Reverend Bill

21 May 2010, Ashland, Oregon: Sitting by the campfire, enjoying a malted beverage, listening to Bandanna Blues by the rushing creek, clear skies and bachelor salad waiting in the cooler. Tent is pitched, mattress inflated and down bag fluffed. Life is good. Today was the dry one of this week. The California twisties delivered! Packed up and checked out of the Sky Terrace in Red Bluff. Stopped at the local drive-up latte stand. How come California has so many cute blond girls? Even Mom was hot. Go figure..... Today's ride was to explore Highway 3. However there was a 70 mile preamble, the famous Highway 36. Having ridden this amazing road from Coast to Nevada border, I recall some of the most remarkable technical and fun riding of my experience. I forgot how delightful this segment ... read more

Tuesday May 18, Alturas, California: Last night's discussion with Jerome and Dennis convinced me my off-pavement plans for NW Nevada and riding the Black Rock Playa were clearly rained out. The all-night rains dumped 0.6 in of rain on the Playa. During dinner the rain softened up the ground enough to allow the wind to pull out a couple of my tent stakes. A quick adjustment with some large rocks to secure them, and I crawled in the tent for a night of rain. The rain stopped before dawn, and the ground was soaked. After a nice hot spring morning shower I pondered the options. Since riding the desert back roads was out, which paved riding did I want to pursue? Four options were on the table: head NE and back up into SE Oregon, head ... read more

Sunday May 16: Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge It’s remarkable what lowering tire pressures from 42 psi to 20/25 F/R will do to gravel road stability. The 60 mile run from the Malheur Refuge to Hart Mountain was an excellent ride. These well traveled county roads were well maintained, recently graded, and the gravel compact with very little wash boarding. Cruising speeds of 40 mph were not uncomfortable in many stretches. The Catlow Valley between these two refuges has the appearance of a broad flat plain with little relief in long sections. Steens mountain maintained a presence on the Eastern horizon as Hart Mountain grew ahead to the Southwest. Antelope were few in number, a skittish as usual. Probably sighted only 20 thus far, including five that crossed the basin in camp. Later I learned that ... read more

Here it is folks, another travel blog! This year Reverend Chuck and I were all set for a reprise of Dos Dirty Padres. The plan was thwarted by the feds. More like the public response to the feds. It seems that Chuck’s temporary job with the Census Bureau is lasting much longer that he anticipated. Joe Q Public did not send in their Census forms in the numbers expected, so Chuck is going door-to-door- and not riding. Poor Sod. Glorious riding weather sent me off, temps in the 40s over the pass, and then peeling layers in Ellensburg. The soul-numbing slab miles went by quickly and soon it was the Yakima river canyon, hillsides green in spring foliage. Winds were flat calm crossing the Columbia at Driggs, and the green wheat fields and burgeoning windmill towers ... read more

Morning in Oxbow brought pink skies and a balmy 60F. Soon we were honoring our compatriot Rob by roasting bacon on a stick. Mmm good! The ride out of the canyon to Baker City was a great stretch of high speed sweepers and canyon curves. Soon we were ordering breakfast at the Oregon Trail Cafe. Nineteen year old Sandy, who had waited on us at the same table last year, brought us a big helping of humor and buckwheat cakes. Reverend Bill had traveled over 2,500 miles for the buckwheat. It was a primal motive to pass through this Eastern Oregon town. That and the homemade corned beef hash...... We asked if sitting at the same table twice and ordering the same breakfast twice from the same waitress made us "regulars." No, apparently we had to ... read more