Worldwide Motorcycle Association

Ride Safe...consider a motorcycle safety class this summer.

2011-06-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

Motorcycle safety concerns many aspects of vehicle and equipment design as well as operator skill and training that are unique to motorcycle riding.

If you haven't been properly trained for safe riding; please consider reading the info here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_safety

My favorite motorcycle riding photo

2011-03-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

Peter Galea on his 1996 Harley - a bike with true 'cachet'

2011-03-11T10:44:00.000-08:00

As I ride along the highway of life; I enjoy the site of those that represent the 'true spirit' of a genre of any type.

When I think of a motorcycle rider; I have to think of my old buddy Peter Galea and his 15 year old Harley....they represent the true spirit of motorcycle riding....and his bike truly has 'cachet'......

Here's my tribute to Peter and his bike.

I don't want a pickle; I just want to ride my motorcycle.

2011-03-10T09:29:00.000-08:00

"Motorcycle Diaries" author dies in Cuba.

2011-03-05T19:52:00.000-08:00

Che's "Motorcycle Diaries" companion dies in Cuba
Sat Mar 5, 5:10 pm ET

HAVANA (Reuters) – Alberto Granado, who accompanied fellow Argentine Ernesto "Che" Guevara on a trip immortalized in the film "The Motorcycle Diaries, died in Cuba on Saturday at the age of 88, Cuba's state-run media reported.

The report said his ashes would be spread in Argentina, Cuba and Venezuela.

The famous trip across South America, begun in late 1951 on Granado's old British motorcycle, supposedly awakened in Guevara a sympathy for the poor and desire for social justice that turned him into a leftist revolutionary.

He was one of the leaders of Cuba's revolution that put Fidel Castro in power in 1959 and was in the Cuban government for several years until leaving to fight, less successfully, in other uprisings.

He died in Bolivia in 1967 while trying to start a rebel force there.

"The Motorcycle Diaries" was based on Guevara's diary of the trip and on Granado's book "Traveling with Che Guevara: The Making of a Revolutionary." The 2004 film was directed by Brazilian Walter Salles.

At the invitation of his friend, Granado, who was a biochemist, came to Cuba in 1961 and stayed.

(Reporting by Esteban Israel; Editing by Jeff Franks and Eric Walsh)

Motorcycle Helmets for 2011

2011-02-21T11:27:00.001-08:00

2011 Motorcycle Helmets
I never cease to marvel at the Free Enterprise Systen, When a product reaches the point where it's nigh on to impossible to improve its functionality, someone will still come up with a way to make people want to ditch their old one and get yours. Check out these motorcycle helmuts.

Custom Triumph Bonneville courtesy of BIKEEXIF

2011-01-19T19:35:00.000-08:00

Triumph Bonneville custom

There’s a new issue of Greasy Kulture magazine just out, and editor Guy Bolton has sent us a teaser. It’s a clean 1967 Bonnie custom that started life as a T120R, the US export model with higher handlebars and a more compact fuel tank. Andy ‘Lucky’ Lindloff from Michigan built this very classy bike, and was only 20 when he finished it. He handmade many of the parts himself, including the seat pan, brackets, and oil tank—a ‘repurposed’ aluminum fire extinguisher. Lindloff bought the project from bike guru Steve Hatcher, who also threw in a hardtail rear section, a ribbed fender and a single-carb Tiger head. Despite the strong custom look, the bike retains the stock fuel tank, but there’s no battery—just a capacitor/regulator/rectifier hooked up to the stock coils. Completing the look are NOS fork covers, ‘Rocky’ headlight brackets and pipes with Superior tips. The talented Lindloff also painted and pinstriped the bike; we should look out for his name in the future. [Get your copy of Greasy Kulture for more of this goodness. Image by Aaron Lindloff.]

Nikon D80 | 1/80s | f/8.0 | ISO 500 | Focal length 31mm | AF-S DX 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED

PS: Get the latest from Bike EXIF via twitter and our Facebook page.

We wish you a great new year - Welcome 2011!

2011-01-05T07:48:00.001-08:00

Always keep the rubber side down and be sure to be on the lookout for other riders!

New Member Cheshire Cat - Marilyn Elmore Bragg

2010-09-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks.
Oh you can find my riding stories and photos at http://chessiestales.blogspot.com/ and...starting in Jan. 2011 my rides will be be in every issue of Iron Works Magazine for the 2011 year.

Thanks again for accepting my request. I look forward to enjoying the website!
Chessie

Lane Splitting - Legal or not

2010-09-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

Traffic Q & A: Bikers need to keep to the lanes
Question: Lisa Jones of Tacoma wrote in about motorcyclists who ride in the space between lanes. She heard it is legal in California, but she’s wondering about Washington.

JOHN HENRIKSON; Staff writer,Tacoma News Tribune
Published: 09/06/1012:05 am | Updated: 09/06/10 9:15 am
“I’ve almost hit a few motorcycle riders due to this type of driving behavior, and while it seems stupidly dangerous, I was told it was OK for them to do this.”
Answer: Sgt. Freddy Williams of the Washington State Patrol looked into the issue and reports that so-called “land splitting” is allowed under certain conditions in California. “Specifically the motorcycles have to be doing less than 15 mph and it can only be done when other vehicle traffic is doing less than 15 mph,” he said.
Here in Washington, though, it’s strictly forbidden. RCW 46.61.608 states that “No person shall operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic or between adjacent lines or rows of vehicles.”
Williams wouldn’t recommend lane-splitting anywhere.
“Your reader was very accurate when she states this type of driving behavior is stupidly dangerous,” he observes. “There are so many bad things that could happen when this type of driving is done.”
Got a question about traffic congestion, construction, spending or other transportation issues? Send it to traffic@thenewstribune.com. Include your name, hometown and daytime telephone number. We’ll answer as many as we can.

A Ride to the Hood Canal in Washington State - Union, Washington - Something for everyone!

2010-08-08T22:04:00.000-07:00


2 Margaritas Restaurant and Bar with View of Hood Canal

Sunday - always good for a ride to one of Joyce and my favorite destinations. The Hood Canal is in Washington State and runs straight south off of the Strait of Juan De Fuca (separating the United States from the Vancouver Island, British Columbia)

It has a fish hook like shape with the hook at the south end of the Hood Canal. By the way; it's not actually a canal, as it does not have an way in and out, but is actually dead-ended, and is more like a huge long narrow bay.

Along the bottom (or hook) portion of the Hood Canal is some extremely beautiful scenery and some great places to stop for some food or drink.

This restaurant (above - called '2 Margaritas') just opened up a few weeks ago. It's a very good traditional Mexican restaurant with a large bar and 'decks' on each end of the building that allow a beautiful view of the Hood Canal. We both really enjoyed what we ordered. I got a 'fajita burrito' and Joyce got a single enchilada. The sauces were great, the food hot, and service fast and friendly.

Just a bit farther up the road is 'The Alderbrook Inn', one of the nicest lodge type resorts you'll find with its frontage along the canal. As an example of how pretty the view is there; Bill Gates parents (the second richest man in the world, with rich parents to boot), live in this area.

The Alderbrook has a great restaurant and bar, including a deck that is open in the summer months. The food served there is as good as you can get in the restaurant, but the bar food is my place! They have a huge burger there that is the best ever.....and easily enough for two people to split and still have a hard time finishing. It would be hard to find a more beautiful setting than the Alderbrook! Combined with great food and drink, and it is a wonderful upscale place to enjoy the views of the Hood Canal from.

There's a great long 't' shaped dock on the canal behind the Alderbrook, and all of this is open to visitors. You don't have to be a guest at the lodge to eat or visit.

You'll find many the biker riding the roads up and down and around the Hood Canal any time of year. The eateries will often be 'with bikes' out front as you pull up. I've never felt any unease at all going into all of these places to eat in my motorcycle gear, including at the Alderbrook.

I hope you'll all find the time someday to take a ride up the Hood Canal. Please consider sending some photos and a ride story of your own for inclusion here on our club website.

Ride Safe brothers and sisters!

The WMA is near 550 members worldwide. The latest two members are from Brazil.

2010-08-07T08:18:00.000-07:00

This photo of an old bike with sidecar is from around 1930 and is of my great grandfather and his brother Emile Grawet and Oscar Grawet.

If you want, you can click on the picture and it will explode to a larger size.

My family has riding bikes in its blood. This site is about riding motorcycles. It's about sharing your ride via sending us a post that you write about your ride. It's about sharing photos of your bike or of any bike related photos.

Please send us your favorite motorcycle themed shots and we'll post them for the Worldwide Motorcycle Association members (and anyone else) to see!

Ride safe brothers and sisters!

Whether you ride a Harley Davidson Scooter, a 'Snortin' Norton, a BMW, or a Harley Road King, the WMA is for you!

2010-08-07T08:11:00.000-07:00

You can now purchase LOGO gear from the WMA!

2010-07-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

You can now order embroidered WMA logo gear directly from Corporate Casuals at this website:
http://stores.corporatecasuals.com/s/wmaclub/

This is done thru an arrangement the club has with Corporate Casuals. You place the order directly with them and they handle everything.

The vest that Gretchen is wearing was ordered a few weeks ago and is a sample of the high quality logo and clothing available. This particular item is made by Patagonia.

Enjoy and Ride Safe!

Heart of the Country; backroads - good riding on a summer day.

2010-07-11T08:02:00.000-07:00

IF YOU DOUBLE CLICK ON THE PICTURE IT WILL EXPLODE TO FULL SIZE.

Yesterday was one of those absolutely gorgeous summer Saturdays where you just plain 'have' to get on the bike and go for a ride.

My Honda VTX1300S was quite dusty and had a few things that needed attention. I cleaned it up and put on some new mirrors and a new air filter Friday night. Saturday morning by 9:00 AM I was ready for a car wash on 'Ruby'.

By the time I finished washing her and drying her with the hand towels, she began to take on a totally new appearance. I hadn't given her a good bath in months. I was shocked to see her begin to look almost like the new bike I purchased 3 years ago.

Ruby is now officially the longest I've ever owned and ridden the same bike. In my years of riding I've always enjoyed trying out many different types of bikes. I've owned: Yamaha x2, Honda x 5, Harley Davidson Road King, BMW R1150rt, many scooters from Honda and Yamaha, a Kawasaki Concour, and I probably have missed one or two.

Well, here she was....nice and clean, and ready to ride! We took off by 10AM and headed out to the coast toward a town called Ocean Shores. Unfortunately we hit the morning fog bank about 45 minutes east of the coast. Luckily, we know the back roads well enough that we didn't miss a second and immediately turned northeast and rode back away from the cloud bank toward Shelton, Washington on Hwy 3.

Going north from Shelton on 3, you travel about another 25 miles and come to a small town on the water called Allyn. There is an awesome restaurant (Lennard K's) with a deck overlooking Puget Sound, and we love to eat there. The menu was new, (bummer), we normally liked to order some sandwiches which were no longer on the menu. However, the 'poppers' were awesome, and my blue cheese burger tasted great. Joyce had a BLT (normally one of my first choices).

While we had lunch, the two couples next to us (who also had ridden their bikes to the restaurant), began to discuss an old Arlo Guthrie song about riding his motorcycle. (you'll find it on the play list here). I was able to help them remember a few lines of the song. "I don't want a pickle; I just want to ride my motorcycle" - Arlo Guthrie - circa 1968.

After lunch, we proceeded north on 3 to Belfair, WA. At Belfair we turned onto State Highway 106 that runs along the bottom of the Hood Canal thru Alderbrook...this is one of favorite rides anywhere. Bill Gates ('the' Bill Gates, spent lots of summer days here where his parents still own a house on the water and where you can see them from time to time). Normally there are very few cars and many motorcycles on this route.

The ride was almost perfect....sun shining, water glistening as we rode along its shore for miles....finally we stopped at the little store in Union, WA and had an ice cream cone (about 2:00 PM). They have some locally made ice cream that is out of this world.

After riding back over to meet with hwy 101, we decided to continue on side roads up the Skokomish Valley. This ride is only about 20 miles to its end at the foot of the snow capped Olympic Mountains, but its so beautiful we take it once or twice a year. There is almost no traffic at all on this road, as it is a long way to a dead end. It's a pity for those who turn around at the 'dead end' signs early on the road, as the valley runs thru some of the prettiest farm and ranch country you will ever see; with all of it surrounded by high mountains.

We often ride this road very slow so we can drink in the views and the smells....flowers here, cows there (I love the smell of cows, having spent my earliest years living in Nebraska)...the sky was so blue....the mountains so majestic...and the valley just perfect in its early summer attire.

We finished our ride about 5 hours after we began, returning home in time for a Saturday bbq with family.

What a way to spend a Saturday! What did you do?

Welcome Member 532 - and please remember to send us some photos or ride stories to post to the club website.

2010-07-05T21:22:00.000-07:00

New WMA Member Marlene Steele and 'her ride'..(another Canadian member)

2010-06-21T12:57:00.000-07:00

Please find my motorcycle photo attached – 2002 Heritage Springer Softail (Harley FLSTSi)

Regards,

Marlene Steele (“Sporty”)

President – Zen Riders Motorcycle Club

Vice-President, Finance, Ontario Road Riders Association

Founding Board Member of Motorcycle Confederation of Canada

Iron Butt Rider

First Club Discount Offer is Posted Below for South African Bike Tours

2010-06-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

We would love to help you grow your business and make the club more fun for all, by offering a discount of your company's products and/or services to the membership of the WMA. The first such offer is below- an amazing tour on bikes in Africa.

Please send your offers to me for posting to the website. Send them to: bobbyg@wmaclub.com

Thank you,

Bobby G

From: Alex Jackson
To: bobbyg@wmaclub.com
Sent: Sat, June 19, 2010 1:34:44 PM
Subject: Discount and one off offer.

Hi Robert

I would like to offer all members of the group a 5% discount on any of our tours into South Africa.

As one one time offer on a first come first served basis I will also do 6 places on a tour for the price of 5 if any of your members would like to put a group together. All T's and C's on the website apply and all places must be on the same tour for the coming season. 31st Oct 2010 - 17th April 2011.

If you have any questions then please ask away.

regards

AJ

Alex J Jackson
Kaapstad Motorcycle Adventure Tours Ltd
UK Office +44 (0) 1525 377520 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +44 (0) 1525 377520      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
UK Cell +44 (0) 7930 200798 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +44 (0) 7930 200798      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
SA Cell +27(0) 7644 83844 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +27(0) 7644 83844      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
www.kaapstadmat.com

There are now 525 Members in The Worldwide Motorcycle Association!

2010-06-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

We are a true worldwide organization with members in more than 26 countries. There is a very active discussion area on Linkedin.com where new and ongoing discussions can be found.

We are searching now to find deals that we can provide to the members as a whole as an additional benefit for joining.

Just yesterday I ordered a WMA logo jacket to see the quality of this company's work. If it turns out well, I'll make WMA Logo goods available for you to order directly from this company. They have some really great items from jackets, to liners, to shirts and hats that can all come with the WMA logo. So...I'll hope this trial run is a good one.

Let's ride!

Day 3 - Home from Infocomm - Rogue River, OR to Olympia, WA - my home and the end of my ride!

2010-06-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

It was time once again to make the final leg of my trip home. Rogue River, Oregon to Olympia, Washington is about an 8 hour ride. It's fairly pretty as you ride up and over Grant's Pass and then eventually into the river valleys around Eugene, Salem and then Portland Oregon.

We hit our first really bad traffic jam just north of Portland as you are heading toward the bridge over the Columbia River into Washington State. Although we never did see what the problem was ahead, we decided that this jam was so bad, that they must have had the bridge raised for a ship. That's all we could figure that would cause such an awful miles long mess on I-5, a major 5 lane freeway.

It was nearly 80 degrees in Portland, and we had heavy gear on still as a result of leaving Rogue River in temps of the low 60's. After sitting and cooking for about 15 minutes, we decided to do something that you 'can' do on a motorcycle. We rode up the side of the road past lots of cars and trucks. When it's 80 degrees and you're stopped....any kind of movement is welcome relief.

The traffic opened up again as we got onto the bridge and never slowed down again. We stopped for one last gas fill and coffee at Starbucks just north of Portland in Woodland, Washington.

After this stop, it was a mere 90 minute ride for me to reach my home. Peter spent the night one last time. We took my wife Joyce out to dinner and then called it an early night.

Peter left about 9 am on Sunday morning (June13th) for his 4 hour ride back to North Vancouver, British Columbia. He arrived safe and sound around 1 PM.

So ended our 5th 'long ride' together. We've now done 3 roundtrips to Las Vegas for Infocomm; one to Los Angeles for this same tradeshow, and one up to Calgary, Alberta. We've done many shorter rides together. Peter is an awesome ride companion. He's a lifetime rider with tremendous riding knowledge, he's very mechanically proficient and is also a multiple black belt holder in mixed martial arts, having owned his own martial arts club. Peter's all black 1999 Harley Davidson Dyna Sport is tuned to perfection and sounds just plain awesome! My favorite bike sound. You see very few older bikes on the open road. His bike is truly special; it has cachet. Since he's also much uglier than me, you could hardly want a better riding partner....

Addendum: Peter just wrote to tell me he is not the ugly one....He says he's the handsome one, and I'm the 'wise' one.....OK...guess we'll go with that.

Day 2 - Our ride back home from Infocomm - A special little city - Rogue River, Oregon and a wonderful treat - Karen's Kitchen!

2010-06-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

Something about the way the river and mountains around Rogue River are makes it truly an oasis like place in the mountains. The River is powerful as it goes thru the middle of this small town. We've now stayed at the Best Western Inn on the Rogue twice.

It is one of the most clean and restful motels I've ever stayed in anywhere. You just become overwhelmingly relaxed as you pull up and it stays with you until you get back on the highway.

Directly across the street from the BW Hotel is a spectacular bridge that crosses the Rogue and takes you into this quaint little downtown area. For such a small place, there are several really good looking and upscale restaurants, although we've never taken the time to have tried them.

The reason for not trying other restaurants is that right across the parking lot from the hotel and little grocery store is one of our most favorite places on the road. Karen's Kitchen is small but the atmosphere inside from the folks who work there to the incredible food are quite special..

On our first visit to RR in 2008 (due to my flat tire), we spent Sunday afternoon thru Tuesday morning here waiting for the Tuesday morning opening of the closest motorcycle shop in Grant's Pass. We ate something like 6 straight meals at Karen's on that first trip, so we were excited to have another chance to experience Karen's.

We almost always sit at the counter of these diners as its much more fun to be able to observe everything from the best seats in the house. From the counter we got to know the waitress and the chef and prep staff. The chef, as it turns out, spent lots of time cooking for the rich and famous in Los Angeles, including a stint at the Peninsula Hotel there. His brother invited him to visit RR where he lived at the time, and that was all it took for the chef to decide this was the place he should live. I'm sorry folks....I am terrible remembering names, and only have Marie's name cause I wrote it down.

So...from the Peninsula to Karen's Kitchen....and he brought his great skills along to blend with the diner's menu and make some truly amazing food!

The waitress had tried living in the big city of Portland but had returned home to RR herself a few years earlier.

Peter ordered his favorite Karen's dish; southern fried chicken. I had my favorite BLT.

During our meal, an 83 year old woman came in and sat at the counter to my left. I didn't take note of her except to see that she seemed to know everyone in the restaurant and had a favorite place at the counter to sit.

I had asked the waitress about fishing locally, and she immediately suggested I just ask this same lady because she grew up in this area and knows the area intimately well. The waitress explained that she is a Southern Oregon born Native American.

What followed was a special treat for both Peter and I. Hulda (that's correct spelling, she had Swiss father and Native American mother), but her middle name of Marie is what she goes by. You can see Marie in the photo below with the waitress, chef and prep man and Peter. Marie is seated in front of Peter.

She answered my question by launching into a series of jokes with the ease of a woman firmly comfortable with herself and quite at home. We knew we'd found something special in Marie.

I don't want to short change the other folks there, everyone is awesome, and we hope to be back many times to visit and enjoy the food and especially the atmosphere.

Turns out that Marie had been born in an Native American village near Brookings, Oregon on the coast. She grew up in a very remote area that required her and her siblings and parents to have to swim the river often just to get to the other side. As she explained, there was only one boat in the family, and school and stores were on the far side of the river, so if the boat was gone; the only choice was to swim it.

She had eventually married and moved with her husband to this area. She had stories of worldclass sized tomatoes from her garden and reported that she was currently tending 500 tomato plants in her yard.

All the while that she was talking about the area and her experiences here, she would throw in these jokes that would completely catch you off balance and bring on smile after smile as we listened to her.

There are very few people that I could just sit and chat with for very long, and Marie would certainly be near the top of that list.

We decided to take a walk after dinner to work off some of the food, making note that we 'had' to come back prior to closing time so we could get some of the great looking deserts that they have in display cases near our seats.

So we walked across the street to the wonderful little park that The City of Rogue River maintains. It's on both sides of the bridge that crosses the river and goes into town. The bridge itself is a work of art. It has a viewing platform about half way out that allows a great view into the rushing river waters below.

Our previous visit had us get some of the fried chicken from Karen's and then have a picnic across the street at this park.

You can imagine the fishing here would be spectacular, and you'd have a really hard time finding a more serene setting.

We returned about 8:15 in time for desert. Of course, this is Karen's Kitchen....and when we left after dinner, they had told us to be back prior to closing at 8:30, but then telling us that we could call them even after closing, and they'd let us in for our desert if we wanted (and if they were still there).

Wow....warm apple pie ala mode.....yum...........So many times when you order this; it is 'not quite' warm, or maybe the pie is slightly warm but the ice cream overpowers that.....at Karen's it was 'perfect'. Peter had some of the strawberry pie that had been staring us in the face during dinner. Awesome!

The BW Hotel includes a buffet style breakfast that is quite good. However, both Peter and I felt like we just plain had to make one more stop at Karen's Kitchen for breakfast before we rode out of town that morning.

As we walked in the door; we were blown away by finding Marie and her morning breakfast club sitting at the counter having breakfast. It was soooooooo nice to hear Marie say to her friends; "Here are those young guys I was telling you about." ('young' is not a word I hear often to describe me these days).

She had come prepared in case we had breakfast there. She brought her photos of the huge tomatoes from her garden, and also the shot of her 12 year old granddaughter and the 120 lb halibut she had caught up in Alaska. Here's Marie's crew that morning ..

With Marie in the center, Peter behind, the others are the morning breakfast crew at Karen's counter.

You just don't find this kind of place every day and we're both truly hoping to get back there again soon.

After breakfast, we headed back to the hotel, loaded up our bikes, and began the ride to my home in Olympia and my final day on the road on this trip.

Carson City, NV to Rogue River, Oregon - 'the ride home from Infocomm'

2010-06-18T08:04:00.000-07:00

As you head north from Carson City, NV you continue on US 395 as far as Susanville, California. It's interesting that along this stretch of highway you go into and out of California/Nevada several times as it winds its way north. Just west of Susanville you turn onto Hwy 44 and eventually onto Hwy 89. It's an awesome ride with views of Mt. Lassen (above), and Mt. Shasta farther west. It's truly hard to beat this area for beauty. The route is about 150 miles to Weed, California (395 to Susanville, Hwy 36 out of Susanville to the turn at Highway 44 and then to 89 as you wind northwest toward Weed). There are only a couple of gas stations and only one or two restaurants on this entire stretch, so once again; plan ahead.

You need to be constantly vigilant for deer and other critters crossing the road on this road. I had narrowly missed squishing two chipmunks on my way down this road. I saw 5 deer alongside the road, and two dead dear that were freshly killed by cars in recent days. So...watch out!

It's so pretty along here. High mountain plateaus, streams, huge green grassy water filled meadows, snow occasionally (in June), and spectacular mountain vistas.

As we cruised along, ever vigilant; we were totally freaked when from out of the brush on the left side of the road an animal burst onto the road. After the initial shock, it was almost laughable that it turned out to be a wayward chihuahua. Some folks on the right side of the road were stopped at a rest area and their dog had evidently crossed the highway in search of 'big game'. You just never know what you'll see.

We always stop in Weed, California (Weed is the name of an early settler/politician). There's a great restaurant and motel there. It's called the Hi-Lo Motel and Restaurant. The motel is spartan, but quite adequate. The restaurant is awesome! Great homestyle comfort foods and the kind of waitress that you only get in this kind of place; friendly and with the kind of experience in their job that everything goes just about perfect. We stayed in the motel on one of our trips, and we've eaten here several times. Weed has lots of great gas stations and motels and many fast food restaurants along with the local ones.

It's just south of Weed that you return to the Interstate Highway finally as you head north toward our homes in Olympia/Vancouver BC.

This stretch of I-5 is filled with wonderful views and wide open riding. The traffic has never been anything close to heavy from Weed north into Oregon. You can zoom along and feel relatively safe as this road is well maintained and has wide open views.

Peter and I always say the same thing as we ride up thru Southern Oregon. 'I love Southern Oregon.' It's a magical area. The mountains and meadows are green and the hills and valleys are often with a beautiful farm and horses or cows strolling about contentedly.

You follow or pass over lots of streams and rivers heading north; often following a river valley for miles. So pleasant....and a relief to be on a major highway with much less stress about deer and other things on the road. (obviously deer can be a problem even on the highway, but the visibility is so much more open here that it is much easier to keep aware of them)

Ashland, Oregon (where they have the annual Shakepeare Festival) is a place I could see myself living in somewhere down the road. Medford, Oregon (just north of Ashland) is another place where I could easily live.

Along the way on this day; we decided that we should make Rogue River, Oregon our destination for this night. On our ride to Infocomm in 2008, I had a flat tire on the rear of my bike on a Sunday afternoon. As motorcyclists know; it's nearly impossible to change a rear tire 'on the road' these days. As a result, I ended up stuck in Rogue River that day. When we finally realized that no amount of phone calls would bring help, we decided to make it to the closest motel in that very small town, and stay there until Tuesday. Most motorcycle shops are closed on Sunday and Monday....don't know why...but it's the way it is almost everywhere.

The good news about the realization that you can do nothing about the problem, is you can then just relax and enjoy what the day brings you. In the case of Rogue River, it was a special treat to discover this town.

Situated on the raging Rogue River (it's name fits perfectly). We learned from a waitress at Karen's Kitchen - next to our favorite Best Western Hotel that lots of famous people have made this place their destination for the kind of amazing fishing that you can find in the rivers of Southern Oregon. Clark Gable and many more came here to float the river from Grant's Pass out to the ocean near Brookings.

Our stop at Rogue River this time yielded a huge cache of interesting people and once again we fell completely in love with RR.

I'm going to take the next post to describe our amazing afternoon and evening there. See you there.

Las Vegas to Carson City ride - on the way home!

2010-06-18T06:15:00.000-07:00

Peter Galea (top photo) and Robert Grawet (bottom) in Beatty. You can click on either photo to make them expand to full size.

Thursday, June 10, 2010 - We made it out of Las Vegas very quickly as we got on the highway at 6:30 AM on a Thursday morning. It was only in the 60's when we left, so it made for a pleasant ride out into the desert.

A little over 100 miles north of Las Vegas on US 95 is the Oasis town of Beatty, NV. On a motorcycle with their smallish gas tanks, it's pretty hard to go by Beatty without gassing up. There is nothing but open desert for a hundred miles in either direction.

On our 5th trip thru Beatty (3 x to the south, 2 x to the north), we've come to know the town and it's amenities well.

The complex where we gas up has: gas station with about 20 pumps, store with tourist/travel type goodies (candy, nuts, ice cream, gum, etc.) that is quite large. They have 100's of bins of goodies that allow you to buy the amount you want of whatever delight you find too hard to pass.

Peter often gets an ice cream here, as have I a few times also. When it's hot in the desert, this is THE place to take a break.

From Beatty, you continue north on US 95 for about 30 miles to the turn off toward Bishop, California and Highway 266.Below is a photo of me pointing at an old house (that is now shuttered) that is the only thing located at this desert intersection. (formerly a brothel and now for sale). Peter is checking his load on the bottom photo.

The next part of the ride takes you back across 100 miles of open desert with no gas stations or stores of any kind. It's an awesome ride thru wide open desert that travels up and down three mountain passes that take you from the desert floor up eventually to Bishop. If you want to get a feel of how desolate this area is; you can click on this link and be taken to the Mapquest interactive map. Mapquest Interactive Map US95 and Hwy 266 area. You can follow the road thru the desert all the way to Bishop.

You finally come up over a hill and see what lies ahead at the end of this desert road. Off in the distance are the mountains that make up the eastern side of Yosemite National Park. Snow capped rugged and very beautiful, they are in your view often as you wind your way toward Big Pine, California and then on to Bishop.

A reminder: It's roughly 150 miles from Beatty to Bishop, so be sure you have gas, sunscreen applied, and won't need anything along this route, as there is NOTHING at all available.

As always, we stop in Bishop at 'The Petite Pantry' for some great food, service, and shade from the sun on their deck in front of the restaurant. You can see Peter at the table out front getting ready to have some of their great iced tea and his favorite sandwich, while I await my usual BLT.

From Bishop, you're up in the high country quite soon and the ride is spectacular as you travel for miles along the back side of Yosemite National Park. I've described this trip a few times in earlier posts, so I'll just mention that we highly recommend this section of US 395 from Bishop to Carson City Nevada as one of the nicest and most beautiful rides you can find anywhere. You need to be prepared though as it can throw some of nature's finest elements at you if you aren't. We hit some very strong winds at Mammoth Lakes, CA - about 30 - 45 minutes north from Bishop. We had to stop at Mammoth Lakes and add clothes and the wind was cold and blowing at about 40 mph.

Be sure to take an eat or coffee break at the Bridgeport Inn just another hour up the road from Mammoth. The proprietor is an awesome man who is full of baseball stories. The Inn has motel rooms (OK, but spartan rooms), a great restaurant (a bit pricey), and bar (fantastic decor).

You will pass the iconic Mono Lake and later Topaz Lake just south of Carson City on this segment of the ride. Very beautiful. It took us from 6:30 AM in Las Vegas til approximately 5PM to arrive at the Holiday Inn Express on the far north end of Carson City. Nothing beats the free HI Express breakfasts when you're on the road. We don't spend a lot of time getting pretty in the morning as we'll be wearing helmets and lots of other gear all day, so we like the idea of slipping down the hall for a quick bite and then hitting the road as soon as possible. (a photo of the Mammoth Lakes area below)

In the next post I'll describe our ride from Carson City to one of our all time favorite night time stop destinations - Rogue River, Oregon.

The Ride Home from Infocomm - Las Vegas to Carson City, NV - Old friends like Alan Mackelprang and more!

2010-06-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

One of the next best things about going on a motorcycle trip (after the actual ride itself), is that you tend to talk to a lot more people when you're on a bike.

IE: In our car; we would have never spoken to this jolly guy standing in the hot sun just north of Bridgeport, CA all day.

We learned a lot about him in the 15 minutes that we stood and waited for the road to open up again.

There is also a special kind of bond that exists between those riding two wheels motorized vehicles; no matter what they are riding, when you meet up on the road at a gas station, rest stop, or anywhere else, you immediately have something to share and talk about. Often you share the road conditions each direction and favorite stops and sites.

You might say that riders are the brothers and sisters of the road...cause it truly feels like that.

One of my dearest and oldest friends is a guy named Alan Mackelprang. We grew up across the street from one another in Lakewood, Colorado. We lived far from town, and in those days, you could have a 50cc and under motorcycle license at age 14. We each owned bikes at that age, and spent many hours riding around the back roads and off road trails surrounding our homes in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

Alan lives in Las Vegas now. He's a pilot with United Airlines. If I were to pick the man I wanted to be flying my plane, it would always be Alan. He's always on top of making sure the trip will be safe and fun and there is no one I'd trust more with my life in his hands miles up in the air.

He's also a super avid bike rider as well and owns two bikes now. He has the Honda Rune and also a Honda Goldwing. As we approached Las Vegas on the way down, and once again as we left Las Vegas, we had a constant text chat going as Alan advised us of weather and other conditions on the road ahead of us.

Thanks Alan. It was great to have dinner with you and catch up while in Vegas.

Another thing I have to admit is that on a long ride it becomes easier and easier to be happy about a chance to 'stand up' for a moment...if you know what I mean.

We decided we had finally learned our lesson about riding in the Nevada summer by arriving in the early morning. From that experience, we decided we wanted to leave Las Vegas in the early morning also; and especially on a Thursday morning vs. a Friday or Saturday morning. Las Vegas city traffic is as bad as I've been in, and I never want to take it on when it's a full tilt again. So...easy to get up early and leave town.

We were totally packed by 10:00 PM and hit the sack early. We got up around 5:30 AM and each grabbed as much of our gear as possible and headed out to get the bikes from the garage in back of Treasure Island Hotel where we had been staying the last three nights. We knew it would take two trips as you have a lot of gear when you travel 2750 miles roundtrip that may include every type of weather known to man.

We had the bikes ready with the first load for each and started them up! It was great to hear them running again. We hadn't so much as started them during the 3 1/2 days we were in town. We rode around to the valet parking area in front and parked. The Parking guys are quite aggressive there and do their best to keep the driveway clear so traffic can flow. So, we knew we needed to be efficient and move quickly to get out of dodge. We hauled up to our room and picked up the rest of each of our gear and headed for the front desk to check out. There were no others in line to check out at 6:15 am, so we got thru it quite fast and headed out the door.

Load up the final things, get on the bikes, and start em up! Let's Ride! More to come on our ride from Las Vegas to Carson City eventually ending back at our respective homes in Olympia and Vancouver.

Infocomm Trade Show - Las Vegas, NV - The 'excuse' for our ride to Las Vegas.

2010-06-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

Among other things; Infocomm is the largest gathering of people involved in the audio/visual communications business in North America. Every other year, it is held in Las Vegas, Nv in June.

My riding partner on the three rides we have made from Seattle to Las Vegas has always been Peter Galea. One year, his wife Francis also rode her bike down with us.

Peter 'literally' grew up in the audio/visual industry as his dad was the founder and owner of Premier Audio Visual in Toronto, Canada. He informed me that this Infocomm was the 42nd that he had attended since he was in his teens. He also told several of us that this would be his last......we'll see....I'm kind of doubting it.

Over the years we've come to know a lot of people in this industry. I've worked for a couple of the best companies in the business - (Da-Lite, and SMART Technologies); one of the oldest members (DL) and 'possibly' the 'most' successful of the later generations of companies (SMART) involved with Infocomm.

Peter has run the gamut as well. After working with his dad, he moved out west to Vancouver, BC and eventually ended up at Sharp's AV as Manager of the Vancouver, BC office when I first met him in 89 or so. He worked later as President of Califone and traveled the world for them. For the latest years he has run Future Image Systems, Inc. a rep firm for all of Canada. He just sold that to Andy and Ed and has opened up another company now to distribute products in Canada.

So, between us; we know a lot of people that attend this show. Many of them we may only see once per year; while at this show. It's always great to see old friends and get into the hummmm of excitement that surrounds Infocomm each year.

You want to connect with as many friends and associates as possible as networking is awesome AND its a great way to keep your knowledge about what's really going on.

So...next I'll get back to the road as I start to write about our ride back to Seattle (and Vancouver, BC) for Peter and I.

Sorry for my departure from telling you about our ride from Las Vegas back to Seattle/Vancouver BC; but I thought it might make sense to some of you if I explained a major component of the trip.

Next post; back on the road again!