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Riding is a creative outlet for me. It takes creativity to come up with new places to explore. Sometimes it takes a bit of planning to get the wheels turning, but then something unravels the best laid plan and real adventure begins. Other times riding without a plan is the ticket to new discoveries. I often open topographical and road maps for inspiration. The roads that I enjoy discovering are ever changing. Some forest service roads change so quickly that even a two-year old map is now out of date. New gates aren’t always present on old maps. That is why, even well thought out rides can become sans plan.

Inspiration for motorcycle rides can come from seemingly odd places. Recently, I have found inspiration for motorcycle rides while flying. The flights out of Seattle’s SeaTac airport typically fly past Mount Rainier and over the Cascade Mountains. Upon take off, I scan the ground below for possible roads and trails. This allows a very broad picture of the road characteristics below. The amount of corners, elevation changes and even possible water crossings can be seen from the window seat of a jet liner.

A work trip had me in Las Vegas recently. The morning flight with a window seat had my eyes tracing possible paths out of Sin City and quickly onto lustful mountain roads that may even lead to snow-capped mountain peaks just a short distance from the strip. Perhaps a winter motorcycle trip through the Nevada and Utah deserts is next year’s cure to the socked-in Pacific Northwest winter. Yes, we can ride year round, but a sunny ride through the mountains with temperatures in the 60′s and 70′s sounds perfect to me. A work trip suddenly inspired me to daydream about possible rides through the Sierras, Reno and on to Las Vegas.

As my flight out of Vegas climbed high into the sky it revealed the vast beauty of mountains meeting flat desert valleys over and over again. The mundane sections of this region would heighten the pleasure of each mountain crossed. Excitement built up inside me as the possibilities presented themselves from 5,000, 10,000 and 30,000 feet. My nose was pinned to the plane’s window as the strip faded from sight and a more rural, enjoyable playground presented itself. Oh yes, a winter ride through the desert might be just the ticket next year.

Shoot, I hope this inspiration doesn’t lead to too much planning. I do believe there are ample discoveries to be had, if I can resist studying too many maps in the next several months. In fact, work may have me in Vegas again next winter. A ride to and from may just be in order. You never know from where inspiration for the next great ride will come. The trick is to open the mind and let the daydreaming begin.

Where do you find ride inspiration? Can you resist the urge to plan the “perfect” ride in order to actually find adventure and new discoveries?

Pick a direction and let’s ride.

Håkan Söderbom planned for an around the world adventure, we hit eastern Washington instead.

My ride companion and I meet up in Monroe, Washington. US Highway 2 provides a scenic, yet quick escape from the hustle of Seattle. The city of Seattle would offer much to riders if it weren’t for that hustle and bustle. The many conveniences are wrapped in all directions with potential adventure. The mountains to the east, volcanoes to the south and north, and saltwater that splashes the urban shores and calls to us who breathe adventure. It is the weekend and we need to take a deep breath of life.

True adventure is the goal of the weekend. I’m meeting with fellow MSF-coach Håkan Söderbom to SEE if we can find a great motorcycle adventure a short distance from Seattle.

Hakan has planned an extraordinary route for us to open our throttles on and exercise the off-road side of our adventure motorcycles.

Up and over Steven’s Pass we climb and descend through the thick evergreens. Their scent is strong in the air. With every mile we escape further into the possibilities of adventure. The broad pavement of Highway 2 continues east as we connect with US Highway 97 just outside of Leavenworth. Up and over Blewett Pass we travel 25 miles to the Mineral Springs Restaurant.

Mineral Springs Restaurant serves up a decent hot meal. My burger was good, but Hakan’s chili burger looked incredible.

Mt Rainier as seen from 6,240 feet on Lion Rock.

Food now down the hatch, we continue a few miles to Liberty Road, Fire Service Road 9718 and FS 35. The route up to this point would leave most riders satisfied. The adventurer comes out and plays from here on out. The road surface quickly changes to dirt and small rocks. Our bikes handle the terrain with ease. The road climbs quickly. With each foot of elevation the views grow in magnificence. We climb up to 2,000; 3,000 and 4,000 feet. As we climb the road becomes a bit more challenging. Our bodies sway gracefully directing the motorcycles’ wheels over slight ruts and avoidable boulders growing in diameter. The road climbs to 6,240 feet. This is the lookout at Lion Rock Spring. The views stretch for miles. The Table Mountains and the rest of the Cascade Range are in full view. Mount Rainier pokes above the mountains far to the west.

The very rocky road could easily eat the vulnerable underside of the Suzuki V-Strom. It is still relatively easy to navigate up to this phenomenal viewpoint. There are a few primitive camp spots at Lion Rock Spring. We pitch out tents to reserve a place to sleep for the night.

It is 2 p.m. by the time that we have camp set and Hakan has replaced his street tires with proper knobbies. This guy comes prepared. We mount up and head down the mountain and into Ellensburg via FR 35 and Reecer Creek Road.

Leaving Ellensburg on Umtanum Road we carve the few miles of pavement to Durr Road. This is the route that we came all this way to ride. It soon becomes double track with two way traffic. This is fine as we only come upon one 4×4 the whole time that we’re out here.

Umtanum Creek water crossing. Bounce, bounce, splash and wahoo!

The road curves around the south side of a hill to allow a view of the canyon below. Just a couple hundred feet down is Umtanum Creek. It crosses the road and will be my first water crossing. The road passes under the water for 25 feet. Fairly large rocks exercise my suspension as I follow Hakan through the water. The BMW 1200 GS Adventure glides through the water. To my surprise, so does the V-Strom. Hakan was slow to pull out the camera, so I oblige him with another photo-op run. It felt great to make it through and make it look so skillfully done. Thanks for the photograph my Swedish pal.

The trail on the other side of the creek quickly becomes filled side to side with the same large rocks as the creek bed. “Clunk” goes each rock under the bike. Each time the familiar terrain meets metal sound makes me cringe. No skid plate under my bike means that the metal noise is likely the center stand hitting, but perhaps the oil filter or worse.

Second gear is too fast. I slow and shift to first gear only to get bounced around even more. Powering on, the bike becomes a bucking bronco.

I used to break horses on our 50-horse ranch as a kid. I can hold my own when it comes to rodeo-style rides. After dropping my eyes and looking for the very next rock and buck thereof, I go exactly where I was looking. Instincts kick in and I muscle the bike down to the rocks as softly as I can as I tuck and roll off into the ditch.

The trail ate my right blinker, GIVI crash bar, body panel, headlight bezel and passenger foot rest mount that day. The views were spectacular, but the roadway brutal. That first fall laid the groundwork for what seemed like a dozen more.

Durr Road and the trail that we jutted onto was made of softball to football-sized rocks. Beware the underside of vulnerable bikes.

The hills rolled up and down with each slope becoming steeper. We arrive at a “Y” intersection and we turn left. Let me tell you, left made for one hell of an adventure. Turning right would have taken us right into Selah. This, by the way, was our intended destination.

Durr Road is a primitive road with minimal maintenance. It runs from Umtanum Road south of Ellensburg to Selah near Yakima, Washington. Durr Road runs through the heart of the L.T. Murray Wildlife Area. This area is as much of an adventure as you can find. It is adventure motorcycling at its best. If you’re going to attempt this journey, then I suggest a good map, GPS and travel with a suitable riding partner. Hakan travelled this route solo a year prior to our visit. Now that I’ve done it, I wouldn’t go back without someone to help lift a bike off of me in a sticky situation.

Back to the adventure. We’re now several hours into our ride and exhaustion is setting in. Our intended route became too steep to traverse. With the sun hanging low in the sky, we turn around and head back the way we came. The more difficult sections are now more complicated by the harshness of the setting sun pointing blinding light directly into our eyes. We would have been just as well off had we shut our eyes completely.

This is exactly what we could see as we climbed the hills directly into the setting sun.

We find our way back, but not before the fatigue catches up to me. Yet again, the bike bounces off of the rocks and concern for the underbelly causes my wrist to react. This causes a chain reaction that ends in the final dirt nap of the day. This time Hakan has ridden up ahead. My ankle stuck between the side case rack and some rocks. There wasn’t any way that I could lift the bike or wiggle my leg free. I was trapped.

After a few futile yells for help, I resorted to honking the horn. Hakan heard my beeping pleas for assistance and came back to lift the 500-pound hunk of bike off me.

With wheels back on terra firma, we make it back to the “Y” intersection, cross Umtanum Creek and head back to Lion Rock Spring campground for the night.

We uncork a bottle of wine and toast to the pursuit of adventure and to sleeping under the stars at 6,240 feet above sea level. Despite a few tumbles, the day was amazing. Stamina and skills were tested and with that comes accomplishment.

Close estimate of our route (had technical issues loading full map to page).

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