Chilly Bun SS1000/BB1500 Run #1 – “The Cold Way Down” 

Brutus (my R1200GS) and I headed out from Seattle on Friday 12/21/2007 at O-Dark Thirty, that’s 3:00 AM, for some winter riding fun. That’s my story anyway and I’m sticking to it. My parents live near Palm Springs, CA and I was going for a little visit. I had planned several routes for SS1000 and/or BB1500 runs in both directions. The weather isn’t looking good for getting through the Siskiyous.  It snowed fairly heavy most of the week and today is supposed to be cold. I chose a route to bypass the high passes by diverting over and riding a good chunk of US-101 along the Southern Oregon and Northern California coast. I picked my departure time to get me through Portland, OR before the traffic gets too bad.  This would also get me to Southern Oregon about mid-day and hopefully reduce the possibility of running into much snow and ice at the higher elevations.

A Google Map of my South bound SS1000/BB1500 route can be viewed here. The total distance is approximately 1524 miles.

 The Southbound SS/BB Route

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My parents actually live in Cathedral City, CA. Barring horrific traffic delays, road closures or some other unplanned occurrence, my SS1000 destination would be Gustine, CA (1036 miles).  As luck would have it a group of riders on the Motorcycle Tourer’s Forum (MTF) were planning a Ride to Eat (RTE) from San Diego, CA to the Elephant Restaurant in Palm Desert, CA.  Their arrival time there was very close to my planned arrival to Cathedral City on 12/22/2007 which for all intents and purposes is the same place. Prior to leaving I arranged to meet them at the restaurant between 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM. I also adjusted my ride end point to be Rancho Mirage, CA.

Leaving Issaquah, WA I took a short 7 mile hop on I-90 West and then turned South onto I-5. By 6:16 AM I was through Portland, OR and at my first fuel stop at Woodburn, OR. I continued South on I-5 and arrived at Roseburg, OR at 8:39 AM for my second fuel stop. I then headed West on OR-42 to bypass the Siskiyous by taking the coast route.

When I left Issaquah the temperature was about 30° F and stayed below 40° F all the way to Roseburg. I didn’t notice any icy conditions to this point but I was very thankful for my Gerbing heated gear. Cresting over the pass on OR-42 the temperature dropped down below freezing again and I did notice a considerable amount of ice on the shoulders and on a few occasions on the roadway. Brutus did a couple of very slight tail wags on that section but nothing that really got my attention. I was alert but I always felt in control. The West side of OR-42 is quite spirited with some very good twisty sections. The elevation dropped enough that the road conditions improved to the point I actually could have a little fun .

I then headed South on US-101 until I arrived at Gold Beach, OR at 11:24 AM for my third fuel stop. Roseburg and Gold Beach were not really planned around fuel requirements but rather for establishing my route for mileage calculations. The temperature remained below 40° F. So far the traffic has been light and my progress was actually pretty good.

I continued South on US-101 to Laytonville, CA. This would end up being the longest leg of the route at 250 miles. I arrived at Laytonville at 4:07 PM for my fourth fuel stop. The only thing of note through this section was the bad traffic in Eureka, CA. The majority of US-101 in Northern California is actually four lane highways with 65 MPH speed limits. Occasionally the road narrows to two lanes to get through rugged twisty areas like certain stretches of the Redwoods, larger towns and some other locations. Eureka was the largest city along that California section of US-101 and it was bumper to bumper, stop and go traffic all the way through it. I had managed to get caught in the local last minute Christmas shopping frenzy.

At Willits, CA I headed East on CA-20. The first part of CA-20 turned out to be real slow going with heavy traffic and long sections of 35 MPH speed limits. This is the area where the highway runs along Clear Lake. It was already dark and I could smell the smoke from wood stoves.  On a couple of occasions I got a strong whiff of burning rope .  Further along CA-20 got a little more interesting with some good fast sweepers combined with considerable elevation changes. I arrived at Williams, CA at 6:30 PM for my fifth fuel stop. This was one of my planned decision points. I was about 870 miles into the BB1500. If I was getting tired I was planning to stop and get some sleep in Williams. I was feeling pretty good so I decided to push on to my SS1000 destination which was another 170 miles South on I-5. The temperatures to this point never got above the mid 40’s.

I arrived at Gustine, CA at 11:06 PM. I fueled up, checked into the Motel 6 that was right next to the gas station and got some dinner. There is not much to say about a Motel 6 so I will just say I was up and headed South on I-5 by 3:50 AM, that’s O-Dark Thirty and some change. I turned East on CA-46 then South on CA-99 and finally East on CA-58 and to my seventh fuel stop at Bakersfield, CA. This was at 7:15 AM. The temperatures this morning have been in the low to mid 30’s.

I continued East on CA-58 through the desert past Mojave, CA and Edwards, CA and eventually to I-40 at Barstow, CA. The sun rise over the frost covered desert was a beautiful sight though I didn’t stop to take a picture. The temperature slowly climbed to the low 40’s as the morning passed. I was thankful there wasn’t any wind to speak of. I have been on that stretch of road in some really nasty conditions and I was a little concerned when I originally planned my route. I then headed East on I-40 and arrived at Ludlow, CA at 9:56 AM for my eighth fuel stop. Not a lot to see in Ludlow, it is about the middle of nowhere as you can get.

From Ludlow I headed South on the National Trails Highway. I didn’t realize this was part of the original Route 66. They have the Route 66 emblem periodically painted on the roadway. The road looks like the last resurfacing it had was in the 50’s. Traffic had been very light so far and from Ludlow I didn’t see another vehicle until I turned South onto Amboy Road. From Amboy Road I went onto CA-62 West through Twentynine Palms, Yucca Valley and Desert Hot Springs. From Desert Hot Springs it’s a short hop East on I-10 to Palm Desert, CA and my destination the Elephant Bar and Restaurant. I actually fueled up first in Rancho Mirage and that is my official end point for the BB1500. My finish time was 12:20 PM and my odometer mileage was 1553 miles.

The Elephant Restaurant was about a mile away from the gas station and I got about 100 feet from the restaurant driveway when I had the first of two close calls with oblivious cagers that I would have on my trip . I was on Hwy 111 doing the speed limit of 45 MPH and approaching the last light before turning into the restaurant. There was a silver-blue haired woman driving a Mercedes sitting at the light on the street entering the intersection from my right. She looks right at me and then turns right directly in front of me when I was about 20 feet from the intersection. Fortunately those crafty German engineers and my MSF instructors had done their jobs well and my emergency stop worked as well as anyone could hope. I think her hair probably got tinted a little more blue from my less than considerate comments to her. She did say she was sorry but that doesn’t do a motorcyclist much good if they are dead.

I pulled into the parking lot and started dressing down a little. The temperature had risen into the upper 50’s as I dropped down into the low desert area of Palm Springs. I needed to remove a layer of clothing.  I eventually met up with the MTF group to complete the RTE and to get my BB1500 end of ride witnessed. Here is a picture of the RTE group in the Elephant Restaurant. That’s me at the far end of the table.

Though I was introduced to everyone I only remember four of the other rider’s names; Lanny, Thomas, Brian and Steve.  I offer my apologies to the others.

I lucked out with the weather for this part of the trip as I only had a misting rain for a very short amount of my ride and Brutus handled the road conditions without a hitch. Brutus still managed to get a little grunged out. All my equipment worked well with the exception of the audio on my Garmin Zumo 550. I apparently have one of the defective mounts that I will now need to get replaced. The audio for my MP3s, cell phone and the routing directions kept cutting out or was real scratchy sounding. It got to the point it was such a distraction I just disconnected my intercom cable from my helmet. Otherwise the Zumo is a great GPS unit for a motorcycle. Even with heavy heated gloves the touch screen worked flawlessly and it’s routing was very good. I’m hoping the audio problem will be resolved, I really missed my tunes.

I had a nice visit with my parents and it was sunny and pleasant during the whole time I was there. I called my friends in Lake Havasu City, AZ on Christmas to wish them season cheer and to plan my visit with them at the end of the Christmas week.  KJ is a Navy buddy of mine that I have maintained a friendship with since I was discharged in 1972. When we met we were both Sonar Technicians serving aboard the USS Dale (DLG-19). He and his wife Jackie had come for a visit to our home in Renton during the summer. Jackie is a retired Navy Chief. While I was in the area, it’s a just quick 190 mile hop, I would do a little payback visit.

Friday morning I made the three hour drive to Lake Havasu City, AZ. Traffic was light and I arrived at KJ and Jackie’s at around 1:00 PM. I had been watching the weather all week. The rather severe weather in Northern California made an extra day with my friends in Arizona the smart thing to do. I had a great time there and planned for a 6:00 AM (PST) Sunday morning departure for my run for home.

Chilly Bun SS1000/BB1500 Run #2 – “The Sequel”

A Google Map of my North bound SS1000/BB1500 route can be viewed here. The total distance is approximately 1544 miles.

 The Northbound SS/BB Route

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My route would take me through parts of Arizona, Nevada and Washington as well as the full length of California and Oregon. I left Lake Havasu City, AZ at 5:45 AM (PST) and headed North on US-95. I turned West onto I-40 and then North again on US-95. I arrived at Searchlight, NV at 7:15 AM for my first fuel stop. Once again I didn’t really need fuel after running a 93 mile leg but I needed a receipt for this "corner" of my route.

The next leg would be the longest of the whole trip at 316 miles. I headed East on AZ-164 which eventually turned into Nipton Road at the California border. I then headed South on I-15 heading to Barstow, CA.  At Barstow I headed West into the Mojave on CA-58. I hadn’t paid much attention to what kind of winds might be brewing there. I might have changed my route had I known in advance. My time spent in the Navy helped me with all the tacking and jibing I did between Edwards, CA and Mojave, CA. I’m lucky Brutus has a lot of free board or I would have been scraping parts from leaning into some of those wind gusts. It was a challenge to keep the wheels in my lane. There were RVs and trucks parked under most of the overpasses to escape from the wind.

I managed to keep the shiny side up and made it safely to my second fuel stop at Lost Hills, CA via CA-58 and CA-99 at 12:05 PM. I didn’t realize what a close call I nearly had until I filled the tank with 8.69 gallons of gas. The tank capacity is supposed to be 8.7 gallons. I was really surprised by this because that meant I was only getting about 36 MPG. Those winds nearly did me in anyway in an annoying rather than an injurious way.

I headed West from Lost Hills on CA-46 and then North on I-5. The next stop would be Thornton, CA after 236 boring miles on I-5 . Well it was boring except for the second run in I nearly had with an oblivious cager . I was in the left lane passing a couple of cars and I was approaching a black Toyota. As I came up to the Toyota I noticed the widows were so fogged and iced up the driver couldn’t have any visibility to the rear or the sides. My internal alarm bells were sounding and I was just about abreast of the driver’s window when the Toyota proceeded to move into my lane. I hit the throttle, headed towards the shoulder edge of the lane, hit my recently installed Stebel Compact Air Horn and cocked my right leg to get ready to leave a lasting impression on his body work. He was half way into my lane before the Stebel woke him up and he started to move back over to his lane.  I was past him anyway but in my mirror I could see his eyes were wide as saucers. I hope his shorts were warm and lumpy too. I have no idea what he was trying to communicate by pointing down to his feet, waggling his arm and shrugging his shoulders. He looked all of 17 years old. Then it was back to boring until I arrived at Thornton at 3:31 PM for my fourth fuel stop.

I had a short 84 mile stint up I-5 then I arrived at Williams, CA at 4:54 PM for my fifth fuel stop. Once again I needed another receipt to establish my route. Now I crossed over to the coast on CA-20 then North on US-101 at Willits, CA. This leg is 227 miles and my next destination is Eureka, CA.

I arrived in Eureka at 10:51 PM for the sixth fuel stop. Eureka was 956 miles into the BB1500 but the next place to get reasonable accommodations was another 113 miles up the coast at Brookings, OR. Like on the South bound run this was a pre-determined decision point and just like the first run I decided to push on. The traffic had been light, even through Eureka, so I expected to make reasonably good time.

I arrived at Brookings at 11:30 PM and checked into the Westward Inn Motel. I didn’t need fuel and the hotel receipt would work just fine for my ride records. I grabbed a quick five hours of sleep and was back on US-101 at 5:30 AM.

The previous day was free from any sub-freezing temperatures and slick road conditions, today is a different story. When I left the motel there was heavy frost on all the cars in the motel parking lot and even my saddle had frost on it. I didn’t care because I had just thrown my sheepskin butt pad on it anyway .  Brutus gave me no indication that the roads were slick at all and I ran nearly all the way to Coos Bay, OR before I knew things were getting ugly. I was following a utility truck and just staring up a slight grade when the truck nearly spun out in front of me. As it was he fishtailed 90 degrees and came close to running clear off the shoulder.  I was able to slow down just fine with just a little bit of wiggle from the rear wheel.  I continued on into Coos Bay and arrived there at 7:40 AM without incident. It was stop and go because of the traffic lights. That is where my audition for the Ice Capades began. I decided to get off the road for a while because every time I stopped I had trouble keeping my feet under me. Brutus could have cared less and I did not have a single control issue while the wheels were rolling. Perhaps everyone else was fishtailing and sliding around just to get out of the way of the maniac on the yellow motorcycle .

I rode to the next gas station to fuel up and ask where a good restaurant was to wait for the sun to rise and thaw things a little bit. The attendant came out and the first thing he said was "Couldn’t you possible have found something else to do this morning?". I had a good laugh and we had a nice chat. As it turns out both he and the station owner are "bikers".

The Kozy Kitchen Restaurant was right across the street and the attendant recommended it. I had a nice breakfast and some coffee. From where I was sitting I could see Brutus and just beyond that was a parked SUV with heavy frost on all the windows. I decided to stay until the sun melted all that frost. That took less than an hour and I was back on US-101 at 8:46 AM.

I was now on a 234 mile leg that would get me to Vancouver, WA. I stayed on US-101 until I got to Florence, OR and then turned East on OR-126. I was now into intermittent fog and there were a good number of icy areas at the higher elevations on OR-126. I had one or two spots where Brutus’s tail twitched but otherwise stable as a rock. I am running with Metzerler Tourances and they seemed to be hooking up just fine. Man is this one damn fine riding machine.

At Eugene, OR I headed north on I-5. There were varying degrees of fog, from light to heavy, and cold temperatures until I got North of Salem, OR. The road conditions were fine but my Cee Bailey windshield and wind wings started building up ice. This is due to the wind chill effect resulting from running at 70 MPH. With the heated gear I was snug as a bug in a rug, but I got looks from a number of cagers that were just priceless .

I arrived in Vancouver at 12:59 PM for my seventh fuel stop. At this point it feels like I am home already. I jumped back on I-5 for the final 154 mile leg. Traffic was a little heavy coming through Tacoma, WA but that’s nothing unusual. I arrived in Renton at my final fuel stop at 3:37 PM. My home is but 7/10ths of mile from here. My wife was very glad to see me .

On New Years Day I prepared both IBA ride packets and then mailed them off the following day. If and when they make it through the approval process I should be qualified to call myself a Mile Eater. A Mile Eater is anyone crazy enough to do more than one of these type of rides .