Turn Around When You Hit the Snow

That's what my wife always tells me, "Turn around when you hit the snow." She should know. So should I, for that matter. A few years back, in the middle of June, her and I got stuck in a patch of snow that was only 20 yards across. It took us an hour of rocking the V-Strom back and forth and poking the snow with whatever sticks we could find. We dug with our hands, yanked, tugged, pulled, and pushed.

My V-Strom had Shinko 705 tires at that time. Although they are considered more of an 80/20 tire, and they do fantastic on rainy pavement, they aren't very good in snow.

I have new tires now. Heidenau K60 "Scouts", with a knobby 50/50 tread. They actually do very well in snow, but snow is snow and it's still a slick proposition on a motorcycle regardless of tread.

This past weekend, I rode up the Clackamas River Highway east of Estacada, and turned right across the river up Memaloose Road. It was paved the whole way (except for a quarter-mile stretch of packed gravel), which was kind of a let-down. I wanted to get some more off-road practice. Once I was above 3,400 feet elevation, I started riding through patches of snow with bare lanes of pavement where truck tires go. I came to a junction with NF 4550 and it was covered with snow, and both roads leading away had snow as far as the eye could see.

So I turned around and headed back down toward civilization. On the way, I saw a gravel road going up a steep, rutted hill. I cut a hard right, stood up on the pegs, and climbed the hill. My Heidenau's worked great and I navigated the ruts and slope with ease. It wasn't a long climb, maybe 100 yards, so at the top I did a four-point turn and headed back down. Again, the Heidenau's did a fantastic job of giving me good grip and control.

This off-road stuff is a lot of fun!

Hanging off up the river

We've had two dry days in a row in Western Oregon and I've taken advantage of it to put some miles on the GSX-R750. I rode it to work on Friday, carrying my gear in my MotoCentric soft bags. They are light, functional, and look fantastic. I rode the long way home, following the Sandy River through Springdale, past Oxbow Park, then through the rural communities of Aims and Bull Run before emerging back up the hill to Sandy and home.

Saturday I took the Gixxer up the Clackamas River on Highway 224 to Ripplebrook Ranger Station. It was overcast and chilly up the river valley but the pavement was mostly dry. There was only a smattering of sanding gravel in the center of each lane on the last few miles before reaching the turn-around point.

The ride wasn't just for fun (although it certainly was that). I was specifically practicing my right-hand turns. To counterstear, you push right to turn right, and push left to turn left. The problem with pushing right to turn right is that's where the throttle is. You don't want your pushing to affect your throttle input. So how do you push without pushing?

I practiced two techniques. The first was gripping the tank with my knees and keeping my upper body directly lined up with the bike; i.e. no hanging off. This works fine for slower cornering, but doesn't work if you jack up the speed around the turn.

The second technique was to lean my body to the right, hanging half of my butt cheek off the seat, and supporting my body by pressing the inside of my left leg and my left elbow against the tank. This removed weight on my right wrist. I made sure I was supporting myself enough by flexing my right hand and ensuring I had a light touch on the grip.

After riding 80 miles of a decent set of turns, it started to become easier. By the time I was heading home I was easily able to double the posted corner speed with a great deal of control and comfort.

Silverton and Ripplebrook

I took the day off Friday. Although we had a stiff east wind, the sun was shining and it was relatively warm for this time of year. I spent the middle part of the day riding 160 miles, first south through Molalla to Silverton, where I had lunch (waffle and bacon and mocha) at the Silver Creek Cafe, then backtracked to Estacada where I headed east up the Clackamas River highway to Ripplebrook Ranger Station. I stopped for a few minutes to let my hands warm up before heading back down the river to home.

There were a few bikes out and a few slow cagers, but overall it was a fantastic ride. I arrived back home tired but with a big grin on my face.

The gaps between clouds

It rains a lot in Western Oregon. Not in terms of accumulated precipitation -- I think Dallas, Texas actually gets more annual rainfall than Portland -- but in frequency of days where precipitation occurs. Fortunately, if you're flexible, you still find windows of dry opportunities to ride even in the middle of December.

Sunday morning was overcast but dry, with the forecast of rain not coming until early afternoon. I took my V-Strom on a trip to Eagle Creek, Barton, through the Carver Curves, and across the swollen Clackamas River. It looked like swirling milk chocolate. Once I was on the southern bank, I headed southeast on Springwater Road where I joined up with Highway 211 and looped back home through Estacada. It's a fun loop and provides a nice change of pace over my usual routes.


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