Monday, July 30, 2012

Day 9: the ride home

Being without internet for a few days at the beginning of my journey meant that I could not do daily ride reports, as was my original intent. Day 8 was a short riding day for me to transport myself from Waldport to Corvallis . I had made arrangements to meet up with Troubadour and Trobairitz for Thai dinner at the same restaurant where they took Richard

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I do not easily accept offers for accommodation but I am glad that I accepted their kind invitation for a place with a warm room, a mattress and free WiFi for the night before I headed home the next morning . We had a most excellent meal

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Trobairitz

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Troubadour

and I made a big mistake when I ordered my meal. I didn't need that "extra" stuff I added on an impulse. It was Snap Peas with Tofu. I love tofu and always have. The sauce was very tasty

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Bobskoot's meal

My plate was full to the brim and there was more food than I needed, but because it has this "extra" stuff on it I didn't realize that as Vegans, the leftovers could not be shared by them so I had to overeat, not that I haven't done this before

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My room for the night

Here they are fussing over me, blowing up the air mattress when I could have just used my own sleeping pad but I really appreciated it

I try very hard to be a low maintenance visitor and not get in the way, especially on a work day so I was issued a time slot for the washroom and set my alarm for 5:31am. Then I went about packing my bike for the final leg home.

We were set to leave at 7:30am and I followed Troubadour on the long twisty way to work. There is very little traffic as compared to what I am used to

I wish to thank the both of them very much for making me feel at home. I felt very comfortable with them and they are great hosts.

It was time to say goodbye to Troubadour

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Our reflection in Troubadour's office window

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in his serious pose. I wished that I could have stayed the weekend and made it for Saturday morning coffee but my travel medical only covers trips of 10 day durations and I had to be back into Canada by Midnight Saturday night.

The ride home was uneventful. There were a few things I had to do before I got underway. I gassed up, had a quick breakfast and headed to Walmart to buy another digital AM/FM radio for bike use. On long trips like this riding solo I find that a bit of music would break up the monotomy. I didn't leave Salem, Oregon until around 9am.

I arrived home just after 7pm Friday evening, counting a 2 hour stop just north of Everett to meet a Blogging legend, writer and photographer from Cincinnati, Ohio who rode across the country on his V-strom

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Here he is showing off his shy pose

I am honoured that he sent me a message for a possible meeting. More photos coming . . .

This was the second iMBC meetup. Our first meeting was held during July 2010 in Bend, Oregon. We have determined that our next meeting will be sometime during 2014, perhaps farther EAST to be more central for our Eastern Blogging contingent.

I managed to put on just over 1,800. miles with 2 non-riding days, and a few short mile days during my time alone on the Oregon coast.

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and here we are. Participants of iMBC2012 we had a great weekend of riding

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and comaradarie. And also a down day to get to know each other better

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26 comments:

  1. I very much enjoyed all of your reports Bob. Great to see you guys all together.

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    1. Roger:

      I think it's great that we could be together for a weekend to ride, socialize in person & have a meal or two. It's amazing how the internet has brought us all together, sort of friends whom have yet to meet. The more the merrier. I know it's a long way for you but you could meet all of us in one place, rather than having to circumnavigate the whole continent trying to find us one at a time

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  2. Very nice post about a couple of very nice folks.

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    1. Richard:

      ++ 1 Yes, I agree that they are both genuinely sincere. You couldn't ask for better friends. I think Brad is the brother I never had.

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  3. Glad you are safe & sound at home. How are you liking the TourMaster pants?

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    1. Dar:

      The TourMasters are fabulous. I love them. They turn into nearly full mesh and are much better than the JR Alter Ego pants, but I am also liking my JR Alter Ego Ballistic 11.0 Jacket. I had it in mesh mode one night and it was cold riding back to our cottage.

      It's good to be home, and it's good to be away. We missed you . . .

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  4. Bob

    'Ello, 'ello, 'ello, 'ello - 90.1mph?

    N the observer

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    1. Nikos:

      I am the slowest one on the road. I was last in our Group of three, being led by that hooligan on a certain Triumph Tiger. It was all I could to follow and hang on tight. Of course when they overtake, I have to wind out my engine just to catch up before the lane ends.

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    2. Your Wee must be geared differently than Max. When we passed cars I was doing 6th gear roll ons and it wasn't winding out a bit. It holds about 5000 rpms in 5th or 6th.

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    3. Trobairitz:

      I think most of the time, depending upon RPM I do as you do, just roll on the throttle. I was around 6,000 RPMs while we were cruising, but often up to 7K RPMs when passing. I have too much speedo error, so I use the GPS to see the actual speed, but when passing I only look at the Tach

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    4. ahha, so you are all "nicked" as the UK Plod (Police) would say!

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  5. Great to be home after a good trip eh Bob? I've been enjoying everyone's tales from the road a lot - I'm in dire need of a decent trip away!

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    1. Andrew:

      It's all in the anticipation and planning of a trip. Then near the end, you realize that it is coming to an end. Others will be heading home in different directions. I decided to take the slow route home and head to the Coast but eventually reality sets in and work bekons. Of course it's nice to be home with your conveniences and think of the good times that you experienced and the "friends" you met along the way

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  6. Bob, nice group picture. Do you mind if I save a copy for my self? It feels good to be home, doesn't it?

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    1. Erik:

      It was my intent to "spruce it up" a bit and apply levels/contrast etc using photoshop then forward a copy to "the group". I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

      I also have a couple of photos of you riding your bike in Hell's Canyon. It was just luck that I was standing there as you rode past

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    2. Cool Bob, if there's any pics you want to send me, go right ahead. I'd be happy to get them.

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  7. Great post Bob - and you know you are welcome to visit anytime.

    I wish I remembered what I was thinking in that first photo.........

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    1. Trobairitz:

      Thank you. You two are the greatest. You made me feel so comfortable. I think your attack cat likes me.

      I love that first photo. It reminds me of someone who did something wrong and then gives that "I didn't do it look" . Now where is tha fake boobs, real smile sign when you need it

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    2. I think Basil liked you too. He never lets anyone pet him but us - so he must like you.

      I think the photo is a case of - 'smirk - it makes people wonder what you've been up to.'

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  8. YAY! great times! great meetup! sounds like great riding was had by all too! so i have a question...whats with all the arms crossed?!? not enough miles?!? lol...

    now thats one glorious bunch of bad asses i say! ;) lol... yay fun times!

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    1. ps, the food porn looks fabulous! yumm...

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    2. Ms M:

      at the time I didn't realize we all had arms crossed. It makes us look mean.

      That Thai food was delicious, even my Vegan wannabe Snap Peas with Tofu. I mixed the sauce with rice and I ate too much. I would order it again, except not with the "extra meat" next time. As I look at those food photos again it makes me hungry

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  9. Aw, what a nice post. I am glad your journey had such a nice ending. Great pics, as usual.

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    1. Kathy:

      All week I was looking forward to our Dinner together on the Thursday night and my plan was just to ride all the way home the next morning, however long it took. It was a great weekend and I am glad we managed to get together.

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  10. I too was wondering what was going on in Trobairitz's head in that first photo... :)

    Great write up. I love the sassy group shot, you all with your arms crossed.

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    1. Lori:

      we were a very tough looking gang. Too bad you didn't make it into our photo. we all missed you . . .

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