Joy Dutta’s blog

Broke my earlier record of longest distance covered without night halt. last time it was 670 miles in 14 hours from pecos TX to scottsdale AZ. and the new record is 715 miles in 17 hours, without night halt.

The oregon trip was a long pending one. Haven’t had time to do a multiday trip ever since I rode down to California. After the launch of a critical project at work and the memorial weekend in just the right time, I had to take off.

Friday 5:20pm. Destination Ligeo’s place, Beaverton OR. Original plan included a night halt somewhere. It got continually postponed as I found myself in the perfect state on the saddle, with my starving connie eating miles for dinner.

Hit the twisties of mount Shasta around midnight and it brought some adrenalin of a long road trip. Leaning the bike following only the yellow lines was like meditation only motorcyclists can understand.

Redding CA at 11:30pm. Still no sign of fatigue. Weed CA at 1am, had a sandwich I packed earlier and the feel of a trip had just set in. Mt Ashland at 3am and then came the surprise. I had rain a while back and it didnt bother me. But now it was nothing other than dense snow. Freaked me out. Nearest exit to lodge Callahans but it was closed. No idea what to do and could not even ride on the road with near zero visibility. Somehow rode along the shoulder with 4-way flashers on and before long I was in clear zone as elevations came back to normal.

At 450 miles from home at 4:15am, I needed a little rest. Parked at a rest area before Grants Pass, OR and tried to sleep a little. Could not close my eyes in excitement.

5am. Started at first light. And it was like a whole new world. Mesmerizing Oregon. 250 miles were over before I knew and I just did a new record, little short of an Iron Butt ride. Shower and 3 hours of sleep before we both took off to Tillamook for our first camping trip. Rains all the way but not a single time I cursed it as I always did in New York and here in the Bay Area. It was simply amazing to ride on the wet road and soaking in the countryside. It was like home.

Our campsite at cape lookout bay was a tsunami hazard zone. It was fairly exciting to setup our little tent between the rough sea and a dense rain forest. Never been in a place like that. Ligeo stood still at the beach for a long time while I tried to capture a few good compositions. Life was good.

By nightfall we realized we had only bread and jam for the night. Forgot to pack something good from Tillamook. Went to the nearby whiskey creek restaurant to find it closed a few minutes back. No big deal. Cuddled in the tent and had bread. Slept soundly even with the tent shaking in rain and wind the whole night.

Took a longer route in the morning. Tillamook to Cannon beach before US-26 back to Beaverton. And what a view on that coastal stretch. A visual treat of beaches, rocks, steep gorges and dense forests.

Good times finish up fast. Real fast. After a rendezvous with Vaibhav and Pooja in town, I was back on I-5. Did distance beyond my expectation. 5pm to 9pm saw me covering 250 miles to Grants Pass, OR. A cozy inn and a movie before I hit the bed, walking through the fresh memories.

I wanted to trace I-5 back home only because I missed mount Shasta and the lake in the darkness. I could take 101 south through the Redwood national forest but saved it for later. And that plan worked well. Got greeted by a gorgeous snow capped Shasta peak. And a deep green Shasta lake.

I made another record: return ride of 715 miles with night halt took 12.5 hours. Yay !

Can’t wait for my wife to come over and resume our trips like in India…

Pics: Oregon - May 06

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 1st, 2006 at 3:04 am and is filed under motorcycling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.