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Posts Tagged ‘scenic routes’

The question of why I ride a motorcycle is asked quite often. It seems that the answer would be simple, “because I like it.” My weekend rides don’t elicit that question from onlookers near as often as my daily commute. People understand the weekend joy rides in nice weather. The aspect that they don’t get is the daily motorcycle commuting through whatever weather Mother Nature throws down upon us.

People are curious when they see someone taking a different approach to an everyday task. The other day a work colleague watched me putting on all of my winter riding gear and asked, “is it really worth it?” I actually responded from inside my HJC helmet with scratches on the face shield from constant use. I answered, “heck yeah it is totally worth it.” The steam rose from my helmet in the evening darkness under the dim lights of the parking lot. I then threw a leg over my warming motorcycle and headed for home along I-5.

That question sat in my head as I entered the freeway. Why do I like to ride so much? Why am I so passionate about motorcycling? Thoughts raced through my head as I scrambled across the backed up lanes of I-5 before settling in the carpool lanes at cruising speed. I definitely like the fact that I’m now passing thousands of cars and trucks simply because I have a motorcycle and can use the carpool lanes. The ease of maneuvering the single-track of my bike through congested Seattle traffic is definitely on my list of reasons that I ride.

That reason is good and all, but that alone wouldn’t make the added risks of riding pay off. Actually, I’ve always enjoyed adding a bit of risk to life. Climbing trees, jumping bicycles from ledges down steep hills, skydiving and training horses have all been things that I’ve enjoyed. Many poeple would hear that short list and say that I must enjoy motorcyling because I’m an adrenalin seeker. As much as that rush feels good, that doesn’t account for my passion for motorcycling.

The passion comes from deep within. So deep that those around me can’t help but get drowned in it. Motorcycling is a big part of my life. In fact, that might be the very reason for this passion of mine. I just simply enjoy living life.

A life well lived should have stories. The stories are comprised of the good, the bad and the “oh my God I can’t believe that just happened” moments.

Life on a motorcycle is a life of adventure. Like any good adventure, there are stories to be told. The good comes from a well planned ride through scenic areas and discoveries of unique places. There are stories of the bad from the near miss in traffic, or the time I learned the true value in late cornering for motorcycling. The holy crap moments can stand on their own or be a combination of the good and the bad. Sometimes these moments come when watching other riders learn a new and valuable riding technique.

The joy of life and adventure is the reason I ride. Sitting around a camp fire with fellow adventurers through life is always filled with great stories. That’s because they find their own path through life. A single track path blazed on two wheels that always leads to a good story.

A life of adventure is a life well lived. On two wheels there is always adventure. I just hope that I can take the good, the bad and live to tell the story. That is why I ride. Motorcycling is an endless pursuit of the next great story.

Crews reopen Chuckanut Drive (SR 11) south of Bellingham today. The road was closed for nearly a month after two separate rockslides blocked the highway and destabilized the hillside above the road.

Chuckanut Drive is a beautiful scenic route that stretches 21 miles from Mount Vernon, Washington north to Bellingham. The famous road, once in the top 10 scenic drives in the USA, lays a narrow paved route along the only section of the Cascade Mountains that actually touches the salty sea water of the Puget Sound.

This technical terrain is what sparks such fire in the hearts of local motorcyclists. The geography on all sides of Chuckanut Drive causes somewhat regular closures of the road due to rockslides.

The most recent closure was due to a rockslide on Nov. 23 that occurred two miles south of the Whatcom/Skagit county line (milepost 11.8), and completely closed the road. There was a second rockslide on Nov. 26 that was within the Bellingham city limits, between Spokane and California streets (milepost 18.3). Crews were able to reopen that section of highway to one-lane alternating traffic within a day.

Crews removed approximately 125 yards of loose rock and debris from the Nov. 23 slide location, and approximately 60 yards from the Nov. 26 location. The cleanup cost WSDOT approximately $300,000, and $100,000 for the city of Bellingham.

Long story short, the famed Chuckanut Drive is ready for two-wheeled enjoyment along the entire 21-mile stretch of the road.

Check out Unwrapping the fine curves of Chuckanut Drive to see what the road offers to riders under the blue skies of the summer months. Don’t get me wrong, this is a great route to explore during the winter months. like bookends, the fine coffee and bakeries in Bellingham and Mount Vernon are great places to stop and warm up.