Feeling a Little Loopy

Saturday Duane and I went out for a nice long motorcycle tour. The freeway sections were a little rough but overall a nice way to burn most of the day:

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Monday I wanted to do some focused wandering. My intent was to go up Paradise Lake Rd (I had heard it was pretty nice) and investigate a few minor variations on my typical weekend ride. The plan was:

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Unfortunately, Google Maps doesn't mention that

• Most of the roads are unmarked
• Many were dirt or unmaintained.
• And some are permanently blocked.

Oh well. I suppose it's good exercise pushing your bike around gates and through mud. And I did see some interesting scenery.

Fake Right, Go Left

Back to Oregon Raceway Park over the weekend. Two full days. Exciting stuff. I even considered bringing the Ducati since I knew the track a little.

The weather forecast was "Sat: 80, sunny, no wind" "Sun: 85, sunny, no wind". How can you beat that?

By Saturday afternoon the track and I had come to a mutually-acceptable agreement: I'd accelerate over blind hills and the track would agree not to move between laps. Wonderfully efficient. I was feeling good, moving well, not scaring myself nearly as often as usual. I think I may have even passed someone.

Sunday morning I was back and ready to pick up where I left off.

Then came the word: "Today we're going to ride the track in other direction." ... Dammit! Back to square one. A whole new set of blind rises and corners. I was so slow I switched to the beginner group Sunday afternoon (partly to have more space since there were 1/2 as many bikes in that group).

I wasn't the only one struggling. Sunday was pretty rough all around. There were more than a few downed bikes. The ambulance had to respond twice. (Once for an on-track incident, once for a spectator that collapsed in the heat.) Happily everyone was fine but it was hard to get into any sort of rhythm. I'm sure glad I didn't bring the Ducati.

Here's a lap from Saturday. (It's similar to the lap from April with more of the motion-sickness inducing aspects that I know both of my readers crave):


Here's a nearly traffic-free lap from Sunday afternoon:

Random Odds + Ends

ORP (well, actually the dirt road leading to ORP) highlighted some problems. Everything inside the trailer was covered in dust. So I spent the week taking apart the interior and trying to reseal it. We'll see how successful I was in a couple weeks.

I ran out of batteries to power the camera too. Thought it would be easy to tap into the bike for power but the fuse I pull to disable the headlights also disables the tail lights, turn signals, and license plate light. I'll need to poke around and find a switchable source that's easy to get to and not effected by that fuse.

My cousin is off on his road trip.

I'm still planning to go back to ORP in a couple weeks. I'm waiting for the weather forecast before signing up and getting a hotel.

BTW, if you're ever in need of breakfast in The Dalles Oregon, I suggest stopping by the Country Cousin Inn. Get a cinnamon roll. Fresh basked and as big as your head!

First Day at ORP

Saturday I was at the newly opened Oregon Raceway Park. The track is more construction zone than finished product. The in-field is dirt, the last 3 miles of road leading to the track is dirt, there's no power, no water. In the afternoon when the wind and dust kicked up the visibility dropped to zero. A few sessions were cut short and I called it a day around 2pm.

But the track surface itself was in place. And early in the day the weather was nearly perfect. Here's a video of one of the early laps:

It definitely has some interesting sections. Lots of blind areas where you have to remember where the track went last lap and hope it hasn't moved since. Once they sort out dirt control (grass in-field, added curbing) it should be a great track.

Things Change

Yeah, it's been awhile since I posted. 'Life', it's what happens when you have other plans.

Big changes are on the horizon for the garage-life. My wife is expecting our first child in September. (Thank you. And, to the smart-ass in the peanut gallery: keep your 'condolences' to yourself.)

One of the biggest questions I've been asked is: "When are you going to sell the motorcycles?" And the answer to that is "I'm not, unless I run out of money." My wife is okay with the bikes, and I confine my true craziness to the track where it's comparatively safe. So the bikes and toy cars are staying.

However, that doesn't mean things will be unchanged. First, it means my wife will take some time away from work and that means less disposable income and that means fewer track days. Second, it means fewer trips. (She has some funny notion that I shouldn't go to an out-of-state event on Sept 29/30 if she's due on Sept 25th. ?!?! Women.) Third, the garage layout needs to change. I have to move everything out of the guestroom (helmets, leathers, boots, etc) to make room for BabyX. Right now I'm planning to get one of these to handle the storage.

I'm sure a whole lot else will change too, but we'll handle that as it comes up.