As I confessed already, I played hooky Wednesday afternoon and headed off to meet up with one of my regular riding partners, Jim. We have a spot up north on Highway 9 we normally meet at so I hopped on the bike and waded into traffic. The problem with Seattle is getting *out* of the city sometimes.  Took me an hour and twenty minutes to ride roughly 40 miles. Oh joy. Fortunately the rest of the ride made up for that.

It was fairly warm today, in the 80s but comfortable on the bike as long as you’re moving. I wore my mesh gear anyway for maximum air flow and my hydration pack also. Our goal was to ride Highway 9, a nice twisty stretch of road north of Arlington, WA.  The problem is that Highway 9 is straight as an arrow south of Arlington.  Fortunately Jim knows an alternate route via roads through farming country. The roads are still mostly straight, but with frequent 90 degree bends so it’s still a fun ride.  And generally, no traffic to mention.

The ride up was great. As we often do, we stopped at a favorite restaurant near Big Lake, WA. I don’t even know the name of the place, but it’s right on our route so we stop there. They have great burgers! After a relaxing dinner, we mounted up and rode our route in reverse. The ride back was even better. The sun had dipped behind the hills to the west and the temperatures had cooled off a little. This made for perfect riding conditions. Far too soon, we were back at our meeting point and it was time to split up and head for home.

It’s a beautiful summer day in Seattle.  Someone with a good work ethic would stay focused on their responsibilities and not be distracted by thoughts of gloomy, wet weather in the forecast.

Good thing I’m not that person… while they sit in their cube slaving away for their corporate masters, *I’ll* be enjoying a spirited ride along picturesque two-lane roads. Suckers…

Went for a little day ride this afternoon. I’ve been meaning to visit Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park for a couple of years now but kept putting it off. The weather was gorgeous today once the sun finally peaked out after lunch. Figured there was no time like the present so I hopped on the bike and wandered on out there.

Beautiful ride up to the ridge. The road is very nice, only a little rock in some of the corners. Lots of deer too, I think I passed at least five of them. In two cases there was a doe with a fawn. Wasn’t really safe to stop and take a photo so you’ll just have to imagine what they looked like or go visit Leesa’s blog… she’s got plenty of deer photos!

The views from up top are stunning. As the road winds its way around, you’ll eventually see in all directions. At the end of the road, it loops back and you retrace your route. I rode to the end noting places I wanted to stop and then took photos on the way back down. It was a great way to polish off a weekend!

More photos on Flickr (of course)…

Home safe and sound. Rode home today across Washington’s North Cascade Highway (Highway 20). It was a fantastic ride and the temperature was just right for a change! I’m a bit wiped out but have started sorting through photos, I’ll be uploading them in bits and pieces in the coming days.  Have a ton of video to sort through also but you’ll just have to be patient for that!

I was originally planning to return home today, but I’ve decided that I’m having enough fun that I’m going to stay out an extra day and ride back to Seattle tomorrow. Seems like I do that a lot, you’d think I’d just start planning to take Monday after a weekend ride off… hmmm.

I’m back in Penticton, BC at Dave’s place.  We had a lovely ride back today.  Our modus this weekend has been to rise early and ride in the cool early morning air before the temperatures rocket up towards 100F. We did that today, the ride through the mountains was so wonderfully cool and beautiful to boot.

I’ve taken a ton of photos, having three digital cameras (counting my smart phone) and a video camera along for the ride.  I’ve remotely uploaded just a few teaser shots taken on the smart phone, plenty more will pop up on Flickr after I return home!

I’m about to hit the sack, but when I get up in the morning I’m off to Canada for a long weekend. I’ll be riding through the Cascades tomorrow on my way to Penticton, BC. I’ll spend Friday night there with a friend and his wife, then we’ll both head to Castlegar, BC for an organized ride called the Kootenay Borscht, Burn and BBQ 2007. I should be back home at the bunker sometime late on Sunday.

I’ll be taking plenty of photos, including using a new digital still camera mounted on the bike so I can shoot while underway. Hopefully that results in a few interesting shots! If I can get a signal on the smart-phone, or find a wi-fi connection it will talk to, I may try to provide a couple of updates while I’m out.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your week, I certainly plan to!

Home already, short ride really… just over 300 miles. Beautiful weather down at Saint Helens! A wonderful day all in all.

After a gorgeous weekend (I grilled out both days, you really can’t grill too much in my opinion) I decided to play hookie tomorrow. A motorcycling acquaintance from one of the web boards I hang out on (zzrbikes.com) is in town and is planning a loop around Mount Saint Helens and out to the coast tomorrow. I’m going to ditch work and tag along. Tomorrow is the “worst” day in the forecast for the next 7-14 days, cloudy and mid-70s with a slight chance of rain on the coast. Sounds fine to me!

I took Lindsey out to dinner tonight so I could show her the new car.  Matt got to ride in it over the weekend but we kept it a secret from Lindsey.  She and Laura were out of town this weekend visiting Walla Walla, WA.

That all went well.  On the way home just as I’m coming up on my exit I see this motorcycle barreling up on my six. I notice these things mind you.  Then I notice the Tukwila police car behind him with lights flashing. I peal off on my exit, so does the bike and police car.  I figure the bike is going for the side of the off ramp so I don’t pull to the side immediately.  Nope, he whips by me on the left and runs for it so I immediately dive to to the side of the road to clear space for the police officer.  And off they go, through a red light and away. I don’t know what happened after that.

Honestly, it makes me angry.  I see this guy on a motorcycle, wearing a t-shirt and jeans, tennis shoes, basically no gear except the helmet. And of course he’s running from the law. And that’s what most people think of when they think of sport bikes at all. It really chafes me that squids like this guy are out there tarnishing the reputation of those of us that do take motorcycling seriously and take responsibility for our actions. I ride fast and hard at times, when I feel it’s safe to do so.  But if I blow past a trooper and he decides to light me up, I’m going to pull over and take my lumps. You play the game, you pay the bill when it comes due.

I can’t fathom what idiots like this guy I encountered are thinking… I guess they aren’t, are they?