cousin jack

"My days, they are the highway kind, They only come to leave, But the leavin' I don't mind, It's the comin' that I crave." (Townes Van Zandt)

A stormy, unseasonably cold day in my hometown, the "Burg....." One can huddle inside, drinking too much coffee and watching tube drizzle, or one can don his rain gear, straddle his bike, and go ride the "Huntzinger" -- a local favorite, eighty miles or so door to door, always deserted, always available. And today I had the "Huntzinger" all to myself! Local joy....... http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/AfternoonDelight004.jpg Bikes like these, roads like these..... what need have I of a kingdom? http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/AfternoonDelight006.jpg "Roll on, highway, roll on slow....." (Alabama) http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/AfternoonDelight008.jpg Wanapum Dam, Columbia River....see the plume of discharged water? Contrast its height to the cranes on top of the dam....power, baby, power. http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/AfternoonDelight012.jpg Same place, but a different time....a different time.... http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/AfternoonDelight013.jpg Columbia River Native American petroglyphs, protected at Gingko Tree State Park....love them. Check out the family of three on the right... http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/AfternoonDelight014.jpg Deer, Snake, Grouse, and hunter: a story down from the ages..... http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/AfternoonDelight016.jpg I-90 Freeway bridge....new tech in an ancient setting..... http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/AfternoonDelight019.jpg How to approach the energy crisis: A 50mpg Pan loose in a windfarm.... http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/AfternoonDelight023.jpg Don Quixote spins in his literary grave..... http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/AfternoonDelight025.jpg Cousin Jack's self portrait...... http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/AfternoonDelight003.jpg Well that was my afternoon, a real delight and it beat the soaps all hollow! Hope you all had a good one as well.......

I'm blessed to be living in a very good area for motorcycle touring. Generally, anywhere I head on the points of the compass, I can hit a pretty good touring road for my Pan within an hour..... here's another ride from my home in central Washington State to the Columbia River and back, a ride we refer to as the "bluebird," or the "klickitat," depending on a variation of it. Hope you enjoy it.... It begins flat and open, except for 12,000' volcano, Mt Adams, in the hazy background...... http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/2ndAprilride001.jpg Looks hopelessly flat and straight down the Centerville Road, huh? http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/2ndAprilride002.jpg but...in a few miles, it begins to get interesting: http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/2ndAprilride004.jpg And then damn interesting! A road worthy of a pan..... http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/2ndAprilride006.jpg All too soon, I run into the Columbia River Gorge, turnaround point this time..... http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/2ndAprilride008.jpg Here I am looking down at the Klickitat River, a premier trout stream, and my return route, the curvaceous Hwy 142! http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/2ndAprilride007.jpg Curves upon curves upon curves.... I live to ride roads like 142! http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/2ndAprilride009.jpg And, after 280 miles, home again alongside another premier trout stream , the Yakima...... http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/2ndAprilride010.jpg

Yes sir, we are still planning on being in the Ireland, Scotland, Wales... and the rest of the UK.... during summer, 2011.....

Haven't been on here forever! Had some computer and other issues, but..... hope you enjoy these..... Washington State, where I live, has two distinct geographic areas: the seaward side, the Seattle side, is rainy and mountainous; but the other side, the eastern side, is dry and arid, almost desert, but with some surprisingly good motorcycle touring roads. Millions of years ago, an ice-age flood from the immense, dammed up waters of prehistoric Lake Missoula, burst free and roared to the sea, scraping the earth to bedrock and creating the "Coulee corridor" or eastern Washington State.... This is a two hundred fifty mile day ride, from my home to Grand Coulee Dam, an epic undertaking in the thirties that electrified, literally, the American West..... Soap Lake, Washington State http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/Aprilride2010001.jpg Empty roads in the Coulee Corridor http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/Aprilride2010002.jpg The Ice Age flood here created waterfalls 300' high, with a volume nine times greater than Niagara, sand ripples 30' high...and say, "relax little man, you are nothing...nothing!" http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/Aprilride2010004.jpg The Silent Fury http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/Aprilride2010006.jpg Someday, I might ride my Pan right off the edge of the earth.... http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/Aprilride2010008.jpg "Roll on, Columbia, roll on..... Your power is turning our darkness to dawn, so roll on, Columbia, roll on!" Woody Guthrie http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/roscinante/Aprilride2010009.jpg Hope you enjoyed the shots.... I'm a better rider than photographer!

Thank you, Hoody....got you down, mate.

Well now.... got a very pleasant response from the good Sgt Paul Mostyn: Mel and Sandy We would love for you to attend one of our courses. As a licensed rider as long as the machine you will be using has a policy of insurance and a current MOT test certificate (if over three years old) then you would be most welcome. The course we run is for 1 day and is run in the north west of London, but as you are collecting your motorcycle from Croydon, you may wish to attend the same course but in the south east of London (in Bromley). I would suggest that you book the course via an email to me nearer the time as we are not taking bookings a year and a half in advance !! I assume you have had a look at the website and see the sort of thing we offer, it is also offered in the US now too. Thanks for the email and I certainly look forward to welcoming you when you come over Regards Paul So it is possible, feasible even! Now the excitement is starting to build, need to get crackin' on the overall plan..... Thanks everyone for the help and advice!

The Ace! Mercy, I may faint....... (a romantic, me!) Thanks, Para..... I've done sent an email to the good Sgt Paul Mostyn to see if they will take "rough colonials......"

Bikesafe? Bikesafe? What is it? Google.... I'm on it! Hi, Parapanfan! How are ya? edit: Ah, I see.... local Police Departments training riders.... sounds like a really good idea....Does it work well? Would they take someone with another country's license, I wonder....? Guess I'll find out where the Oregonian keeps his bike, and email the nearest department.... but.... if I failed their course, would they then ban me from the road? Just found out that the bike lives in Croydon.....

Yes, Dan, it is a ST1100 PanEuropean..... older one, but licensed to Brit standards and well-maintained by all accounts. The fellow owning it lives in Oregon, USA, but is good friends with a Brit rider and keeps it in his garage.... the Oregonian is a free spirit and goes over to the UK or Europe to ride each spring and fall (he's a bachelor!), and loans it during the summer, which is the only season we have to tour because Red yet teaches..... We became good friends during a Steve Saunders (Irish) Goldwing rally last Sept. in Colorado.... golden opportunity for the Red and me to see the UK! We wouldn't be riding in major metropolitan areas like London... like in Europe, we'd take up a place just outside and take commercial transport into them, and then become ordinary Tour-taking tourists! We ain't too proud, you see! Also, I got your pm and have you marked! Thanks, everyone...

Red and I arw seriously planning on touring Ireland, Scotland, and the UK (can't get a handle on the terms you guys use for yourself..... Britain, the UK, "Blighty,"etc.,.......). We have a UK licensed bike pledged to us for the summer of 2011, but...I'm afraid I won't be skilled enough for Brit roads. I did fine several years ago in Switzerland, but, I believe that Brit riders ride faster and in more crowded conditions that I am used to.... don't wanna kill myself, Red, or, God Forbid, any innocent bystander! And then, there's always that "other side of the road" thing..... Do any of you know of a short-term, non-license oriented, road skill program in which I could enroll upon arrival? Something that might prep me up for your roads? Any help appreciated....