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Posts Tagged ‘Scenic roads’

My trusty V-Strom nestled against the curb at Pike Place Market

As the winter takes hold of our eastern escape route over the few Cascade Mountain passes in Washington State, my motorcycle trips become less frequent and typically shorter. I like to make more destination rides versus my typical routes of no particular plan. The no plan routes satisfy my wanderlust spring through fall. Winter requires a bit more ready work.

Destination trips typically include places to eat and warm up instead of soaking in the environment. Pike Place Market is just such a destination. This popular tourist attraction pulls people in from around the world. They come to see fish tossed, take in the city ambiance and find some good food to eat.

Now I agree with John Fogerty’s lyrics from Proud Mary, “I never saw the good side of the city until I hitched a ride on the river boat queen.” I’d of course trade the river boat for a motorcycle.

I’ll admit, when my wife and I first moved to Seattle, we did the tourist thing. In fact, it was quite enjoyable taking in Pike Place Market. That initial visit was great research beyond the typical attractions of the market overlooking Elliot Bay. Now I can ride through the massive year-round crowds, find a place to park the motorcycle, walk directly to a few select shops and quickly escape back to the open road.

Open road is a figurative term in downtown Seattle. The very geography that makes the Puget Sound area enticing for motorcyclists to explore, creates few good places to build roads. The lack of roads makes the Seattle area a tangled and gnarled mess of traffic.

It is good to be prepared for traffic backups in order to reduce their impact. It is also good to be on a motorcycle to better get around the traffic in the first place.

I hop in the carpool lane on I-5 and head south. As I move over to the express lanes laughter breaks out inside my HJC helmet as I pass the thousands of vehicles stuck in the typical Saturday backups. I mentally knock on wood to keep karma at bay. The express lanes have a carpool-only exit that drops you in downtown Seattle. From there it is a short trip to the famous market.

Move this, move that, viola you have motorcycle parking at Pike Place Market

The narrow profile of my Suzuki V-Strom allows me to navigate the crowds and find a good spot to snap a Pike Place photo. I then roll down the steep hill that is Pike Place and find a better-suited parking spot. Cars are packed in tight on both sides of the road. Luckily, there is a spot that is mostly used for hand trucks and other random items that is perfect for motorcycles. A quick reordering of said tools and the V-strom rolls in nicely. How sweet, I just created a parking spot across the street from my true destination. Try that with a car. I would have driven around for 30 minutes in a car, only to find parking in an over-filled garage that charges $10 to park. Free parking on a motorcycle is good by me any day.

I bet you’re wondering why a person who isn’t fond of crowds would venture into Pike Place Market? I made the trek down here for the baked goodness that is Piroshky Piroshky. It is worth the effort. Piroshky Piroshky is a small bakery that opened in 1992 by the Kotelnikov  family. According to their Web site, the word Piroshky originates from the Russian work “pir” which means feast. That is exactly what I do every time I go to this fine bakery. A piroshky is a baked or fried bun filled with a variety of fillings including, meat, vegetables or sweets. This time around I order a Bavarian sausage piroshky, apple cinnamon piroshky and a marzipan roll. The latter being my favorite item from the bakery to date. I still have many to try. Their menu boasts 27 varieties of this tasty bit of deliciousness.

The line of poeple outside of Piroshki Piroshki at Pike Place Market

The added bonus of this destination, is that I can be 100 percent certain of wife sign-off on the ride. She knows that she’ll also get to partake in the baked piroshky goodness when I arrive back home. She also likes that she doesn’t have to fight the wet coldness in the Seattle air while navigating the hustle-bustle of downtown to do it. I don’t mind it though… it is a ride destination worth the effort.

On the other hand, I can’t wait for spring. Bring on the open roads that are hundreds of miles from the hustle-bustle. Riverboat or not, I’d still take wilderness over cement jungle every time.

For more information on Piroshky Piroshky, visit their Web site at: www.piroshkybakery.com. Be sure to check out the photo gallery tab on the bottom, right side of the page.

The prospect of being a certified Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) RiderCoach has brought me and the V-Strom to Yakima Washington for a 60-hour course. The city of Yakima and surrounding Yakima Valley is known to be one of the best apple-producing areas in the world. The area also produces three-quarters of all hops grown in the United States. This is also the heart of Washington wine-country.

Bikes parked on the range for the MSF Instructor Preparation course in Yakima, WA

Despite all of the economic strengths of the area it is apparent that the area that struggles. As you pass through the city of Yakima there are pockets of successful businesses with large gaps of empty storefronts. The locals constantly talk about the good and bad parts of town. This is truly an area of opportunity for the few that can find it.

Situated southeast of Mount Rainier National Park and along two valleys, the area is ripe with scenery. The naturally arid area has been largely irrigated. This provides 360-degree unobstructed by trees and other vegetation. On average the area receives just over eight inches of rain per year and temperatures range from just under 40 degrees to the low 90s. The lack of rain with very few frozen days equals a beautiful area with great riding weather most of the year. Of course that is strictly my opinion as a former resident of the brittle cold region of Northern Minnesota. Compared to Bemidji, Minnesota the Yakima region is downright warm and toasty year-round.

After a long, yet enjoyable weekend of taking the MSF Instructor Preparation course it is time to head home to Everett. The scenic route that I ride is approximately 200 miles along river canyons and mountain passes punctuated with apple orchards and a Bavarian-styled village.

I head north out of Yakima along Interstate 84. It is a short four miles on the super slab to the Canyon Road exit. Canyon Road stretches nearly 30 miles from Yakima to Ellensburg. It is one of those few dream motorcycle roads and is a great alternative to I-84. The road cuts through cliffs carved out of basalt by centuries of movement of the Yakima River. The road moves in tandem with the river as if the two were dancing a tango. It is an especially sexy dance when you’re a part of it astride a motorcycle. The constant beat of sweeping corners are accentuated with curvaceous views of tall cliffs.

The Red Horse Diner in Ellensburg makes great burgers. The former Mobil station now makes a perfect roadtrip food stop.

The road is superb and easy to lose track of speed. I was lucky enough to be slowed by traffic as I passed the shiny state patrol squad car. As good motorcycle roads go, this is typical. Pick your lines and watch your speed. The “man” knows the road and will ticket you.

The Red Horse Diner is located just off of I-90 on US 97. I highly recommend it for a pit stop.

With a full belly I mount my motorcycle and point the wheels north to Ellensburg. US 97 makes a couple turns. Make sure to pay attention to the signs. A I climb higher into the hills the views of the valleys below are beautiful. I pass many other riders. Tossing a hand in the air and even standing up on the pegs to provide a salute to their choice of transportation. You’re never alone on the road when you’re on a motorcycle.

"Private Road" at an apple orchard on US 97 near Blewett Pass

As I chase the sun into the night I pass many Fire Service roads and campgrounds that deserve a weekend of exploration. The FS roads call to me on the V-Strom, but it is Sunday night and I have another couple hours of road to reach home. I continue a speedy pace over Blewett Pass toward Leavenworth. On the north side of the pass the road cuts through picturesque apple orchards. I pull over for a water break in hopes to find a short road to explore and only find signs warning of “private road.” Oh well.

I reach the Bavarian-styled town of Leavenworth. This is a fun little tourist town. My wife and I have spent a day browsing the many shops. The town has had two incarnations; first as a railroad town in the late 1800s to early 1900s. The Great Northern Railroad rerouted its tracks up the Chumstick Valley in the 1920s. Then the 1930’s brought the Great Depression mostly shut the town down. The solution was found in a themed rehabilitation project that made Leavenworth the Bavarian village that it is today.

Bavarian facade of Leavenworth

There are a couple gems in town, but for the most part the fake facades fade quickly with the poor customer service. Sorry folks, it is just my honest opinion. There is a fantastic sausage and meat shop in town. Otherwise, we have yet to find good German fare in the fake village. Are any German restaurateurs out there reading this? The town needs a good restaurant.

Now on U.S. Highway 2 I head west over Stevens Pass. The rugged terrain of the northern Cascades make this a much more scenic route than I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass. Around each bend the tall peaks block the sun. Western facing hills are still strongly illuminated, but the heavily tree-lined road is getting dark. I stop for photo opportunities, but they are quick stops with the bike left running to save time.

A good part of US 2 uses the old railroad grade over Stevens Pass. The trains now pass through an 8-mile long tunnel through the highest part of the pass. This is the longest such tunnel in the western Hemisphere according to the book Exploring Washington’s Past, A Road Guide to History by Ruth Kirk and Carmela Alexander. There is a rich history in this area as the lumber and other natural resources brought development to the west. A New York newspaper once called a construction camp in this area the “wickedest place in the world” when the railroad was built in the early part of the 1900s. Today is a popular skiing destination and summer hiking and camping destination.

The setting sun illuminates the rugged mountains on Stevens Pass

There are very few routes connecting the east side of the cascades to the population centers on the west side. Long traffic backups are common as families with their RVs head home from weekend camping trips on Sunday nights. I’m making great time as I starting heading down the west side of the pass. That is until I take a blind right-hand corner and find traffic at a complete standstill. The emergency stop procedure that I had practiced the two previous weekends at the MSF Instructor Preparation course was put to good use. The outside-inside-outside cornering technique provided me enough of a sightline to straighten up the bike and apply full brakes. I completed the stop on the right rear corner of the car ahead of me. The whole time I was watching my mirrors for the next vehicle to be surprised by the sudden blockage of the road. I placed myself to the shoulder side of the car ahead of me in case I needed to make a quick escape from a skidding SUV piloted by a cell-phone toting driver more concerned with Monday’s tasks at work than the pavement they were pounding. That vehicle didn’t come and the drivers that stacked in behind me must have seen my brake lights with enough time to come to a safe stop behind me.

Traffic often backs up Sunday night on westbound US 2 over Stevens Pass

The traffic back up lasts for more than an hour. The V-Strom’s off road abilities came in handy as I was able to pass a few hundred cars using the four-wheeler trail along the side of the road. It brought back memories from my childhood riding these trails for miles and miles to friends’ homes. Quickly goosing the throttle popped the front wheel up on the driveway approaches. This bike can even make traffic backups fun!

Traffic clears up near Monroe and I finally reach the speed limit to finish out the ride down US 2 to Everett. Soon after turning the bike off and putting it to sleep on it’s centerstand, my head hits my pillow and I’m out cold. There’s nothing like a long, yet enjoyable weekend of riding motorcycles through the desert and heavily treed mountains to knock a rider out cold, sawing logs through the night.