Seattle to Laguna Seca - A MotoGP worker's tale

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Yes I know MotoGP was a month ago but I forgot I promised some fellow corner workers I'd post my trip report here when I finished it.

So if anyone cares to read on, here's the entire tale of my expedition from Seattle to Monterrey to be a corner worker for the 2007 Red-Bull Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.

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Beware ye who dare read the following for it is a long tale filled with adventure, close calls, little regard for imposed laws, brushes with death, brushes with fame, and just a sprinkling of hairy man-ass. It is the tale of my MotoGP trip.

July 16th, 2007: Day One – Seattle to Newport, OR.

I woke up earlier than I’m accustomed to in order to meet a fellow rider at the Pyramid Brewery in Seattle at 7:45am. We would then ride down to Astoria to meet the rest of the group. Not much adventure nor really anything exciting happened between Seattle and Astoria so I’ll spare you the boring details.

Fast Forward to Astoria, Oregon. Let’s meet the players:

Me: 30 year old hotness on a 2006 GSX-R750 that just had it’s 11,000 mile service done. Over 19 years on a bike, and ridden street since I was 16.

Justin: 23 year old on his new 2001 CBR929RR Erion Edition. Previous owner was a lady in her 50’s that used it as her track bike. Seriously.

Don: Dude on his second bike, a 2006 R6 with loads of aftermarket upgrades.

Paul: Our crazy little Filipino boy-toy. Tiny guy on a newer CBR1000RR that could ride like Dani Pedrosa. Actually, in retrospect, Pedrosa may be bigger than Paul.

Steve “Patch:” His Triumph 675 got more attention everywhere we went than Paris Hilton’s prison stretch. Also the only one with a radar detector – V1 of course.

After discussing the day’s route over some chicken and biscuits, we set off south along 101 out of Astoria.

Just South of Astoria

Not many pictures were taken due to the fact we chose to hit up Hwy 53, a local sportbike fave. Unfortunately, we couldn’t rail too hard due to the gross amounts of gravel littering the road – construction’s a bitch. After much cursing and crying, we emerged back onto 101 and rode into Newport. Our motel was one of kind with a garage for the room entry. Nice to park our bikes in a “secure” area.

the Willers Motel – “If you think our garages are safe, you’ve never been here before”

Paul (left) and Justin (right) relax in front of the garages while Don checks us in

After getting settled and cleaned up, we proceeded to head to the famous Rogue Brewery and do ourselves in. Not much to be remembered except some late night sniper fights and building hopping in flip-flops. Oh, and I think Justin found the lost caverns of Solomon’s Mine under the brewery.

 

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July 17th: Day 2 – Newport, OR to Eureka, CA

We woke up to the sight of the sky pissing all over our pristine dry pavement. Fuck. I hate the rain. After deeming it wasn’t too bad, I decided not to don my rain gear, but instead cover my tail bag. We headed out after a hung-over breakfast at the local Rotchergut Restaurant, and despite the rooster-tails flinging off our rear tires, started to make pretty good time. We’d hit dry patches and then the rain would come again and spoil our fun. Our only goal was to get far enough south to get out of the weather.

Riders on the storm…er, sprinkling

Yup, that’s a bridge I just rode through

We got to Bandon, OR and stopped for a quick bite to eat. Ran into another rider who said he just came from Corvallis and it was dumping the whole way. Thank God we weren’t going that way!

Welcome to Bandon

Stopping for gas, Paul gives Don a quick facial

 

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101 along the Oregon coast is pretty neat, so neat in fact I forgot to take a lot of pictures

Marvel at my Mad in-Motion Picture Taking Skillz!

We crossed the border into California and continued to push the speed limit laws around the sweepers (and tight corners too). Pulling into Eureka, we found a nice little motel with security cameras and covered parking. No sooner had we checked in when the sky let loose a torrential downpour that would make Noah look for his famed boat again.

Had dinner at the Lost Coast Brewery and after our bellies were filled with great food and better beer, we stopped at the local bar next to our motel. We chatted with our barkeep Doris (imagine the old dead lady from Beetlejuice, but without the slit throat) for a while and she proceeded to keep us pretty buzzed.

We then stumbled back to our room and after some hi-jinks involving sit-ups, man-ass, and someone’s face (all on video of course, tho not mine and I don’t have it. Yet.) we rock-starred the room and passed out.

 

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July 18th: Day 3 – Eureka, CA to San Francisco, CA

We woke up to sunny skies, dry pavement, and a hint of a headache. A little bit of Denny’s and a lot of water took care of the latter.

After leaving Eureka, we all wanted to go check out the Redwoods and find that tree you can drive through. We got off the 101 (and finally ditched the 5-0 that was tailing us) and hit the Avenue of the Redwoods. Ho-Lee-Shit. Those are some big trees! We stopped to take some pics.

Hey, I think there’s a tree growing out of that CBR

Hey, I think there’s a tree growing out of my GSX-R

Hey I think that’s Justin (left) and me in front of a tree

 

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We tooled down the road a bit further, passing RVs and wagons full of people who were more interested in the trees than the road. After a few miles we stopped and asked where the famed tree-you-can-drive-thru is. Oh, it’s another 60 miles south. Pfft. We head back to 101 and haul ass down south. After some nice 100+ mph sweepers we get to Leggett, California, home to the famous Chandelier Tree and, incidentally, our turn off to Hwy 1.

You know, this looks a lot bigger on TV

the Crew

Upon leaving the famed tree, we (read: Justin) took a wrong turn and ended back on 101 south instead of 1 south like we’d planned. After much honking, flashing of lights, arm waving, and head shaking, I finally gave up and we rode down to Laytonville and got some petrol. I then consulted my trusty map and found a road that linked us and 1.

Good lord. We roll onto the road and about 2 miles in get hit with a “Winding Road next 23 miles” sign. Many cheers were had and pants were creamed and there was much rejoicing.

the “ROAD”

Well we were zipping along fine and dandy out into the middle of nowhere when the road narrowed to a single lane and started climbing. We’re talking 10%+ grade in places with 1st gear 5mph hairpin turns one right after another for a few miles. Honestly, I couldn’t figure out why this road was even paved! We stopped at the top for a breather and to compare notes on how we almost stalled in 2nd and had to hug our tanks for fear of falling off backwards due to the steepness.

Yeah, it doesn’t look that steep here.

After about 2 minutes we hear an engine, turn up-road, and see this coming at us:

Are you shitting me? I could barely get my bike around those corners and this guy is hauling a trailer full of timber through?!

Good grief. I would like to mention, this would be a kick ass road on a SuperMoto.

 

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We continued across the top of the mountain, through some less-than-stellar dwellings, past some toothless, banjo player sitting on his porch, and down the other side (10%+ grade, 1st gear hairpins once again) to the coastal highway. Civilization!

We spent the next few hours honing our quick-pass techniques and ignoring the posted speed limits. We’d pass a few cops here and there but they were mostly unconcerned with us and didn’t even look twice. A far cry from our State Patrol in Washington.

The California coast is quite beauteous

At this point, we’d been riding a few hours over some pretty demanding pavement. And we hadn’t even hit the most fun parts of Hwy 1. We kept heading south, breaking into corners, hitting apexes, looking through the corners, rolling on the throttle. Left, right, hard right, left, hard left… the corners just kept coming and coming.

We stopped for petrol and I could tell I was getting tired. I had a quick PowerBar and some PowerAde and felt all Powered Up in my PowerRanger suit. We continued on and that’s when I realized I wasn’t as Powered Up as I had previously thought. We approached a particularly twisty section of road and I completely blew a corner. I was leaned hard left into a corner and didn’t realize the road went into a quick right hander, even though I could see Patch’s tail light heading that way. I locked up the rear and slid into the other lane, quickly recovering and getting back on course. Not good.

The next few corners were a lot slower for me as I tried to recollect my concentration. I then came into a hairpin right and somehow hit my kill switch. I pulled over, swearing at the bad luck and wondered what could be wrong with my bike. Stupid thing just dies like that?! Ohhhhh, wait….why is this in that positi….ooops.

Now I could tell I wasn’t at 100% operating capacity and, when I target-fixated on a construction sign and again locked it up on a corner, I knew I was done. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the pavement 4 feet in front of my bike and couldn’t concentrate on the corners at all. We stopped for a break (well, to take pics of the cows that lined the road) and decided to take it easy until we reached the cut-off to Petaluma. We still had to get an hour south of San Francisco and the sun was getting low in the sky.

Cows

The bikes and the coast

Sooooo pretty

We finally connected with Hwy 101 and headed south, stopping at the Golden Gate Bridge for some pictures. It’s funny, you can tell where San Francisco is from miles away – it’s the place under the only cloudbank in the sky!

What a cool bridge

Riding across the bridge

Yup, that’s me on the Golden Gate

After about 11 ½ hours of riding, we finally reached our destination in Half Moon Bay, CA. Many thanks to our friend for putting us up for the night. We had some pizza and a beer and promptly passed out.

 

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July 19th: Day 4 – Half Moon Bay, CA to Laguna Seca

We got up early to do the last short leg of our southern trip. Not much to say here except Santa Cruz is a pretty nice looking town.

We rolled into Laguna Seca around 10am and checked in for our workers’ passes and camping permits. Headed down to the workers’ camp and set up. It was nice just relaxing in camp and talking to other bike nuts. We began the beer festivities and continued so until about 11pm

Some time during the afternoon, some nut missed a gaping hole in the ground and rolled his truck just outside of camp.

Guy was going 2mph trying to turn around

LEO doing what they do best?

Shit’ll buff out

Don, Justin and Patch pointing out the irony, or something like that

The only other casualty of the day was our poor cooler. Recently purchased at a local Walgreens, Cooley was poised to hold our beer and cold goods all weekend. That is until tragedy struck. I don’t remember all the details but there were flying bodies and a loud crack…

Duct tape can hold anything together

Note: Cooley met his ultimate demise Sunday night, the last night we were there, when a fellow Seattlite we met down there inadvertantly mistook the cooler for a plastic chair and put his ass through the top, reducing it to a pile of styrofoam shards.

 

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And now we break our ride report with an up close and personal look at the 2007 Mazda Red-Bull U.S. Grand Prix


July 20th: Day 5 –
MotoGP Day 1

First, for all who have never been to nor seen Laguna Seca Raceway, here is a map. Refer back to this often during the next few pages.

After a long night of drinking ourselves silly, 6am came wayyyy too early. We got up and headed to the track to receive our corner and position assignments. I found my name and saw that I was to be a handler at Corner 11.

A quick note on what a handler does: a handler is someone who stands around waiting for a bike to come his way so he can scoop it out of the gravel and drag it back to his corner to jerk off on all the cool technology the bike possesses. Or, if he is unlucky, he just gets to help the rider push the bike back on the track. Mostly, he stands around and waits.

Come to find out, I was very lucky to get assigned to Corner 11. Not only was the view spectacular (riders exiting turn 10, thru 11, down the straight, thru the finish, up to turn 1), we were right across from the pits and also had the medical station behind us. Anytime anyone was injured, they came off the track at our corner. Whenever we had a break, we were a quick hop across the track to the hot pits. More on that later.

After receiving our corner assignments, we got to pile into the truck to be shuttled around the track to our positions. Being corner 11, we could have just walked from the entry to our spot, but hey, I’d never been there and how often does one get the chance to be driven around a world class speedway?

Me and Justin - two happy fuckers getting shuttled around the track

The Straightaway between the Grandstands and Pit Row

Coming down into turn 2 – the Andretti Hairpin

Around turn 3 toward the Dunlop Tire Bridge

Turn 5

Straight between turns 5 and 6.

 

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After rounding turn 6 you head further uphill as fast as you can. Due to the elevation gain, you cannot see the next turn. Which is one reason the next turn is so infamous.

The Corkscrew, or Turns 8 and 8a, is an ess-curve like no other. Not only does the rider go into it blind, the track drops the equivalent of three stories in elevation. Just driving it in the truck was awe-inspiring. I can’t imagine doing it at speed.


shitty video that doesn’t do the corkscrew justice - Click to Play

Looking back at the Corkscrew

Turn 9 in the back with turn 10 up front

My Home for the next three days: Turn 11

Day 1 at MotoGP was a day filled with practice sessions for both GP riders and the AMA riders. Few spectators come to watch this but it was quite a blast for me. While standing at my corner, I got to snap a couple pics, and listen to the radio chatter from the tower and the medical personnel. We found out instantly anytime a rider went down.

For example, when Alex Hofmann went down in the Corkscrew (after being nailed by Guintoli) within a minute we knew who it was, where it happened, and what his condition was (compound fracture in his hand). News travels quick via Motorola.

At turn 11, we didn’t have much excitement during practice day. A couple of riders took 11 too hot and ran off into the gravel. They kept their bikes up and running and got them back to the track much to the morbid dismay of us corner workers.

Here are some pics from the GP practice:

Colin Edwards (right) and Valentino Rossi

Synchronized leaning – a thing of beauty

Chris Vermuelen (left) and Nicky Hayden

Rossi “The Doctor” and Edwards again

Makoto Tamada (yellow) and some other rider

 

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During our lunch break, we were fortunate to get enough time to explore the track. Did I mention that as a corner worker, we had all access passes to pretty much wherever we wanted? Everywhere.

We decided to head to the GP pits. Most of the garages were closed but a couple would open here and there as mechanics would test the bikes out.

Loris Capirossi’s Ducati.

Makoto Tamada’s Yamaha

Colin Edward’s mechanics hard at work on Colin’s new paint-scheme-sporting Yamaha

More of Edward’s new paint scheme

Ah team Rizla, how do I love thee. Wait, who is that in the shorts? Why, it’s Chris Vermuelen!

Vermuelen is turning out to be one of my favorite riders for a few reasons, but I’ll get into that later.

After hanging around the GP pits we noticed a hub-bub up by the starting line. We wandered up there and found the AMA rider’s meeting taking place. We plopped down on the K-wall and just listened in.

AMA Rider’s Meeting

After the meeting we sat there remarking about how cool this whole thing was when I look to my left and see Ben Bostrom bullshitting with some friends. I was trying to act so nonchalant that I forgot to take a picture. Oh well.

Next, we wandered into the paddock hoping to spy some more riders. All I saw was this guy again:

Chris Vermuelen

 

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It was about time for us to head back to our corner to get ready for the afternoon practice sessions (and AMA Supersport Qualifying) so we meandered back through the GP pits toward turn 11.

Hey, isn’t that Hayden’s bike?

Why yes it is!

#1 World Moto GP Champion Nicky Hayden’s race bike

Aw, he’s got two?! Can I have one?

And his own garage

We worked the rest of the practice sessions and then went and got some free beer.

Fellow corner workers chillin’ on the K-wall in the GP Pits after a hard day’s work

 

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July 21st Day 6–
MotoGP Day 2

Another early wake-up, another ride around the track. Today we had a full schedule and an actual race!

In the morning the AMA Superbikes (1000cc) had a practice session followed by the GP practice session. Next the AMA Supersports (600cc) had a quick warm-up session. We then broke for our lunch break and head for, you guessed it, the GP Pits.

We see them wheeling out a beast from within its lair and then hear the roar of its fury. But what the hell is it? Holy shit, it’s a two-seater Ducati Desmosedici!!

This bike is the best sounding anything I’ve ever heard. Period. They had it at the races and were giving rides to few lucky individuals. I don’t know what they had to do to get a ride but rumor has it they blew a few execs along the way. Seeing this bike tear ass around the track at near race speeds with a passenger was awe-inspiring. I would have sold my left testicle to ride on the back of that.

After I cleaned myself off from the gleeful mess I had made, we heard another beast roar to life. This time, it was coming down turn 10. We rushed to the k-wall to see what it was.

So this is what it’s like to be in a pit crew

Seems Red-Bull has a new Nascar and wanted to show it off a bit.

It was nice and loud, but over all kinda meh. Never been much into Nascar. Now back to the pits and our regularly scheduled programming.

Colin Farrel…er Edward’s bike again as the door was closing

Hey, it’s Hopper!

We then headed back to our corner for the afternoon sessions and, more importantly, the MotoGP Qualifying practice!

I didn’t get any pics of the qualifying, but my fellow corner workers and I got to stand around and bullshit and make bets on who would qualify pole. After watching Stoner pull some impressive lap times, I knew he’d be the man and take the pole. I also had my suspicions he’d take the race the following day.

Marco Melandri of Gresini Honda went down in turn 2 and broke his foot. The race was red-flagged and Melandri was shuttled via meat-wagon to our corner and the Clinica Mobile. Who was waiting there for him? Why the famous GP Doctor, Dr. Claudio Costa (of Faster fame).

Dr. Costa (right) and some other Italian

Melandri none too happy to be on the stretcher

In the cart to head back to the pits after being checked over

Of course, Stoner qualified for the pole with a blistering 1:22"292. Dani Pedrosa was next at 1:22"501, and my new fave Chris Vermuelen came in with an impressive 1:22"590.

After the quals, the AMA Supersport race took place. That was a lot of fun, although I don’t follow the 600 class very much. There was a bit of carnage and some bike grabbing, but alas, I have no pics.

 

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After all the racing, we once again went to hang out in the GP pits.

”The Midget from Madrid (well Sabadell, actually, but that doesn’t sound nearly as good) Pedrosa’s Repsol

One of Hayden’s mechanics giving me the stink-eye

The bike that people love or hate – Casey Stoner’s Ducati Desmosedici

Capirossi after a disappointing Qual

Watch where you’re stepping, here comes Pedrosa! Stoner’s in the back entering his garage.

The garage doors closed up shortly after and we all went to wander the vendor stands. Later, we hitched a ride into Monterrey and had a nice dinner on Fisherman’s Wharf. Came back to camp, had a few beers and hit the sack.


July 22nd Day 7–
MotoGP Day 3

Ah finally, Race Day!! Yet another early ass morning and trip around the track. I checked my camera and much to my dismay, the battery had run down. I had maybe a pic or two left. This was by far my most exciting day of the whole trip.

That morning the AMA Superbike Quals were held. During the last lap a rider went to make a pass and failed miserably taking out another rider. One got his bike up and running, the other say fuck it and hobbled off the track. We grabbed his bike and pushed it 50 feet through 18inches of gravel. It took three of us to move it and was super slow going until one of us had the bright idea to pull the clutch in. Duh.

The GP Warm up lap began and next thing I know, World Champion Nicky Hayden and his Repsol Honda are lying in the gravel in my corner. What the fuck?!

We sprinted out to the bike and I found myself hip to hip with Hayden himself. He looked pissed. Another of my co-cornerworkers, Tony, was on the other side of Hayden. We started to lift the bike and picked it completely off the ground. After hauling an AMA Superbike through the gravel, this GP bike felt like a feather! We got the bike righted and held Hayden back until the rest of the riders went by. He sprinted across the track, hopped the wall and went to retrieve his other bike.

In the mean time, we dragged the Champion’s #1 Repsol back to our corner to collectively whack our puds to it. We back it in to the wall giving the nearby spectators a brief glimpse through the fence and stopping traffic before we squirreled it away behind our barrier. Commence orgy. Everyone – corner workers, medics, med-evac pilots – mobbed the bike. Everyone wanted pictures and everyone wanted to sit on it. Including me.

Yeah, I’m a GP rider

Dammit Paul, you ruined my shot! Notice the bar-end that is missing.

Not my picture but there I am, holding the ass end of the bike. From left: Me, Paul, Tony, Nicky, Steve

After the excitement died down the riders lined up to start.

That was my last picture at Laguna Seca as my camera battery refused to put out one more shot.

After the race was over (GO VERMUELEN!!) I went out to police the track for any debris and what do I find? Why the missing bar end to one #1 Repsol Honda. I need to find someplace to mount that.

We once again headed to the GP pits. Not much was going on so we went to the worker’s area and grabbed a few beers. Next we somehow wandered into the GP rider’s RV area. Don and I saw a set of Rizla leather’s hanging on the fence and meandered over toward them. A lady and her daughter stood nearby and Don asked if the leather’s were Hopper’s. The lady gave him a look and said in a great Australian accent, “No, they’re Chris’s.” We soon realize we’re talking to Chris Vermuelen’s mom and little sister. As we get to talking we find the family is super excited to be there in the States. Chris’s little sister is all wide-eyed and excited and just having a blast. We shoot the shit with them about nothing in particular and then congratulate them on Vermuelen’s 2nd place finish. I really wanted his pucks but after talking with the family, I didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask for them.

After saying goodbye to the Vermuelens we head on over to the Police Safety First AMA team’s tent area and help them break down camp. We shot the shit with the mechanic (Sorry I can’t remember your name!!) and Bobby Fong and Scotty Ryan, the Supersport and Superbike riders. The team is great since they are non-profit. They usually pull in new riders and give them a start into the sport until they are good enough to join another team and make some real money.

Justin was having issues with his CBR’s battery and the Police team was kind enough to take a look at his bike for him. Turns out, Justin just bought a shit heap of a battery and needed to by a new one. They were going to give him one, but didn’t have one that fit. Instead, they threw it on their charger and let it charge while we had some beers.

Cheers Police Safety First team!

That night, we went back to camp and celebrated such a great day the way we normally do – with much beer.

Next up, the trip home…

 

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Part 3 - the Trip home.

July 23rd, 2007: Day 8 – Laguna Seca, CA to Lake Tahoe, NV

We woke up fairly early and packed up camp. We hit the road by 10 am and bid goodbye to Laguna Seca.

I’d heard of a fun little road just outside of Watsonville so we decided to check it out. Hwy 152 was a great little sprint through the hills.

Oooh…twisties!

As soon as we got over the hills the temperature rose dramatically. No more ocean breeze to cool us off. It was HOT!

After a little discussion, we chose to head over to I-5 and slab it up the cut-off to Hwy 88. I-5 was great only for the fact that traffic was flowing at around 90mph. We made great time although it was like driving through a blow-dryer.

We turned off in Stockton and started down 88. After fueling up in Jackson, we met another rider on a Gixxer heading our way so he tagged on to the end of our little convoy. Getting up into the mountains was a Godsend. Not only did the temperature drop into a tolerable range, the roads were fantastic. We must have averaged 90mph for the majority of the way.

Hwy 88 also has some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve been privy to. The mountains were absolutely gorgeous and the forest and rock gardens were pretty grand. On one of the mountain passes I saw the elevation was over 8000ft. I could definitely feel the power loss in my bike.

We rode by Kirkwood and I made a pledge to myself that I’d come back some winter and hit the slopes there.

We rolled into South Lake Tahoe and found our hotel. Well, we thought it was our hotel. Turns out, Don made the reservation at the Reno Harrah’s, not the Lake Tahoe one. Of course the Lake Tahoe one had no rooms available. We scooted down to the next hotel/casino we could find (not hard) and checked in.

After three days of no electricity or clean clothes, I promptly plugged in all my electronics for a recharge and then headed off to locate a laundry mat.

That night we hit up the casino (I lost $20), had a few drinks, and then went to bed. Sorry for the lack of pics – my camera was still dead.

July 24th , 2007: Day 9 –Lake Tahoe, NV to Lake Shasta, CA

Got up bright and early all fresh and clean and, most importantly, with a fully recharged camera battery.

We headed out on Hwy 89 along Lake Tahoe. Despite the heavy traffic, the road was awesome. At one point you come around a hairpin and the roads runs along a knife-edged ridge.

Radar enforced my ass. The only things that ever set off Patch’s V1 the whole trip were the “Your Speed is” signs and the door sensors at the grocery stores

I seem to have a little Power Ranger on my shoulder

Along Hwy 89

Uh, I think this is Alpine Meadows Ski Area

Rock on Motorcycle man, rock on

Some boats on Tahoe

 

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We continued up 89 through Truckee and headed up to the intersection with Hwy 70. Took a left and rode until we hit the 36. Here we ran into construction, but being in California, we just rode up to the front and waited for them to let us go. God I love having a bike.

Heading east on 36/89, our goal was the Lassen Volcanic National Park and the trove of twisty roads it promised.

Is that a volcano in the background?

Upon entering the Park, we were soon dismayed to find that the road was covered in loose gravel.

See, loose gravel

Although a bit disappointed with the road condition, our slower speeds allowed me time to enjoy the scenery and snap a few pics along the way. There were even some fumeroles and steaming vents along the road.

Helen Lake

 

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As soon as we got by the lake, the road condition improved drastically. No more gravel meant higher speeds. Until we rounded a corner and stopped to take a break.

One of my favorite pics and I don’t really know why

The bikes

Hey, is that corner really that sweet?

Let’s watch the SUV negotiate the turn

Oooooooh, it snakes back on itself

I couldn’t get the entire section on my camera but I sure tried. Nice section of snakey road that took us all of 30 seconds to ride. Oh well, it was still pretty sweet.

The Lassen Volcanic National Park

The highest point I remember seeing in the park was a pass we rode over: 8500ft. There’s a noticeable drop in my bike’s power at these elevations. I’d find myself having to drop a gear lower than normal to seek the power I needed.

As we headed down the mountain, we came upon a bike accident. Rider was okay, had a broken arm. Looked like he locked up his cruiser when someone pulled out in front of him. Stupid cagers.

We hauled ass past the meat wagon and settled in for more riding. Too bad we hit more construction. We worked our way past the looooooooong line of cars up to the front. People gave us some venomous looks and choice words on the way. After talking with the nice flagger, we found out that most of those people had been waiting for over an hour while the construction crew patched a section of the road. Sucks for them. 2 minutes later, we were waved through and off again.

Once we met up with Hwy 44, we headed east toward Redding and ultimately Lake Shasta. The road dropped elevation fast and with each decrease in altitude, there was a huge increase in temperature. By the time we reach Redding, the temp was well into the 100’s. Ugh, the last time I’d been there it was 115. I remembered why I hated the place.
We rode into the resort on Lake Shasta and made a beeline for the lake. The water was a frigid 81 degrees. Ahhhhhhh.

Had dinner that night and quite a few drinks and then proceeded to get kicked out of the resort due to shenanigans. Ooops.

Ended up spending the night at a nearby rest-stop. We all zonked out in the grass in our leathers until we were rudely woken up by the damned sprinklers. I found a patch of dry concrete and threw my rain gear over my face and slipped off to sleep.

 

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July 25th , 2007: Day 10 – Lake Shasta, CA to Bend, OR

Once I pulled the rocks out of my ass, we headed out. I was not in a chipper mood having spent the night getting facialed by a rest-stop sprinkler.

We slabbed I-5 for the few miles up to the Hwy 97 exit and proceeded north on that for a while.

Wouldn’t you know it, more construction!

Mt. Shasta

The surrounding scenery

Speeds were good and hovered around the high 90s to low 100s. I pulled a squid move and shoulder passed some jackass in a Mustang while Justin passed on his left. To be fair, the guy wouldn’t hold a consistent speed and the shoulder could have been a lane in itself it was so wide.

We rolled into Oregon and slabbed Hwy 97 until we turned off toward Crater Lake (Hwy 62).

Another straight road

Is that a volcano I see there?

 

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I tried my hand at the whole “take a picture in the side mirror” technique and, as you can see, failed miserably. I did get a nice pic of my waterspotted mirror though.

Yeah, I don’t know what happened here

Once we got back into the forest, the road started to get fun again.

We arrived at the Crater Lake National Park entrance, paid the paltry $5 fee and proceeded to ride the fantastic road to the top.

 

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Crater Lake is absolutely gorgeous. The water is so blue and there’s a lot of it. According to the handy informational pamphlet I received, the deepest point in the lake is over 1900 feet.

Wizard Island

The dark spots on the lake are the shadows from the clouds.

The water is a tropical blue

Me on the rim

Nothing but net

We took the East Rim road and scooted around the lake. The tar-snakes were in abundance and I just about washed out in a corner when my front tire hit one and slid out. Not fun.

Had a black bear run across the street in front of us and pull a Geronimo off the steep embankment to our right. I have no idea how he didn’t just roll to the bottom but when I pulled up and stopped, he was way down at the bottom giving me the stink-eye.

Upon leaving the park, we headed east on Hwy 138. Straightest. Road. Evar.

You can see it fading in the distance

Once we met back up with 97, we took it all the way into Bend. Got room at the Cascade Lodge Motel for $80. The room was huge! We made liberal use of the pool, got dinner at the Chinese place down the street, watched some Futurama, and hit the hay.

 

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July 26th , 2007: Day 11 – Bend, OR to Seattle, WA HOME!!

Our route today would take us out of Bend on Hwy 20. I took a few parting shots of central Oregon and then focused on the ride home.

Mt. Jefferson in the background on the right

Brokentop on the left and I think the other three are the Three Sisters

We rode Hwy 20 over a couple passes. I must say, Oregon has some of the greatest roads ever. The pavement is in great condition and passing lanes are where they’re needed. We hauled around many sweepers and then got onto Hwy 22 north.

We stopped in Detroit for petrol and a Red-Bull and then took a spur through the hills.

This road started off with some great 30mph corners. Unfortunately, there were drops in the pavement all over the place. We rode at a pretty good clip being careful to watch for surface elevation changes.

This road is a pretty main thoroughfare on the map, but once we passed the 2 cars in the beginning, we didn’t see anyone for miles.

About halfway through, we hit some construction. They had strips cut across the road where I assume they were laying drainage pipes. We’d be truckin’ along and hit a 5 foot wide section of gravel and then back to pavement. They were pretty well marked so it wasn’t bad. Except for the one mid corner. Hitting a section of gravel and dirt in a lean through a corner is quite an experience. I finally loosened my sphincter a few miles down the road.

The road wound through some beautiful forests and had a river flowing by it. After some miles, the construction ended and the road widened into a highway again. Sweepers ahoy! This was the last fun section of the trip and we made full use of our tires.

The road brought us onto Hwy 205 near Portland and we took it north to I-5. Once on I-5 our main concern was spotting LEO (we were, of course, back in Washington). In Olympia, the boys split off and took 101 back up to Port Angeles where they reside. I slabbed I-5 the rest of the way into Seattle alone.

All in all, this trip was epic. I’m soooo glad I got to do a trip of this caliber at least once in my life. It’s something I’ll never forget.

Total Days: 11
Total Miles: 2521
Total Miles on my bike now: A hair over 13,000. Not bad for just over a year old!