bluekat's Journeys

Today (Sunday) Ron and I took the bikes for a spin around the south end of the valley. Nothing special, just a chance to visit a few favorite places and roads, and enjoy the nice weather while it's here. The Route Harrisburg Oregon I love this old building. I need a picture of Sam in front of it.  Willamette River in Harrisburg Still High and muddy Ron notices my tread, or lack of it. No comment on how often Bluekat checks such things. After convincing me that Sam can make it home on her "slicks", we head out. We spend more time riding than taking pictures. Only one more photo from the ride... Sustenance for the ride home New Tires These have been sitting around the living room for a couple weeks, the tires that is, not the bicycle. Bridgestone Battlax 023's.  Quite a while back I solicited advice on tires. I debated trying a different brand, but since Bridgestone had come out with a newer version of my stock tire, I decided to go ahead and give it a try. T...

Thursday Morning Thursday I rode to work. The morning and evening rides were beautiful. I wish I could have taken pics, but there wasn't time for stopping. This was the brightest day we'd had in a while. Cold, but at least the heavy gloom had  lifted to a degree. Morning Friday I wake up to fog and cold temps, so I spend the morning cleaning house and taking care of errands. After lunch it's time to ride. The first stop is for gas for Sam, where I have a discussion with the attendant about how crazy, cold-weather riders stay warm (Irondad withstanding) using heated gear. He'd never heard of heated gear, but wished he had something like it when working outside. Tank full and off we go. I've added a neoprene band that goes around the base of my helmet to help seal out wind and cut down on wind noise. Is it quieter? Maybe, but not quiet enough to ditch the earplugs. I stop along Tangent Drive to put in earplugs and add a balaclava as well. It's so nice to...

I think Friday morning was the first morning I've awoken to fog. It didn't  last long, and the sun came out as promised. Ron and I had time to burn and errands to run. Let's go explore some backroads. The destination: Skyline Road and Vitae Springs Road. Skyline Road came up in a past comment and I made a note to go explore it one day. Skyline Road is off of Riverside Drive, south of Salem. Vitae Springs Road completes the loop back to Riverside Drive. I knew Skyline descends in a series of sharp curves coming from Salem, but I planned to climb up from the other direction. Steep and twisty? Oh yeah, more than I guessed. Once past the twisty part the road is pretty tame with some nice views and gentle corners. What goes up must go down.  Fake google map, cuz I suck at map making Skyline heads back downhill and ends at an annoying intersection that leaves a rider facing the wrong way if said rider wants to go left, which we did. To the right (more like straight ahead) is ...

This is a ride I've been wanting to do all summer. Ron and I rode part of this route last January when I still had the Suzuki. Other than that we drove the car over it once many years ago. Always intended to drive it again, it only took us 20 some years to return. We were just waiting for the appropriate mode of transportation. Yeah that's it. I had forgotten what a nice drive (now ride) this is. This is where the map goes...if I knew how to make a map. Really gotta learn a map program. From Sweet Home we take Quartzville Road heading toward Green Peter Dam. From there just stay on the pavement (Forest Rd. 11). Quartzville Road becomes Forest Road 11 and/or Straight Creek Road. If you come from Detroit it's Straight Creek Road off of highway 22. Quartzville Road I'm being followed... Fallen Bridge under the other bridge. Guys in wetsuits, mining or ?? Quartzville Creek Requisite moto shot The weather is perfect. There are a lot of campers along th...

There are rides that leave me wanting more, and rides where I get my fill. Today was a nice, fulfilling ride. At the end I was ready to ride home. The route is a nice 150 mile loop ride around the Willamette valley. Ron and I ride out to Scio then up highway 226 to Camp Morrison Road and Hannah Bridge. Hannah Bridge Thomas Creek We loop around some of the backroads in this area and as usual I  get us lost. I always seem to get lost when I'm on the motorcycle. Maybe I should rethink that GPS thing. Surrounded by foothills and creeks, there's really nowhere to go and eventually we find the right road (Jordan Rd) back to the highway. Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Jordan Oregon The route continues onto Kingston-Jordon Road and we start to wind our way back towards Stayton, and then Jefferson. Too hungry to stop, we continue past Ankeny wildlife refuge and ride on to lunch at Starduster Cafe at the Independence airport. Two other riders are there as well as the Sunday crowd. ...

I wait around for warmer weather, but it never comes. I do chores around the house. I run errands in the car. Cookie and I stop at Cheadle Lake. There's ice. Ice! We take a little walk, hoping to take some photos, but I don't like the angle of the sun. The light is harsh and in my face, so we head home. I think again about digging out the motorcycle. It's still cold. I don't want to pile on all the gear. I'll have to stop and fill the gas tank. I seem to have a dozen excuses not to ride. But it's really beautiful out. Blue skies. I just can't stay home. Inspired by another blogger, I pull out the gear and get ready. See, warmer already. And the bike is ready; she starts right up eager to go. I pick a route that should give me about an hour of riding. It's one of our bicycle routes, "head to Shedd". I puzzle out the best vent-shield-sunglasses-breathguard combination that will give me the best view of the road with the least amount of foggi...

No big rides this weekend, but I at least managed a short errand run. Mom needed groceries, so after gathering the listed items from the grocery store I set off on two wheels. I Had a nice quiet ride out to Lacomb where the dreaded parking-in-the-gravel awaited me. I didn't drop the ol' girl while parking, but arrived in time for a couple of Mom's church friends who were just leaving. They looked a little concerned...Who is this wild biker pulling up in front of the house? Oh, it's just the daughter. I got the groceries dropped off and after a short visit had a nice ride home. One picture: Waterloo Park. Spent most of today daydreaming about beamers and ninjas. Do they call BMW motorcycles beamers?

Quick ride around the South Santiam this morning. All the usual stuff. We had a nice ride, a little windy. The afternoon promises to be stormy and wet. Blueberries Autumn color fading Yet another shot of the diversion dam Waterloo park Tiny old structure at Waterloo Park