SportBike Northwest

See www.SoundRider.com for the upcoming Sportbike NorthWest Rally.

Another plug for master seat guy Rich O'Connor of Rich's Seats. Rich, after years of experience has figured out how to have a mail in business model for his seats. Be prepared to answer a shitload of questions and supply pix. This is custom work.

 

I have been getting there news letter for a while now. Wished I had a bike out that way.

 

That's a long haul from Florida.. Maybe a new seat from Rich would help..

You are just the kinda guy that comes to this.. 13 years and I have never heard a complaint..

I'll pass this on to Tom Mehren. He's the honcho on this deal. Sharp guy and he listens..

A VFR story: I was running the main gate one year and three guys on VFRs showed up..They wanted to set up their tents in an area where the RVs set up and where trucks and trailers are parked. OK by me.. I told them to park in a nearby paved lot and set up wherever there was room. The ground was wet from a recent shower ( that's what we call them up here) A guy was helping me out. The three guys didn't pay attention or were smarter than me and rode their bikes into the area. I told the guy with me to watch. All three bikes fell over. Lots of body language ensued and some new word combinations were formed.

VFRs have great kickstands but not on wet ground.

 

I was up in the northern part of the North Cascades last summer for 2 and a half weeks hiking and climbing. Love that area. At the end of the trip we went to the Olympic peninsula and camped on the beach.

 

SBNW was held in Washington for ten years at a fairgrounds on the Columbia River aboot a mile or two East of the Bonneville Dam. Now it's in Oregon.

Same deal different digs..

A good thing you picked Summer for your fun and games.. In Winter ya could have really got wet..

The North Cascades Highway is one great ride. One of the official "wilderness areas" in the US.. Best for those who want to give it a try to first see if it's open. Sometimes it's not open until as late as July.. Same deal as some of the roads around Mt. Rainier.

 

I was out there in 2000 when the world record snowfall was recorded on Mt Baker. Baker probably had the record already but its official station broke and Ranier held it for many years. We climbed Mt Shukstan, Mt Baker and some of the smaller peaks in the area that year. It was crazy, all the trails were buried under 30' plus of snow at the end of July and the 2 weeks in August we were there. It never completely melted off that year. It was like winter camping except without the extreme low temperatures. Very clean campsites and almost no bugs. You did need to know how to navigate well, there were no signs and no trails, just snow. Here are a few photos from last summer.

 

A few more. That is Seattle glowing in the milky way night shot. Seattle is about 100 miles away!

 

And lastly the OP beach camping.

 

I'm thinking about the Pendleton bike week. I wouldn't mind having my bike blessed by a Umatila shaman. At least until I get new tires.

 

SPECTACULAR photos Gator. I've ridden up to the parklinglot of Baker a few times. Awesome up there.

 

Summer campsites in the National Parks are usually pretty good. The parks hire in grad students in several of the forest sciences to be temp park rangers. (and give speeding tickets..How do I know this?) The regular Rangers are busy saving tourists from all sorts of shit like thinking bears are like dogs and cougars are like "Hello Kitty".

I suppose the park dudes up there in the frozen North do much the same thing only adding a moose or two to the pile..

Great pix!!!

 

Thanks Randy. I have a photo of Mt. Baker Rd from 2000 where the road ends in a 30' wall of snow near the ski area. IN AUGUST! That area is like what the Tetons were like back in the late 70's, not a ton of tourists yet. Some great riding in Oregon and Washington. I have been to Whistler one time skiing, that area is spectacular too.

 

I looked to see if I had a scanned photo of the end of Mt Baker Hwy but I don't. Still shooting film in 99/00. But here is a photo of Picture lake at Mt Shuksan I took in the first week of August. Still partially frozen. The other shot is going up Hells Highway where you can see how much snow is still in the back country. This photo is also in August.




And here is the back country the year before the record snow fall.