A Western Washington State Saddlesore 1000 Ride

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It was a little after 3am and the alarm began its attempt to raise me from my stream of unconsciousness to consider the prospects of leaving my current very cozy warm bed to begin a day that was planned with all sorts of adventure.  For the week prior and following the completion of our in-state saddlesore 1,000 mile ride (See WA SS#1 for my prior ride report), my friend Jim Carroll and I plotted and schemed how we might do a 1,000 mile ride in Western Washington as part of the SPANK rally which would not cross itself and would avoid all of the issues surrounding travel in mountain passes.  We planned various routes and shared them with each other.  Each version got better and by a few days before the start of this fateful morning, we reached consensus on the route.  We had reason to believe it was doable, but it would certainly be a stretch.

What made it a stretch was that we had to send a postcard from a post office near each of the “corners”.  But we had lots of corners.  Sixteen to be exact.  That coupled with the 200 mile fuel range that Jim likes to ride within (the astute reader knows that the FJR 1300 clearly can go longer than 200 miles) added 5 fuel stops along with the sheer number of miles we would not be riding the interstate added to the intrigue.

But soon full consciousness arrived, and I slipped into my LDComfort undergear and then my riding gear including my Gerbing electric jacket liner and gloves.  These would remain on for the duration of the ride.  My ST1100 was already packed from the night before.  Pretty much all I needed to do was roll it out of the garage and head off for our meeting place in Tukwila at the Post Office where we would deposit our first cards to mark the start of the ride.  Of course, we also obtained a time-stamped receipt to officially mark the start of the ride.  That, along with our SPOTWALLA track, would document the ride.  And all of that indicated a 4:12am start on a chilly but dry October 25, 2012.

The first part of the ride took us up I-5 to north of Bellingham through some rain squalls north of Burlington to the little town of Custer where we deposited the first card of the day.  I should mention that we both pre-made up and stamped the 18 cards we needed for the day with a blank on each for the time.   That ride up in the dark was uneventful and fortunately we were ahead of the work day crowds.  Departing Custer, we headed first east and then south along the Guide Meridian with its many roundabouts to the Pole Road roundabout where the 3rd exit spewed us out on an eastward path towards Everson, our second stop for the day.  The smell of “eue de cow” was clearly in the morning air as this part of Washington is noted for its dairy industry.

In Western Washington state there are essentially two roads that lead north and south between Canada and the Seattle area:  I-5 and WA9.  So after riding north on I-5, our trip south was on WA9 which took us through the sleepy towns of Acme, Bike Lake, Sedro Wooley, and the like.  Dawned tried to break through the heavy cloud cover, but for the most part the clouds were winning this battle.  At Sedro Wooley we encountered the first traffic of the day in front of a school that was beginning its day.  WA9 is moderate speed road that twists its way through rural eastern Skagit and Snohomish counties.  With a 50mph speed limit, the ever present danger of wildlife, blind corners, darkness, and damp pavement, it’s hard and unsafe to wick up the speed very much.  Soon we approached Arlington and headed east once again to ride another favorite backroad of mine, the Jordan Valley Road which took us down into Granite Falls where we refueled for the first time.  Jim kept trying to remember why we were in Granite Falls until some miles later the realization came back to him:  we needed the miles!  Yes, it’s all about the plan and then ride the plan.

Granite Falls gave way to Monroe where postcard number 3 was deposited.   Light was upon us now, but also there was much more traffic as we neared the metroplex of the Seattle-Bellevue area.  As we approached Bellevue in 4 lanes of traffic to deposit the number 4 postcard, I thought to myself how crazy it was that we had already logged 250 or miles and it was still just a beginning of the day for most of these commuters.  Leaving Bellevue we headed east on I-90 to Preston where we had the most enjoyable encounter with a Postal Clerk of this or even the prior trip.  This clerk not only stamped our cards, but provided Halloween candy and an infectious smile.  Talk about a real picker upper!

The ride east on I-90 and down WA18 to Auburn was uneventful except for the traffic.  WA18 is a nice cutoff to get to Tacoma from the Snoqualmie Pass area, and both of us had been on it just one week earlier on our previous saddlesore ride.  Only this time it was in the daylight and not raining!  The post office in Auburn was a storefront which I didn’t immediately spot and I rode around the block looking for it.  Finally I spotted it with Jim in front and it looked to be a contract office.  We got our postcards stamped, and we were on our way.  Six were done.

Morton was our next stop and the route took us down WA167 to WA512 down Meridian through the South Hill area.  On this route was heavy 2 lanes of traffic each direction.  We were in the left lane when suddenly a little grey import swung into my lane simultaneously with a signal.  Jim later commented to me that I did a nice evasion and that the person’s turn signal must have been their steering wheel.  I certainly had to resist honking or displaying other evidences of road rage.  Some things you just have to let go of.  This was one.

The postal clerk at Morton remembered us from a few weeks earlier and gladly stamped our cards and sent us off with a smile and pleasant good wishes.  Westbound on US12 found us quickly at Ethel, WA where we tried to purchase fuel, but the card readers weren’t working. So we just deposited our cards and rode on west to Mary’s Corner where we refueled and took a bio break at the Chevron Station there.

Southbound once again on I-5, we were soon in Longview where the line in the post office was 20 deep, so the cards just got deposited which will probably mean a Portland, Oregon postmark.  With the traffic on the Ocean Beach Highway generally heavy in Longview, our planned route took us on the truck route until a friendly traffic worker stopped us and indicated the road was closed ahead (a fully engulfed house fire was in progress of being controlled and Jim indicated that the traffic worker was actually a fireman who was very apologetic about turning us around and what impact it might have on our ride).  We did this and were quickly on WA4 (Ocean Beach Highway) where we enjoyed the twisties and scenery along the Columbia River.  Just think, Lewis & Clark (among others) were once here!

We deposited our cards to mark the next corner at Naselle (a perennial B level high school basketball championship city), turned north on US101 towards Raymond, but kept the speed down as the area was generally heavily patrolled.  And we weren’t disappointed.  This section all the way through Hoquiam had the heaviest concentration of law enforcement presence of anywhere else on our ride.  Raymond received our next set of cards and our route then took us out to the coast on WA105 to Grayland and then back to the Aberdeen / Hoquiam area where we refueled again.

For me, one of the pleasures of distance riding is the ability to listen to music and particularly to XM satellite radio because of the variety of listening choices.  On this leg of the trip I tuned into the World Series and listened to the entire Game 2 until Lake Quinault when the mountain blocked the final out of the 9th inning.  The other part that I like about this route in particular is this leg.  The Olympic National Park is a personal favorite local ride and particularly the western side of it.  Our route took us up that western side through Forks (think Twilight – the very popular book and movie series about vampires and werewolves along with rain measured in feet and not inches – no lie!).  Forks was really quiet on this now dark night.  No vampires or werewolves were seen, although I did see Bella’s truck at the Chamber of Commerce office!

Beaver was our next corner marking stop and postcard number 12 found its way into the mailing receptacle.   US101 then passes by Lake Crescent on a very twisty road with a reduced speed limit.  Many years ago back in 1929, a couple was driving this road and was never seen again until a diver spotted their car in the depths of Lake Crescent in around 2005 and recovery of various artifacts began.  We didn’t want that fate tonight, so we kept the speed down.  Plus there was more construction to contend with.

Sequim was our northeast corner of the Olympic Peninsula, and it was documented with our postcards in the night deposit box.  We also took the opportunity to refuel as it would be a long and desolate ride on the next section at times approaching midnight.  US101 winds its way along the east shore of Hood Canal which is a major salt water inlet and frequently travelled by US Navy submarines to and from their base at Bangor Naval Station.  Initially the view was clear but as we approached Brinnon and the south tip of the canal, gentle wisps of fog began their appearance.  Was this a portend of things to come?  We still had some 3 hours of riding yet ahead of us to be able to complete our ride in the 24 hour allotted time.

Heading west off of US101 just north of Shelton we passed by the Washington State Patrol Training Academy and the nearby Correctional Facility.  The latter was well lit on this wispy and foggy night.  There’s also a new major race track on the Shelton – Matlock Road and it, too, was fully lighted with its banks of high powered collections of bulbs.  At Matlock the corner marker is a non-descript multi-purpose general store, but fortunately I’ve been there many times in the daylight and knew what to expect.  This was all new to Jim plus I have some high powered auxiliary lighting, so after depositing our postcards, I led the ride for the next major chunk of the ride.  It was a good thing as we saw about an hour later.

The Brady-Matlock road is pretty straight, but it’s really isolated.  And in the dark, my auxiliary lighting really lighted up the road.  Soon we were at WA8 where we turned west once again to head towards Montesano and Raymond.  The 4 lanes of WA8 were a comfort to ride on with its lighting and more frequent traffic.  But that lasted ever so short as we soon were on the cutoff road to US101.  It was a dark windy road with the ever present critter threat.  Fortunately they didn’t make an appearance and we navigated the twisty roads with little difficulty in the dark.

At the entrance to Raymond on this southbound leg, we made the first left turn heading east on Monohan Landing Road so that we wouldn’t cross the route that we had followed northbound some hours earlier.  This little road in the middle of nowhere, or at least close to it, was a bit rough but it allowed us access to WA 6.  But remember, it’s dark and suddenly I recognized something big walking into the road.  No, not just big!  It was REALLY big.  As I brought the bike to a quick stop, I found myself not 10 feet from the biggest pair of elk I think I’ve seen.  Sitting on the motorcycle, I couldn’t see over their backs and the auxiliary lighting shining on them made their hides shimmer with the hair looking like that found on some sort of hairy Sasquatch.  Only there was much more of it!  Jim later recounted to me from his vantage point that they looked as big as the proverbial barn door.  Yes, they were really, really big.  Fortunately they ambled off the road and allowed me to proceed.  Before proceeding, I did a quick scan to my left to make sure I wasn’t heading into the middle of a herd that was crossing.  My scan came up empty and I proceeded carefully forward and allowed my heart rate to stabilize.  Dang, that was close.  And no pictures were taken.

With that critter encounter behind us, we proceeded on up the road to connect with WA6.  I came to an intersection and proceeded it through it.  But when I checked my rear view mirror, Jim was not to be seen.  So I turned around and headed back to where I last saw him and there was nothing to be seen.  It’s dark, midnight, and my friend is nowhere to be found.  What do I do?  I mentally processed the options and decided that I would resume my course and expect that Jim with his GPS would be doing the same to head for the next bonus post office which was just a few miles away.  So off I rode with all sorts of anxiety in my thoughts.  Once again, a good set of helmet to helmet communication would have solved this issue easily.

As I approached the Menlo Post Office and our 15th corner marker, I could see Jim’s tail lights!  Whew!  My fears were certainly relieved.  We deposited our postcards and Jim headed us east toward PeEll where he hoped to find fuel at this very late time of the day.  At PeEll we found a 24/7 fuel station that took credit cards and Jim refueled.  I had enough to make it to our endpoint so I used the time to eat a little and stretch myself.  Jim then had me resume the lead because of my lighting.

I didn’t quite know what to think as we proceeded east towards Chehalis on this very dark and twisty road.  I’m a comfortable rider in the dark, and my lighting was working very well.  Am I the sacrificial lamb or the rabbit?  It wasn’t long and the first two deer thought it was great for them to follow my lighting and they trotted alongside me and crossed the road behind me.  Whew!  That was close.  There were few cars, but whenever they approached I had to dim my lights and turn off the auxiliary lighting which reduced my forward lighting to minimally acceptable levels.  Plus there’s the transition time for my eyes to get used to the reduced lighting.

Once again an oncoming vehicle approached and I killed the high beam and the auxiliary lights.  Just as the lighting transition occurred and the vehicle passed, I caught out something in my left peripheral vision.  A deer quickly flashed from my left to right and the last vision I have of this deer is its rear end about 2-3 feet in front of my right mirror.  That was about the closest deer encounter of my riding career.  Jim’s view of the scene was that the deer ended up on the shoulder at the fog line; and as he encountered it, he was afraid that the deer come back up on the roadway in front of him.  But it didn’t, and that was good.  No, Very Good!

The rest of the eastward trip to Chehalis was free of animals and it was good to see the city lights.  Near the post office we were stopped by a pair of trains.  Our time clock was steadily ticking and standing still was frustrating.  Ten minutes or so later it was good to see the crossing gates go up.  We found the post office and deposited our cards in the last corner of the ride.  Looking at the clock, we had about 2.5 hours to make it back to Tukwila and that was only projected to be about an hour and fifteen ride up I-5.  But we knew there were multiple construction road closures along the I-5 corridor.  We speculated about that and had a “bailout plan” at Federal Way in case we needed it.  It would gain us about 15 minutes of time, and at this time of a long 24 ride, that seemed like a great deal of time.

Our ride up I-5 went smoothly and the work zones weren’t a problem at two in the morning.  There were pretty much just a lot of trucks out on the interstate.  We arrived at the finish point at the Tukwila Chevron station and refilled our gas tanks, and we obtained our receipts for their all so valuable time stamps.  I had been running on a low fuel light for the past 10 miles or so, but I sort of knew that I had at least a 60 mile range once the light appeared.  The problem was I was staring at an empty gas gauge and that is a bit unconcerting.  When I completed refueling, only 6.1 gallons would go in so I had at least 1.1 more gallons or around 50 miles of additional range.

We proceeded on over to the post office, deposited our finish post cards and enjoyed a victorious moment.  It was 3:06am and we had completed the plan.  I found myself pretty alert and not sleepy although I had now been awake for 24 straight hours and 22 plus hours of that in the saddle.  We rode the ride and it had been safe (in spite of the critters).  Another successful saddlesore was in the books.  But would we (or I) do it again?  Time will tell.  One thing I can tell you, riding 1,050 miles in 24 hours and doing 16 required stops on primarily secondary roads is considerably harder than doing the same ride on interstate highways with only a few stops.  Doing over half of it in the pitch black dark adds another level of complexity and risk.  But, oh, the satisfaction that comes from completing the challenge.

For those interested in the actual ride track, it’s shown below.  Click on the map and you can zoom in/out to as much detail as you’d like about the ride.

Enjoy and stay tuned.

A Thousand Mile Ride Around Washington State

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We planned the ride, and we rode the plan.

My friend, Jim Carroll, and I are participating in the SPANK Rally, and one of the bonuses in that Rally is to do a 1,000 mile ride within 24 hours inside of a state with the route not crossing at any point.  We conferred about various route options and decided to do one together that would take us over the safest route across the Cascade Mountain Range.  Since my preferred route would have taken us over the North Cascades Highway where it was projected to be at freezing temperatures, Jim proposed a route that would use two lower passes.  His common sense approach prevailed and we settled on a route that we each loaded into our GPS’.  Each of the major corners were to be documented by leaving a post card at the closest post office indicating the date, time, and location of the post office plus one at the start and finish.

After leaving our start postcard at the Tukwila post office and documenting the start with a time stamped receipt from a gas station (Jim) and an ATM receipt (me), we departed in the dark dry early morning of October 18, 2012 around 4:15am and made our way to the first stop in Monroe to deposit a postcard marking the first corner.  Jim discovered that his SPOT wouldn’t turn on, so mine would be the one that his wife and others would follow, and serve as one of our pieces of ride documentation.

The ride over Stevens Pass was completely in the dark and as we approached Wenatchee the first rays of the new dawn poked their way over the horizon creating very pretty pink colors on the bare hills on our left side.  As this is apple country, orchard workers were up and about readying for the days picking activity.  A little farther north along US97 we passed by the fire zone from earlier in the year.  The strong acrid smell was still in the air and the blackened remains of the sagebrush was all that remained of vegetation. The road seemed to act as sort of a fire line.

At Pateros we stopped at the Chevron station to refuel.  Jim’s FJR 1300 only has a 200 mile range while my ST1100 can go 350 between fuel stops at legal speeds, but it was important that we do synchronized fuel stops to save time.  We continued on through Brewster and Omak (home of the world famous Omak Stampede) to Tonasket where we marked our eastward turn by leaving our postcards with a less than friendly postal clerk. After a quick bio break at the local Mobil station, eastward we headed on one of the best sections of WA20.  Outside of town, the first day’s critter count started with 3 deer crossing the road in front of us.  Just a bit further Jim spotted a large herd of 20 or so on the hillside to our right.  It turned out that those would be the last of the ‘forest rats’ that we’d see until I spotted one near Dayton hours later.

We passed through Republic and it brought back memories of a number of previous trips there including visits with friends who live north of town.  But alas there would be no stop for a visit as we were ‘on the clock’.  Since most of this ride was on secondary roads, the key to a successful 1,000 mile day was to keep the wheels moving.  One only needs to ‘average’ 42 miles per hour over 24 hours to log 1,000 miles.  I’ve done previous saddle sores in around 18 hours, but that takes riding a lot of freeway miles, and this was not the case on this ride.

Sherman Pass at 5,575 feet was soon crossed and it would be the highest point in the ride.  It was also one of the prettiest and the tamarack trees displayed vibrant red and orange colors as they began their preparation for the long, cold winter.

Jim Carroll Riding up Sherman Pass on WA20

Soon we dropped down through the twisty WA20 to cross the mighty Columbia River at Kettle Falls where we were stopped for a few minutes at the first of many road work zones we would encounter this day.

At Colville we deposited our third corner marking postcard with a friendly clerk.  Yes, there was hope for this fine day of riding that our only human encounters would turn out to be pleasant.  I also mailed a couple other postcards that gained me further rally points.  The rest of the ride down US 395 was pleasant with a quick fuel stop at Chewelah and a boring stop and go ride through Spokane where we connected up with US195 which took us south through the now bare wheat and grain fields of the Palouse Country.  North of Colfax we took a quick bio break at a vacant rest stop.  But by the time we left, it was full.

Soon the towns of Steptoe, Colfax, Pullman, Colton, and Uniontown were specks in our rear view mirrors.  At the top of the Lewiston Grade, the view of the Snake River was majestic as it snaked its way to the confluence with the Columbia many miles ahead to the west.

We descended the grade and through what was to be the only radar trap we noted in the entire trip.  At the bottom of the grade, we quickly located the post office at Clarkston and left our cards with another friendly clerk.  Another quick fuel stop at a Conoco satisfied Jim’s FJR’s fuel needs while once again my ST still had 150 more miles of range.

We were now westward bound and past the halfway point.  The GPS calculation was showing a finish time of around 12:30 to 1:00am.  Could we keep the pace up?

US12 snakes its way west through small farming towns along the southern border of Washington State.  Pataha, Pomeroy, Dayton and the like were soon memories including the very nice Pataha Mill.  Just outside Waitsburg came the surprise of the day!

While rounding a corner, on our left was a large and very live camel.  As soon as I spotted it, I remembered from the Dam Tour ride earlier in the year where another rider commented ‘don’t miss the camel!’ It’s these sorts of sights that help re-sharpen one’s senses on a long ride.

Just west of Touchet, another milestone was reached.  Jim’s FJR turned over 100,000 miles on the odometer, and we stopped briefly so he could properly document the occasion with some photos.  It’s a nice milestone as I remembered doing the same on my Gold Wing earlier in the year.

100,000 Miles

Further west we approached the Tri-Cities and once again crossed the Snake and Columbia Rivers.  Only this would be the last  time  this trip, and it would be in the fading twilight.  Another fuel stop was made on the outskirts of Kennewick which would take us to north of Yakima.

As we headed down WA14 on the north bank of the Columbia River in the pitch black early evening, Jim tucked us in behind a semi-truck carrying a load of cars.  It was good to let the truck blaze the way through the darkness and the driver set a reasonable pace.  On a hill just before we turned north on US97, we passed the truck and waved our appreciation to the driver for being our shield for 70 some miles.  Sometimes one doesn’t need to lead; and this was one of those times.  It was along this road that we enjoyed a very pretty night view of the John Day Dam.  In the darkness, the dam lighting really “popped!”

The now closed for the day Goldendale Post Office received our documentary post cards and a quick bio break at the service station next door took care of our personal needs.  A fellow at the service station commented on how cold it was and I just held up my Gerbings Electric Clothing power cord, and he signaled his understanding.  It is nice to be able to ride and keep comfortably warm.   I also checked the weather on my smart phone and noted it was raining on Snoqualmie Pass, so we made plans for a pull off at the pass so I could don some raingear.

We passed through several more construction zones and one was the longest wait of the day at around 10 minutes.  The darkness was only broken by the artificial temporary lighting that cast surreal shadows on a very lonely stretch of road.

Just east of Selah we took our last refueling stop of the trip.  I toyed with the idea of not refueling but discarded that idea since we’d be riding in dark, wet, and isolated country.  It’s better to be safe than sorry.  In the end, I would have been safe but that’s 20/20 hindsight.

Sure enough, just west of Ellensburg it started to first sprinkle.  By the time we stopped at the Indian John Rest Area so I could don my Frogg Togg rain jacket, it was apparent that this last section of the ride would be a bit damp.  That was added to the darkness, stirred and shaken, and the result was a wet and dark riding concoction.

Standing water was everywhere and with all of the recent construction, it was a challenge to navigate the numerous temporary lane changes.  But we made it through, and our descent was made without incident.   I later learned from Jim that my low beam was adjusted too high and made it particularly challenging for him to ride in the adverse weather conditions.  Here’s where bike to bike communications could have been valuable, and it’s a common ingredient on my Gold Wing group rides.  On the ST1100, it’s an easy adjustment for me to make using a dashboard headlight adjustment knob.  I definitely felt bad about not knowing this information during the ride.

The wet ride continued west on I-90 to WA18 where we headed south to Federal Way and the last corner point on the ride.  Our postcards were quickly deposited in the dropbox at around 12:30 am, and then we began the last leg north the short distance on I-5 to our finish at Tukwila.

The Chevron station was a welcome sight, and our receipts stamped at 1:04am ended the ride.  My first receipt didn’t clearly indicate the date, but fortunately there was an on-duty clerk who provided me with a duplicate receipt which showed the correct date and time.  We prepared and deposited the documentary finish post cards in the post office drive through mailbox to put the bow on the package.  It had been a good and safe ride.  We shared a 1030 mile view of our entire state in less than 24 hours.  Would there be more?

For the curious, below is a picture of the SPOT tracking map.  It’s a very interesting route that showcases much of Washington State.

Tim’s Spank Saddlesore #1 Ride Spotwalla Map

Europe Trip – Epilogue

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We’ve now been home 4 days and had a bit of time to reflect further on our trip.  Let me begin by summarizing the trip.

We departed Seattle for Frankfurt, Germany, on September 4, 2012 (and we arrived on September 5) and returned on October 4, 2012. The countries we visited were:  Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Holland, Austria, and Switzerland (all of which I had never set foot in).

We traveled from the airport by shuttle bus approximately 60 miles south to Heidelberg, Germany where our 2005 BMW R1200GS was stored at Knopftours.  We spent 2 days prepping the bike and ourselves for our ride which then took us to the Trier, Germany area where we did a volksmarch and general sightseeing in the area for a few days.  We then rode west across Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium via Bastogne to Normandy, France or Bayeux where we spent 2.5 days visiting the Allied landing beaches of the Second World War.    Our route then took us east to Wittenburg, Germany (home of the Protestant Reformation – think Martin Luther) via Yper, Belgium (Flanders Field & the Last Post ceremony).

From Wittenburg we rode south to Graffenwoehr, Germany and stayed with with friends for a few days before heading towards Vienna for a visit with more friends via a route that took us along the Danube River where we encountered many castles.  It was in Vienna that we celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary with a Danube River cruise.  Leaving Vienna we rode west to Salzburg via Mauthausen (one of the most brutal of the death camps).  We stayed an extra day outside of Salzburg doing some great riding before riding further west to the Touratech headquarters at Niederesach in the Black Forest.  We spent several days riding and playing tourist in the Black Forest before returning to Heidelberg to prep the bike for winter storage and play tourist in the Heidelberg area.

Daily detail postings are elsewhere in this blog.

All totaled, we logged just over 3,500 miles in the month.  7 days of that we didn’t ride at all.  It was roughly $35 for each tank fill, and we’d typically fill up twice a day; sometimes 3 times.  Lodging was around $80 per night except when camping, and food was around $50.  So each day generally cost around $175-200 on average.

We camped the first 3 nights on the road while the weather was excellent for doing so.  After that, we relied on Pensions or Gasthauses which offered bed and breakfast services.  They were wonderful.  The bike performed wonderfully with no issues.

Bike Evaluation

The R1200GS outfitted with the panniers and trunk was a great bike to do this on 2up.  If I were doing it alone, a 650 class bike would be more than big enough.  Helmet to Helmet communication was an issue; and we intend to fix that with bluetooth headsets for the next trip.  I found the instrument panel hard to read in direct sunlight.  The tank bag with the oversize map pouch was wonderful.  The brakes were excellent as was the suspension and handling on both paved and unpaved roads.

GARMIN Montana GPS

This was my first use of the Garmin Montana GPS which is primarily intended to be a hiker’s or recreational GPS.  With the Garmin City Navigator Europe software, the routing was precise including which exit to take out of a roundabout.  It found fuel stations and lodging with no difficulties.  The screen was extremely visible in the daylight and at night.  It wrote our daily track log to a file every night.

Paper Maps

Paper maps are a must to keep providing a perspective on where one is.  They are a great supplement to the GPS.  And one develops the knack of proper folding of the maps to fit them in the tank bag map pocket.  BUT keep in mind there are dramatic differences in maps.  Our insurance company, ADAC provides maps with recommended motorcycle roads and we purchased another similar map for the Black Forest from Touratech.  Both of those were marvelous.  We had to purchase regular road maps of France and Germany and Austria, but I found those a bit too busy to look at while riding as they had so much detail.  But they served their purpose to keep me oriented.

Food

Food is plentiful and relatively cheap.  We really enjoyed the food and ate 3 meals per day and did a lot of walking as well.  We both did not gain any weight!  Personally I like drinking soda water and it was widely available and less costly than pop like Cola Light or Pepsi Light.  A very inexpensive meal is to stop at one of the many grocery stores and purchase bread, meat, cheese, and a liter of soda for 4 euros (about $5).  This would feed the both of us.

MONEY

We arrived with no euros (the local currency), but we brought around $500 US.  We converted some of that, but then we relied on the vast ATM network to withdraw euros from our stateside bank accounts.  They worked well.  We also obtained a version of our Bank of America credit card that has an imbedded chip.  That was invaluable to obtain fuel with, although we could have used our euro cash.

 

Our Special Sticker

I made up some special stickers that had a map of the state of Washington in green with a drawing of the Space Needle along with the word “Seattle” across the face.  We gave these away to people we encountered and it was a terrific icebreaker and a way to show our appreciation for their assistance or cordiality.  I designed and purchased the stickers online at a cost of around $0.25 each.

Power

All of our devices (cell phone, camera battery chargers, netbook computer, CPAP machine, etc. were capable of running on 110 or 220 volts.  So I just brought along an adapter to bridge between the European standard female plugin and the American male counterpart.  We just plugged in a short extension cord and all of our little devices would plug into the cord for recharging.  I highly recommend this.  We’ll probably bring a second one next trip to spread out the charging load.

CELL PHONE

Our Verizon iPhones were not compatible with the European GSM network.  So we just used them when we could get WIFI.  We purchased a simple Cell Phone (called a Handy) for 20 euros and put some prepaid minutes on it.  The calling plan provided for penny a minute calls from Germany to the USA, 9 cents per minute within Germany and 34 cents anywhere else.  Hopefully next year we’ll have updated iPhones with GSM capability.  But we’ll still bring the little Handy with us.

Language

We were blessed because Angela is fluent in English, German, Spanish and French.  However, English was universally spoken where ever we went.  Don’t let lack of foreign language ability stop you from taking a trip.

Routing

We purposefully chose not to route ourselves for every day’s stop in advance.  We had certain things that each of us wanted to do and when I put them together in sort of a route, we initially were going to ride in a counter-clockwise circle.  However, when our hosts started expressing their availability, I reversed the route and we rode clockwise.  Apart from our stops at Irrel, Germany, Bayeux, France, Wittenburg, Germany, Graffenwoehr,Germany, Vienna and Salzburg Austria, and Niederesach, Germany, we didn’t care where we ended the day.  This style of travelling suits us fine and worked exceptionally well.  We relied on local recommendations for things to see and it was right on.

SPOT

We enjoyed having our SPOT satellite tracker along so that others back home could follow us.  It unfortunately was stolen near the end of the trip.  I’ve replaced it and will continue to use that technology.

CAMPING

Europeans love to camp and there are campgrounds all over and they are very nice, and cost around $25 per night (they charge by the person and the vehicle and camping method).  We really enjoyed the first few days camping before the weather turned cold at night for Angela.  I would have probably camped more if I were alone, but the Pensions and Gasthauses were nice.  We didn’t cook at all on the road as food is so widely available and inexpensive.

Travel by Motorcycle

We can’t hardly envision doing it any other way in order to immerse ourselves in the culture.  Also having a WA state license plate opened up many conversations.  One who rides a motorcycle gets the smells and sights in a totally different way than riding in a car or train or tour bus.  In terms of the rent vs. buy decision, if one is going to be in Europe a month or more, it works out better to own your motorcycle.  Since we plan to travel there frequently, it made the decision even easier.  Knopftours is a great place to rent a motorcycle, store your motorcycle, and receive all sorts of assistance.  Check out the website previously linked for the full range of their services including bikes for sale.  That’s where I found ours.

What Would We Do Different?

Really we’d not do much different other than to go ride different roads.   We’d bring less American currency.  I’d bring my raingear pants.  For our next trip, we’re heading south into Spain and Portugal, so we expect to camp a bit more as it will be a tad warmer.

QUESTIONS? 

If you have any questions about things that might be of interest to you that I’ve not covered, send me a note or post it to the blog.  I’d sure like to hear about your adventures.  There’s a nice big world out there to explore, lets go ride it!

Photo Gallery Links to Clock and Auto Museums

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At Furtwangen, Germany we were able to visit the German Clock Museum which houses a very extensive collection of clocks and time keeping apparatus.  Here’s a link to the gallery of pictures that I took.

Clock Museum Photos

Later in the day and about 100 kilometers from Furtwangen, we visited the Auto and Clock museum in Schramberg.  It also contained a number of vintage motorcycles, many marquees of which I had never heard of.

Car Museum Photos

 

Coming up is our trip epilogue.  Stay tuned.

Days 29 & 30 – Touring Heidelberg and Cruising the Neckar River

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On Tuesday we bought a Heidelberg Pass and played tourist by visiting the famous Heidelberg Castle.

Heidelberg Castle

Here’s a picture of one of the ornate interior walls.

An artistic wall

 

 

It’s got the biggest wine casks, I’ve ever seen!

One very huge Wine Aging Cask!

There were lots of French speaking tour groups visiting the castle that day.  Another of the highlights of the castle tour was a museum about the history of pharmacy.  Unfortunately they wouldn’t permit picture taking in the museum.

Entrance to the Pharmacy Museum

The tram ride up the mountain is pretty impressive. It passes through a 45 degree upward sloping tunnel on it’s way to the castle and the summit.

We then walked extensively around the Alte Stadt (Old Town) including a stop at the famous Heidelberg bridge which has been in place since the 1700′s I believe. Heidelberg is one German city that wasn’t bombed in WWII so the architectural treasures have been preserved.

I also spotted a truck that’s my namesake.

Timmer’s Truck

We ate Thai food again at a different restaurant. When the waitress asked me how I liked my Pud See Euw, I told her it was awfully bland. She laughed and said, “That’s how the German’s like it. Next time ask for it Thai style.”

It was a great day touring Heidelberg.

Wednesday dawned and it was Unification Day in Germany and a national holiday. We had planned to do a boat cruise and were scheduled on the 10am boat and were told 4 times to be there 15 minutes early..

Well, we talked with some other riders from Newfoundland a bit long at breakfast and forgot the tram was on a holiday schedule (less frequent). We just missed the tram we needed, but we caught the next one and walked on the boat with 2 minutes to spare.

The cruise up the Neckar River to Neckarsteinach through two sets of locks was wonderful. Here’s a few shots going through the locks.

Stern view of the Lock at Heidelberg

Filling the Lock

Here’s a campsite along the river (one of many) with typical German camping units.

Camping along the Neckar River

At Neckarsteinach, we had two hours to walk around. So we headed up the hill and found another very old castle and hiked once again to the very top of it. It was impressive. It was one of 4 in the area.

Here’s the city from the castle.

Necharsteinach

We were able to climb up in the tower shown in the picture.

The Castle we hiked up to

Here’s one of the prettier river pictures that I took.

Ripples on the Neckar River

We then ate some lunch before getting back on the cruise boat and did a 2 hour layover in the next town, Neckargemund. Again, we found some more castle ruins.

Not another castle!

After walking around the city, we found the source of Evian water. After seeing it in person, I don’t think I’d like to drink it.

Back on the boat we cruised back to Heidelberg. At the Heidelberg lock we had to wait for a large container ship to pass through the locks on it’s upriver voyage.  There was also a very large overnight cruise ship waiting for the lock.

A short tram ride to us to Mandy’s Corner which is a collection of non-chain fast food restaurants. We chose Pollo Campo and had ribs. Mine were done American style and were quite good.

Back at Knopf Tours we settled up with Stefan and put our items that we were leaving behind into long term storage. Our shuttle picks us up at 6:30am for a 10am flight back to Seattle.

Our 2012 European trip was just about over. I’ll do a post script highlighting things we learned, what we’d do again, what we wouldn’t repeat, more comments about the bike, and more.

Stay tuned.

Day 28 – Lossburg, Germany to Heidelberg, Germany or WE DID IT!

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Today was to be the final day of this trip to Europe. For the last time we packed up our belongings, enjoyed a nice Pension breakfast, and headed on out to ride to Heidelberg where we’ll store the bike for the winter. I laid out a route that would keep us on some secondary and tertiary roads to add a little spice to the ride. Little would we know the kind of spice there might be.

Angela coming up the stairs

 

Tim Chatting with the Innkeeper

After breakfast we snapped a few photos of some of the stained glass windows. They portrayed typical scenes in this small town.

 

A Bungalow Scene of our Pension from the early 1900′s

The first part of the ride took us on typical two lane roads through Freudenstadt and up the 462 road towards Forbach. Just before Forbach, we’re working our way through some tight single lane twisties with a cliff on the left side and a rock wall on the right when we come around a corner and there are not one but TWO semi trucks (one of which was a log truck). They didn’t slow down, but moved over as far to their right as they could and I rode the bike off onto the shoulder to my right just leaving enough clearance for the right pannier and the rock wall as well as the left pannier and the trucks. And we made it! Later Angela told me that she simply closed her eyes when she saw this unfolding. She also needed an emergency bio break stop to followup on the incident.
Following the previous encounter, we then rode this wonderful section of twisties up and over a hill to Baden-Baden (think Walla Walla which means the same thing in Indian tongues or Water Water or Bath Bath). It was for me probably one of the most fun sections of just pure riding on the trip. It was followed by riding in one of the longest tunnels of the trip which took us into Baden-Baden. After that the rest of the trip was riding much more straight 2 lane roads into Heidelberg and to our B&B for the next few nights at Knopf Tours. While passing through one town on the way in, Mannheim I believe it was, we encountered a streetcar coming towards us with a car in front of it coming our direction trying to get out of the way, and so I put the bike up on the sidewalk to avoid the collision. One thing I’ve noted about riding in Europe is that you ALWAYS have to be on guard for those who will be taking your lane. It happens frequently.
Along the way today, we encountered several really pretty dams. Here’s a couple photos of them.

A nice reflection pool behind the Dam

 

A nice rock face dam

We also found a Motorrad Hotel (Motorcycle Hotel) and there were some interesting bikes parked out front. Here’s a VW trike that was pretty. We’ve seen a number of the VW trikes here in Germany.

A VW Trike

Here’s a very typical German household building.

After arriving at Knopf tours around 2pm, we were greeted by Stephan as well as several other riders. We logged some 3,500 miles in just under a month including about 7 days that we didn’t ride at all. It was a nice pace. Here’s the bike upon our arrival at Knopf tours.

One couple, Harrison and Debbie, were from Eatonville. We enjoyed chatting with them about their adventures; and we both found it ironic that two couples from Western Washington would find themselves in the same spot in Germany. Another fellow, Sam, was interesting to chat with as he had been riding in the Black Forest just before us. We learned that we are connected to these three riders through mutual friends. It’s truly a very small world.
Angela did some shopping while I washed the bike. Then I did an oil and filter change. We wanted some dinner in downtown Heidelberg, so we walked to the light rail station and caught a tram to downtown where we walked around a bit before settling on an Asian food restaurant which was very good. It was about 8:30pm and most restaurants were closed and we didn’t want to eat at McDonald’s.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, we’re planning to go back to Heidelberg and play tourist.

Stay tuned.

Day 27 – Riding the Black Forest & More Or How we rode over 100 miles and are only 26 miles from where we started!

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Alas, today would be our last Sunday in Germany on this trip. We did the normal preparations to start our day including the wonderful continental breakfast. With the bike packed we headed for Furtwangen where we heard that there was a coockoo clock museum. It was only about 20 miles away and we were soon there on a quiet Sunday morning.

There was not much activity in town, and the museum was already open. It’s called the “German Clock Museum” in English and basically presents a history of clock making. The museum is on 4 floors and there are literally hundreds of cuckoo clocks and other time pieces. While it’s all described in German, the desk clerk provided us with an English translation of the major stopping points. She also recommended another museum in Schramburg as well as a place to get the famous Black Forest Schwartzwald Kirschentorte. It was located in a hidden little valley. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
We toured the museum for a couple of hours and took lots of pictures. Here’s just a few. The full collection will be in our album that I’ll provide a link to later.

A very old tower clock mechanism

 

One of many cuckoo clocks!

Some friends will immediately understand why the next picture is in here.  Pat & Karen, we’re thinking of you.

Micky & Donald

We then found an ATM and got some more euros and headed off to find the place that served the special torte. It’s called Hexenlockmuhle. It’s found on this twisty single lane road that is in a valley SW of Furtwangen. When we arrived there were a number of motorcycles already there, and I understood why! We enjoyed our little lunch of salad, a piece of meat and fried potatoes and the Schwartzwald Kirschentorte.

A former lumber mill water mill

 

A nice line of Bikes at Hexenlochmuhle

Leaving Hexenlockmuhle, we rode some simply amazing twisty Black Forest roads up and down and through the forest. Now this is the Black Forest I want to remember. I set our route to follow some recommended roads and it certainly wasn’t the shortest route to our next museum in Schramberg. It’s called the Auto & Uhrenwelt Schramberg (Auto and Clock Museum Schramburg). It was four floors packed with lots of vintage vehicles and motorcycles, many marquees of which I had never heard of. Again we took lots of pictures. Here are a few from this museum. There was a special VW exhibit being shown through today, and Herbie greeted us at the front door.

Herbie (Of Movie Fame)

 

Motorcycle & sidecar

 

Scooters can even have a sidecar

Vintage Cafe Racer

When we get home, I’ll upload all of my photos from these two museums. There are just too many to upload with weak internet connections. Suffice it to say, these two museums were first class in every way.
Leaving the car / motorcycle museum we proceeded to get turned around and eventually pointed ourselves towards our final destination for this trip: Heidelberg. We made it to Lossburg and called it a day and found a Pension for the night.
And, of course, we ended the day with a little salad and sparkling water.

Tomorrow we plan to ride to Heidelberg and service the bike for putting it into storage until we can return and ride it again.