12th & 13th
Saturday was a day away from the bike. I enjoy a day of watching Jorge & Sheila doing their domestic chores, which include travelling several times to just about every supermarket in the area, it seems, in preparation for tonight’s Barbeque. I watch Jorge prepare a superb spread, ably assisted by Sheila
…
Much wine and beer is imbibed and an excellent time is had by all – during and after which Jorge manages to balance the throttle bodies on my bike, cook skirt steak to perfection, re-solder the left hand ‘WideTail’ on my bike, make a superb vinaigrette, glue my compass back together and generally keep his guests entertained. If I was in the market for a butler, I think he’d get the job…
The next morning, whilst Sheila (very wisely) stays in bed, Jorge and I leave the house at 0815 and, picking up Greg (Deacon) on the way, head out to a coffee shop, the name of which is lost in the early morning fog of my memory, where, if the devil had cast his net, a good crop of ADVRiders would’ve been snared…
Over a large cup of Latte, I’m introduced to the few characters I’ve not yet met. Scott (Knary) turns up, but not in riding kit (he lives half a block away). He’s just got back from somewhere or other and is too fatigued to join us on our ride out. I apply an immoderate degree of peer pressure to try to get him to change his mind, but to no avail (I didn’t want the poor chap in tears). After we’ve all finished our coffees, we set off. There are 8 bikes – Jorge (Rubber Cow), Greg (Deacon), Jeff (Photogbiker), Patrick (Curmudgeon), Fred (Snaildarter) and me – all on 1150 GSes - as well as Blick (Saddletramp) on his trusty 80 G/S PD and Gustavo on his V Strom.
Before we leave a local stops outside the coffee shop in his beautifully restored 1958 Corvette…
We set off out of the Portland area, crossing the Columbia River and heading east towards the Hood River Bridge, where I crossed on my way in to Aloha the other day. The weather’s fine, although there’s been rain overnight and there’s a good chance of more later. We stop to take some pictures at a lay by and , after a couple of minutes, Knary turns up
Peer pressure obviously works
As we ride along the north bank of the Columbia, we happen across, & subsequently overtake, a group of Harley Davidson riders heading the same way.
Shortly afterwards, we pull into a car park area, to take more photos. As I take pics, I’m suddenly aware that the group of HD riders have also stopped and some form of altercation is happening. Two of the riders are shouting and swearing at our group – Jorge moves up and becomes the focus of their displeasure (apparently they think our overtaking was unsafe – patent nonsense).
After much shouting (none of which, I am very proud to say, was returned by our group), they ride off to the other end of the car park, turn around and make to leave at a fair rate of knots. Unfortunately, this coincides with one of our group re-joining the road and there is a coming together…
There is some damage and some minor injuries – the Sheriff attends and takes details - but doesn't 'cite' anyone - an ambulance attends but proves superfluous to requirements. After temporary repairs, the group ride continues…
…until we stop for lunch at a micro-brewery café/restaurant in Hood River – an excellent little eatery. We are joined by Vernon (Red Menace) and his scary looking brother (on the right)
…who turns out to be a really nice bloke – even if he does ride a Harley (sorry Vernon - didn't catch his name)EDIT - Dave!!. I'm not sure what Blick (left) is trying to communicate to him...
After lunch we head off up towards Mount Hood – which resembles Mount Doom today – the peak is swathed in cloud and it’s pretty obvious that there’s some unpleasant weather systems in its postal district…
Red Menace, who is riding a Triumph Tiger Combination (called a ‘Hack’ over here), points us in the direction of a good twisty road to get to the base of Mount Hood, then pulls over to let us pass, so that we can take full advantage of having 33% less wheels than him. We stop at the end of the road and he catches up – in style
What a character!
We are rapidly losing people as they have to make their way home to mow lawns, help the kids with homework or get that wrist in some ice.. Soon, it’s just Jorge, Blick, Gustavo and me. We reach the top of Mount Hood, in a sleet shower…
The hotel at the top may be familiar to movie fans – it was used for the exterior shots of the Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick’s version of Stephen King’s 'The Shining'. The poor quality of the picture reflects the cold, wet and miserable weather – we quickly turn around and find hot coffee at the Huckleberry Coffee Bar further down the hill.
Over a coffee or 3 (Blick has decided that he’s not cold & wet enough and is going to ride over Lo Lo Pass, so we’re down to 3 now), we discuss the events of the morning. We talk about how, if these Harley riders hadn’t stopped to bitch at us, the incident wouldn’t have happened; the fact that they (on 4 bikes and with a child as a passenger on one bike), stopped to rant at 9 bikes & riders and how unpredictable this situation was. In quite a matter of fact way, Jorge says ‘Especially as at least 3 of our group were probably carrying firearms’. Apparently, this is quite legal if you’ve passed a course of training*.
We carry on back to Aloha, the weather getting progressively clearer as we distance ourselves from Mount Doom. Not all the roads are interesting…
We get home after a good day’s ride – with the shine taken off it by the incident at the Hood River Bridge (there’s an excellent film title…). I upload the pics, but don’t feel I can write up the ride yet.
*To be honest, I’m shocked – personally I was armed with a plastic comb and an extensive vocabulary. Over the course of the next few hours, I think long and hard about this. I’ve been reminded very forcibly that I’m a foreigner here and that some parts of American culture and its mores are totally alien to me. I don’t sleep well that night – I’m not saying that ‘carrying’ is wrong, I’d just let myself forget that I’m visiting a country where the carriage of firearms is a legitimate and, seen by many as an essential, option.
I’m very glad I live in a country where these choices never occur to me, nor need they.
Saturday was a day away from the bike. I enjoy a day of watching Jorge & Sheila doing their domestic chores, which include travelling several times to just about every supermarket in the area, it seems, in preparation for tonight’s Barbeque. I watch Jorge prepare a superb spread, ably assisted by Sheila
…
Much wine and beer is imbibed and an excellent time is had by all – during and after which Jorge manages to balance the throttle bodies on my bike, cook skirt steak to perfection, re-solder the left hand ‘WideTail’ on my bike, make a superb vinaigrette, glue my compass back together and generally keep his guests entertained. If I was in the market for a butler, I think he’d get the job…
The next morning, whilst Sheila (very wisely) stays in bed, Jorge and I leave the house at 0815 and, picking up Greg (Deacon) on the way, head out to a coffee shop, the name of which is lost in the early morning fog of my memory, where, if the devil had cast his net, a good crop of ADVRiders would’ve been snared…
Over a large cup of Latte, I’m introduced to the few characters I’ve not yet met. Scott (Knary) turns up, but not in riding kit (he lives half a block away). He’s just got back from somewhere or other and is too fatigued to join us on our ride out. I apply an immoderate degree of peer pressure to try to get him to change his mind, but to no avail (I didn’t want the poor chap in tears). After we’ve all finished our coffees, we set off. There are 8 bikes – Jorge (Rubber Cow), Greg (Deacon), Jeff (Photogbiker), Patrick (Curmudgeon), Fred (Snaildarter) and me – all on 1150 GSes - as well as Blick (Saddletramp) on his trusty 80 G/S PD and Gustavo on his V Strom.
Before we leave a local stops outside the coffee shop in his beautifully restored 1958 Corvette…
We set off out of the Portland area, crossing the Columbia River and heading east towards the Hood River Bridge, where I crossed on my way in to Aloha the other day. The weather’s fine, although there’s been rain overnight and there’s a good chance of more later. We stop to take some pictures at a lay by and , after a couple of minutes, Knary turns up
Peer pressure obviously works
As we ride along the north bank of the Columbia, we happen across, & subsequently overtake, a group of Harley Davidson riders heading the same way.
Shortly afterwards, we pull into a car park area, to take more photos. As I take pics, I’m suddenly aware that the group of HD riders have also stopped and some form of altercation is happening. Two of the riders are shouting and swearing at our group – Jorge moves up and becomes the focus of their displeasure (apparently they think our overtaking was unsafe – patent nonsense).
After much shouting (none of which, I am very proud to say, was returned by our group), they ride off to the other end of the car park, turn around and make to leave at a fair rate of knots. Unfortunately, this coincides with one of our group re-joining the road and there is a coming together…
There is some damage and some minor injuries – the Sheriff attends and takes details - but doesn't 'cite' anyone - an ambulance attends but proves superfluous to requirements. After temporary repairs, the group ride continues…
…until we stop for lunch at a micro-brewery café/restaurant in Hood River – an excellent little eatery. We are joined by Vernon (Red Menace) and his scary looking brother (on the right)
…who turns out to be a really nice bloke – even if he does ride a Harley
(sorry Vernon - didn't catch his name)EDIT - Dave!!. I'm not sure what Blick (left) is trying to communicate to him...
After lunch we head off up towards Mount Hood – which resembles Mount Doom today – the peak is swathed in cloud and it’s pretty obvious that there’s some unpleasant weather systems in its postal district…
Red Menace, who is riding a Triumph Tiger Combination (called a ‘Hack’ over here), points us in the direction of a good twisty road to get to the base of Mount Hood, then pulls over to let us pass, so that we can take full advantage of having 33% less wheels than him. We stop at the end of the road and he catches up – in style
What a character!
We are rapidly losing people as they have to make their way home to mow lawns, help the kids with homework or get that wrist in some ice.. Soon, it’s just Jorge, Blick, Gustavo and me. We reach the top of Mount Hood, in a sleet shower…
The hotel at the top may be familiar to movie fans – it was used for the exterior shots of the Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick’s version of Stephen King’s 'The Shining'. The poor quality of the picture reflects the cold, wet and miserable weather – we quickly turn around and find hot coffee at the Huckleberry Coffee Bar further down the hill.
Over a coffee or 3 (Blick has decided that he’s not cold & wet enough and is going to ride over Lo Lo Pass, so we’re down to 3 now), we discuss the events of the morning. We talk about how, if these Harley riders hadn’t stopped to bitch at us, the incident wouldn’t have happened; the fact that they (on 4 bikes and with a child as a passenger on one bike), stopped to rant at 9 bikes & riders and how unpredictable this situation was. In quite a matter of fact way, Jorge says ‘Especially as at least 3 of our group were probably carrying firearms’. Apparently, this is quite legal if you’ve passed a course of training*.
We carry on back to Aloha, the weather getting progressively clearer as we distance ourselves from Mount Doom. Not all the roads are interesting…
We get home after a good day’s ride – with the shine taken off it by the incident at the Hood River Bridge (there’s an excellent film title…). I upload the pics, but don’t feel I can write up the ride yet.
*To be honest, I’m shocked – personally I was armed with a plastic comb and an extensive vocabulary. Over the course of the next few hours, I think long and hard about this. I’ve been reminded very forcibly that I’m a foreigner here and that some parts of American culture and its mores are totally alien to me. I don’t sleep well that night – I’m not saying that ‘carrying’ is wrong, I’d just let myself forget that I’m visiting a country where the carriage of firearms is a legitimate and, seen by many as an essential, option.
I’m very glad I live in a country where these choices never occur to me, nor need they.
