Bandit Alley
REGIONAL FORUMS => PACIFIC NORTHWEST U.S. => Topic started by: Red01 on January 27, 2007, 04:02:25 PM
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Looking for any folks that would be interested in getting together for some kind of rally, multi-day roadtrip, or any daytrips in WA, OR, ID, N. CA, BC, Alberta...
At this point, I'm open for any suggestions and will make as many of these as I can, barring interruptions due to work or family obligations.
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Count me in...
I'd love to make a trip and meet up with some other Bandit folks. To do a long weekend, it would need to be in Wash or Oregon for me. (travel day 1, get together day 2, home day 3)
Early to mid May would be best for me, first or second weekend, if we want to work out a rally/meeting.
I want to make a trip to Vancouver island this spring sometime, riding to Long Beach. I'll let you know, maybe we can work out a trip to include you.
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I have absolutely NO problem riding in your neighborhood either!
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I'm up for something, don't have a passport though so need to stay in the good ol' US of A. I'm off Fri - Sun.
Mike M
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You don't need a passport for ground travel until sometime in 2008 (Jan is a tentative date, but will likely get extended). You DO however, need a passport NOW for all air travel into the USA.
But I LOVE the roads I have riden in Washington and there are still lots I haven't ridden. If someone wants to pick a time and place, I'll do my best to be there. As I said before, a weekend trip in the first couple of weeks of May, or mid June would work for me as well.
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SR20, AKA the North Cascades Hwy, should be open by then - and that's reasonably close to the border for BC riders (and even western Alberta)... and it's Destination Highways #1 rated WA road.
(Though I think since the Mt. Baker Hwy has been re-paved since DH-WA was published, it's even better than 20.)
For folks that want to come up to NW WA for a weekend of riding, I'm willing to offer tent space in my acre back yard... we could thread together several roads that way. Like SR20, Mt. Baker Hwy, Chuckanut drive, etc...
Are there any dates that work (or won't work) for folks?
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I'm planing on rideing the Oregon 500 May 12, but any other weekend is doable at this point.
Mike M.
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I'm game for anything with about 2 weeks notice, and as long as all the snow has melted so I can pull the bike out. :wink:
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I'm good May 4-7 or May 11-14. May 19-21 is out...long weekend here, so first family camping weekend (Normally, not true this year as we are camping on route to Disneyland in March). May 26th is start of our 8 day trek to North Cal.
Hey Red01, I LOVED Hwy 20 (DH 1 section) and am looking for an excuse to do it again. I will likely line up my Vancouver, B.C. buddy (on here as Cargo7) and we would likely hotel it, but overnight near your place sounds great, and I have not done any of the other roads you suggested yet. Friday & Sat nights at your place for those who want to camp? You work out a route and I'll be there.
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Those dates (May 4-7 or May 11-14) sound good to me.
Anyone have any preference to May 4-7 or May 11-14 - besides OreMike?
Hopefully SR20 will be open by then - and long enough to keep the ice patches and wet spots to a minimum.
Mac, have you rode SR20 over Sherman Pass? That's a good section, too - and traffic/LEO's are even thinner there!
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I have a vague memory of passing through Cranbrook on the Crow's Nest Highway. Paul, isn't that where we stopped for lunch at the DQ? It was hotter than hell that day. Actually, I think it topped out above 90 degrees every day we were in BC and Alberta.
Hwy 20 all the way to Sherman Pass works for me. I'd also really like to ride that road out of Osoyoos again.
And those dates work for me.
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Hey Re01 - Yup, done Hwy 20 all the way from Tiger, through Sherman Pass to Wauconda, and Omak through to Hamilton Junction. I've only missed the section from Tonasket to Wauconda. A great road, all of it...
I'd love to do Winthorp to Rockport again, but I'll go anywhere you guys want. If you want to do Osoyoos and area, there are some great routes in the US Okanagon as well. Hwy 21 south from Republic, jump over to Nespelem was fun. Hwy 2 the other way to Inchelium was fun, but pretty rough and getting worse...
I digress...May 4-7 might be a little tight for weather, but I'm sure we can work out alternate routes if required. I'm game to head your way if you want to map out routes for Sat & Sunday. Anyone else have comments or suggestions?
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We'll have to see how the weather pans out as far as road selection, but we can keep the May 4-7 dates on the docket - at least for now.
Bobcat, yes, I think you're right about the lunch stop.
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Hi gents. I'm definitely game for an early May ride. I like central Washington a lot and if we can get through SR20 then there's lots of neat roads we could try - 155 south of Omak or 174 west of Coulee, etc. We won't really know much about conditions on higher elevations until the week we ride - SR20 opened on May 1 last year, and I caught snow on top of Sherman mid-May of '06.
If the weather's too tough then putting on some miles north of Seattle may be the ticket - say 530 to Rockport and back to Sedro and up 9 to Baker. (Haven't ridden Baker yet).
Anyway, count me in and let's keep in touch.
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A quick update. May 4-7 is the only weekend I have available in May.
May 11-14 is now booked for other commitments.
I still have May 4-7 tentatively booked for a Bandit get together. I hope we can pull it off.
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Is this going to be a "rain or shine" trip? I have good rain gear and don't mind riding in the wet, but it does tend to take the fun out of the good roads. Early May, particularly on the west side, can be a little sketchy.
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If the weather looks iffy on the coast, we should be able to head inland. I'm in either way, so rain or shine for me. If the weather is too poor, then I look at doing some visiting.
I can't wait to ride. (It snowed another 8" here overnight. The Skiing is pretty good, but I'm still tired of it!)
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I don't mind a little rain, but not a whole weekend of it. I'm willing to ride in it to go to the dry side of the mtns, if the other side is dry.
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I don't mind a little rain, but not a whole weekend of it. I'm willing to ride in it to go to the dry side of the mtns, if the other side is dry.
Just remember that your pants go on the *outside* of those cute little rain booties you wear.
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Don't need the booties anymore, the Sidi boots I've been wearing the last year and a half are waterproof. :monkeymoon:
You'd have remembered that if your memory was longer than your . . .
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Hey Folks.
I'm lookin for a little adventure this year. Might be able to hook up with Cargo7 and ride down. I'm just across the water. Don't know about campin but I could motel it for a coupla nights. We DO need our passports now. How come you US guys don't? Anyhoo, assumng the bordergaurds don't arrest me, I'd be up for it.
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If you come into the US by air or sea you need a passport now, but if you come across at highway border crossing, you don't need a passport until next year. So, from VI, you can take a ferry to mainland BC and drive/ride/walk across the border w/o a passport, but if you take a ferry from VI to WA you need one.
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So, why was our local news up here a month or two ago loaded with stories of people lined up all day, day after day, trying to get passports before the Canadian deadline ran out? Surely they all weren't flying somewhere? No, I tend to believe that any Canadian trying to enter the US by any means now needs a passport. Don't leave home without it, as the saying goes.
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Hey Rocketjock
Red01 is correct. You don't need a passport to enter the US from Canada by ground, yet. Current schedule is to need a passport for ground travel in Jan 08 (but there is lots of discussion about extending it).
Yep...all those news reports are for people who were lining up to get passports to fly. I actually lined up to apply for mine as we were considering a trip. Had all of my data etc. but chose to use the "drop off" service instead of waiting the additional 2+ hours. We should have had passports in approx 6 weeks, but we are 8 weeks and counting now.
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I stand corrected. But still, glad I've already got mine. What a hassle!
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My Passport arrived today, so not overly late. Still in February. So I've got mine now too.
I hoping we can pull this get together off for the first week of May. Cargo7 is a good friend of mine so I'm looking forward to seeing him as well, so it would be great if you and he can get meet and travel down.
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How about something in July ?? I'm a committed warm/hot weather rider and May can be a little cool at times, especially above the 4000 foot level.....I've got gear for it but if it lasts for 2 or 3 days, well, that gets old pretty quick. Tenting works great for me and thanks for the offer, Paul. Now if the weather could be guaranteed..... :wink:
I wonder if any of the Cowtown guys are interested....dreadnought, etc.....
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No reason we can't do one every month, if there's interest. Plenty of good roads!
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5/4-5/7 still looking like a go for everybody? Sounds like a couple people from Max Suzuki might make it. The MS thread is here: http://www.maximum-suzuki.com/forums/index.php/topic,57050.0.html
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After pushing everyone for May 5-7, it's looking iffy for me now. I will know for sure within the week...
The rest of May is out for me as well. June looks good though.
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Looks like I should still be good to go on May 5-7.
Anyone else still game? I expect Hwy 20 will still be snow covered, but I'm sure we can find somewhere to ride. Only 3 weeks and a few day...
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The state site still is reporting they're hoping for a Mid-May opening of SR20. :boohoo:
I'm still game though. With Washington & Rainy Passes on 20 being closed I suppose we should discuss what roads folks want to ride and where we should meet up (and what time). The other passes show they're open - to the extent that pass reports are finished until November.
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OK, I'm starting to plan for heading west on Friday, May 4th. I may have a cruiser buddy with me (Yamaha Royal Star) but he's pretty quick until the road gets too tight.
Who's still in? Where/when you do guys want to meet? I'm good to ride both Saturday and Sunday. I don't need to head east until Monday.
It's a little early to try to forcast the weather, but if it looks crappy on the coast, maybe we meet inland.
Again, who's still in, and where do suggest we go. Maybe a coast plan A and an inland plan B.
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Mama's in Florida for a month, so no worries with getting a kitchen pass and I'm pretty sure I've got it worked out so there's no way they can make me work weekend overtime (that is, if they work me this weekend like I'm thinkin they will).
So, that means I'm in as long as weather on one side of the hill is not wet.
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10 day forcast on weatherchannel.com shows mid 60's and cloudy on Friday May 4th in Seattle area. For Leavenworth, it's low 60's and partly cloudy. I'm good with either.
Now we just need some confirmations from other folks.
How's the road up Mt Baker? Is the sand/gravel off it? Is it ridable? I've never ridden anywhere in NW Wash, (other than Hwy 20), and I love to do Mt. Baker if the weather's good enough.
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I'll hafta do a lil investigatin' and see what I can find out about Mt Baker Hwy.
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Hwy 20 opens tomorrow!
From the DOT web site:
NORTH CASCADE HWY
Elevation: 5477ft / 1669M
Temperature:N/A
Conditions & Weather:
SR 20 will open on Thursday April 26th at 2:00 p.m. For further information, refer to the WSDOT Website on the Mountain Pass page under the Seasonal Closures tab and select North Cascades. //
Updated: 04:20 PM, Apr 24, 2007
If you haven't ridden this road, you don't know what you're missing. Ranked the #1 motorcycling road in WA by Destination Highways.
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Hey Bobcat
That seals the deal for me. I can ride it coming over to see you guys, and then we can ride it again on Saturday, and I can likely ride it again going home on Monday!!
I assume you are in? Where/when do we meet. Cargo7 from Vancouver is also in. I talked to Ron today, says he will cast his vote tonight.
Maybe we'll have the 1st NWT Bandit get together of 07 actually get off the ground.
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Hey Bobcat
That seals the deal for me. I can ride it coming over to see you guys, and then we can ride it again on Saturday, and I can likely ride it again going home on Monday!!
I assume you are in? Where/when do we meet. Cargo7 from Vancouver is also in. I talked to Ron today, says he will cast his vote tonight.
Maybe we'll have the 1st NWT Bandit get together of 07 actually get off the ground.
Yeah, I'm in for sure. I've had the time off work for two months.
Which border crossing are you coming over? I was thinking we could meet up Friday and ride over 20 together to Paul's house (I'm in Eastern Washington).
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I assume your still in Ellensburg? I expect we will take Hwy 20 most of the way across. I think I want to cross the border at Waneta and then WA25 down to Kettle Falls. (maybe do DH14, Colville to Tiger on the trip home).
Depending on how far you want to ride, we could meet at Republic, but more likely Tonasket, Omak or Twisp.
If we get a decent start, we should be in Tonasket by about 1:30 Pacific, in time for a late lunch. After a lunch stop, I expect Twisp by 3:15 - 3:30 to be safe.
I will PM you my cell #.
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Yeah, I'll be coming up from Ellensburg. How about we meet where 20 heads west from 97, just south of Okanogan? There's a gas station there if I remember right.
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Hey Bobcat
(Edit - I lost my Cranbrook partner, sigh)
I'll be needing lunch...
The DH Wash book shows a gas station and cafes in Okanagon. How about we meet at the U&I Motel Restaurant (if it has one - or the closest place?) Say about 2:00 PM Pacific. Then we can ride DH29 to Twisp. I loved that piece of road.
I assume you know the route to Paul's (Red01) as I do NOT. I am expecting to meet my buddy Ron (Cargo7) somewhere on route. He'll be coming from Vancouver. So we will need to Hotel it somewhere.
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Weather is starting to look a little iffy on the coast, may be better inland. Looks good around Osoyoos, B.C. to Leavenworth, Wash.
Do we want to discuss plan B?
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Hey Bobcat
(Edit - I lost my Cranbrook partner, sigh)
I'll be needing lunch...
The DH Wash book shows a gas station and cafes in Okanagon. How about we meet at the U&I Motel Restaurant (if it has one - or the closest place?) Say about 2:00 PM Pacific. Then we can ride DH29 to Twisp. I loved that piece of road.
I assume you know the route to Paul's (Red01) as I do NOT. I am expecting to meet my buddy Ron (Cargo7) somewhere on route. He'll be coming from Vancouver. So we will need to Hotel it somewhere.
U&I Motel at 2 sounds good to me. Is that on the Okanagan main drag?
Looks like Paul will be coming over to my place on Thursday night and riding up with me to meet you.
I have no problem staying east of the mountains if the weather sucks. We need to decide soon what we're doing though--I have a hotel reservation on the west side for Friday night that I'll need to cancel.
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Weather forecasts around here are always iffy and especially here the past few days. They were forecasting rain for the current and next day every day for a week and we didn't get any until today. This afternoon, it's starting to clear up again. At this moment, the west side forecast for Friday is "Few Showers" and Saturday "Mostly Cloudy".
I'd say go ahead and cancel the reservation and if we end up over on this side of the hill, I can always put you guys up on the floor with some sleeping bags.
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I gotta be honest: I'd much rather ride the Eastern Washington/Eastern BC roads than the ones on the west side. The weather is usually nicer, fewer people, and fewer LEOs. I'm game for anything, but I think we should consider riding *east* from Okanagan.
Hwy 20 is still on my list of must rides though, even though we'd be headed in the wrong direction.
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I'm good with riding either side. Cargo7 is planning to join us as well, just not sure where yet. Do we have any others or are we the 4 Bandito's?
I've done a bunch of the roads east of the Cascades and none of them west, but we can also just play it by ear and turn on the intersection that looks like the best weather. Hotels should be a non issue this time of year...
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One other benefit is that hotels on the east side are usually 50% cheaper. I'd also like to ride somewhere new each day, vs. backtracking to a "base of operations" each evening (no offense Paul).
Where has Cargo been? I haven't seen him post up for awhile. Is Okanagan workable for him?
The weather is looking better and better for this weekend...
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No offense taken... all good points.
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Ron (Cargo7) should get back to me later today, or early tomorrow...(I know his was off to Calgary early this am).
He has two possible options. He has a construction site in Kelowna that may need an inspection Friday am. If he can arrange it, he would be travelling down from Kelowna and can meet us in Okanagon. If not, he would likely want to travel Hwy 20 east from Vancouver, B.C. assuming he would meet us on route.
If we stay east, he will just have to get an early start and meet us in Okanagan anyway, or we can look at travelling North and meet him at the border near Keromeos. We could then do some of the B.C. Okanagon to complete Friday and spend Sat/Sun back in Washington. How's that for a plan B? I'll be talking to him and confirm.
We do have the option of making a circle through Hwy 20 and maybe back Hwy 2 to Leavenworth or something? So a 1/2 and 1/2 trip.
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Both sound like good options to me. Regardless, we'll see you tomorrow around 2 pm in Oky-ville.
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You got it. When I see you guys we can finalize the plan. I'm totally flexible (as long as I get to ride!!)
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Map for the U&I Motel. Address is 838 2nd Ave N. Phone number is 509-422-2920. Look for Harley St. <gag>
(http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/2372/okanoganfh5.jpg)
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Weather for the west side is currently showing partly cloudy for Friday and Sunday and they're calling for a few showers on Saturday. Yesterday, they had Fri & Sat's weather just the opposite... and today they're calling for thunderstorms and the sky is blue with big white puffy clouds.
Freakin' morons. :duh:
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Rolled in last night around 7:30. Had a nice tailwind coming into Ellensburg. Fun time. I'll post pics sometime today.
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Home safe @ 7:00 MDT (6:00 Pacific) Monday. Great ride on Monday. I'll post some thoughts tonight.
Great ride overall guys...I love to turn around an do it again.
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Even the snow part? :stickpoke: :wink: :bandit:
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Even the snow part?
No...your right...I NEVER want to do that part again. Not even the little 2nd bit over the Sherman Pass.
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A few pics from the ride:
Red sunning himself on the way to meet Paul:
(http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/6634/paulyh0.jpg)
We met up with Paul in Okanogan. We had a little bit of rain to contend with (notice the pavement just starting to dry) while Paul rode his bike through a blizzard. The joys of riding in late spring in the PacNW:
(http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/2730/bikesve3.jpg)
We made it as far north as Laurier, which is basically a post office and duty free shop.
(http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/1999/laurieruq8.jpg)
You can kinda tell who's from where:
(http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/3641/signbh3.jpg)
We spent both nights at the Klondike Motel in Republic, WA. Great motorcycle motel for $33/night.
(http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/8779/klondikevg2.jpg)
Darlene, the owner, even gave us a bucket of rags to wipe the bugs off the bikes.
(http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/5777/darlenepu0.jpg)
Saturday we rode through the Colville Indian Reservation. Great roads, minus the occasional pothole. This led to the only pucker moment of the trip for me, which involved gravel and potholes at the apex of a blind corner. Luckily, I sailed through.
Paul doing a little jig.
(http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/241/colville4ma0.jpg)
(http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/2025/colville2jo3.jpg)
(http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/1325/colville3zf1.jpg)
Motley looking group. Red01, Bobcat, and pmackie:
(http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/5996/groupjn6.jpg)
We met up in Winthrop with this BMW rally. They had a few more bikes than we did.
(http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/4986/rallycf2.jpg)
And my ol' Bandit hit a milestone coming back over the N. Cascades:
(http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/9877/odody1.jpg)
All in all it was a great little weekend run. Looking forward to the next one.
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Here are my ride stats, for those interested.
4 days, Friday 9:00 am MDT to Monday 7:00 pm MDT.
approx 2900 kms (1800 miles+/-).
An absolutely great ride. We met in Okanagon city, and basically rode circles through the US Okanagon and Cascades, only doing a couple of roads in the same direction. For those with the Destination Highways book, I did all the following (All WA unless indicated BC):
BCDH52 - Hwy 3, Salmo Creston-4+" of snow, YIKES
DH63 - Hwy25, Waneta to Kettle Falls
DH13 - Hwy 20, Kettle Falls to Republic
DH62 - Hwy 20, Republic to Tonasket (both ways)
DH24 - Tonasket to Nighthawk to Oroville
DH11 - Oroville to Curlew
DH50 - Curlew to Orient
DH65 - Laurier to Kettle Falls
DH30 - Inchellium South dead end (both ways)
DH23 - Inchellium to Hwy 21 (both ways)
DH26 - Hwy 21 to Nespelem
DH69 - Nespelem to Omak
DH29 - Omak to Twisp
DH1 - Winthrop to Marblemount (both ways)
DH39 - Twisp to Paterous
DH66 - Orondo to Ephrata
DH42 - Soap Lake to Coulee City
DH14 - Colville to Tiger
Plus a bunch of interesting twisted edges.
Whew...weather was good or better most of the time, until we got through the Cascades to the west side.
Some really memorial parts for me...I got caught in a blizzard on the Salmo/Creston and had to bulldog the bike for 5km (3 miles) through 4-6" of snow, after putting it down at 20kmph (13mph). No significant damage other than a turn signal and brake lever. It put me a full hour behind schedule and I would have turned around if I could have.
The ride home on Sunday night up the Grand Coulee was memorable. A warm sun getting low in the sky casting a yellow then orange then gold hue on the East side of the coulee as I road north. Very serene.
Of course some absolutely fantastic twisties during these 4 days.
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So, when's the next one? Let's keep this thread going...
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday rides work best for me. Wanna plan on something in late June? Maybe we come up to BC this time?
It would be nice to have more than three bikes this time. :annoy:
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But a little smaller than the BMW get-together we came across. :wink:
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How fun! My husband and I both have Bandits...perhaps we could join you sometime. :)
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Of course you can! Too bad you missed out on last weekend. We weren't too far from Spokane.
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How fun! My husband and I both have Bandits...perhaps we could join you sometime. :)
Believe me, with this group, you don't have to ask permission. Just show up. :wink:
We'd love to have more bikes show up for these rides.
I'll throw a date out there: how does the 6/22-6/24 work for everybody for an Eastern BC ride? Paul, when are you guys going to California?
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Hey Bobcat
California is May 26th to June 2nd.
I'll have to look at my schedule, but a Fri/Sat/Sun I should be able to fit in, especially if you come this way.
I assume you are talking about the West Kootenay area. Creston, Nelson, Kaslo, New Denver, Nakusp, etc. Combined with a little bit of NE Wash, we can work out a great 3 day ride.
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Finally got off my lazy duff and got the pics off the camera and uploaded. Click on each pic for a 10 pic slide show:
(http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d35/paulweit/Other%20Bike%20trips/2007%20May/th_001Wenatchee.jpg) (http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d35/paulweit/Other%20Bike%20trips/2007%20May/?action=view¤t=1180238005.pbw)
(http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d35/paulweit/Other%20Bike%20trips/2007%20May/th_012Danville_Border.jpg) (http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d35/paulweit/Other%20Bike%20trips/2007%20May/?action=view¤t=1180237755.pbw)
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I assume you are talking about the West Kootenay area. Creston, Nelson, Kaslo, New Denver, Nakusp, etc. Combined with a little bit of NE Wash, we can work out a great 3 day ride.
I'm up for the BC part of the trip but only from the 23 on since I can't get away from work until then. I'm free until the 26th or so. Camping ?? Motelling ?? What ??
Let's talk..... :grin:
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Hey, I'm game for the NE Wash part of the trip on my poor little B4.
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Starting new thread...