Backpack run to Portland Oregon
(You can click on any Image to see its full size.)
This was a two-day ride from Sacramento, CA to Portland, OR. The reason was for a fellow rider who is going through some problems none of us would want to deal with. His name is Dean and to show our support we are sending a backpack around the country with a T-shirt for everyone to sign. My job was to help get this backpack to the next set of riders on its journey around the country.
This was going to be a long and challenging ride. The plan was to ride up Saturday and return Sunday. That's over 500 miles a day. And as it turned out it was four of us going.
Soda Pop (Jeff)
Special Ed (Ed)
Ronnie from Nevada (Ronnie)
and me. (Paul)
I need to mention them by name because this was a major effort on their part and they did it with out any complaints at all. In fact they enjoyed it. I want to give them my special thanks and respect for all their efforts!
Ronnie had shown up at my house on Friday night so we could leave Saturday morning. Soda Pop had just let us know he was going to be going late Friday night. We were also to stop and pick up Special Ed about 2 hours from our start so he could ride with us for awhile and sign the T-shirt.
It was dark and chilly when Ronnie and I pulled into the Home Depot parking lot. Soda Pop was sitting on his bike in the dark next to a semi trailer. We pulled up and chatted for 5 minutes did the introductions and then we were off. West on Hwy 50 then North on I-5. Super slab and some of the most boring parts on the beginning of this trip. It was nice to take this first part early in the morning.
As we headed north the sun rose from the east. We could smell the fresh cut hey fields as we rode north. We stopped at a rest stop about an hour out of Sacramento and I gave Special Ed a call on my cell phone. He told us we were only 20 miles down the road and where for us to meet him. 60 miles later and I had still not seen the exit we were suppose to take. Just about the time I was going to pull off and give Ed another call I saw his exit.
Here is Ronnie and Soda Pop at the Restaurant waiting for Special Ed.
(You can click on any Image to see its full size.)
This was a two-day ride from Sacramento, CA to Portland, OR. The reason was for a fellow rider who is going through some problems none of us would want to deal with. His name is Dean and to show our support we are sending a backpack around the country with a T-shirt for everyone to sign. My job was to help get this backpack to the next set of riders on its journey around the country.
This was going to be a long and challenging ride. The plan was to ride up Saturday and return Sunday. That's over 500 miles a day. And as it turned out it was four of us going.
Soda Pop (Jeff)
Special Ed (Ed)
Ronnie from Nevada (Ronnie)
and me. (Paul)
I need to mention them by name because this was a major effort on their part and they did it with out any complaints at all. In fact they enjoyed it. I want to give them my special thanks and respect for all their efforts!
Ronnie had shown up at my house on Friday night so we could leave Saturday morning. Soda Pop had just let us know he was going to be going late Friday night. We were also to stop and pick up Special Ed about 2 hours from our start so he could ride with us for awhile and sign the T-shirt.
It was dark and chilly when Ronnie and I pulled into the Home Depot parking lot. Soda Pop was sitting on his bike in the dark next to a semi trailer. We pulled up and chatted for 5 minutes did the introductions and then we were off. West on Hwy 50 then North on I-5. Super slab and some of the most boring parts on the beginning of this trip. It was nice to take this first part early in the morning.
As we headed north the sun rose from the east. We could smell the fresh cut hey fields as we rode north. We stopped at a rest stop about an hour out of Sacramento and I gave Special Ed a call on my cell phone. He told us we were only 20 miles down the road and where for us to meet him. 60 miles later and I had still not seen the exit we were suppose to take. Just about the time I was going to pull off and give Ed another call I saw his exit.
Here is Ronnie and Soda Pop at the Restaurant waiting for Special Ed.
Here is Ronnie's school bus. This bike always gets lots of looks when we are on the road.
Special Ed showed up a few minutes later. Here are the 4 bikes that will be heading north. From left to right they are:
Me, Soda Pop, Ronnie and Special Ed
Me, Soda Pop, Ronnie and Special Ed
After some breakfast we saddled up and hit the road. The weather was wonderful! The sun had come up by now and it was getting warm.
Here is the gang back on the road.
Here is the gang back on the road.
We finally hit Reading, CA and stop at a rest stop. I ask Special Ed how far he was riding with us and he says "for awhile." I though OK he will let us know when he will turn around and head home. Back on the road and keep heading north.
The road got much better after Reading. It started turning and twisting and green trees appeared everywhere. We crossed Shasta lake and I noticed how low the water is.
Here we are crossing over the Shasta lake bridge.
The road got much better after Reading. It started turning and twisting and green trees appeared everywhere. We crossed Shasta lake and I noticed how low the water is.
Here we are crossing over the Shasta lake bridge.
And here is lovely Shasta Lake. Very beautiful, but very low.
For some reason I thought the California border would not be far from Shasta but I was wrong.
Here is Ronnie and Soda Pop at a gas stop. Soda Pop is showing Ronnie where he might put some more chrome or something.
Here is Ronnie and Soda Pop at a gas stop. Soda Pop is showing Ronnie where he might put some more chrome or something.
Back on the road again and here is a picture of me.
What? You say it's a wheel Paul not you? I say look again.
That's me in that shinny hubcap.
We come around a turn and we see Mt Shasta. This is always a beautiful site. Plus you can see it 20 miles before you get to it. We had to stop and take a picture.
We come around a turn and we see Mt Shasta. This is always a beautiful site. Plus you can see it 20 miles before you get to it. We had to stop and take a picture.
Mountains are appearing everywhere now. We are going over ridges and passes and winding back and forth. This road is getting fun.
I notice the boys behind me now start to wave every time I raise my camera. It means they are paying attention.
I took this picture because I had never seen Soda Pop is full traveling gear. He's missing his saddlebags but still had room to pack all his gear. I also checked with Special Ed about how far he was going with us because we were well above Shasta now. He quote was "I will still go for while."
Around 2 p.m. we decided to have some lunch. And me being the great leader I am I decided to give these guys some Heaven on Earth food.
Here were experiencing some Heaven on Earth.
Here were experiencing some Heaven on Earth.
At this point we needed to make some time. We still have a long way to go. We hit the Oregon border (I missed the state sign like I always do) and dropped down into Oregon. We stopped just into Oregon and checked with Special Ed again. At this point we told Ed if he had come this far he HAD to finish the trip. He agreed and we mounted up again. We needed to keep moving and stop as few times as possible the day was passing fast and we still have a long way to go.
We were making pretty good time when just before Salem we got a little rain. Just a light mist that let us know the weather was turning bad. Hard to take pictures when the rain starts. Just north of Salem it started to get dark and we got stuck in a major traffic jam. It was the Oregon Duck football game that had just finished and the traffic was now clogging up I-5. We could tell it was traffic from the football game because we could see the bright yellow pom poms hanging out car windows and tailgates. In Oregon you can't lane share so we were stuck! It took an hour to go 11 miles. We are running late now.
We arrived at our motel just after 9pm and were tired and ready to get out of the chill and meet the Oregon riders. We check in and head over the pub across the street to meet OTG and Getodd1. After introductions Special Ed says he's got to leave to hook up with his sister-in-law to spend the night with (I thought he was staying with us.) OTF and Getodd1 are just paying their bill by this time so we head over to our room to see and hand over the backpack. Here is the official picture. I want to note that Special Ed and myself are not in the picture. That's because Special Ed had already left to meet his Sister-in-law and I was taking the picture.
From left to right:
Getodd1
Soda Pop
OTG
Ronnie from Nevada
We were making pretty good time when just before Salem we got a little rain. Just a light mist that let us know the weather was turning bad. Hard to take pictures when the rain starts. Just north of Salem it started to get dark and we got stuck in a major traffic jam. It was the Oregon Duck football game that had just finished and the traffic was now clogging up I-5. We could tell it was traffic from the football game because we could see the bright yellow pom poms hanging out car windows and tailgates. In Oregon you can't lane share so we were stuck! It took an hour to go 11 miles. We are running late now.
We arrived at our motel just after 9pm and were tired and ready to get out of the chill and meet the Oregon riders. We check in and head over the pub across the street to meet OTG and Getodd1. After introductions Special Ed says he's got to leave to hook up with his sister-in-law to spend the night with (I thought he was staying with us.) OTF and Getodd1 are just paying their bill by this time so we head over to our room to see and hand over the backpack. Here is the official picture. I want to note that Special Ed and myself are not in the picture. That's because Special Ed had already left to meet his Sister-in-law and I was taking the picture.
From left to right:
Getodd1
Soda Pop
OTG
Ronnie from Nevada
It was only a few minutes later that OTG and Getodd1 left and we hit the sack. We were tired and ready for bed.
The next morning came quick and Ronnie was up and dressed by the time I crawled out of bed. We found Soda Pop and went down to the lobby to see if Special Ed had shown up yet. We could see it was dark, cold and raining outside. About this time Special Ed came walking into the lobby. He looked like a drowned rat. He had stopped at Wal-Mart and got some cold weather overhauls, but they were not water proof and he looked wet and cold!
Riding in the rain can be very challenging, but riding in the rain, in the dark and on super slab is crazy. We decide to wait until it was light before we left. While we were waiting we moved out bikes across the street to the bank because it had a overhang we could park under and not get wet.
The next morning came quick and Ronnie was up and dressed by the time I crawled out of bed. We found Soda Pop and went down to the lobby to see if Special Ed had shown up yet. We could see it was dark, cold and raining outside. About this time Special Ed came walking into the lobby. He looked like a drowned rat. He had stopped at Wal-Mart and got some cold weather overhauls, but they were not water proof and he looked wet and cold!
Riding in the rain can be very challenging, but riding in the rain, in the dark and on super slab is crazy. We decide to wait until it was light before we left. While we were waiting we moved out bikes across the street to the bank because it had a overhang we could park under and not get wet.
Here is Special Ed and Soda Pop getting their bikes ready. You can see it just starting to get light in the background.
We left just after 7am. It was raining pretty steady when we pulled onto I-5. I just wanted to get as far south as I could hoping to get out of this rain. It was still raining an hour later when we stopped for gas and breakfast. Here is a picture of the bikes.
Sorry it's blurry but I was shaking pretty bad when I took the picture. That's Soda Pop squeezing water out of his gloves.
Sorry it's blurry but I was shaking pretty bad when I took the picture. That's Soda Pop squeezing water out of his gloves.
After breakfast it was back on the road. It takes will power to come out of a warm restaurant, craw onto your cold bike and ride in the rain. Yet all these guys did it with out complaint. The rain was steady for the next several hours. We would stop at rest stops about every 80 miles and crowd around the blow dryers in the bathroom. I love those blow dryers! I could of hung out in there for hours but it was not the case on this trip. Back on the road....had to get south! We also decided to try and find a Wal-Mart for Special Ed because he wasn't looking so good in the cold and wet.
We finally find a Wal-Mart and most of the rain suits had been picked over. I found one and got hood to keep warm and then it was back on the road.
When we got nearer to the Oregon border I keep hopping we would see some clear skies anytime now. Every ridge we crossed over I would look for some signs of clearing but it was not happening! We stopped at another rest stop about 70 miles from the border and that's we noticed another couple on a HD sportster. This thing did not windshield and they were only in leathers and half dome helmets. You could tell they were cold. We said hello and they were off.
Back on the road and we finally hit the California border. The pass we crossed over was very cold (46 degrees and raining) so it was a relief to drop down into Yreka, CA.
The rain finally stopped and the clouds were getting lighter. Time to pull out the camera and get a picture. Everyone seems to still be there. You can see the bad weather behind us. The rain had all but stopped by now. It was nice to be on dry roads.
We finally find a Wal-Mart and most of the rain suits had been picked over. I found one and got hood to keep warm and then it was back on the road.
When we got nearer to the Oregon border I keep hopping we would see some clear skies anytime now. Every ridge we crossed over I would look for some signs of clearing but it was not happening! We stopped at another rest stop about 70 miles from the border and that's we noticed another couple on a HD sportster. This thing did not windshield and they were only in leathers and half dome helmets. You could tell they were cold. We said hello and they were off.
Back on the road and we finally hit the California border. The pass we crossed over was very cold (46 degrees and raining) so it was a relief to drop down into Yreka, CA.
The rain finally stopped and the clouds were getting lighter. Time to pull out the camera and get a picture. Everyone seems to still be there. You can see the bad weather behind us. The rain had all but stopped by now. It was nice to be on dry roads.
We stop at a rest stop just north of Shasta Mt and I can't help but notice the difference of the mountain between yesterday and today.
Here are the bikes near Mt Shasta.
We finally make it to Weed, CA. I like this town, it scenic and I love the name. Time for a Kodak moment!
From here we pick up the pace because we can smell home. Like horses returning to the barn we go a little faster with every mile closer to home.
We stopped for gas just south of Reading and who pulls in but the couple from the previous rest stop on the HD sportster. You could tell they were having a rough time. I had to get their picture.
We stopped for gas just south of Reading and who pulls in but the couple from the previous rest stop on the HD sportster. You could tell they were having a rough time. I had to get their picture.
From here we got back on the road. 25 miles later Special Ed peeled off to head home and the rest of us keep going (so long ED!)
By the time we got back to Sacramento it was dark.
We got back to my house around 10pm. Overall a good trip, weather sucked but sometimes that happens.
Would I do it again…..yep!
By the time we got back to Sacramento it was dark.
We got back to my house around 10pm. Overall a good trip, weather sucked but sometimes that happens.
Would I do it again…..yep!
Polo
