Eastern Oregon Run June 2022

With my new job comes a lot of time off. Give us more money to compensate for the insane inflation and cost of living increases? Nah, we'll just give you time off. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth I decided to actually take a large chunk of time off this year. In years past while employed the most I'd ever taken off was a week and the world seemed to come to an end (although they still laid me off later). My summer vacation is going to be two whole weeks, but I only spent parts of four days on this tour.

With fresh tires on the Ducati I set out Monday afternoon. The idea was to get into Central Oregon and then start the real riding the next day so I'd be fresher, so I slept in and leisurely got my stuff packed and ready to go. Nothing really that interesting up and over the hill.

In Prineville I realized I was in town way earlier than I needed to be and it was hot. So I dropped my stuff off and ran out to Bowman dam for a few miles of bonus twisties. Lots of fun, and not a lot of traffic on a Monday evening. Back in Prineville I ran into a hiccup. Because it was hot, more than a few restaurants were closed prematurely. Apparently nobody wants to work in a hot kitchen when the mercury rises, who would have thought.

Tuesday morning was nice and brisk. I ate leftover pizza and drank pretty bad in-room coffee then set out on highway 26. This was just getting to the cool stuff although there is some good curves on 26. Highway 207 North near Mitchell is where the cool stuff starts That's the genuine canyon carving and mountain riding. Naturally I ran into some road work but at least it wasn't hot and the delay wasn't long. Traffic was sparse and by the time I reached Hepner I realized I was far ahead of schedule. Here I'd been worried about being able to put down the miles and being fresh and alert for the last cool roads, and I was ahead and in good shape. I guess I'd gotten used to the slower rate I go when I'm coordinating with other people. Breaks, gas, food, and leaving the motel all take longer.

From Hepner I rode out 74 and then dropped down 395. The views are amazing and I nearly ran off the road a few times admiring the deep canyons and pine forests. Even though I wasn't cooking too hard, going maybe 75, a state trooper flashed his lights at me. I guess he knows what I'm about, even if he didn't catch me doing it. That slowed me down for a few minutes until I was sure he wasn't flipping around...

From Ukiah to Hilgard on 244 went by in a flash and I swear it wasn't because I was averaging over 90. Or maybe it was. Near the Interstate it smells like a waste treatment plant... because there's a waste treatment plant there as part of the state juvenile prison there. I hopped on the interstate into La Grande, found my motel, realized I was way too early to check in and stop riding, and then after riding around in the heat for a while I sat down to eat a sub-standard sandwich and contemplate a bonus road.

That bonus came in the form of another run over the Blue Mountains, this time on highway 204 from Elgin to Weston and back. Usually I don't like to backtrack, but it was either backtrack or hit the slab and I'm glad I backtracked. It's 40 miles from Elgin to Weston, so it was 80 miles of amazing curves up and over the mountains, impressive vistas, clear traffic. It was a challenge to keep my eyes on the road because after the alpine vistas and clear blue lake there are rolling hills of wheat interspersed with green hills of grass and purple and yellow wild flowers. I know, slow down, right? Wrong. A road like this, on a bike like mine, it would simply be criminal to go slow.

It was nice and cool up top then I slowed down on the less fun and more trafficked highways back into La Grande. I found a nice Asian fusion place a mile and a half walk from the motel and then settled in for the night. Of course I asked nicely and they let me part my bike under the overhang next to the lobby.

Wednesday I got out as soon as the temperature came up enough. Wait, what? Yes, it had cooled off a lot and I was going to go up in elevation. I cruised down the interstate to North Powder and fueled up. I asked the ladies working at the c-store there about road conditions (surprise they didn't know) then I set out. The road out to Anthony Lakes ski resort is curvy and scenic although not in great shape. It isn't a go-fast road, the views are good, but the road doesn't let you take your attention off it. I should have stopped for better pictures of the Elkhorn mountains but alas sometimes I put off an opportunity until it's gone. At over 7700 feet it got cold and I was wearing perforated summer leathers.

NF73 (Elkhorn Scenic byway) joins up with N52 (Blue Mountains scenic) in the valley where it got more pleasantly warm. This part of the road was nice and flowing and some jackoff had just chip sealed it. The seal job wasn't complete yet, so I was stuck riding near 40 miles on loose gravel on into Ukiah. If the pavement on this section was done, it would have been an amazing ride and some of the views are quite nice. Open terrain of mountains and valleys, trees, all of it currently green, and thanks to the late rains not smoked in.

At the bustling metropolis of Ukiah I stopped at a food cart at the public park for a burger. Good thing Penny's Grill is there because the other restaurant in Ukiah appears to have closed. One other thing about Ukiah, don't count on getting gas there, the station is janky as hell. Good thing I didn't need gas. Another motorcycle tourist parked there and we exchanged road reports. On my way out another hot red Italian machine parked next to mine.

I ran the rest of the Blue Mountains scenic byway on into Hepner. From Hepner I rode to Condon, this section gets really windy and today was no exception. Windy to the point of causing problems riding, but I made it. At Condon I took a break and re-hydrated. Not that it was too hot, just extremely dry. Once again I was ahead of "schedule" so I took a side run out through Cottonwood canyon and back. If a curve is boring, go faster until it isn't! Back in Condon for a Red Bull, water, and gas, then on to Fossil! Fossil highway had a little work done to it but was mostly clear. I made great time, stopped for a photo to make people jealous, then on into Madras for the night.

I ate the world blandest Cubano sandwich then went for a hike.

At the Madras mountain identifier park I watched the sun setting for a little while until the noisy children someone had brought up impacted my calm and I returned to my motel for the evening.

Thursday I got up and swapped road reports and riding stories with some of the other riders at the motel. They were heading East while I was heading West and I'd ridden some of the roads they were heading to.

At the Madras airport there's an air museum that's has quite a few flight worthy aircraft. I wandered around it for an hour although doing so in motor cycle gear got to me and I left early. I'll have to go back, probably for the air show in August. I didn't take pictures of everything, obviously. It blew my mind getting that close to a lot of World War 2 aircraft to see the level of complexity and engineering that they had. Sometimes being a tech person I get into the mentality that everything before the information age was sticks and stones, but seeing the B-17 and other aircraft re-arranged that bias.

After the museum I rode home. Nothing all that interesting other than some light mishaps in Sisters, Oregon (which always happens. That place is just cursed for me). First a nap, then some cleaning to do!