The initial goal was for us to run through some of the very northern roads around Republic. But, if you're still reading, you'll know that Jerry passed out very early and I was pretty beat myself. And the morning wasn't much better.
We chatted a bit and finally I made the call. We're tired, we're not in a place where it's all that exciting to stay an extra day (read: no beach with girls in bikinis ;) so we're going home.
It was the right choice.
After a 1/2 decent "deluxe complimentary breakfast" we packed out stuff and got ready
We chatted to the guys on Harleys for a while, they were going to Alaska and seemed friendly enough.
The duck seemed pretty smitten (traitor)
The jog over from Omak to Twisp was actually more fun than I expected. Some good twists and turns. As we turned towards Winthrop I pulled over and told Jerry "good thing we'd slowed down just before that cop".
His reponse: "What cop?".
Well, good thing I was in the lead I guess ;)
We stopped in Winthrop and got gas just in case, I thought we might make it, but I really wasn't sure how hard we'd push and Jerry might have run out.
My tire actually made the whole trip, though both of us were getting a bit of a flat spot.
That's what you get for going too slow I guess ;) Then again, they were worn to the very edge...
We kicked back a bit and I mentioned to Jerry that I really wanted to stop at the pass as I wanted to shoot some black and white.
The ride to the pass as pretty uneventful except for one guy in a truck who didn't use his turn signal before he pulled 1/2 into the oncoming lane. I was already passing and just opened the 9R up but it took Jerry a minute to get out of there.
No harm done, I just wish people would signal.
I developed the black and white from the stop at the top tonight, no prints or scans yet though, so we'll have to make due with some of the digital shots.
That little strip on the lower left is the highway
Here it is with an ugly guy in the picture ;)
The cliff looks like it's over 500 feet down to the highway, which is right below that little fence...
We got going, I took a few more black and whites and then well, we cruised towards Diablo lake. The best stretch on this highway by far.
We had an interesting interlude with some Harley guys who couldn't get their hand signals worked out (the front guy waved Jerry and me past, his buddy though he was being waved on... we'll we'd only been behind them for 5 kilometers or so ... ).
And then it was on. I love the stretch before the lake, the open sweepers, the smooth pavement and the good passing opportunities. Well, that last one might be relative.
I set a new record for speed while knee dragging and the fact that I could glance at my speedo while at full lean is a testament to how well designed and smooth the road is.
In short, it was a blast.
Then onto Concrete to get some gas. We were getting pretty hungry and I'd been looking for somewhere to stop and eat, but nothing looked all that inviting.
So we took the old Skagit highway into Sedro and stopped in town.
Once again, it was the 'breakfast all day' that had one me over. Omlettes it was :)
We were going to take Watkom lake road, but it was closed so we took Mosquito road. And again forgot about one of the decreasing radius blind turns. Not to fear, no riders or bikes were harmed in the making of this trip report.
One last gas stop before the border
And besides the bitch in training at the border, from here there was only a commute back home.
Jerry split south and I tried to avoid some traffic and eventually ended up home as well.
I know that anyone still following this trip report only has one question in mind:
Did the duck make it?
Well, here is the duck enjoying the view off my balcony.
And that's pretty much it for 2008's Sportbike trip.
I hope you enjoyed the ride. We certainly did.
Bjorn
1 comment:
Hurray, it survived!
Rubber duckie, you're the one! =D
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