On the open road

Riding the twisties near Neah Bay, WA
Copyright 2006 by Chuck Porter, all rights reserved

Two motorcycles, three Clif Bars, four days and 640 miles of twisty road are all you need for a weekend of fun! (At least, that’s what my dad and I thought sometime last fall.)

The weather gods looked like they were in a favorable mood last week, so on Friday, we packed our bags and planned our route, which consisted of a loop around the Olympic Peninsula, plus a day on Vancouver Island.

Saturday dawned cold, but clear - a very good sign! After a fill-up at the local Shell station, we took off for Port Angeles.

I don’t think my dad was fully prepared for the route I’d planned. A short ride up I-5 to Marysville and we were off on every teensy country rode I could find between there and La Conner. We stopped at the Deception Pass Bridge for a peek over the edge and then high-tailed it to the Keystone ferry dock on Whidbey Island. (We wanted to make the 12 p.m. ferry, so we could have lunch in Port Townsend.)

We made it with plenty of time to spare and traded pleasantries with the BMW riders in line ahead of us.

(A side note for Ducati enthusiasts: As we were riding off the ferry on the other side, we spotted a gorgeous Paul Smart 1000. Not only do they exist, but people are riding them too!)

Port Townsend is clearly a town that caters to motorcyclists; we spotted at least four designated motorcycle parking spots at every street corner. Lunch was at Bayview, a small restaurant with a view of the water. Food is decent and the price is right (about $8 for a good sized sandwich with a side salad). Don’t expect to get an Arnold Palmer, though. They don’t have lemonade.

On our way out of town we paid a brief visit to a friend of my dad’s. She has a collection of six amazing birds. Four of them are parrots (three green and one grey), a ginormous cockateal, and one other that I can’t remember. They talk and laugh just like humans (one of them even said “hubba hubba!” when we walked into the room). They’re a little creepy and fascinating at the same time.

We cruised along Discovery Bay to Sequim, rode out to Dungeness Spit State Park for a view of the water, and finished the day at the Red Lion in Port Angeles. Burritos and margaritas at Crazy Fish topped off the day.

We aimed for an early start on Sunday to catch the Coho Ferry to Victoria, B.C. At the ticket counter, we were presented with a stern warning that any damage to the bikes on the journey across the water was our sole responsibility. Remembering the chaotic storm waves that tossed the boat around last time I took the ferry, I reluctantly signed the waiver. Fortunately, the ferry provides ties to secure the motorcycles against tipping over. Security is entirely dependant on your ability to tie good knots, however.

Once in Victoria, we took off on Hwy 1 to Sooke and then Hwy 14 to Port Renfrew. Of all the roads we traveled on the entire trip, this one was my favorite. It paralleled the Straight of Juan de Fuca, but it was so twisty that almost 100% of your attention had to be focused on the next turn.

We made it as far as Jordan River before gas availability became an issue. (Note to self, fuel up in Sooke if you want to make it all the way to Port Renfrew and back.) We stopped for lunch at a small burger shack on the beach and chatted with a couple 749 and 999 owners briefly, before they continued on down the road. It was just as well, because within 15 minutes a pack of 30 riders, mostly on Harley Davidson’s, showed up. They were making an ice cream stop on the way to the pub in Port Renfrew. They departed only to be followed by a pack of about 20 “angry bees” (Japanese sport bikes) coming back from Port Renfrew. Clearly the ice cream must be good here, because that is all they stopped for too.

The sport bike riders departed just ahead of us, but we never saw them again. Too fast for us granny drivers!

The ride back to the ferry was just as fun as the ride out (maybe a little better actually, since we were more familiar with the turns).

Day 3 dawned clear again (boy were we lucky!), so we headed west on Hwy 112 to Neah Bay. It’s located on the Makah Indian reservation at the northwestern most corner of the Peninsula. It’s not much of a destination, but the road getting there was pretty good. The pavement could be better, but the views and the twistiness factor are excellent.

From there we headed south on Hwy 113 - the second best road on the entire trip. At 60 mph, the sweepers make you feel like a grand prix driver. Sweet!

In Forks, the road joins up with Hwy 101, which mostly parallels the coast.

Me on “Il Mostro” and dad on the “Friendly Bee”
Copyright 2006 by Charles Porter, all rights reserved

It’s a long ride to Aberdeen, and by the time we got there we were pretty much toast. 220 miles in one day is a lot for first-time tourers!

Aberdeen (home of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain) is a moderately depressed mill town that used to be the center of a booming logging and fishing trade. There’s not much of either industry left in the area, but the town has yet to die completely.

We stayed at the Red Lion again. (It was much cheaper than the one in P.A. and included breakfast.) We each took long showers, letting the hot water soothe our sore bodies. After dinner and watching The Apprentice (a show which my dad was not impressed with), we fell soundly asleep.

Tuesday morning dawned cloudy and cool. We had faith in the weather man’s prediction that the day would stay dry and headed inland to Hood Canal.

The winding road from Shelton to Hoodsport to Quilcene has a number of nicely linked ess turns, great for riding.

After a short stop in Port Gamble for lunch we took the ferry from Kingston to Edmonds (bringing our ferry trip count to four!) and headed home.

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