Epic motorcycle rides – Not Your Average Engineer

June 18, 2011June 19, 2011

Nuclear Free Covered Bridge Ride

Today I went on an epic 300+ mile covered bridge ride. In the rain. Solo. Crossing into Lane County, I discovered that the county is a nuclear free zone. In total, I saw eight covered bridges. I also rode across National Forest Development Road 19 which until a few weeks ago was buried under many feet of snow. It was a great ride but my derriere sure is sore.

The covered bridges I visited include: Earnest Covered Bridge, Wendling Covered Bridge, Goodpasture Covered Bridge, Belknap Covered Bridge, Office Covered Bridge, Lowell Covered Bridge, Unity Covered Bridge, Pengra Covered Bridge, and Parvin Covered Bridge. I considered heading further south to pick up the covered bridges around Cottage Grove but it was getting late and I was getting hungry. Those bridges will be left for another evening or weekend.

This ride is part of my continuing series of photographic expeditions to capture a photo with my motorcycle in front of all of the covered bridges of Oregon.

April 10, 2011July 1, 2020

Slippery Back Roads and Blown Away on the Coast

Today Carl and I went on a bit of an adventure. The goal was to collect more covered bridges for my covered bridge photo project. We visited Hayden Covered Bridge, Fisher Covered Bridge, North Fork Yachats Covered Bridge, and Wildcat Creek Covered Bridge. There were a few more on our list but the weather was getting ominous and we were pretty beat up from the ride so we called it a day and headed back to Corvallis after only four bridges. Prior to the ride, I consulted several maps of the Central Coast Range to make sure the roads we would be traversing were at least somewhat paved. It turns out that on-the-ground road conditions vary greatly from what is printed in official maps.

Somewhere east of Cape Perpetua. We rode on National Forest Development roads from Fisher to Yachats. While the map said that they were all paved, we found several were only partially paved or otherwise in poor repair. The roads were all covered in forest detritus which made for incredibly slick riding. Many times our front or rear wheels lost traction and began to slide out from under us. By sheer determination, riding skill, and luck we managed to not dump our bikes. The gusting wind didn’t help matters.

Along the way we spied a couple of old vans parked on a side road with several shifty guys moving agricultural equipment. It appears that we spotted the starts of a pot grow. Stay classy, Mexican drug cartels.

At Cape Perpetua we stopped in at Devil’s Churn for a bathroom break and to add extra layers of warmth. The wind was ripping along the coast. It caused us some problems. Within a 100 foot stretch of road, the wind direction could completely reverse three times. Being whipped back and forth is really punishing on the body. I’m surprised I didn’t get whiplash from a few of the more violent gusts that not only sent my bike careening to one side or the other but also snapped my head 90 degrees.

Devil’s Churn was really active with the big storm barreling down on the coast.

March 20, 2011July 1, 2020

Tour de Quartzville

Today Drew and I set out for an epic ride up toward Quartzville. We detoured to see a covered bridge before ending up in a deluge along Green Peter Reservoir. I’ve been in some serious rain before that was heavier than what we rode through today but never have I been through such sustained heavy rain. The total ride was about 155 miles by my trip meter. Thanks goes to Drew for the awesome photos from today’s epic adventure!

At the “Short Bridge” covered bridge outside Sweet Home. I will be starting a collection of photos of covered bridges of Oregon shortly.

Detail of the only decals on my motorcycle.

Bike butts.

Old on the right, slightly less old on the left.

Our stallions at Yellowbottom Recreation Site, the furthers up Quartzville Road we dared trod.

Drew attempted to use a car GPS to lackluster results. Turns out it’s not waterproof, either.

On the way back down toward Sweet Home, we decided to stop for some photos in the middle of the bridge over Green Peter Reservoir. There wasn’t any traffic. We pulled our bikes up for about 15 minutes for photos and to talk about the rain. You know you’re in Oregon when you talk about the rain.

Looking down the lake.

Drew’s bike.

Rider and stallion in the rain.

To live, one must be hardcore.

At the Green Peter Dam.

It’s pretty nice that they still let you drive across the dam. At least the terrorists haven’t won here yet.