A brand new day, the sun is shining and I am on 410E heading towards Yakima via Mt. Rainier national park. As it happens, sun doesn't shine too often in the pacific north west and all the bikers in seattle are on the road. My hand tires of waving and I suspect the feeling is mutual. Nice ride via Chinook pass. As a turn approaches, one biker waves his hand at a low level really hard. I first figured he was over enthusiastic about meeting another biker on the road, but that couldn't be true that day. I panic, slow really down, check if my side stand is down, any of my saddle bags open.. nah, nothing. Then it hits me. He is asking me to slow down. I had slowed down anyway and take the turn to find this nice cop with his radar gun waiting for his prey. Whoever the biker was, thanks a bunch fella!
Thats Mount Rainier, the highest point in WA (14410 ft). Talking about bikers waving, what seems to be a general rule on the roads is.. all the sports bikers wave, all the touring and cruiser bikers wave, all the sports touring bikers wave, all brand riders wave.. except Harley Davidson guys! well, not really.. about 40 % of them wave too. Whats the matter with the rest 60%? Is it because I dont ride a Harley? What a bunch of hmm.. snobs? Anyway, so now I dont wave at a HD guy unless he does so. I take a butt break on the road and this guy in a sportsbike drops in. He had a very nice bike. A new Ducati with an Orange and black paint theme. Real pretty. We chit chat a bit and I take off reaching Chinook pass.
Here is chinook pass with lotsa snow even when its almost summer. The road downhill hugs a beautiful stream all the way till I am out of the mountains. Zooming along at about 70 mph, I notice a very small fly sitting at ease on top of my windshield. Huh?! Here I am with 70 mph wind on my helmet that it buffets sometimes and he is happily hitching a ride with cool. Must be the windshield aerodynamics. hmm.. Anyway, he walks around on top of the shield for a while and takes off. I don't know if thats really a take off. He wouldn't have lasted a second with that wind. I run off and down the road into a small camping area by the stream. I try to take a U-turn in that soft surface and realise how big a mistake it was. ST is stuck comfortably and doesn't want to back off. I struggle with the 700+ lb fella and understand why Goldwings need a reverse gear. After about 20 minutes of exercising the newly found muscles in my body, I save the day and
we are clear! ST needs a reverse gear too or I need some extra brain cells. I take a break by the beautiful stream.
Continuing on 12E finds me outta the hills soon. Its plains now till Yakima. I find plains and deserts appealing. Any wide open space is soothing for me. Thats probably one reason why I love the oceans too. Maybe, maybe not. Who knows.. Someday, I hope to ride the deserts of Arizona and Nevada and watch the sun set on the desert. I've seen it once from a car and the shades of red and orange were brilliant.
That reminds me.. I take 100% lousy pictures. They never do justice to the place. The american west is so wildly beautiful, I doubt any of the pictures we see do it justice. Ride a motorcycle across this land and know it for thyself :) I take 97S till I-84W. I don't want to do anything but ride these wide open stretches. I think I overdo it and find myself at I-82 intersection. What the?! Take out the map, and realise I've been riding on 22W for the last 45 minutes! @#$%@!!. Frustrated, irritated and angry, I take 22E and ride fast watching out for the cops. But I guess cops keep away from these deserted roads. Then it slowly hits me. Hey, I ride to ride, for the fun of riding. I do it just for the fun of it. I would've couched out and watched TV if I didnt want to ride. Now, why am I being irritated at the prospect of more riding? The irony of it all. So, I take it easy and find 97S. Now, 97S is an amazing road and I have to admit the best part of this trip. Winding beautiful roads going up and down the hills through Yakima Indian reservations. The roads and the nature was so pretty and was so absorbed in all of it that I forgot to capture some pics. :) Did 105 mph on one stretch. The rush of it. wooo.. Everybody should ride a motorcycle atleast once on this road. Felt lighthearted and rode standing on the bike imitating those Indians on their horsebacks, shouting and screaming to my hearts full. I had this feeling throughout that those Indians were watching me from those hill tops. Funny :)
There is one point on the road where you can supposedly see Mt Rainier, Mt Hood, Mt St Helens and Mt. Adams(?) on a clear day. I could see the first two. Checked out a ranch road. Nice green on both sides. Put the ST on sidestand and got down. Crash! awwwwww.. the ST is lying on its side. That sight broke my heart. Thanks to the excellent crash gaurds, no scratch anywhere on the bike. Lifts it up (dunno how I did it, I just lifted the 700+ pound bike up) and back on sidestand. Now, I'm thinking.. hey, sidestand aint safe, lets keep it on center stand. Crash! ST falls over to the other side. grr.. Now, I'm fuming.. No way, I could lift this one up, its fallen on to the low side and thankfully again, no scratches. Unhappy, I stand waiting for about 15 minutes when one big ranch guy comes in his big truck. We both pick up the bike and take it outta that damn gravel place. These
pics show where I was after the crash.
I hit I-84W and follow the Columbia river gorge for more than 60 miles, I think. I thought interstates would be boring. But this one was quite a ride. The river has dug out some deep gorge between the mountains and the road hugs the river and after all these months in Beaverton, I finally spot a Beaver on I-84. A beaver mom (or was it dad) was trying to get her two pups across the 70 mph interstate :( Mom crosses the road onto the river side and I stop the bike waiting for the pups to go. They seem totally confused and walk back to the side they came from. Cars starts zooming again and I ride thinking if they would make it or not... a sad feeling sets in. how fragile life is.. we make all these wondrous plans about future and all it needs is a couple of missed heartbeats for it all to end. And we take it all for granted... Anyway, so the sun sets and all good things seem to end so soon. I miss an exit and find myself in the downtown maze. Drunkards running across the streets, the shouts and the general craziness of a sunday night downtown. I ride around in circles and finally finds 26W. I really really really need a GPS. Home at around 2300 hrs.
The pic on the right.. Standing there at that time reminded me so much of Kerala. The backwaters with its large, slow moving waterbodies with the distant lights.. The palm fringed shores.. The general melancholy and silence in the air. hmm.. Guess I was homesick once in this ride.
Anyway, so 750 miles and two days and the ST. If something is more fun in life, I would like to know about it :) The only non interesting part of the ride was the 40 miles on I-5 towards seattle. I try to avoid the interstates as much as possible and it pays off well. The backroads of America are vibrant with life and color.
Adios.
