick won’t be joining us due to his bike’s state of disrepair. Here’s a preview of where my dad and I will be going.

Day 1: Kirkland, WA to Manzanita, OR

Day 2: Manzanita, OR to Bandon, OR

Day 3: Bandon, OR to Crater Lake

Day 4: Crater Lake to Goldendale, WA

Day 5: Goldendale, WA to Kirkland, WA

My first track day

For Christmas my parents gave Nick and me a motorcycle skills class at Pacific Raceways. It wasn’t a course on racing or race technique, rather it was a day to build road riding skills in a controlled, car-free environment.

We arrived at the track this morning at some gosh-awful early hour for check-in and bike inspection.

The day was divided into 20-minute segments - classroom, break, track time. Nick and I ended up in different sessions somehow, which we thought would be interesting, since they were teaching different skills in each one. My section focused on the S-M-A-R-T cornering technique (Scan, Mark, Adjust, Relax, Throttle). We learned how to read whether a corner was an increasing radius, constant or decreasing radius turn by looking at the vanishing point and other clues. We practiced picking lines and smooth throttle control. The best part of the day, though, came at the end when we started to shift body position on the bike in order to go faster and keep the rubber down.

Nick’s class focused on the A-R-T part of S-M-A-R-T. Unfortunately, someone’s bad judgment ended his day early and left the Superfriend in shambles. I still had riding lessons left, so I kissed him on the cheek and handed him the camera. (No worries! Nick is fine, and he’ll get to go back in September when his bike is fixed.)

I had so much fun that I’m now contemplating the choice between a new pair of shoes and another track day. Oh, the dilemma!

Little helper

We’re back from the second annual “Nick B Brown Birthday Moto Tour.” The cats missed us and have taken to helping unpack when they can.

Sportbike NW: Day 4

Editor’s note: Nick and I went to Sportbike NW at the end of August, but the adventure was too good to splash up without careful editing. This is the fifth and final installment. If you’re arriving mid-story, you can catch up here: Day 0, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3. Pictures by Carry. Text by Nick.

Cold cold cold.

Sunday morning was darker than other mornings. The low-hanging clouds created a cozy effect. If I had a living room window to curl up in front of with a cup of coffee, I would. But we didn’t. We were camping. The best we could do was have a plate of scrambled eggs tossed with the leftovers from last night’s paella and half a cup of really awful coffee.

We packed our bags and took the tent apart, trying to remember where everything went a few days before. I swear I didn’t bring this much stuff with me. Who slipped me the extra fleece pullover? Where did this spare pare of shorts come from? How on earth did I fit the tent poles in my trunk bag? We made arrangements with David to meet us at the coffee shop “soon” and we would blaze our way north.

By the time I arrived at the coffee shop, Carry was reading a magazine and already drinking tea. I had been getting gas for the last 20 minutes. Buying gas on this trip was an exercise in frustration. For whatever reason, the gas stations in Oregon wouldn’t read my debit card. None of them. Every fill up required a trip inside, where they told me to select “pay inside” and then come back. But at least in Oregon they were willing to sell me gas. When I filled up in Stevenson, the pump didn’t work. It’s like it didn’t want me to leave town! “No gas for you!” said the gas Nazi.

Bahma Coffee Bar makes a mean Americano. Hot, flavorful, and about a dollar more than their already-excellent drip coffee. I was feeling extravagant, so I ordered one. While Carry was there alone, I figured David would be right along. I drank coffee, looked at tourist pamphlets, reviewed my map, scraped bugs off my helmet, watched some dipshit on a Harley nearly knock Carry’s Monster over trying to park his barge of a motorcycle. Still no David. “Do you think he left town already?” “No, he said he’d meet us here.” “Do you think he’s at another coffee shop?” “This is the only one in town.” We finished our drinks and elected to go back to the fairgrounds to see where our traveling companion was.

Continued...

Make your own motivational posters

Remember those fun moto-motivational posters I posted a while back? Now you can make your own with Poster Forge - a freeware application for Windows. All you need are a picture, text and border color to create wall-sized posters or images to publish online. The program will also make movie posters and wanted posters.