Part one
So I've been done a couple of days now and have had some time to digest it all and figured I'd better get off my one spot and get this typed up before senility sets in.
To begin with, I've always been an endurance freak. Le Mans, Baja, ISDT, Dakar, you name it. So when I found out about the IBA and the SS1K I thought "ah hah, here's something I can actually DO" what with my 60+ hour work weeks here at the Vent home I run with my Wife.
So after working 4- 12s last week I got up at 10:30 at night to go hang my Happy Trails SU rack and Panniers and get my long-suffering Tiger 800 XCx ready for her ordeal. She was sitting right at 22,700ish miles and so almost due for her annual/12K service anyways and as I had just had a fresh rear tire installed I felt like the time was ripe.
By 0230 I've got cans fitted, clickers adjusted, chain lubed and bike packed. I'm running light for having full panniers fitted, only oil, chain lube, spoons, pump and tube with my Olympia Mesh gear for Missoula which is projected to go into the low 90's. Tail pack fitted instead of my usual Rotopax as we want to document our stops on a regular basis and my Triumph branded tank bag with rider comforts complete the ensemble. At about 02:45 I'm off up the street to the 76 station on Greenberg Rd. That will mark the start of my ride. It is still quite dark but the sky is just starting to blush hinting at the dawn which is still some hours away. Although I probably will have nothing but trucks, cops and drunks for company out there for the next few hours I am surprisingly relaxed and anxious to begin. Take a photo, get a receipt and off we go.
It's 0253 in the AM of June 27th, 2017.
I'm on my way.
At first I'm actually kind of bored because I-5 headed north into Portland is pretty calm at 3 in the morning but I needn't have worried as all too soon I was fighting massive gusts of wind and truck/trailer combos on I-84 headed east to Hermiston where we would be going north on 95-N to Spokane, Wa. and thence out I-90 to Missoula.
First stop was at Love's/Carl's Jr. in Boardman, Oregon. WAY too much time wasted here, which begins to set a trend for the earlier part of the ride.
I really can't comment on the overall experience as I'm sure I would probably earn a ban for it. Avoid if possible. Almost 45 minutes were lost here.
As we slowly wend our way north I notice the terrain isn't too different from the corresponding areas in Eastern Oregon with slow rolling hills, occasional rocks and Ponderosa Pine dominating the landscape. At about 07:30 we make a rest stop at Othello, Wa. and get off to stretch the legs and such.
By now it's about 72-73 degrees and just really pleasant riding so we continue on until Ritzville where we stop at Love's for some more fuel at about 09:00.
Back on the bike and we bang our way through Spokane traffic and out towards Coeur d'Alene. Traffic is congested but not bad, on the other hand my Scorpion Yukon jacket and Monarch Pass trousers are really beginning to heat me up with ambient temperatures approaching the 80s. Continuing out past Coeur d'Alene a ways we come to the North Idaho Centennial Trail rest area where I decide to take a break to eat, stretch and hydrate a bit. It is 10:15 in the AM Pacific local time.
About 10:45 or so we are off. The next stop I really regret not getting any pictures other than my GoPro on the return trip was Wallace, Idaho.
A short while of pleasant sweepers later and we're at Lookout Pass, Montana.
Now we're talking! As I take the exit I notice a gravel road proceeding away from the Lodge which looks like a tourist trap to me with a bunch of motor homes parked out front. Since I am first and foremost a dual sport rider I take the gravel, although I am mindful that I am on a schedule and cannot waste time.
So I've been done a couple of days now and have had some time to digest it all and figured I'd better get off my one spot and get this typed up before senility sets in.
To begin with, I've always been an endurance freak. Le Mans, Baja, ISDT, Dakar, you name it. So when I found out about the IBA and the SS1K I thought "ah hah, here's something I can actually DO" what with my 60+ hour work weeks here at the Vent home I run with my Wife.
So after working 4- 12s last week I got up at 10:30 at night to go hang my Happy Trails SU rack and Panniers and get my long-suffering Tiger 800 XCx ready for her ordeal. She was sitting right at 22,700ish miles and so almost due for her annual/12K service anyways and as I had just had a fresh rear tire installed I felt like the time was ripe.
By 0230 I've got cans fitted, clickers adjusted, chain lubed and bike packed. I'm running light for having full panniers fitted, only oil, chain lube, spoons, pump and tube with my Olympia Mesh gear for Missoula which is projected to go into the low 90's. Tail pack fitted instead of my usual Rotopax as we want to document our stops on a regular basis and my Triumph branded tank bag with rider comforts complete the ensemble. At about 02:45 I'm off up the street to the 76 station on Greenberg Rd. That will mark the start of my ride. It is still quite dark but the sky is just starting to blush hinting at the dawn which is still some hours away. Although I probably will have nothing but trucks, cops and drunks for company out there for the next few hours I am surprisingly relaxed and anxious to begin. Take a photo, get a receipt and off we go.
It's 0253 in the AM of June 27th, 2017.
I'm on my way.
At first I'm actually kind of bored because I-5 headed north into Portland is pretty calm at 3 in the morning but I needn't have worried as all too soon I was fighting massive gusts of wind and truck/trailer combos on I-84 headed east to Hermiston where we would be going north on 95-N to Spokane, Wa. and thence out I-90 to Missoula.
First stop was at Love's/Carl's Jr. in Boardman, Oregon. WAY too much time wasted here, which begins to set a trend for the earlier part of the ride.
I really can't comment on the overall experience as I'm sure I would probably earn a ban for it. Avoid if possible. Almost 45 minutes were lost here.
As we slowly wend our way north I notice the terrain isn't too different from the corresponding areas in Eastern Oregon with slow rolling hills, occasional rocks and Ponderosa Pine dominating the landscape. At about 07:30 we make a rest stop at Othello, Wa. and get off to stretch the legs and such.
Back on the bike and we bang our way through Spokane traffic and out towards Coeur d'Alene. Traffic is congested but not bad, on the other hand my Scorpion Yukon jacket and Monarch Pass trousers are really beginning to heat me up with ambient temperatures approaching the 80s. Continuing out past Coeur d'Alene a ways we come to the North Idaho Centennial Trail rest area where I decide to take a break to eat, stretch and hydrate a bit. It is 10:15 in the AM Pacific local time.
About 10:45 or so we are off. The next stop I really regret not getting any pictures other than my GoPro on the return trip was Wallace, Idaho.
A short while of pleasant sweepers later and we're at Lookout Pass, Montana.
Now we're talking! As I take the exit I notice a gravel road proceeding away from the Lodge which looks like a tourist trap to me with a bunch of motor homes parked out front. Since I am first and foremost a dual sport rider I take the gravel, although I am mindful that I am on a schedule and cannot waste time.
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