The Snoqualmie Riders, otherwise known as the American Legion Riders Chapter 79, hosted their first poker run fund raiser on May 10, 2008. It was called the "Over the Hill for Lunch Bunch". That’s because the route would take us over Snoqualmie Pass and into Eastern Washington. The kick off point was at American Legion Post 79 in Snoqualmie, WA.
Riders started collecting at around 7:30. The weather was predicted to be mostly cooperative with only a slight chance of rain. The morning was overcast and cool with temperatures in the low 40s. As people signed in they were give the route instructions and the run information. There were some rider options as to how to route some parts of the run, after all we only needed to hit the check points. I mostly followed the recommended route. The following is the route I rode for the poker run.
The start and end point for the poker run overlay each other so the "A" marker is hidden under the "E" at the NW corner of the route.
Here is Brutus and a few of the other bikes that were parked at Post 79. Riders would start heading out between 8:00 and 9:00 after they got there route sheets signed off for the first check point. Of course coffee and baked goods delayed a few of the departures 
. A couple groups had already left and I eventually hit the road at about 8:30.
I headed out of Snoqualmie on WA-202 and pick up I-90 East at North Bend. Traffic was light and I was moving along nicely. I expected Snoqualmie Pass to be chilly so I had my Gerbing jacket liner on. As I-90 climbed towards the pass the temperature dropped below 40 and a little 12V energy was all that was needed to keep me snug as a bug 
.
I passed both the groups of riders that left before me before reaching the pass. I was running solo at about 3-4 mph over the speed limit, at least that was what my Garmin Zumo 550 GPS was telling me when it wasn’t serenading me with music spanning 50 years of Rock 
. I was just keeping pace with the main traffic flow. I think that both the groups had some new riders with them and they were probably just maintaining a speed that they would be comfortable with. Either that or they just preferred a little slower pace. When riding in groups going a little slower is a good safety precaution, especially with less experienced riders.
The second check point was in the parking lot of the now defunct Homestead Restaurant in Cle Elum. Not that it mattered but I was the first rider to the check point. It was a pretty lonely post at the deserted restaurant. I stopped just long enough to get my checklist signed and have a brief chat.
So far the route had run on the super slab but from here to the turn around point it would be on state highways. From Cle Elum I followed WA-10 which wanders along with the Yakima River all the way to Ellensburg. I don’t ever remember riding this road so it was actually a new experience for me. It is a scenic run along the river valley and much nicer than running on the interstate. I will probably go back at some point because there were a number of good photo opportunities I would like to take advantage of.
At Main Street in Ellensburg I turned South. This works it’s way through town and becomes S. Canyon Road and WA-821. Canyon Road follows the Yakima River all the way to the North side of the city of Yakima. This used to be the primary highway between Ellensburg and Yakima. I was raised in Renton but much of my family lived in Yakima. I can’t count the number of times I’ve traveled the Canyon Road.
Interestingly enough, even though my family was from Yakima they had called this the Ellensburg Canyon Road for as long as I can remember. Folks from Ellesburg generally called it the Yakima Canyon Road. Regardless of the history of what the locals had referred to it as it had always been named just Canyon Road. Over the years the river along the Canyon Road has become a recreational area and that area is now referred to as Yakima Canyon. Anyone confused yet 
? We used to water ski and fish parts of the Yakima River many years before there was any official recreational area.
There are parts of the Canyon Road that would be quite fun if it were not for the 45 mph speed limit through the whole of the Yakima Canyon. At least one rider in our group seemed to be having fun anyway as he passed me on his BMW K1200LT and disappeared on the curves ahead of me. The State Patrol cruise this road regularly so I kept my speed at a less fun but also less likely to incur a hefty performance award pace.
I arrived at the third check point which was the Shell Station at the intersection of I-82 and WA-821. The poker run crew was enjoying the sun that was just starting to warm things up. It was about 60 degrees at this point, practically a heat wave 
. There were a few light sprinkles of rain when I had come through Ellensburg but it was pretty nice on this end of the Canyon.
I checked in, joked with the ladies, took off my Gerbing jacket liner and then fueled up at the Shell Station. From here I could either just reverse my route or take I-82 back to Ellensburg. Because I was in front of all but one of the poker 
run riders I decided to ride back through the Yakima Canyon.
The next check point was American Legion Post 8 in Ellensburg. This is a very interesting structure that sits on a bluff overlooking the Ellensburg Rodeo Grounds. I guess that’s why it is 
named Vista House. It was a little off the beaten path but I found it after a couple of tries. I managed to crash the wedding that was being held upstairs and then found the poker run folks downstairs 
. I got checked in and dressed down to get comfortable. They had set up 
a soup and sandwich lunch line for us. I finished my lunch just about the time the first group of riders came in.
From here the route was a straight shot back to the American Legion Hall in Snoqualmie. I had plenty of time so I rode back the exact route that I rode out on. The trip back was uneventful and traffic was again light. There were just a few scattered drops of rain coming back over Snoqualmie Pass. Back at the town of Snoqualmie, there was still coffee and snacks left over from the morning to tide us over until the remainder of the participants returned. For me the total run ended up being 225 miles.
Eventually everyone made it back to Post 79 and we drew our poker hands for the run prizes. I had a miserable Jack high hand so I wasn’t even in the running. All the prizes found happy winners and the group began to disperse shortly after. It had been a nice day of riding and a successful event for the Snoqualmie Riders. I even managed to join the American Legion before I left 
. All of the pictures I took during the poker run can be seen in this gallery.
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The Iron Butt Association has worked through the backlog of applications and are certainly back on track 
. I mailed in the certification applications for my "Brace of Chilly Bun SS1000/BB1500 Runs" on January 2nd and the certifications arrived in the mail on March 5th. They all came in the same envelope so they were obviously processed together.
This is the Bun Burner 1500 (BB1500) certificate for the 1553 mile ride from Issaquah, WA to Rancho Mirage, CA. A BB1500 is a ride of at least 1500 miles completed in 36 hours or less. I completed the ride in a leisurely 33 hours 18 minutes.
The IBA rules allow for multiple certificates to be issued for a single ride in some situations. For example a BB1500 can be accomplished without ever having ridden 1000 miles in a 24 hour period. The only certificate this would qualify for is a BB1500. A BB1500 could also be accomplished by completing a ride of 1000 miles in less than 24 hours as part of it. The IBA will certify this Saddle Sore 1000 (SS1000) because it is an extra effort that is above and beyond the basic requirements of the BB1500. There are many IBA ride combinations that can fall into this same multiple certification situation.
This is the SS100o certificate for the Saddle Sore portion of this ride. The 1041 miles ending at Gustine, CA was completed it in 17 hours 59 minutes.
The policy of issuing two certificates for one ride is not without controversy. In any endeavor involving more than one person there will usually be differences of opinion . There is a faction within the IBA membership that have the opinion that only one certification should be received for any ride. 
In spite of the fact that this is contrary to the written rules and policies of the IBA, they persist in criticizing people or calling people names like "certificate hog".
There is another contingent that criticize people for putting an IBA logo on a motorcycle that they haven’t ridden an IBA ride on. By logo I mean an IBA license plate backer or medallion. Again this is not an IBA rule, it’s just some people’s opinion. These are periodically recurring topics on some of the online forums or mail lists where the IBA is commonly discussed.
I certainly am not going to try and tell people what they should think or do, but I would also hope to receive the same courtesy. A pathetic hope I am sure .
The good news is that endurance riding is a rather solitary activity. Not that you have to ride alone but in many ways it is the easiest and most convenient way to get down the road. If you choose to ride with others you can certainly pick who you want to ride with. I personally don’t have much interest in the scavenger hunt oriented long distance rally events. Because of this the odds that I will meet, let alone have to associate with, any of these folks is rather small.
I really didn’t want to sound negative about the endurance riding community. The vast majority are just nice folks fitting their passion for riding into a normal hectic life. I have gotten a lot a good information and had nice discussions with too many people to count. I should just be hitting my delete key a little more often .
This is the BB1500 certificate I received for the 1564 mile ride from Lake Havasu City, AZ to Renton, WA. I completed this ride in 33 hours 51 minutes
The SS1000 portion of this ride ended in Brookings, OR. I completed the 1069 miles in 17 hours 25 minutes.
Now that I have received more than one ride certification I guess I can call myself a Mile Eater. I personally think it is one of their better logos. I’ve already ordered a pin .
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So on to the final leg of the trek. My primary route of travel, a total of 2159 miles, is shown in the following Google Map. Not all of my travels are indicated in the route. There seems to be a limitation on the number of waypoints that will display in a Google embedded map and I didn’t feel like making this a five part diatribe.
Part 4 Route: La Junta, CO to Renton, WA
So it’s Monday morning, Labor Day, and I am back on US-50 heading towards Pueblo, CO. It looks to be a beautiful day and I can see the Rocky Mountains jutting up from the horizon. My route for today, approximately 244 miles, should get me into some scenic splendor and some spirited riding. At Pueblo I turned South for a brief stint on I-25 then I turned East on CO-165 at Colorado City, CO.
CO-165 goes right through Colorado City and right past the Hollydot Golf Course. I think there were more four legged course hazards on the course than two legged golfers. The elk were all over the place. The traffic was moving pretty slow because there were elk along and in the street. I was tempted to stop and take pictures but opted to keep moving. CO-165 is one leg of the Frontier Pathways Scenic Byway.
CO-165 starts climbing right out of Colorado City. I was thoroughly enjoying the scenery and the road was interesting enough to be fun. This road follows a number of ridge lines that afforded some very nice views. I’d been riding it for about 30 
minutes when I saw a lot of cars and trucks parked on both sides of the road. As I was going by I saw a very unusual structure on the left side of the road. I pulled over an parked at the end of the line of vehicles that were on the right side of the road. What I had stumbled upon was Bishop’s Castle. Somehow my research had failed to discover this little piece of Americana.
This is the 40+ year effort of one man, Jim Bishop, to build his own castle with his own hands. His interactions with local and state government would probably put him at the top of the Libertarian top achievers list. It is certainly an amazing structure. He even has enclosed walkways on the exterior of the structure. He opens it to visitors for free and only asks for donations. His primary goal is just to 
finish it before he dies. I’ve often wished my life goals were so clearly defined.
After spending a little time at the castle I headed back towards the highway so I could get back to Rufus and head on down the road. I took a side path and I came to a spot where I could see that there was some kind of construction going on. I took a picture and walked around the end of it. 
Low and behold there was Jim Bishop doing what he has been doing for so very long. His building materials were rock, mortar, wrought iron and some occasional rebar. We shook hands and had a nice little chat. He actually did most of the talking and I’m sure he would have been happy for me to camp out there all day and just listen. I can certainly see why the local politicians have their hands full in their efforts to shut him down. A gallery of the picture I took can be viewed HERE.
Past Bishop’s Castle there were some interesting sweepers and and a few tight switchbacks that livened things up a little. At McKenzie Junction CO-165 merges with CO-96. I headed East on CO-96 and onto another leg of the Frontier Pathways Scenic Byway. This highway follows another ridge line and drops rapidly back to the plain at around Wetmore, CO. The upper half of this stretch has some very nice sweepers.
At Wetmore CO-96 turns East but I continued North on CO-67. This is a fairly strait stretch of highway all the way to Florence, CO. To bypass most of Florence I turned East on CO-115 and skirted the South side of town. I then picked up US-50 North on the East side of Florence.
This is also one of the Gold Belt Tour Scenic Byway routes of which there are three. After about five miles I turned onto CO-9 to follow the Gold Belt Tour route. I turned again in another five miles onto CO-11. I have studied the various Gold Belt Tour routes and the one I was on probably had the least fun factor as far as twisties were concerned. I picked this route because I needed to get to the Cripple Creek area and the KOA I had planned to use for the next three nights.
So I continued on CO-11 then turned toward Cripple Creek on CO-1. CO-1 was actually some of the most interesting road I had been on that day and it is still part of the Gold Belt Tour. I created a waypoint for this KOA literally months earlier when planning my trip. It was out of the way and I had to go by the crummy map on the KOA site because the address didn’t work on any of the mapping tools I use. So I get to the waypoint, then pass it, but I don’t see a house let alone a KOA campground. I drove back and forth over about a five mile stretch looking for signs. Nothing, zip, nada. I gave up after convincing myself it wasn’t where I thought it was. I couldn’t get any cell connection either so I went with plan B.
Plan B was the KOA in Colorado Springs. In hindsight I should have stopped in Cripple Creek and asked for directions but I am getting ahead of myself. 
So I took CO-67 out of Cripple Creek and ran into a few nice stretches of road on my way to US-24. I rode US-24 into Colorado Springs and then I-25 to the Colorado Springs KOA that is South of the city. I think it is actually in Fountain, CO. I sprung for one of their deluxe camp site seeing as how I was going to spend three nights there. The accommodations were nice and the location was convenient but the noise at this location was a problem for me. It had it all including trains, planes and automobiles. You could even hear the artillery practice from an Army firing range. There was a stream 100 feet from my campsite and I couldn’t hear it over the freeway noise. The planes were bad but the worst thing was the railroad tracks on the other side of the stream. The trains were passing about every 30 minutes 24 hours a day. There were two road crossing just across from the campground area so they were blasting their horns at the crossings. Like I already said I should have ask for directions in Cripple Creek 
.
There are a lot of tourist activities in the Colorado Springs area and I had to pick relatively few of them for the time I allotted to be there. The next day I chose to do some area riding and to take the train to the top of Pikes Peak. On the last day I visited Cripple Creek, rode the Cripple Creek Railroad, visited the Royal Gorge area and eventually went to Buckskin Joe’s to ride 
yet another train. At Buckskin Joe’s I was the only passenger on the small train ride that takes you out to a spectacular view of the Royal Gorge. Well if you don’t count the dog I was the only passenger . I got to chat with the "engineer" who is a long time local of the area. He shared some of his gold panning stories in the gorge with me. I have a gallery of my Pikes Peak pictures HERE and other pictures in the Colorado Springs area HERE.
I had actually planned to spend one more night in this area but the weather reports were turning ugly for the Rockies and I wasn’t getting a good nights rest at the KOA with the noise issues. So Thursday morning I was packed up and heading North on I-25. I turned West on US-24 and headed back into the mountains. US-24 turns Northward at Buena Vista. At Balltown US-24 also become part of the Top of the Rockies Scenic Byway. 
At Leadville I turned onto CO-91 to follow that leg of the scenic byway. When I got to I-70 I heading East towards Denver.
Just past Idaho Springs I turned North on CO-119. At Nederland I continued North on CO-72 and at Raymond I again continued North on CO-7. At Estes Park I headed NW to get onto US-34 and through the East entrance of the Rocky Mountain National Park.
So far the day had been overcast with temperatures in the mid 50’s. The riding had been excellent but I was a little concerned with the darkening skies and intermittent rain I was encountering as I neared the Park. I had originally planned to spend the night in Estes Park so I could spend some time in the Park the next day. The weather report was predicting even worse weather for tomorrow so I decided it would be better to push on and get through the Park before things turned any worse. It was a good decision because when I went through the park the temperature dropped to near freezing and I encountered sleet on a number of occasions.
On the other side of the Park US-34 becomes US-40 at Granby. The weather actually improved a little after I got out of the park. I headed West on US-40 and eventually stopped for the night at Steamboat Springs, CO. The mileage for the day was 412 miles. As I pulled into the parking lot there was a hot air balloon passing right overhead. I took a couple pictures and exchanged a couple of waves as they floated on their way.
The next morning I was on the road early because I want to spend some time at the Dinosaur National Monument which was just a couple hours West on US-40. There was a heavy overcast and the temperature was in the low 40’s. I went into the South Entrance of the Monument because I was hoping to get up into the canyon to get some pictures. I stopped at the small visitors center there. I looked around and then talked with a Park Ranger. That was when I learned the main visitors center was closed. Not only closed but condemned because of earthquake damage. That was where all the major exhibits were and my next stop after my planned photography side trip. Bummer !
A couple came in and I heard them say that they had just come down from the canyon area. I asked them how it was and they said it was solid fog as soon as you get 1/4 mile into the park. They said they couldn’t see anything. With that news I guess it was time to just get back on the road. I regretted not having more time in Colorado. I just barely scratched the surface of what there is to see there. I have already been thinking about a trek to the SW with a good deal of time in Colorado thrown in for good measure.
After getting back on US-40 I crossed almost immediately into Utah. When I reached Vernal I turned North on US-191 heading for Flaming Gorge. By the time I got to Flaming Gorge the weather had still not improved. The few views I had of the Gorge were nothing worth photographing. I had originally thought I would be camping in the Flaming Gorge area for the night but with most of my sightseeing plans getting short circuited I decided to put some miles on before I stopped for the night.
At the Flaming Gorge I turned West on UT-44 and crossing through the West side of the Flaming Gorge Recreation Area. At Manila, UT I turned West on UT-43 which crosses into Wyoming a short distance later and becomes WY-414. This took me to I-80 where I again turned West. I was about another 30 minutes to Evanston, WY where I stayed for the night. The mileage for the day was 317 miles.
The next morning I headed North out of Evanston on WY-89. This crosses back into Utah after about 10 miles and becomes 
UT-16. At Woodruff, UT I turned west on UT-39. This is the high road route to Ogden, UT and there was some good riding on this highway. UT-39 eventually crosses the North side of Ogden and connects with I-84. I turned North on I-84 and rode the slab all the way to Jerome, ID where I spent the night. This was a relatively short riding day of 270 miles.
The next morning I headed North on US-93. I planned on taking another high road but this time it was to Boise. I wanted to ride both the Sawtooth Scenic Byway and the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway. At Shoshone, ID US-93 turns into ID-75 and the 
start of the Sawtooth Scenic Byway. This is a beautiful highway but there is only one interesting section of motorcycle road about half way between Sun Valley and Stanley.
At Stanley I headed NW on ID-21. ID-21 is also the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway. This is another beautiful highway and it had a lot more fun factor then the trip up into the mountains. The highway comes out just South of Boise and intersects with I-84. I went North on I-84 and stopped at Caldwell, ID to spend the night. The mileage for the day was 355 miles.
The next morning I was back on I-84 heading North. I crossed into Oregon and turned NE on Vandecar Rd. at Durkee, OR. This is a fun little road that twists it’s way past Sheep Mountain and is one of the back ways into Hell’s Canyon. I turned East on OR-86 
and entered Hell’s Canyon. Unfortunately there were a lot of forest fires in the general vicinity and the smoke was pretty heavy everywhere. A gallery of some of the pictures I took in Hell’s Canyon can be viewed HERE.
To make a long story short I finished up the hot and smoky day in Pendleton, OR after riding a 313 mile day. I had originally planned to spend at least another night in Oregon but I made the command decision to make the 330 mile sprint for home the next day.
In the morning I rode the freeways all the way to Yakima, WA. I like riding through 
Ranier National Park whenever there is an opportunity so I headed West on WA-12 from there. I turned North at WA-123 towards and into the Park. I continued North on WA-410 which is part of the Chinook Scenic Byway. The weather was cooperating and I had a few picture opportunities which can be viewed HERE. I rode WA-410 to Auburn, WA and then WA-167 to Renton.
I made it home in the early afternoon. The total mileage including side trips was 9453 miles. Here are the major statistics from my trip, but they do not include some of the side trips where I was staying multiple days at a location:
|
Total Travel Miles |
8900 |
|
Total Days |
28 |
|
Days Actually Riding |
23 |
|
Total Daily Miles Avg |
317.9 |
|
Travel Day Miles Avg |
386.9 |
|
Longest Day Miles |
1080 |
|
Longest Day Hours |
20.0 |
|
Total Gallons of Gas |
199.2 |
|
Total Cost of Gas |
$568.34 |
|
Average Cost Per Gallon |
$2.85 |
|
Average Miles Per Gallon |
44.7 |
Of course a few blog pages are totally inadequate to describe a month long motorcycle trek. You will probably need to do one of your own to get a real feeling of what a trip like this is like.
Th-th-th-that’s all folks!
Filed under Diary by
Like Part 2 this installment only covers two days of travel. Not that there was any shortage of miles driven, but I am getting ahead of myself. Here is a map of this parts travels.
Part 3 Route: Braselton, GA to La Junta, CO
My goal for the day was to get to Hot Springs, AR., which is about a 620 mile day if I was heading strait there. My pre-trip research had only dug up a single side trip that seemed interesting. That was the Talladega Scenic Drive. While I hadn’t seen anything on the web that really looked inviting to me, it would only add about 50 miles to the days route. Besides I had never seen the Talladega Superspeedway so what the heck.
I left Braselton, GA very early Saturday morning, that’s September 2nd, because I wanted to beat the traffic going through Atlanta. I took I-85 South to Atlanta and picked up I-20 East. Traffic was light and I made very good time. 
I crossed into Alabama and about 20 miles later turned South on US-431 and then on to AL-281. I followed some nice scenic country roads and eventually got to the end of the scenic drive at Chandler, AL.. At that point I would have needed to go North back to I-20 if I wanted to see the speedway. During my trip research I had also found a road that some folks liked to ride but it wasn’t in that direction. So I chose a little fun factor over more long strait stretches of tree lined roads and a view of the speedway. So I continued West to Childersburg then NW to Harpersville. North of Harpersville I eventually picked up AL-25 and some of the only 
interesting road I would find until I reached Arkansas. AL-25 took me back to I-20 which I took to Birmingham, AL. I didn’t want to spend the whole way on the super slabs so I headed NW from Birmingham on US-78. While slower it was a much more pleasant ride.
US-78 took me out of Alabama, across the NE corner of Mississippi and all the way into Memphis, TN. I picked up I-40 West and ran it to Little Rock, AR and then on to I-30 to head towards Hot Springs. Just past Benton, AR I turn off on US-70. 20 minutes later I was in Hot Springs.
I had been noticing a lot of motorcycles on the road ever since I got to Nashville, TN. This was Labor Day weekend but this was a lot more than what I would have expected for even a holiday weekend. Most of it seemed to be heading West. When I turned off onto US-70 the alarm bells started ringing because there was a lot of other motorcycles turning off there as well. Once again my trip research came up a little short. As it turned out this was the weekend for the annual Hot Springs Motorcycle Rally.
Now normally this would have been an unexpected bonus but I had no reservation for the night. I even thought about changing my plan and spend the next day at the Rally. After two hours and almost 100 miles of driving around looking for a room for the night I finally had to give it up. The sun had already set so I just forged on and figured I could find a room somewhere a little further on my planned route. So with the light fading fast I headed for the Talimena Scenic Byway with my eye on every motel looking for a vacancy sign.
I got about half way through the scenic drive and there wasn’t a motel room to be had anywhere. I decided to turn North on US-259 seeing as how scenery kind of looses it’s attraction at night. At this point I figured I would just get as far as I could towards my next destination. I wish I could have made that run in the day because there was some very challenging road that I had to run at very slow speeds at night. There weren’t any streetlights along any of it and even with all my lighting it was not easy going. I suppose having already ridden 750 miles that day had something to do with it as well 
.
To make a long story short I finally found a room in Henryetta, OK. My mileage for the day was 1080 miles. I was pretty worn out and even that Economy Inn looked pretty good at midnight when I pulled in. This day of riding is the event that eventually got me thinking about the Iron Butt Association. If I could ride a 1000 mile day without planning or preparing for it I should be able to complete some of the qualifying rides for the IBA.
In the morning I got onto I-40 and started out for my next destination which was La Junta, CO. I got through Oklahoma City early enough to beat the traffic and continued on for another half hour. I turn North on US-281 and headed for Kansas. At Selling, OK I picked up US-270. At Fort Supply, OK I continued North on US-183 then turned West on US-160. A little past Ashland, OK I turn North and this took me all the way into Dodge City, KS.
The windmill in the above picture is probably one of the more scenic shots I got that morning. Most of the way it looked like this .
At Dodge City I turned East on US-50 and took it all the way into La Junta, CO. I have to admit I was pretty bored driving across the plains of Oklahoma and Kansas. The topology changes that were starting as I approached La Junta were encouraging. I was looking forward to getting back into mountain country again.
I didn’t have much in the way of photo opportunities during this part of my trip but I did get 1600 miles of fairly boring travel behind me. I would like an opportunity to get back to Hot Springs, AK, with a motel reservation of course . I would like to check out more of the roads in the area especially in the daylight .
This ends part 3 of my Summer Solo Ride About.
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/.thumbnails/.preview_150-150.jpeg "Vorfall, Unfall, Unglück und Versagen (Clipart)")
