Broken Bridge Ride

 

The bridge on the road between Wren and Blodgett has a broken bridge.  If I was on a bicycle I would have been able to walk my bike across but the angle of the bridge is too steep to safely walk a motorcycle across.  Of course… that’s assuming that the entire bridge doesn’t collapse into the river below with the added weight.  This bridge is right by the old rail stop of Alder which still shows up on some maps.

 Someone spray painted over the sign to reflect how much weight the bridge can now take.

 All it took was one large tree and the whole bridge came down.

 A crack in the asphalt at the edge of the bridge.

 

 

 

 The piers were askew.

 

 

 Amazingly the bridge hasn’t contacted the river quite yet.

 

 

 After taking a few more photos, I turned around and headed back toward Corvallis.

 

Near Philomath there is a relatively new development that has been slowly being built out over the last several years.  There is a new section that is just starting to go in.  I went up to check out where more of the beautiful old oak savanna that used to ring the valley is being consumed by houses.  Marys Peak is obscured by the clouds directly behind the motorcycle.

 

Tioga Pass on a PC800

 

Coming back from a wedding in the Bay Area, I decided to take the long road home to Oregon and go over Tioga Pass.  This is by far one of the most beautiful and exhilarating rides I have ever done on a motorcycle.  I absolutely adore the High Sierra.

I took a GoPro video of the entire run over the pass. It took me a while to edit it together but here it is.

 A big juniper tree by the road.

 

 Exposed granite.

 Heading up toward the pass.

 

 

 I was one of the few non-Harley and non-adventure bikes going over the pass.

Granite domes.

 

 

Looking up into the high country.

 

Tuolumne Meadows looking more or less north.

 Snow in the high country.

 

 

 At the summit of Tioga Pass.

 Dark rock from the east.

 

 Just down the east side from the pass there is a small reservoir.

 Heading down toward Mono Lake.

 Tioga Pass is a California Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

 Looking down the road.

 

It is a really, REALLY impressive road.

 

 I can’t wait to ride that road again!

 

Motorcycle Rides Recently

 Over the last month I have been riding my motorcycles infrequently due to my busy schedule and impending Ph.D defense.  Here are a few photos of me out and about.

I finished fixing the XL500S last month.  The bike works great and has zero leaks now.  This is me out on an epic, rainy ride.

 

 

 

 

Out on the XS850SG.