Tales of the Past - #1

I've had a lot of adventures when riding my motorcycle(s). Many times when they were happening they weren't very fun, many times they were. But, when I look back on them, there are very few that I would want to do differently (except maybe the speeding tickets).

One of my fondest memories of riding is from several years ago. I LOVE riding in the Cascade Mountain Range. One of my favorite long rides goes from Estacada (about 30 miles SE of Portland) down to Crater Lake while staying within the confines of the Cascades. This particular trip I was alone (which is my usual MO) and returning from Medford to Portland. I had mapped out a route using Google Maps and one of my numerous Oregon atlases, partly one that I had never been on before. I was looking for a way to get from Hwy 138 (east of Roseburg) to Hwy 58 without taking the long way around using Hwy 95 (boring!!!). There was a paved road shown on the maps (Forest Service Road 38) that looked promising. And it was. I really love riding the forest service roads in Oregon. There is usually very little or no traffic on them, they are fun to ride (lots of curves!), and are unbelievably scenic. I kept to the main paved road and rode and rode, enjoying myself to no end. The signage was pretty poor, but the road kept going. I took a turn on a paved road that said "Hwy 58 thataway" or something Eventually, I had no idea where I was. No more signs that I recognized as the road I was supposed to be on. I decided to just keep going as I didn't feel like back-tracking the 70 plus miles I had come on this road. I stopped on a ridgetop and took in the sunset. I can't remember enjoying a sunset more than this one. I was lost, had no real idea how far I had to go to get where I wanted to be and was loving it. I pushed on and about 10 miles or so later, the pavement ended. Oops. I was now past the point of no return. If I went back the way I came, I would likely run out of gas before I got back to the highway. Now I was heading down a horrible gravel/packed dirt road that had lots of potholes and ripples. Just what I wanted - NOT! I had no real choice but to continue and hope for the best. Pretty quickly the road started to go downhill. Riding a big heavy street bike downhill for 10 or so miles on a crappy gravel road is not something I recommend. It seemed to take forever, but suddenly, without warning, I came to a paved road. It was completely dark by now. What a relief! I still was unsure where I was and headed in the direction I thought I should go. I eventually came to someplace that I could identify and headed back to Portland.

Looking back on this ride, I still don't really know where I was. I'd love to do it again. Being lost and in a potentially disasterous situation added so much to this trip. I'm a bit of a Luddite when it comes to motorcycling and have refused to get gadgets like a GPS or even music for riding. If I had one, I may have never had this experience. This may not sound like much to you, but I wouldn't exchange this ride for anything.

I was somewhere in here!


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