I woke up surprisingly early in the morning, and quietly packed up and got ready to head out. I decided to go ahead and put my fleece on and wear the slacks I had taken under my Road Crafter pants - it was cool and overcast. Just as I was about ready to leave, my friend had woken up and we talked a bit. He is in fact interested in some sort of bike or scooter mostly for his short commute, but a section of it is a fairly high speed highway (less than a mile I think). We had a good talk, and he has his head on his shoulders about it, and I figure he will have me on tap for advice.
I fueled up at about 10:40 in the morning, and found out I had only used about 3 gallons for the ride up. The gas mileage calculated out to just a fraction less then 70 mpg. Not bad considering I didn't "ride for economy" on the way up to Salem.
I decided to bypass I5 and take the longer, but much more sedate 99W south to Eugene. I planned to drink more water, and make more rest stops. The slower speeds, and less hectic route made for a MUCH more enjoyable ride. A lot of lovely fields and flowering plants and trees was much nicer than the attention-demanding high speed ribbon of highway that is I5.
I actually rode through Eugene, having decided to stop by Sunrise Market, an Asian store on the south side of Eugene. I pulled in and saw a newgen 250. I ended up just buying a bottle of Pokari Sweat - think Gatorade without artificial colors. As I was leaving the other rider came out, and we talked a bit. His was a black 2008. He had apparently bought it, learned to ride and was looking for something with more hp. He commented he rode I5 a fair deal, I understood that a bit more power would be nice. He looked at my bike and commented "Wow, that looks big for a 250". Maybe it was the more solid fairings and my tail bag adding apparent size to the bike? He also seemed impressed that I was riding to Klamath Falls.
I left Eugene and got onto Hwy 58 and it was just a nice ride. I stopped at a DQ just outside of Eugene and had a chocolate dipped vanilla cone. The ride up into the mountains was pretty calm, but the "snow zone, watch for icy spots" sign with flashing lights caused me a little concern, and further up the mountains I did get the "Benediction of the Cascades" in misty rain...but not too much, not too hard. Just crossing the pass, it went from a bit drizzly to nearly dry. Hwy 97 was as it usually is, flat and boring, but it's the road home.
I got home a few minutes after 5 pm. Even though the day was longer, with more stops, I did not feel as tired. Dede was having a visit with a gal she has known since before grade school at a coffee shop not too far from our house, so I pulled in and we all hung out a while.
Epilogue- The following day I fueled up and I was again surprised by my fuel efficiency. On the leg home I found I got just shy of 75 mpg. I really can't explain this, as my bike typically gets in the upper 50s or lower 60's.
View Larger Map
And I picked up Polk and Benton Counties.
No comments:
Post a Comment