June 24, 2015 (Day 1 of 3) Bike Ride
I started out the ride by meeting a friend, Ron, at a Beaverton Starbucks
on Friday, June 24. The sky was gray and the Portland forecast was for
showers in the morning. But the east side of Oregon was going to be warm
and dry. That was were I was headed, I just needed to get there. Ron had a
2014 Harley Electra Glide Ultra Classic Limited (2014 FLHTK). I had my 2012
V-Strom 650. Tip one - wear your rain gear if there is a chance it might
rain later. I did not do this. Our plan was to follow highway 26 west with
Ron accompanying me as far as he wished to go and then heading back to
Portland to meet a Saturday obligation. I was going to continue west
ending up at John Day or Baker City.
We hit rain going over Mt. Hood. Some light showers and some heavy
showers. That made for some cold riding for a while. But once past Mount
Hood the gray sky gave way to scattered clouds and then once we hit Warm
Springs we had sun and warmed up nicely. We stopped in Madras for gas and
then lunch at Black Bear Diner. We continued on southwest through
Prineville. Then highway 26 turns northwest and somewhere along that
stretch we paused for a map check to see where Ron needed to exit highway
26 for his return to Portland. That's me with the V-Strom and Ron's bike
on the right.
We stopped at the town of Mitchel. Ron got fuel for his return north on 207.
I would continue west on 26.
The scenery was beautiful, the weather much improved, and the roads open and
inviting. The gray skies now far behind me and nothing but blue sky and
scattered clouds above and in front of me. In Mitchell I chatted briefly
with another rider and inquired as to his destination. He was heading to
John Day where he informed me was being held a Moto Guzzi rally that
weekend. He passed me as I was stopped taking this photo.
I made a fuel stop in John Day and then parked briefly at a small market
next to the gas station. Sure enough, motorcycles everywhere and many of
them Moto Guzzi bikes of every vintage.
It seemed a bit too early in the day to stop despite this being 307 miles so
I decided to head on to Baker City. The road between John Day and Baker City
is beautiful Some wide open spaces as seen in this next photo as well as
some narrow canyons with very interesting rock formations lining the route.
I rolled into Baker City at 7:23 and was pretty tire by this time. On my
first pass through town I did not spot any motels. I wanted dinner and was
hoping for a beer or two with dinner so something within walking distance of
my lodging was called for. I stopped and consulted my phone mapping software
to find that "Barley Brown's Brew Pub" was nearby downtown. I rode there and
stopped across the street. I went in, finding the place really packed. I
asked a waitress where she would stay if she needed lodging in the town,
wanted a motorcycle safe for the night, and hoped to walk back there for
dinner. She directed me to the Oregon Trail motel and said that it was a
safe town and the bike would be fine anywhere. She did mention that a
bicycle race was taking place that weekend so it might be hard to find a
place to stay. I ended up getting the lst room just a 10 minute walk away
and found 8 other motorcycles in the parking lot.
For future reference there is another place across the street - the
Bridge Street Inn. The Oregon Trail Motel was $53 for the night including
a breakfast at the restaurant next door. That seemed pretty economical
which was good as it helped to justify my next night's lodging price a
bit.
I chatted a bit with a group owning these bikes. They were on a trip around
the northwest and had just come from the Lewiston area taking the route that
I would be riding. They mentioned gravel on the road coming into Lewiston
and advised caution there.
Map of the day's ride:
Link to day 2 ride, Baker
City to Lewiston, Idaho.
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