Friday, April 26th, 2024
The Rain Run was a real blast! Also somewhat of a test. Naturally, I watched the weather predictions like a hawk on the week leading up to the ride. It was not looking good. The day before the ride I put some Sno-Seal on my riding boots and Scotch-Guarded my riding gear, and then I loaded up OXCART for the ride.
Got up at 06:00 on Friday and got my gear on and departed my secret HQ in the Snoqualmie Valley at about 06:30. It was getting light. The streets were wet and it was drizzling, so I switched the bike from DYNAMIC to RAIN mode. In RAIN all the safety stuff is turned all the way up, including ABS, anti-squiggle, etc. Rode out Novelty to Avondale, then 520 to I-405, I-5 to Fife. Gassed at the Fife Chevron. Rode back over the freeway to the Fife McD’s. Had breakfast. Franco Lai showed up. He’s a good guy, a solid member of the HRF. He had breakfast also, and, as we were walking back to our bikes, Beecher showed up on his red K1300S. He didn’t need any breakfast or coffee, so we just had a quick discussion and decided that our next stop would be Raymond, WA for gas. I was in the lead. The rain was off and on. We rode south on I-5 down to Olympia, where we caught 101 to Hwy 8. Followed that to Montesano, where we caught 107 to 101 and then south to Raymond. Gas at the Shell – we did not stop at the Raymond McD. Now Beecher had the lead, as lead changes at gas stops. When we came to the intersection of Hwy 101 and Hwy 4 at Naselle, there were two ways to go. Most efficient is to go left on Hwy 4 and approach the Astoria Bridge from the East. Beech turned right and took us through Ilwaco. More twisties that way. I was very happy with the way my Metzeler M7RR tires gripped the road in the rain. We crossed the bridge at Astoria.
I had two routes in my GPS for the Oregon part of the ride. One would lead us up into the hills, up to Veronia. Dunno about you, but I personally do not enjoy riding on tight mountain roads in the rain. Maybe there’s a down tree in the road around that next blind corner? So we did the “direct boogie,” just sticking to Hwy 101 after crossing the bridge across the Columbia and into Astoria. Rode through Seaside (Franco waved goodbye here and turned off to a favorite restaurant for lunch), Cannon Beach, and so on, up the twisties to where you could pull off at one of the viewpoints for a beautiful vista of the Pacific Coast, with Manzanita down below in the near distance. Beech and I did not pull over – we just honked on.
We rolled into Manzanita, making full stops at the stop signs (the man – he be watchin’) and on to the special no parking zone at the Sunset Surf, where we always park. Tina was already there. She had ridden her little Suzuki DR650 all the way down from Vancouver, BC, with inadequate rain gear, I might add. She says that she almost froze her ass off. We walked up to the great little grocery store and bought some provisions, including a bottle of wine (it met my three requirements: red, cheap, screw-top), some chips for the motel room, slightly fancier chips for taking to the soon-to-come gathering in the “WSBMWR Party Room,” and a nice, custom sandwich from the little deli, for dinner.
The sandwich was good, washed down with some of the red wine. Tina the Fast showed up. Ron also showed up, driving in his Ford F-150. We wandered over to the Party Room and I presented my bag of BBQ Kona chips. Only a few folks were there, but they were the hardy few. The Washington State BMW Riders (WSBMWR) Prez was extremely gratified by the folks that turned out and that we were all having a good time. I hung out for a while. Lots of new people, making me think that maybe WSBMWR won’t die out with us old farts. Somebody made a beer run up to the store (shades of parties at Red’s place in East Oakland back in the ‘70s)! They actually brought back a bottle of “red, cheap, screw-top!” I hung out for a while then went back to our room and watched some cable TV. Man, I’m glad we’re not paying for those crappy channels here at home.
Saturday, April 27th, 2024
It was raining pretty seriously for most of the day on Saturday. Beecher and I walked up to the little coffee shop, where I had a maple bar and two double Americanos. We hung out in the room. Our usual room, #35, is on the second floor, with a great view of the beach. Ron came by and asked if anybody wanted to go for breakfast. My bike was sitting out there in her cover (back row, 4th from the right, next to Beecher’s K-sled, and Tina’s little Suzuki DR650 on the far right) and I wasn’t riding anywhere.
Ron, Tina, and I hopped into Ron’s F-150 and drove south to Wanda’s Café in Nehalem. Great breakfast. I had the half-order biscuits and gravy. Getting back to the Sunset Surf, we just hung out some more, solving all the world’s problems. I hobbled up to the store again for more chips for Saturday night in the party room. Things were jumping pretty good on Saturday night – more new folks. All good. WSBMWR officers supplied us with about eight pizzas, so nobody had to figure out where to go for dinner.
Sunday, April 28th, 2024
Sunday morning Beecher and I were up at daybreak. Made coffee and put away my travel CPAP and got my gear together. Loaded the bike. It was just drizzling, not a full-on rain. Ron wasn’t riding with us, as he was driving a truck. Plus, he planned to check out the Columbia River Maritime Museum on the way back. Franco was nowhere to be seen. Beech and I headed out around 07:00. He was in the lead. No elk showed up as we passed through Cannon Beach and Seaside. We stopped at the Shell in Raymond, then McD’s for breakfast. Normally we change lead at each gas stop, but I told Beech that I wasn’t sure what route Garmina would come up with, as I had not specifically loaded this route home, and if I simply told her to take me home she might try to get me to go straight to I-5. We wanted to go through Montesano. I said I could add Montesano to the route home. Beech said he didn’t trust my GPS, so he requested the lead until we got to highway 12. Cool. As we left Raymond, I selected home, and then, carefully keeping at least some attention to the wet curves as they came up, with my winter gloves I managed to select Montesano as a waypoint on the way home, and Garmina put her magenta line down exactly the way we needed to go. Most gratifying. Once we got onto Hwy 8, I passed Beech and assumed the lead. We took Hwy 8 to Hwy 101, then we got to I-5. Lead on I-5 is a bit challenging. Lots of traffic. Smoky is out there, looking. Slow movers to get around. Somehow I always seem to end up in the lead on that final run in, on the freeway. Adrenaline. Throttle. I want to be, maybe, the third fastest thing out there. Not the first fastest, that’s for sure. But I don’t want to hold up the two-ship formation on the way home. We go hot, low, and fast. No pictures were taken, but this kinda gets the idea across (attached). I peeled off at I-405. Had to adjust back to slow Seattle traffic. That is always a thing. Here we are, used to honking at the speed of heat. Then we get back into civilization. Culture shock. The bike doesn’t like it – she likes to run.
No pictures were taken during this phase of the mission, so here is a suitable substitute:
Got home about 12:20. Totally fried.
Monday morning I rode OXCART down to the Rustic Cabin for a double Americano. Not even unloaded yet. Bags on, and the Ortlieb bag on the back. Unloaded her after I got back.
So it was a great ride. Mission complete.
Seeya
ATB
