The Colville: Reconnect

Finally, we could stand it no longer.  After 140 miles of amazing, but familiar riding through the Columbia River Gorge, we just had to stop and admire this wild flower covered hillside on the Bickleton Road.

The rider in front is Dan, a friend of mine from back in my Utah/Arizona days - 17 years ago now!  We'd stayed in touch fairly well since then, even ridden once or twice, but it had been far too long since we'd taken a multi-day trip together.  I was looking forward to this, to reconnecting in a way that only a shared journey can provide.

The plan was fairly simple.  We met up in Camas, WA, just east of Vancouver, which is just north of Portland, OR.  Dan is now living just south of there, and I'm still on the coast, just to the west.  Like how I covered all the cardinal directions?

After a quick lunch at the Subway, we headed off towards the Colville Reservation in northeastern Washington.  We'd stay the night in a motel before we got there, take the next day to explore the nearly three million acre nation-within-a-nation, spend another night on the road, then head home.

I had been on this particular road once before - during the first or second year with my now aging KLR 650.  I'd completely forgotten about this single-lane section, but traffic was nearly non-existent, and the weather could not have been better.  Sure, we could have taken the much quicker Highway 97 from Goldendale to Toppenish, but quicker routes are for the way home!

The day's goal was to arrive at our reserved motel in Ephrata before dark - check.  We pulled into the parking space right in front of our room's door at 7:30.  I'd gone 380 miles since home, and for Dan it had been about 320, I believe.  We were off to a great start!

Next up was to give the bikes a quick once-over, and lube the drive chains while they were still warm.  That allows for easy penetration into all the nooks and crannies.  And if we found anything amiss, there was an O'Reilly right across the street!  OK you're right, there are not a whole lot of things on modern motorcycles that can be replaced from an auto parts store, but in a pinch, you might be surprised what a resourceful rider can make do!

Fortunately, the only thing that warranted additional attention was Dan's chain.  It was brand new, and as is usually the case, after a few hundred initial break-in miles, it needed a minor tightening.  Now, Dan's experience with two-wheeled transport goes back at least as far as my three and a half decades, so he had everything on board to make the adjustment.

After the tinkering was done, and we'd gotten all the gear that couldn't be locked down into the tiny room, it was time to find some supper.  Not sure where we were going to sleep, but we'd figure that out later!

We didn't have to go far for food that night.  Just on the other side of the motel was a Mexican restaurant - 'El Agave.'  The place was packed with families on a Friday night, but we didn't wait too long to get a table.  Carrying on a conversation was difficult, but it was fun to be right in the middle of what appeared to be this small town's social gathering place.

After our burritos, we took a long walk 'downtown' to help them settle.  Returning to our room at the Ephrata Inn, it was finally time to remove my latest cycle touring accessory - my bionic legs!

OK, not really, but kind of.  As I've progressed farther into middle age, the decades of abuse I've given my knees has begun to produce... consequences.  It probably began when my brother and I competed with each other to see who could drop from the highest bar on the grade school playground - then jump over the largest number of folding chairs - then off of the tallest roof we could scramble up onto.  At some point in there, we started building ramps for our BMX bikes, which naturally led to 'flying' over the creeks that ran through our neighborhood.  And then, we graduated - to motorcycles!

Since then, I've worked in the woods for most of my adult life, backpacked hundreds of miles just for 'fun', climbed the tallest peaks and descended the deepest canyons I could find - and even spent a couple of years delivering over-sized office furniture!  [Could have done without that last one.]  And, of course, I never stopped riding motorcycles.

The doc says my joints are 'loose.'  Imagine that.  The idea behind the braces is to keep everything aligned properly - to try and prevent catastrophic damage.    The fact that for their first real test, I was able to wear them for 12 hours straight without thinking about it much, and with very little pain in my knees, was very encouraging.  The fact that they're made of carbon fiber and titanium - is just WAY cool!