hopz Posted July 13, 2008 Posted July 13, 2008 We did 1680 miles give or take a tenth or two going to John Day and beyond. It was a totally outstanding trip. No mechanical issues, no mis-routes by the Zumo, no bad road choices, no regrets about any decisions made. The bike performed wonderfully.I continue to be impressed, and as others have said repeatedly, the more you run it the better it gets. We pulled out on Monday. Salt Lake traffic was not too bad but the construction mess on 15 Northbound continues to be a tension inducing challenge, as it turned out, it was not the worst of it. The old timers say that living in the high country out west has two seasons, Winter and Construction... he was right. The first night was Boise which seemed like a good idea at the time. We had never been there but heard it had some good restaurants and good bars. We went to the Cottonwood Grille, for a "glad to be away from home" fancy meal and the place was great looking. The food could have been great as well but turned out just OK. Why do they put an "E" on the end of Grill? It must be that they are trying to be something they are not. The agricultural plains of West central Idaho and Eastern Oregon were fun. They were a great variation from our mountains. Interesting but there ought to be a rule requiring farmers to post signs telling what they are growing. One town however was a give away. Mint. It is a wonderful aroma... mint in the morning. Mid morning we were ready for the next cup of coffee and UNity appeared. Seemed like the right way to John Day, so at UNity we stopped. This may not seem strange to you, but being from Salt Lake City, a bar, open at 10 in the morning, with liquor in plain sight, well it deserved a picture or two. Amused by the Oregon Law Enforcement sign... see the arrow. A biscuit and a cup later- on our way. We could see higher terrain ahead, from miles away and as we approached from the East, the land changed and soon gave way to a great pine forest. Tall, mature trees, including redwoods, all with beautiful undergrowth. As Twisties said later, it reminded us of the coastal forests in California and Oregon but most importantly, the forest held great roads. Long sweepers with good sight lines and elevation changes too. Nice roads in Oregon. John Day is an interesting little town. I wonder what it is like in the winter. The A.B.Value Inn turned out to be one of the centers of the UN and it was a good place for it. Great fun to see the bikes, the people and the chatter, not to mention the "field repairs" taking place. It was said by more then one..."How many riders does it take to change a light bulb?" A good time was had by all... But John Day was not a final destination. It was a great gathering but also a waypoint, a fun afternoon visiting, meeting and putting names and screen names together. Our limited time required us to move on. Breakfast, just outside of John Day Our path of travel took us through, by design, some of the best riding I have ever encountered to this point and included not only more wonderful forest, and the open plains, but the approach to and beyond of Hells Canyon. Susie and I now know why they call it Hell's Canyon... we made 108F on the thermometer and can guarantee every degree. Unfortunately we were more than half way through the furnace when we stopped at a resting place and drenched our shirts with water from the rest area fountain... and then donned the mesh. Great A/C for about 50 miles, then repeat until late afternoon arrival in Graingeville, ID. The town itself seems like a strange choice unless you consider it is a good approach to US 12 and Lolo Pass. This is arguably one of the best roads in the northwest. Here we have over 100 MILES of twisties and sweepers accompanied by one of the prettiest big water rivers in the west. As a fly fisher it was difficult to ride a good ride and look at the rapids, riffles, pocket water, pools, slicks, and eddies. Traffic was light, but many bikes headed our way from the East. Observation: 20 miles of this sort of road is a rare find and well worth the ride- such as Big Cottonwood Canyon here in SLC. 50 miles is unheard of and it will draw bikers from far and wide- as in Sweeper Madness near Torrey, UT. 100 miles is too much to comprehend and sensory overload can cause you to zone out. Be careful if you ride the 12. At the end of the Lolo Pass highway there is... Lolo, MT. where we turned South and head for the Continental Divide and the border with Idaho. But first we encountered some of the nastiest construction we have ever seen. Not only was the road rough in many places, for miles it disappeared and was just packed soil and rock. Glad it was dry. Then it improved to gravel, then 10 miles or so of fresh chip seal... fresh as in the big tar truck just laid down its messy load followed by rock chips followed by us... Squirrelly, noisy, nasty paint, helmet, windshield chip inducing rocks made for uncomfortable travel, and finally, finally, out of it we headed for Salmon, Idaho. Altogether it was a great day tempered downward a little by the difficulties of the road construction. Altogether it was just a small distraction from the great ride. Salmon, ID is a small fishing town made famous for the Salmon River. Imagine that, but the thing is it is 1500 miles from the ocean and the salmon run here, and beyond, every year. Steelhead... ocean going Rainbow Trout- in the middle of Idaho...amazing. The highlight of the evening was a great hamburger at the Bertram's Brewery... topped off by the guy across the room who, unfortunately for himself, but to the delight of all within earshot, had a ripping gas attack. Magnificent. The room laughed so hard there were tears flowing. The next day was an interesting mix of temperatures and environments.... cold in the morning- had to stop and put on layers, and then again for more layers as the we followed the Salmon river upward in altitude through canyons and impressive rock walls, to and beyond Stanley, ID to Ketchum, ID. Home to Earnest Hemingway and a rather large collection of the wealthiest people in the world. The airport at Hailey had the largest collection of private and corporate jets I have ever seen. There must have been 100 or more... Lears were a dime a dozen, Gulfstream 550's had to compete with top of the line Bombardiers...amazing. Apparently they were gathered for the Sun Valley Art show... as the town was full. We had a quick lunch and moved on. By the time we got to Twin Falls, ID the clock and GPS said we were just not that far from home. Too close to justify another night in a motel so we turned that way and just did the ride. The wind was at our back for a good while and the temperature cooperated for a slab run, but turned hot before we got to the congestion of Ogden and points between there and home. Again the wet T-Shirt show made the best of it, and Susie assures me the trucker at the rest stop seemed to enjoy the watering down part that happens just before putting the mesh back on. Made it home by 6 ish... eleven hour day... good run, magnificent sights, cold, hot, impressive places, good to be home again, and made all the better by a willing passenger. Observations: -When you clean your visor, the next bug will be a big one and it will be right between your eyes. - 100 miles of US 12 is about 50 miles too much. - There are more bikes on the road than I remembered and most of them are Harleys. - If its 100 degrees, the locals look at you funny when you wear full riding gear into the brewpub. - If you just want to get into your room at the motel some guy on a Goldwing will want to talk to you about your bike and go into great detail about every thing on it. - A silk balaclava is the best thing next to your heated vest on a cold morning. - A heated vest in the closet at home will not warm you up. - No matter how much you "edit" your packing there will be something you never wear. - No matter how much you "edit" your packing there will be something you wish you had but left at home. - There is always a slow guy in a small car at the front of every rolling traffic jam on the highway. - If you take the liners out of your mesh riding pants at a gas station the old guy in the pick up truck looks like he is getting ready to call the sheriff on you, except the ladies who pull up to get gas will think it is funny. -You cannot explain the UN part of the UN Rally to non believers. Thanks again to all who put this event together. I am certain it was hard work, but all who attended were pleased. What's next?
Bullett Posted July 13, 2008 Posted July 13, 2008 Sounds like y'all had a nice ride! Thanks for sharing your pictures and ride.
Twisties Posted July 13, 2008 Posted July 13, 2008 Nice tale! Couldn't read the sign in the bar, what's it say? Get cooling vests from R&R. They stay wet for about 3 hours and are very effective in our dry climate. See Ya', Jan
hopz Posted July 14, 2008 Author Posted July 14, 2008 What it says is: "I don't Call 911" Written over a large Pistol. Sorry, but Susie got to the pics before me and sized them... I hope to get the entire set up on a photo sharing site and will post it when I do. What we need is vests that both cool and heat... that would be the ticket! See you guys soon to learn all about your side of the trip.
hopz Posted July 14, 2008 Author Posted July 14, 2008 What it says is: "I don't Call 911" Written over a large Pistol. Sorry, but Susie got to the pics before me and sized them... I hope to get the entire set up on a photo sharing site and will post it when I do. What we need is vests that both cool and heat... that would be the ticket! See you guys soon to learn all about your side of the trip.
Firefight911 Posted July 14, 2008 Posted July 14, 2008 Sorry I missed you. Glad you had a chance to meet Jamie though!
dhanson Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 Nice ride tale, sorry we missed you. We had the evaporative vest (jean) and I had the collar. I took mine off when cold and substituded a hunting rainsuit top. Jean wore hers hot or cold, made sure it was dry for the morning then wet it out when it got hot. Worked great, it had a nice high collar also. The downside, we got heavy showers south of Amarillo and it was 60s so she got pretty cold after the collar got wet. Ran out of showers just in time and warmed up. My GPS was full of it, no matter if I ran fastest time, or shortest route! I didn't have enough maps to verify where the heck it wanted to go, so Jean won out on the old tried and tested routes. We did skip NM tho, ha. I met a bmw rider several years ago in Clines Corner, he goes, I down't know anyone that wants to move to NM.
dhanson Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 I was so busy trying to keep up with Twisties, I saw the sign that said curves next 66 miles. Jean says, I saw one that said 77, ha. Best road in the U.S. I bet.
Bob Palin Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 I was so busy trying to keep up with Twisties, I saw the sign that said curves next 66 miles. Jean says, I saw one that said 77, ha. Best road in the U.S. I bet. It's good, but it's not even the best route 12.
gottabmw Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 I was so busy trying to keep up with Twisties, I saw the sign that said curves next 66 miles. Jean says, I saw one that said 77, ha. Best road in the U.S. I bet. It's good, but it's not even the best route 12. Depends on what "best" is. Having now ridden both Highway 12 in Idaho and Hwy 12 in Utah, I'd say they're maybe the best in different ways. Idaho's 12 is not too varied in scenery and land forms but is high speed sweeper Nirvana. Utah's Hwy 12 has it's moments as a thrill ride, but the scenery is a geologic wonderland, from Alpine forests to the stark beauty of Grand Staircase-Escalante to the colorful Red Canyon. Idaho 12 is stunning to ride. Utah's 12 is stunning to see.
Bob Palin Posted July 15, 2008 Posted July 15, 2008 Idaho's 12 is not too varied in scenery and land forms but is high speed sweeper Nirvana. Utah's Hwy 12 has it's moments as a thrill ride, but the scenery is a geologic wonderland, from Alpine forests to the stark beauty of Grand Staircase-Escalante to the colorful Red Canyon. Idaho 12 is stunning to ride. Utah's 12 is stunning to see. That's what I was thinking too, no question that Lolo pass is a great road but it's 77 (or whatever) miles of the same road. UT12 presents many riding challenges and a huge variety of conditions, as well as having the scenery. I've ridden Lolo pass several times btw.
Twisties Posted July 16, 2008 Posted July 16, 2008 Idaho's 12 is not too varied in scenery and land forms but is high speed sweeper Nirvana. Utah's Hwy 12 has it's moments as a thrill ride, but the scenery is a geologic wonderland, from Alpine forests to the stark beauty of Grand Staircase-Escalante to the colorful Red Canyon. Idaho 12 is stunning to ride. Utah's 12 is stunning to see. That's what I was thinking too, no question that Lolo pass is a great road but it's 77 (or whatever) miles of the same road. UT12 presents many riding challenges and a huge variety of conditions, as well as having the scenery. I've ridden Lolo pass several times btw. The 77 miles sign is at the ID border. There's plenty more miles on the MT side, so I think Bob's (hopz's) 100 miles is about right. I enjoy both rides, the 12's, a great deal. Only made Lolo this once, a few days ahead of Bob on the way to the UN, but loved it. Jan
Bullett Posted July 16, 2008 Posted July 16, 2008 I was so busy trying to keep up with Twisties, I saw the sign that said curves next 66 miles. Jean says, I saw one that said 77, ha. Best road in the U.S. I bet. It's good, but it's not even the best route 12. I only saw the curves next 66 miles sign . . . I was wondering if we were on the right road . . . but I was stuck behind those two trucks hauling radioactive material , so I thought I might have missed the sign.
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