My Aerostich and Me

"You look like you've been someplace interesting," she said. The waitress nodded her head to the side, toward my Darien sitting upright in the chair next to me, crusted with miles of road spray and grime. "Yeah, we've been around." The next words out of my mouth were related to my lunch order but inside I was smiling, remembering the thousands of miles my Aerostich and I had traveled together. Like a faithful buddy, it would have been apropos to buy it a cheeseburger and shake in thanks.

Ride: Willamette Valley Tour

The weather was fantastic for riding, no matter how you cut it. The fact that it was February 4th was irrelevant. It was great to be on two wheels. Period. I gassed up in Sandy and headed toward Eagle Creek on 211, then cut west through the Carver curves. I crossed the Clackamas River and made my way south through the countryside toward Redland. I was taking many roads and routes unfamiliar to me on this trip so I was relying on my Garmin Zumo 450 GPS. When I got to Redland I misread the directions I was given by the GPS and had to backtrack about a half mile before getting on the correct road.

Once I got to Canby I took Highway 99E toward Aurora, cut under I-5 near Donald, and continued west into wine country. The sun was shining and the temps were climbing into the upper 40's and lower 50's. I had to deal with a few slow locals but for the most part traffic was agreeable. During the day a few people pulled out in front of me but only to the point of aggravation, no real threat to my safety. I hit route 219 and headed north into Newberg.

By this point I was getting hungry and in need of a bathroom break and thought by the time I got to Yamhill I'd stop. The small town didn't disappoint. I stopped at Zippy's Pizza in Yamhill and at first had the joint to myself. A cup of coffee, some steak and bean soup, and a BLT made for an excellent lunch. The staff were friendly as well. Marking the halfway point of my trip, I mounted up and headed south on highway 47 toward Lafayette.

I was getting the hang of my GPS and the directions were easy to follow. I rode through Dayton and Unionvale, finally coming into the northwest side of Salem. And then the fun began. There don't seem to be any decent routes east/west across Salem and I ended up riding smack through the middle of town. I passed next to the Capitol Building and noticed that my GPS was trying to take me to whatever it considered the city center before it would guide me to my next destination.

I pulled over and deleted Salem from the route. Silverton was my next destination, and since I knew the route from that point forward that was the only remaining directions I needed. Once reprogrammed, I followed the GPS past the state fair grounds over 25 mph city streets and eventually made my way to Silverton Road heading east.

At this point my left wrist was beginning to hurt from all the shifting I had to do in Salem. On a normal riding day, regardless of miles traveled, my wrist doesn't hurt. All the stop and go riding through the Salem metro area probably trippled the number of times I had to pull the clutch lever and the pain began to show because of it.

I stopped at the small municipal park in Silverton and took a bio break. The rest of the route home was familiar, north to Molalla, then around through Colton to Estacada and home. The day was nearly 180 miles and took five and a half hours. I felt more tired than I normally do on a 250 mile ride, specifically because of the city riding. I learned that it's best to avoid big metro areas, and when I have to ride through them, set waypoints on the outside of town, otherwise the GPS will guide me right to city center. That's no fun on a motorcycle.

Chilly ride up the Clackamas

The sun was shining and I had some time to kill before the Big Game, so I hopped on my V-Strom and rode up the Clackamas River Highway. There weren't very many cars other than a few Californians driving 10 mph below the speed limit and the road surface was in good shape. A few turns had some sanding gravel in the center stripe but I was able to slow down and keep in my lane without issue.

It was getting colder as I went upstream so I turned around at Indian Henry campground and headed back home to watch the game.

Ride to Mt. Angel

The weather Sunday was sunshine, cold temperatures, and wind. I headed south through Estacada, then caught 211 toward Colton. Shady spots along the highway were still covered in frost and I had to slow down on a few curves to avoid sliding. The air temperatures were noticeably colder in Colton and Molalla than they were in Sandy.

I made it to Silverton and instead of heading back the way I came I turned west and rode to Mt. Angel. I had never been there before. I followed highway 214 into Woodburn, then cut back toward Molalla and the return route home.

As always the V-Strom performed flawlessly. I saw several other riders as well, taking advantage of the sunshine. It was a good day to get out on two wheels.

Frozen fog? No worries!

I rode to work today even though we had freezing fog overnight. We've had freezing fog the last several nights in a row. The streets in my neighborhood had a dusty shine to them when I left home this morning on my way to work, and I could feel the slipperyness when I accelerated. But I took it slowly and got out onto the highway without any problem.

It was in the upper 20's at my house and the moisture in the air made it feel very chilly. My gear worked very well, however, keeping me comfortable. I've ridden in temps as low as 25, but this morning did feel the coldest of all my rides so far.

Winter maintenance, dryer weather

My 2007 V-Strom 650 hit 20,000 miles recently, giving me an average of just over 10,000 miles per year (I purchased it on Feb. 12, 2007). I change the oil every 3,000 miles, it's on its third set of tires (Metzeler Tourance), its second chain, and I've had the throttle bodies synced twice (although I don't think it needed it either time). The bike has been 100% reliable with zero failures or problems of any kind.

Saturday I changed the oil and gave my chain a real good scrubbing and lube job. I'm not sure what scheduled maintenance is due at 20,000 miles but I doubt it needs any of it. The bike is rock solid and a joy to ride.

The weather is supposed to be dry all week. I rode into work this morning and had mist until I got to Gresham, where the precipitation could be considered 'pizzle' ... not quite rain, but close and certainly enough to get you wet. It should be dry by the time I head home.

First ride of 2009

I rode to work today. My last ride was Dec. 9th. Almost a month without being on two wheels, and it damn near drove me crazy. It snowed last night, building up a couple of inches at my house, but it turned to rain by 10pm and it was just rain by this morning. It wasn't very cold, either. 44 degrees in Gresham.