Tuesday, June 23, 2009
CFR - Day 10
I had finished Killing Floor overnight, so first thing in the morning I headed to the big Barnes & Noble I had passed on the way into town yesterday to pick up Die Trying, the next book in the Jack Reacher series. (Reacher is kind of a cross between Quiller and Elvis Cole.)
After a quick bite, I headed south from Bend on US-97, with a bunch of other folks. At Diamond Lake Junction, I peeled off west on OR-138, which quickly became one of my all-time favorite motorcycling roads.
The first five miles or so are straight and reasonably fast, but I quickly became unreasonable. The highway takes a big turn north past Diamond Lake, then settles in to an excellent series of twists, sweepers, and mile-long straights.
I peeled off for the Toketee Dam, and met up with a group of four riders on cruisers, also doing the Dam Tour. We chatted a bit, and they snapped a picture of the FJR and me, holding the placard, in front of the dam. I hung with the guys for 15 minutes or so, then we each headed out on separate routes for the Hyatt Dam east of Ashland.
My route was to backtrack a few miles on OR-138, then southwest on OR-230 and OR-62 into Medford. More really fun riding. I stopped for lunch on the northern outskirts of Medford, gassed up, then headed down I-5 to Ashland.
At Ashland I went east on OR-66, and ran smack into a chip-seal construction zone. It was bad a few days ago when it was only the loose gravel on the road; today we got a lane closure, fresh oil, and even fresher gravel. After a slow log up the hill I hit the turnoff for Hyatt Lake, and pulled in to the day-use area to take my pics of the dam. Just as I was about to leave, the four guys pulled up behind me. They had taken a southeasterly route from Toketee, which I admitted was more scenic than my route. We chatted some more, and I found out that they're all retired, and they ride the Dam Tour together every year. A cool bunch of guys.
I slogged back through the fresh chip seal into Ashland, and headed south on I-5. I contemplated stopping off in Weed to buy a couple of t-shirts, but inertia overcame me, and I stayed on until Redding. Keswick is a few miles west on the Sacramento River. I took a couple of pics from the east side of the dam, then rode over to the west side for some better late-afternoon lighting. After a fill-up, I headed south to Red Bluff.
Over the years, I've stayed at various Motel 6's in Northern California including Redding North, Williams, Willows, and I think Yreka, but for some reason I never stopped in Red Bluff. The desk manager and I chatted for about ten minutes, about riding, motels, whatever, and I told him about my 5:45am air horn wake-up yesterday. He gave me a nice, clean, quiet room on the second floor. I got some KFC grilled chicken to go, and ate it in my room with my new book.
445 miles.
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Toketee Dam
Hyatt Dam
Keswick Dam