Day 6 - Burns, OR to Marysville, Wa via Salem, OR. – 551 miles
View GPS tracks of Day 6 in Google Maps
Heading down to sea level.


Got up and had the obligatory motel continental breakfast. At least they had peanut butter. Blasted across Oregon. Started making good time, but then lost it when stopped for construction. I saw a Bumper sticker that said “Need Less”. Got through Bend and decided to get gas at Sisters. Should have had a bathroom break in Bend. Man those 20 miles to Sisters were excruciating, I kept looking for a big bush to hide behind. Finally I found a gas station to take a break at. From there it was a fun sprint over the north Santium Highway to Mill City, OR. The Mountain Edge café was a checkpoint on the Grand Tour. It was a piece of Americana. The café is owned by a family. The girls were cooking and waiting tables. They had family members visit; it seemed they hadn’t seen each other for ages. The woman visitor was pregnant, and the father was a young Iraq veteran. At one table was another woman that had brought her retired mother to have pie together. My food was good too. It was a neat little place to come across.
By now my bike and I were getting anxious to get home. Get home mode. I continued west over to I-5. I could see both Roger and Doug’s houses pass by on my GPS. I felt guilty for not stopping. It was still the middle of the day and I assumed they were busy. But I should have stopped. Heading north on I-5 I saw Harley skid marks and investigation paint on the road in Wilsonville, OR. The weekend before there had been a huge pile-up of Harleys riding in formation. Not me, I am flying solo.

My next checkpoint was up in Pe Ell, WA. I took a little detour off of I-5 to the west at Vader, WA. I found some cool twisty roads here. And I saw the strangest thing on my trip. A camel. I fly by this field and out of the corner of my eye I spy a camel. I thought why would there be a camel out in a field? I still don’t know why. I did stop to take a picture. A camel, now I have seen it all. I stopped at the café in Pe Ell. It is a neat 40’s style diner inside. I’ll have to go back and check out the food sometime.
From there I cruised up I-5 to home.

Wheewww…. 2793 miles total. I rode through WA, OR, ID, WY, UT & NV. Thankfully before the trip I cleaned the air filter and changed the oil. I finished off my back tire. I was able to see lots of cool scenery, new roads and met great folks. I was able to push my own distance envelope safely and comfortably. I really enjoyed seeing the gang in Baker City. I also enjoyed the scenery every day. Utah was pretty neat I will have to go back that way sometime. It’s amazing what you can find riding a motorcycle!

The End


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Baker to Bonneville Day 5

Day 5 – Salt Lake City, UT to Burns, OR, via Bonneville – 584 miles
View GPS track of Day 5 in Google Maps

The night before I had used one of the motel’s computers to do research on Bonneville. Jeff M had sent me a link with great information. I saw that the Salt Flats usually open by 7 AM. So my goal was to get there as close to 7 as possible. I got up at 5 AM (I am not a morning person and had been up late) and slabbed it west to Bonneville. There was a huge Harley sponsored ride following a pony express route, many many Harleys headed to Sacramento. I passed a lot of them. I arrived at 7 AM Pacific time. Dohh.. it was 8 AM Mountain time. But it turns out that was early enough as folks were still preparing for their runs.

This was an amazing experience for me. I still have my Dad’s old Hot Rod magazines that I used to read when I was a kid, that have pictures and tell the story of land speed records and attempts by folks like Craig Breedlove and Art Arfons. It was cool to be at the location where so much speed history has occurred. Since there were so few folks out there I didn’t get charged a fee to get on the salt. I first went out to the pits. I was shocked to find that you could walk freely from pit to pit and rub shoulders with these guys. I was able to get close enough to touch the engines of cars. I was able to talk to guys on the teams, one the guy that did all the electrical; because I had leathers on he thought I was the rider of a 500mph jet bike. Another was the father of the driver and a crew member of the Mormon Missile. This father was very proud of his son, said he built the hopped up Duramax diesel motor for the car. The father related the story that when the driver was young he and his brother used to fly around on Honda XR75s. They used to jump across the road from ditch to ditch so much he considered putting up a warning sign. The car was idling and sounded great. They were pouring buckets of ice into the intercooler to cool it. They were also putting the body panels on; it was getting close to time to go.

I also spent some time in the Speed Demon pit to look at their car. The switched from the 8 cylinder motor they had made a record with to a 4 cylinder Mopar. They were waiting for a transmission to put into the car. These crews were interesting to watch. Speed Addicts, intelligent folks with long histories of trying to find out how to go very fast. They also reminded me of NHRA mechanics I have seen, able to thrash at a moments notice and respond to almost any issue as they come up.

Also in the pits was a motorcycle with a turbine engine, and a snowmobile that were planning on making record attempts.

I saw the Mormon Missile driver getting into his driving suit to make a run. I had been warned that they lock down the course when a run is made. So I jumped on my bike and headed over to the spectator area. This was an area at approximately the middle of the speedway at 5.5 to 6 mile. It was fun to ride on the salt. It was very easy to ride on and it would be fun to see what the top speed of my bike is. ;-) When I got to the spectator area I met two hardcore land speed racing fans, almost groupies. Also a Frenchman on business was there. One of the fans was from Minnesota and had driven his white 1955 Fairlane to the salt and had recently had it up to 120mph on the salt. He felt that speed was his drag limit. The other fan was from Colorado and had a rusty old Subaru. He had a huge lens on his camera. These guys were fun to listen to, they new incredibly detailed facts of recent speed runs and enjoyed sharing their knowledge with us. They both had radios on so we could hear when the course was closed, and actual speed numbers as they happen. It got kind of slow out there, all you can do is wait for the car and track to be ready for a run. I am glad I brought sunscreen as the salt really reflects the sun.

Eventually the Mormon Missile made its first speed run. You could hear the car spooling up and shifting before you could see it. Then it streaked by, very fast….. I heard them call out on the radio 355mph. Later it started its backup run. But in accelerating the turbo spun up and the boost caused the wheels to spin and the car spun out. But the crew pushed the car back and another attempt was made. This time it went through the traps a bit slower but a record was made at 341 mph, and I was there. :-)

Here are the records set during the week:
World's Fastest Motorcycle, BUB 367mph
World's Fastest Snowmobile, ~205mph
World's Fastest Hydrogen Powered car, Ohio State University 303mph
World's Fastest single-engined Diesel, Mormon Missile 341mph
Top Speed 425+ running just a small block, Speed Demon SEE VIDEO
200mph Jet Bike, Mike Carlton.
http://www.landracing.com/forum/index.php/topic,6381.0.html


It was afternoon and I needed to get as far north as possible today. So I rode off of the salt into Wendover to use a car wash to get as much salt off of my bike as possible. Then I headed east on I80 to Winnemucca. Along the way I really started to get fatigued. My late night and early wakeup was catching up with me. So at Elko, NV I pulled off looking for some grass to lie down in. I found some at a Casino just off the exit. I tried to find as inconspicuous a spot as possible, hoping that a security guard would not notice me. I took my rolled up Gerbing liner with me to use as a pillow. I put my earplugs in and tried to sleep. I don’t think I actually slept, but I did get rested after lying there about 20 minutes. I then went down the street to a Wendy’s for a lunch of chili. After the rest and the food I was good to go, feeling refreshed.

At Winnemucca I headed north toward Oregon. This is very desolate high desert area. A place you can really make up time. After seeing one of the largest deer at dusk, I took it a little easier. Late at night rabbits kept trying to commit suicide, running across the road in front of my bike, stopping a the last second. One didn’t stop fast enough. I did get a late night Iron Butt type experience, riding through a moonscape in the dark. All I could see was what was illuminated by my headlight. I rode for an hour not seeing any lights or a soul. Kind of eerie. I ended up arriving at Burns at 10PM. After I checked in a very loud fire alarm siren could be heard across the whole town.

Go to Day 6 of 6

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Baker to Bonneville Day 3 and 4

Day 3 – Baker City, OR to Burley, ID via Nampa, ID – 451 miles
View GPS track of Day 3 in Google Maps Notice the chart has elevation and speed data. After clicking link, drag your mouse over the chart.

Next day we met for breakfast. It was even better than the day before, as it was free! Keith J. was generous and bought it for us. I owe you one Keith. I rode south to another checkpoint at Horseshoebend, ID. Along the way I saw a crew hydro seeding and wondered if grass would grow on my helmet. ;-) I had considered going to the Bignasty Hillclimb, but when I got to Horseshoebend I found I didn’t have enough time left, losing an hour to the Mountain time zone. So instead I decided to ride the best twisty roads in the area. I rode up through Garden Valley to Lowman, ID and then down to Boise through Idaho City. Brian and I had ridden this last year. I then proceeded to a wedding in Nampa, ID. I had sent dress clothes with my daughter so I changed so I didn’t look like filthy biker scum. ;-) I tried. My daughter and the trio she sang in did great. I also got to meet my daughter’s fiancé’s family. After the wedding reception, I quickly changed back into my Blackbird persona said my goodbyes and got back on the slab for a few hours. It was getting late at 7pm but I wanted to get as far south as possible. I made down to Burley, ID.


Day 4 - Burley, ID to Salt Lake City, UT via Dutch John, UT. – 556 miles
View GPS track of Day 4 in Google Maps Wow, look at the elevation changes.

My goal today was to pick up the Grand Tour checkpoint in Dutch John, then get as close to Salt Lake City as possible. I had seen a post on the email list that Pete Springer had just been at Bonneville and there was a chance that some record attempts might still be going on during the week. Brian had helped me form a nice route through Logan, UT. There is a cool twisty road that heads east out of Logan, really cool. Took it easy in construction areas and it was a good thing as I came across a black Chevy Cobalt that had radar blasting. Whew that was close. The pass drops down on Bear Lake which is an incredible aqua color. Then I stopped by Kemmerer, WY, which has the mother JC Penney store. Then on to the Flaming Gorge near Dutch John, UT where the checkpoint was. Wow the gorge is beautiful with red rocks and a huge lake. The twisty roads were awesome. I stopped for a photo op and a break at the end of the gorge. I kept hearing voices, sounded like a couple guys talking to each other. I thought maybe someone was camped near by. OK, I was tired after riding all day, but I was starting to think my brain was playing tricks on me. So I pulled my helmet off and my earplugs to get a better fix on the location of these voices. I walked around and the sound didn’t change. Doh! My cell phone in my jacket pocket plays mp3s and had been playing a radio station podcast. I guess maybe I am sane. ;-) I got to the checkpoint, the Red Canyon Lodge, and had dinner, Smoked trout bruchetta. Yum, yum. At that stop I had put my camelback on the back rack of my bike. Well of course I forgot to put it back on. I rode up the road a ways and realized it was missing. I went back to the lodge and the store manager came out with it, knowing I might want it. That was nice of her. It was getting late and I needed to head west fast. I backtracked over the awesome twisty roads back to I80. Then I slabbed to Salt Lake. A cold front was hanging over the area and in the dark it got down to 38 degrees. My bundling and electrics are only good for about 48 degrees, so after a few hours of this I was ccoooollld… But in the end I made it to the west side of Salt Lake City. That way I didn’t have to deal with any traffic in the morning.

Go to Day 5 of 6

Baker to Bonneville Day 1 and 2

Baker to Bonneville 2009

A tradition I have enjoyed for years is to ride with the Devlins and SABMAG friends in Baker City at the end of September. The weather is great at this time of year in Eastern Oregon. I had been dying to take a long ride. I had 3 days of vacation burning a hole in my pocket. Last year we did not have a get together in Baker as Devlins had moved after their ride around America. But Jim has moved back and they scheduled the ride again this year! Also my daughter was singing in a wedding on the Sunday after the ride, down in Nampa, ID. I have also been riding to the Rose City motorcycle club Grand Tour checkpoints this year. Since I was already going to be this far south I thought it would be fun to pick up the Horseshoe Bend, ID and Dutch John, UT checkpoints. During the trip I realized I could stop by Bonneville along the way.

This was a great opportunity to meet again with awesome riding buddies, ride some of my favorite roads, and find new ones. I also was riding farther south and expanding my envelope. I am an Iron butt wannabe and want to continue to learning my limits. This trip would be long days through beautiful country. I ride a 1999 Honda Blackbird CBR1100XX that I have modified to be comfortable for Sport Touring. I was comfortable on it for long days.

I have included map links from everytrail.com. I was able to upload tracks from my GPS. Some of the tracks include speed and altitude charts. The track data has been edited. ;-)


Click on the picture to see my GPS track in Google Maps



Day 1 - Everett, WA to Baker City, OR - 412 miles
View GPS track of Day 1 in Google Maps

On Friday I worked a half a day and then slabbed it to Baker City, OR from Everett, WA. It was about 400 miles. It was kind of a boring run with some traffic on I90 before and after Snoqualmie Pass. But a day on a motorcycle beats working! :-) I arrived at Jim and Penny’s friends, Keith and Paulette’s in Baker about 7pm. Everyone was out in the garage playing ping-pong. The garage was cool, Keith has a workshop at one end, and the garage was full of dual-sport bikes. We all talked and had fun. Then we had pizza! Others had their refreshments, while I continued to drink out of my camelback. We all had had long days so we called it a night fairly early, well I did at least. Thanks Keith and Paulette for letting a bunch of rowdy bikers party at your place!


Day 2 - Dooley Mountain Highway, Unity, Austin Junction, Ukiah, Granite, Sumpter, and then back to Baker City, OR. – 239 miles

View Day 2 tracks in Google Maps

Next morning we met at the Oregon Trail for breakfast. That place has not changed for years. They always serve great food, and the staff is awesome! Jim led us out of Baker to Dooley. It was kind of surreal here, as the group was almost the same crew that had ridden together a few years ago in this area when a car had crashed into a couple of us. It was great to have Don with us; he was driving in his motorcycle like Miata. Dooley is a twisty snake of a road. It was fun as usual, Jim, Rob and I riding the pace. I appreciate the safe pace that Jim set. We had good safe fun. ;-) We took a break at the Unity Reservoir as we have for years. Just after Austin Junction we turned on the Long Creek road. This is a fun road too, twisting along Long Creek of course. We turned north on 395 and had lunch in Ukiah in a convenience store. It was kind of weird sitting next to racks of candy and foodstuffs within reach of the table. We met Brian who had ridden down from Seattle.

Then we Uhhh… blasted the twisties from Ukiah to Sumpter. We were able to rock and roll on these roads. At one point I noticed I had gotten a little bit ahead of Jim. I thought, now is my chance, maybe I can lose him. ;-) Once I got a few corners ahead I was out of site. He was still charging, sure he would catch me around the corner. I don’t think I was going much faster, just hidden around the corner. I had been watching for Bob, he said he might meet us at Granite. Well I saw him and another bike at a turnout, back away from the road a bit. I pulled in to meet with him. I also met his friend Josh. I stop to say Hi, and then Jim flies by. We think he would be right back, but he was still chasing Jeff. :-). We headed up the road and found Jim stopped along a straight stretch. When we left I rolled on hard, hoping Jim would take the bait, but noticed instead Penny very close in my mirrors. Man that R6 is fast! The road between Granite, OR and Sumpter is awesome, one of my favorites. It reminds me of riding a dirt bike in a tight trail. We stopped and took a break in Sumpter.

Then we headed back to Baker for a barbecue at Keith and Paulette’s. Lots of good food, stories, lies and theories given. Paulette brought out some awesome cobbler! It was a great end to an incredible day!

Go to Day 3 and 4 of 6

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Baker to Bonneville 2009