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The Clean Living Hoosiers™ Ride Again. The 3rd Annual Trip Of A Lifetime


Indy Dave

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At Burnt Ranch, we see the original gravel road GSJoe had found. But it looked like a normal road! Hmm. So we turned around and checked it out. Sure enough, it started out nice and curvy and about all one could ask for in a road.

 

And then things changed.

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In the brush ahead on the left, there's a burned out car.

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So, we confirmed that in fact it was not a road we should be traveling on.

 

 

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So Burnt Ranch Roach Road was getting narrower and obviously very much less traveled. And that was within the first half mile of it turning to dirt, so we could only imagine it was only going to get worse.

 

In order for the R1150's to get safely back home, we needed to fuel in Hayfork. I had been advocating for Douglas City :classic_laugh:, but that would be too soon. If we missed fueling in Hayfork, then we'd be in a gas crunch trying to get to Dunsmore. Remember, Zippy had been having issues that were as yet unresolved, so I'm not sure that when we arrived in Hayfork, and I announced that Zippy1 would find us fuel, there wasn't a lot of confidence from the CLH. And cell service out this way .... wasn't. As  Zippy1 seemed to be leading us back out in the the woods, the intercom voices in my helmet were beginning to doubt. Zippy1 pulled through, and we fueled and really began to feel the heat soak. Chatter was again refreshed about finding the river. And a place to swim.

 

Oddly enough, we found that in a place called:  :4316:

 

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We found some shade to take a break under.

 

 

 

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And the waters were examined.

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And tested:

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The waters were quite chilly, just the thing for this scorching day. It took fully 2 hours for the boy's voices to return to a normal pitch.

 

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One of the earlier trips brothers Jerry and GSJoe took, they had found some hot springs and took the opportunity to relax and enjoy. So it's been a sort thing 'to do' on each of the trips. In Colorado, they got into a FREEZING water near our hotel in Durango. On the trip the year after that, one of the houses we'd rented had a hot tub, so that took care of that. The guys were definitely cooled off and they felt super refreshed.

 

Soon, it was time to explore our GS section of the route. We'd be on this for quite a ways. We agreed that we'd go a little ways and evaluate. The road had been recently graded - at least what we were riding on at that time had, and it took only a brief wait for thumbs up before we continued.

 

The go - no-go conference:

 

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RED SECTOR A

 

Because of the dust, we had spread out quite a bit, so the sena's were useless. I couldn't see the next rider behind me, so this looked like a good place to take a breather.

 

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Before long, a pickup truck approached from the south and stopped. The guys walked over to talk to the driver; I was fussing with the GoPro, so I stayed at my bike with the trunk case open. A couple of minutes later, another truck arrives from the other direction and stops at an angle, partially blocking the road. The first guy was older, and this was his adult son [we decided later]. We didn't talk to him. The older said he was a cattle rancher - and he was probably at least that.  He was quizzing the guys about what we were doing way up here on the road. But he emphasized several times to the guys that when we came to a 'Y' in the road "NOT TO TURN RIGHT!!! You need to go left there. Don't be going to the right. "

 

Feeling he'd successfully warned us, the older man pulled forward  and his son straightened out and they 'visited' for a couple of minutes. The older man drove on and the son waited a bit, seemingly making sure we were getting geared up, and then turned around and drove off in the same direction as his dad.

 

Back in town that night, as we shared our story with locals, they told us that us that unquestionably those guys were weed farmers and they wanted to be sure we weren't there to try to steal their crop! (if only we'd known! :rofl:) They further advised us that no doubt they were packing for trouble and that it was harvest time.

 

I wondered if perhaps they thought that my staying at the back of my bike with the top case open was so I could cover the CLH should we decide to Break Bad turn all outlaw on them.

Edited by Indy Dave
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You can just see a baby deer top center:

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We stop again, and Ernie gets The Main Monkey Business for stopping (to check on those behind him) and then pealing out and getting dust all over everyone.

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At this stop, Jerry remarks how many signs we've seen that say you'll be SHOT for trespassing! Knowing what we know now . .  .

 

 

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1 Buck and 2 Moo-Cow's on what we now refer to as  "Copperhead Road!" And I explore the far edge of a uphill switchback :shake::16:

 

I could have used the GSA Low gear!

 

 

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I show we started at 608ft above Sea Level and climbed to 2900 a few times. The gravel part was pretty decent, it could have been quite a bit more challenging  had parts of it not been recently graded. And of course, they only graded so far, and past the single track bridge, there was a lot of the typical washboard-ness. Once pavement started to appear - in spots at first - the pavement was pretty choppy - and traveling West with the sun low, there were the normal challenges with the play of light. None the less, I enjoy that kind of road.

 

Back to the gravel. I mentioned earlier that riders were spreading out to reduce the amount of dust ingested. The distance was more than the Sena's were comfortable with, so Ernie (The Eagle Scout) was stopping two or three times as often as the riders in front. While The Silver Bastard (TSB) was only checking on those behind him, those following were not so thrilled. TSB would wait until those behind him were all caught up to him, and then (allegedly) "peal out" kicking up a dust storm worthy of the Desert. This was not sitting well with Jerry, Donnie and GSJoe. At one point, Jerry had eaten enough of TSB's dust and overpowered and overtook TSB. Whether TSB was oblivious to his dust storm creation is open to conjecture. Was he making sure everyone was OK or was he living up to his well earned nickname - The Sliver Bastard?!? At some point, Donnie's sena clicked in and he was also quite frustrated by all stopping and starting and the Desert Dust. This would be the perfect making for a Pile On The Silver Bastard, in true CLH fashion.

 

And so this condensed dialog finally took place on a GROUP stop:

 

Jerry arrives and tells us the basics of the story I've shared. Donnie arrives and collaborates :90:   :4296: . Turns out, Donnie also passed TSB, too! This is going to be good! :lurk::rofl::lurk:

 

TSB arrives with GSJoe right on his tail.

 

Jerry: What was your plan here, Ernie? Wait for me and then (motioning with hands the acceleration one would make in a bike) and then peal out so I could get dust all over me!?

 

Silence.

 

Ernie (TSB): I wanted to make sure you were OK because I didn't see you behind me.

Jerry: Because I was getting away from your dust! (Becoming animated again with gestures complimenting his words) And then you'd wait... and then... VROOM. Laughter abounds.

Donnie: sensing an opportunity and acting incredulous - "He did it to me!!" Laughter.

 

The banter goes back and forth a bit - with Donnie and Jerry retelling their frustrated Sena conversation.

 

Ernie finally chimes back in, haplessly defending himself, but no one is listening.

 

GSJoe senses a wounded and vulnerable Ernie, and goes for the kill.

 

GSJoe: I mean . . .I'm back here, BARLEY ABLE TO KEEP BALANCE I'm going so slow! :rofl:

 

Ernie, knowing he can never recover: All right! F-you, I will NOT stop any more!

 

 

Edited by Indy Dave
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On 2/15/2019 at 8:20 PM, Indy Dave said:

 Not that any of us have ever been accused of being Alfred Einstein to begin with, but we're on vacation!

 

 

 

 

They say a joke is bad if you have to point it out. None the less . . . . Subtle perhaps . .  but  :wave:

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The single track bridge on the gravel road I think of as the halfway point - but I don't know how accurate that is. We still climbed and descended, but we eventually  began to start to see signs of farms and ranchers, and even a small rural school. The encounter we'd had with the weed dudes was fairly early on and there weren't any structures visible from the road -unlike now - where there were a few occasional scattered here and there, and we'd see bunches of mailboxes near a dirt offshoot road. Slowly the road turned to a mix of pavement and gravel, and then pavement finally. It was a challenging road to ride with any pace, because it was pretty chopped up - although there was a section that'd been recently paved (compared to everything else). One still had to be cautious, because like a lot of rural roads, the surface was unpredictable. Cell service was spotty, and somehow my wife had reached me when we had service. I was in a technical section and ridding spirited at this point, and I finally had to tell her I needed to focus.

 

Two more deer

 

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Although there were several of these steep uphill switchbacks,  can you ever have too many?!?

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Edited by Indy Dave
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We arrived back before 8, feeling satisfied after a long day on the road - we'd had a blast! While we'd had some construction early on while in the beating sun, we'd managed to pack a pretty full day with a solid mix of riding. It felt good to be back and we were thirsty!

 

One of the guys had discovered this restaurant (The Plaza Grill) - in a historic building, with it's dinning room on the second floor. Fun staff and great food.

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Earlier in the day, just before the weed farmers visit.

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We hit a bar on the same block as our hotel, and there was a nice crowd and great jukebox. It was here, in talking with locals, that we were enlightened about our encounter from earlier in the day. Lots of trash talking during the pool games.

 

 

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While this was our last night together, it had been a long and hot day. While Ernie, Jerry and my routes were planned for our trip up to Portland, the issues with Zippymeant I needed to make some changes to the routes tonight. While we were out on the town, the Bumbling BackRoad Riders™ back home had been rolling up their sleeves and had some ideas for me to try on the next couple of day's routes. I went back to work on the routes and I also fired off an email to Garmin Support. The rest of the CLH called it an early night soon after.

 

Edited by Indy Dave
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Tuesday found us all packing up, but not rushed. While we were going our separate ways, the back and forth banter was only just beginning. Updates would be flying back and forth and the unsaid competition would be who was getting the better of Clean Living. I'm being polite when I say 'competition'. The Silver Bastard, Jerry and I knew we had this without even trying - we're hapless and adventure finds us   naturals in finding adventure.

 

One last gathering for the year:

 

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The A Team would be making our way to Medford, OR, while the B Teamers would be heading back South, with Don dropping off his bike in San Fransisco and GSJoe and Steve heading back to L.A. Our trips wern't over by a long shot, but we knew their trip would be dull and boring without us.

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To finish up the ride aspect of Monday, I mentioned the road transitioned to pavement - probably the last third or quarter of the road. We'd had some great riding earlier in the day, with a variety of sweepers to keep everyone smiling. It'd been a long, fatiguing and hot day - and then we came across this section of road - which very quickly changes character. More than once I was surprised at how steep the incline was as I changed direction on the switchbacks. The camera has difficulty with the sun glare in a few spots, and we did to. This only added to the fun, as you had to trust that the road in fact continued until your eyes could adjust.

 

 

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And so The Three  Wise Men  Riders embarked for Medford, OR. It was going to be another very hot day.

 

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I left my bike running so Zippy1 would not forget where we were.

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It wasn't long before we started looking for a stream to swim in.

 

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Jerry's wife long ago was a co-worker of Ernie's (The Silver Bastard) and they became acquainted at some work function. They have become best friends, and although Ernie now lives onthe East Coast, they get together a couple of times a year - The Clean Living Hoosiers trip and some kind of dorky golf weekend. :cuz:

 

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Jerry doing his best GSJoe pose. Power Windows indeed.

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This looked like a good spot.

 

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There were 2 eagles gliding in the breeze just above the river.

 

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Where ever the B Team was, there was no way they could top our day. Our riding was great as well. More about that next time.

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Our morning had started in slight disarray. We broke protocol last night and did not fuel up when we got back. It was already late when we got back to town, and we weren't going to be pressed for time today, so no harm done. By word of mouth, the location of the gas station was passed along. Jerry and Ernie wanted to wash their bikes, and they had given me simple sounding directions. But no. I went this way and that. And called and called. I went back to the gas station, and the attendant had no idea where a car wash was. I waited. Giving up and on my way back to the hotel, I get a call and directions. Where they were (at the car wash) wasn't anywhere near where I interpreted the 'simple' directions to be. :4331:Turns out they were giving me directions from our hotel, not the gas station we were  when they'd given me the directions. But we all got cleaned up and ready to roll despite the confusion. 

 

 

Now just 3 of us.

 

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This felt like a whole new trip. Not that our group of 6 was difficult by any means - but 3 is simple. Generally, everyone will be in sight at all times - there should be no need to worry about someone not making the correct turn and getting lost, or one of us boldly going where the other two do not want to go. But "should" doesn't always make it so. We were an RT club now, so we didn't have to worry about fuel. Much. Decisions were now quick and simple. GSJoe had largely researched and put together the routes we'd taken up till now. Jerry had put together the foundation of our trip to Portland and had a outline of daily routes that he and I then collaborated on and tweaked. So, we were excited to see what some of the roads would be like that we only had limited info on. With the drastic cuts to The Forest Service and National Parks Staff, getting reliable road info was challenging. I finally got in touch with a Forest Service Road Manager and she advised that a road we wanted to take was closed about half way through due to fire clean up, and that even if the road was open, street bikes were not going to make it through. Good to know!

 

It's method on the edge of madness
It's a balance on the edge of a knife
It's a smile on the edge of sadness
It's a dance on the edge of life

     Vapor Trails

 

At Willow Creek, we pealed off and headed Northerly. For only the second time, The Sliver Bastard took to the lead, and once we crossed the creek, he found himself in The Zone and we had a nice dance on the twisty, winding road along the water. Perhaps venting from the verbal abuse he received on the dusty roads the day before, I'd not seen The Silver Bastard ride like this before. Always conservative in word and deed, he no doubt was feeling like he had the heavy RT figured out and he was leading it down the road.:revit:

 

We stopped in Happy Camp for lunch at a pizza joint and ate outside in the garden. We found the one and only (non attended) fuel stop and gassed up. It was hot now and we were looking for a stream to cool off in, but didn't really find anything suitable. We'd been on hard pack gravel for sometime and - perhaps now understanding the dust issue from yesterday - Ernie dropped back.

 

The Y in the road seemed obvious enough to Jerry and me as to which was the MAIN road, and we rolled on by without stopping. Ernie's an Eagle Scout and engineer - what could go wrong?

Except we don't see any signs of Ernie after slowing up.  We stop in the shade. No cell service. We wait and envision various scenarios. None of the scenarios we came up with had Ernie stopping to help apply tanning oil to the Swedish Bikini Team, so we decide that I'll go back and check down the other road while Jerry waits where we were in case Ernie happens along on the original road. Sure enough, Ernie chose the path less traveled and had gone quite a ways and turned back. In an area with a long incline (for me, he was traveling the other direction downhill), we came across each other. But the challenge wasn't over.  While he went on the catch up with Jerry, I needed to keep going up the mountain to find a suitable spot to turn around. We saw several burned out cars on the gravel road Ernie was on. He had gone quite a ways on the road!

                                                           -- V--  "V" Marks the spot where you can see where I veered off on Ernie's road. 

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The remaining road to Applegate Lake was challenging at times, with steep gravel drops - and then as if by magic, it turned to pavement somewhere. Jerry had included the lake for a chance to swim, but the stream seemed better.

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Edited by Indy Dave
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We arrived in Medfod OR and it was still quite warm. We were sharing a large two room suite, complete with wet bar. With our Vodka's made and in our swim trunks, we headed for the outdoor pool and relaxed and refreshed. Jerry made a run to refresh our drinks and we'd just finished those when the pool was suddenly overrun with kids who were in town for some sports tourney. Their parents were having their own get together and while this was all well and good, their arrival was timed perfectly with our empty drinks and new mission to find dinner.

 

Jerry is quite the foodie (and also an exceptional cook), so he had some ideas of places to check out. We decided we'd check out the options he had, and then choose. If memory serves, we may have ended up at a place that wasn't on his list, but it looked fun (just like us :dopeslap:).

 

The wait staff was great and the place was owned by two or three sisters.

 

We all started with salad - which meant we could share a dessert. And white Russians

 

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We were quite amused at the various signs int he bistro.

 

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Edited by Indy Dave
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The B Team could not compete with the mix of roads we had or Lake Applegate Swim or the Bald Eagles, or . . . well, you get the picture. They did manage to get on the board with a few good photo opps.

 

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In the morning, we were off for Oakridge, OR where we would reside for two days.

 

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Our first stop was the Rogue River Natural Bridge.

 

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Apart from the Natural Bridge, there's plenty of other water activity going on as well.

 

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It's hard work watching all that water flow, so we were ready for lunch!

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We had just beat the crowd - there was a decent line of folks waiting to eat when we left. And yes, the cobber was awesome!

 

 

 

 

Edited by Indy Dave
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Sweet memories Flashing very quickly by

 

Having had our Fill, we headed back out into the hot day and geared up. The Blue Sky and Big Green Trees helped to take the sting out of the heat.

 

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That's me up ahead

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We were all looking forward to Crater Lake, our next stop!

 

Look Kids, this is a MAP!  :4316:

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I'll let the photos do the talking about Crater Lake.

 

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How many times
Do we wonder if it's even worth it

But we hold on. . .

    Hold On

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We toured the entire lake, each pull off area offered a new look and perspective of the lake.

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Ernie made a new friend (finally!)

 

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This guy wasn't so sure about Ernie . . .

 

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But it wasn't all fun and games . . .

 

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After making the rounds, we set off for Oakridge and our home for the next two nights.

 

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We got settled and . . there's not much to Oakridge. We found a BBQ place for dinner . .

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The owner was there and Jerry chatted him up a bit. Jerry is a great cook, so he was asking about rubs, smokes, cuts, etc etc. The guy talked a big game and how he brought Jersey(!) style ribs to town and EVERYONE loves them. We ordered, with Jerry carefully asking and checking on each item and getting a satisfactory answer each time. Once we ordered, the guy keeps BSing and you can just tell he's full of.... smoke. It soon comes up that - surprise surprise - he wants to sell his business and head back to Jersey! We finally get our food and it's been reheated. It's tough (just like us!). We took some home, maybe after some vodkas it'll taste better.

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After checking in with the Bumbling BackRoad Riders™ back home, I'm redoing the routes. Part of the problem is that when Zippy1

decide to turn itself off and forget where we are, generally we're out in the middle of nowhere and all my way points are non de-script - so I have no idea what to tell Zippy1 the next way point is when I convince it to turn back on. I'm up into the morning working in Basecamp - there's one section in particular Basecamp was being very stubborn in going on the road I wanted it to. It kept going to my shaping point and then doubling back and going around this lake the other way. I was able to FORCE it to go the way I wanted it to, but it took some doing.

 

I would find out why BaseCamp was so insistent soon enough. :14:

 

Edited by Indy Dave
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Crater Lake is worth the visit! We would have looked at the inside displays and seen the short movie, but the visitor center was PACKED, so we regretfully bypassed it. But just pulling into the parking lot took us 10 minutes to get back out of it :16:

Here's a link to the forest service's web site.

https://www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm

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Some will sell their dreams for small desires
Or lose the race to rats
Get caught in ticking traps
And start to dream of somewhere
To relax their restless flight

       Subdivisions (by Rush)

 

This sentiment might sum up the decision to take these trips every year. Brothers GSJoe and Jerry had started doing these – just the two of them – some years back. They were going to do them every 5 years. After that first trip, they recognized how much they had been missing this kind of bike and brother time and they knew that once every 5 years wasn't often enough. And so the trips evolved in both frequency and group numbers.

 

Somewhere out of a memory
Of lighted streets on quiet nights..
.

      Subdivisions (by Rush)

 

For Jerry and Ernie, their trip would be coming to a close all too quickly. We'd ride today and tomorrow, and Saturday they'd turn in their bikes in Portland and resume the rat race. And start to dream of the next year's Annual Trip of a Lifetime. I, too would have those thoughts as well, but I had a few more weeks on the road before I'd return home.

 

Our Airbnb was a nice place and it was nice to have the comfort of multiple rooms and laundry. It had nice decorations as well.

 

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I found this framed advertisement quite fascinating, as my ancestors had founded the various Warner Gear Companies and a time long ago, had run Borg-Warner.

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Our original route was to do a circular route through Bend, OR. Jerry had found a Thai restaurant he wanted to try downtown. :eat:  And we would have some time to walk around and grab some trinkets for the folks back home.

 

 

 

 Or The Devil against The Fool  (Pt.1)

       Peaceable Kingdom, Rush

 

We had decided to try to make our route more interesting and decided  to cut through Willamette National Forest. So in the wee hours of the morning, I was trying to get basecamp to go around the left side of Cougar Reservoir.  BaseCamp DID NOT want us to go on the left side! But I'll show it!! :5590:  :4607:

 

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I finally convinced Basecamp to go on the left side, after a thousand waypoints. I had been having such problems with my Garmin, that I was convinced this was another Gramin issue.

 

We would be in for quite an adventure tomorrow.

Edited by Indy Dave
Bend, OR not Eugene
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             Tide Pools

When the ebbing tide retreats
Along the rocky shoreline
It leaves a trail of tidal pools
In a short-lived galaxy
Each microcosmic planet
A complete society

 

A simple kind mirror
To reflect upon our own
All the busy little creatures
Chasing out their destinies
Living in their pools
They soon forget about the sea...

    Natural Science (Rush)

 

 

Our day today allowed us time to do what we like to do when we ride - take it as it comes and stop whenever we please and take in our surroundings. Our trip out West and our rides have exposed us to so many things - mostly geographic in nature - that we simply have lost sight of back home in our own 'tidal pools'. We have seen so many landscapes and seascapes that nearly take your breath away and invoke all kinds of wonderment, thought and contemplation. I have no idea of each of us were thinking as we would stare in awe, but we certainly shared an understanding that transcended words.

 

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After coffee, we were up and at 'em and heading for BEND, OR (not Eugene as I said earlier).

Our first stop was The Salt Creek Falls.

 

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We were intrigued by this growth on the trees.

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Off and running again, we found this area good for a mid morning break. There was a car parked in the pull off area, and after a while some folks emerged from a path that led to the water. We chatted for a while and they left. We went down as well, but there really wasn't a bank before the water. It was too early to swim anyway.

 

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Edited by Indy Dave
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Bend, OR seemed inviting as we made our way downtown. The Deschutes River flows through the city and there was nice green space. We found Jerry's Thai Restaurant and we joined the hustle and bustle of the downtown lunch crowd.

 

Our parking stablemate.

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Our original  "plan' was to spend some time downtown. But it'd become pretty hot by now and in our gear the walk back to the river area green space would be torture. We opted to do some looking around at at the shops nearby before we hit the road.

 

Back on two wheels, our scenery started to match the scalding heat.

 

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Jerry feeling the heat of the day!

 

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With the heat and miles of the Sea of Lava, we were looking forward to the Willamette National Forest and to be near water again! It seemed the area would be just what our Clean Living demanded!

 

We stopped in the shade by a stream just as we entered Willamette and checked out route - a sign indicated the road ahead was closed.

 

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Scouting a bit up the road, the road Y'd a few times, and Yours Truly was confident the closed sign was referring to one of the other roads. There was some doubt registered, but we'd seen cars go by and disappear - so they had to be going somewhere! Still, it was not for certain our road was open and it was too far to scout the road - as it went on for miles. But we had time and nothing to lose. So we set off! We had a nice ride, with shade partially covering the road and a stream/river on our left, paralleling our road. YUP! This was a good day! :shake:

 

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Somehow we went from that peaceful, scenic and refreshing scene .... to this:

 

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Tidal Pools Indeed!

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The Story In Pictures.

 

Our road Closed

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So we pow-wow. A complication when using Garmin is that as you zoom out for a larger perimeter footprint, you lose all the road detail. Well, not just the detail - the roads themselves - unless they happen to be 12 lanes in each direction. So zooming out wasn't a help. We ended up taking the road across the dam and following it around to the opposite side of the reservoir. It finally dumped us into a parking lot with this as an exit. We pow-wow some more. I'm pretty sure Ernie is skeptical that this will lead to anyplace we should be on these bikes. I mention that Basecamp had been trying with all its might last night to actually route us this way, so their must a Yellow Brick Road on the other side. Man, it's HOT. We don't want to take the long way back home. So we decide to proceed. Or maybe they give in. I don't remember.

 

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Hey - Check this! How bad can it be?!?

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  Still no Yellow Brick Road, but this is doable.:shake:

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This guy wasn't expecting to share the road and he drives me to the edge. If I'd not been on the right side of the road already, I'm pretty sure this would've  been the end of my trip right here - on this guys hood. This was very close near miss. :4331: Clean Living strikes again! :5210:

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Our First 'Tide Pool. I go through, and it's solid gravel. The boys on the rented bikes did not want to go through this, but on hearing it's gravel, when in Rome . .:shake:

 

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And then this Olympic Size Pool shows up. With little hesitation, I start across.

 

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"A Man has to know his limitations" - or have friends that will tell him.

 

Jerry and Ernie were probably at a loss for words as they came up from behind and saw me mudding on through this muddy and rocky mess.  They are wise and draw the line and proclaim enough is enough and they are NOT going through that! And who can blame them? I'm thinking (kidding myself, really) this is as bad as it gets and it's all downhill from here! We have a lengthy conversation - with me considering going on and meeting them back at the house. Ernie is trying to talk me off the ledge. "We won't know where you are if you get stuck or hurt, and with no cell service . . . " The Eagle Scout has a point and it's clear he's right.

 

Jerry and I have been friends since we were 16 or 17. We've obviously been through all manor of situations over the years - several that were epic. Looking back on this situation now, I think Jerry probably realized we were in a delicate situation. Like a dog chasing a squirrel, I was caught up in the chase, as it were. I wanted to meet this challenge and continue and I wasn't seeing the forest for the trees. It's no secret that I like these kinds of roads, and on other trips, we've parted ways and met back at home base over gravel roads I wanted to take.  I also didn't want to go back through the lake I'd just crossed. At first, I was discounting or not fully considering Ernie's logical and rational points. Here we were, a group of friends riding as a group (out in the middle of nowhere), and I was foolishly considering continuing on my own. We continued to discuss back and forth, with me unable to justify my desire to go forward. The three of us were just having a conversation on opposite ends of the muddy mess. They were not angry or dismissive [or calling me an NIMROD!] and didn't even have a edge in their voice. You'd of thought were talking about where to eat dinner. We talked it out and I had to come back across the lake in the road - something I didn't want to do. 

 

I couldn't ask for better friends or riding partners.

 

 

Things start out OK, but now there's been a lot of thought and planning to my coming back across.  Now I'm looking at the rocks and all the things that could go wrong.

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I hit a rut and it starts to pitch me to the right, and then I hit a big rock and I go swimming.

 

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So the boys got in the water with me and helped me get the bike up. And not once did they ever complain or utter a word sideways like. As for me, this was the coolest I'd been all day and I had a very refreshing ride home - The Long Way!

 

It's Alive! Smiles All Around!

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You can see a forest service truck in the mirror - keeping their distance. They must have seen a Ned Beatty looking guy and two other men in their skivvies and stopped to listen for the banjo playing.

 

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It's 5pm - they have to be so glad they don't have to mess with us.

 

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We ride back out to the river where we stopped initially before I got us into this cluster, to check out the bikes before setting into the wind again.

 

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Once back home, we tried a driveway wash, but ended up needing to go to the car wash.

 

 

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My bike suffered very little damage - the PIAA light and bracket kept the front protected, and the cylinder head high-sided on the crown or rock and saved the rear cases. CLEAN LIVING!

 

 

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Still . .  The Sign Says it all!

 

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Edited by Indy Dave
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Ernie had downloaded the google map, so as we sat on opposite ends of the Mud Lake, he could zoom out and still see the roads. I was doing the same thing on my Garmin, but if I wanted to see the roads, I had to swipe through the screens, revealing small slices of the roads. Looking back at the Basecamp route, we were supposed to turn here, downhill to the right as I approach the mud puddle.

 

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And here on the left as I exit the mud puddle

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There's no way we would have gone that that way!

 

And here's Ernie's Phone video of my underwater dunk.

 

 

 

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We had a easy 200 miles to Portland,

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so we had time to get our gear washed and dried and the BNB all nice and clean in the morning. The rentals would need washing too.

 

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Our trip wasn't over yet, we were going to ring as much out of today's ride as we could. But first, Breakfast!

 

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Then we pulled into a picnic area by the side of the road. There were lots of folks fishing from the bank, and a few wading in. Apparently, there was a hatchery upstream from here. The locals explained the tagged fish vs indigenous and the rules for 'keepers'.

 

 

We were in search mode for a cool stream - this turned out to be a false alarm.

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But around noon, we hit pay dirt.

 

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You can just see the hood of a old truck and camper behind our bikes. An elderly gentleman was fishing with only a line from the bridge, his wife waiting in the front seat. He'd catch a fish and take it back to the truck, and then go back and drop his line again. He caught 4 or 5 fish fairly quickly and left.

 

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As we neared Portland, I saw a driveway that had a great view . . .

 

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Once in Portland, we had cramped quarters.

 

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Yours Truly would be in the rollaway.

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We had some debate about where to eat, and somehow we settled on a place not to far away. Even so, Ernie happened to get separated and it took hm about 15 minutes until he found us. This was in the parking lot of the place we thought we were going to eat.

 

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The restaurant turned out to be more of a dive than we were looking for and Jerry found us a German Restaurant and we had a fantastic last dinner together.

 

 

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Meanwhile, The B Team - remember them? Donnie had returned his bike in San Fran and GSJoe got a flat tire.

 

This is a close as they got to water.

 

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First a plug.

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And I believe he ended up getting a new tire.

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That BBQ has to be better than our horse meat in Oakridge.

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We said our goodbyes and off Jerry and Ernie went to return their bikes and hit the friendly Skies! I rented a car and picked up Mrs Indy Dave and the bike got a week's rest while we spent a week in the area. In 7 days, I'd be back on the road and heading to the Un Rally. That will be Part 3.

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Hmmm, note-to-self, don't let Indy Dave lead any rides at START, or FART for that matter.  :classic_biggrin:

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On 3/6/2019 at 9:04 AM, marcopolo said:

Hmmm, note-to-self, don't let Indy Dave lead any rides at START, or FART for that matter.  :classic_biggrin:

 

 

On 3/5/2019 at 5:09 PM, wbw6cos said:

That was brutal to watch.  Glad you made it out uninjured.

 

Thanks for reading, and commenting.

 

            Bravado

When the dust has cleared
And victory denied
A summit too lofty
River a little too wide
If we keep our pride -
Though paradise is lost
We will pay the price,
But we will not count the cost

       (Rush)

 

There were a couple of things that conspired together to get us into this situation:

 

  • First and foremost, was deciding to change the route the night before and not affecting the changes until late into the night/early in the morning. So the normal road research one does obviously didn't get done to the extent it should have. Had I gone to the US Forest Service Web site and looked at their map, this would have been avoided.
  • We'd ridden a decent amount of gravel through National Forests and Parks on this trip - more so than all of our CLH trips combined. So gravel wasn't necessarily an automatic veto as it has been in the past. 
  • Ernie and Jerry know I like these kinds of roads (despite having a RT). We have parted ways on other trips  - to meet back at home base - when things turned to gravel or dirt. Or I've taken a gravel/dirt route while the CLH took conventional roads with the idea of meeting up for lunch. On that day, the CLH were making good time and I missed the Ben and Jerry's visit in Vermont. I guess my point here is, my continuing on alone would not be precedent setting in and of itself.

 

All that to say, I think Jerry and Ernie were allowing me some leeway when we got onto the road 'not maintained for public use" - knowing that I like to ride this kind of stuff. But they were going along only to a point. As we discussed our options on opposite ends of the water, looking back on it now - I was the proverbial Bull in the China Shop  - I did not come this far and through that water to just turn around! Yet, in this place and time, turning around was the only logical and rational choice. Jerry and Ernie understood my frame of mind, not that it was a logical one. They realized that I was discounting or not fully considering the likely dire circumstances of continuing on alone. Ernie is seeing more of the roads in context on his phone that I'm not seeing on my garmin. We processed the information and risks together and made the right decision.

 

I do not regret the 'water crossing'. Obviously, there are things I should have done that might have increased my chances of making it through both times. I was lucky my bike wasn't all scraped up, broken or flooded out. Had those things happened, I would no doubt have regret.

 

"Whatever doesn't kill us, makes us stronger."  And hopefully, Wiser.

 

 

Edited by Indy Dave
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3 hours ago, marcopolo said:

Hmmm, note-to-self, don't let Indy Dave lead any rides at START, or FART for that matter.  :classic_biggrin:

 

Oh... You didn't get the memo? @Kinsley and I switched roles this year and I'm doing all of the routing!! :rofl:  :computer:  :ohboy:

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