2009 Bike Trip

A technical review for the motorcycle followers... Day 7: Coulee Dam to Soap Lake, Wash. - Hwy 156 (A+ for unique views & mix of gentle sweepers and tight twisties) follows Banks Lake through never-ending sweeping turns, featuring ups and downs and rock face turns on new pavement....large bolder rock formations poking through the lake.....very prehistoric looking. Hwy 17 - (A+ for scenery) - runs the path of a massive glacial flow that has marked the land with the spectacle of a dry waterfall that spanned the horizon. Coulees the size of small cities that rise from the canyon floor in majestic cylinders of rock...road conditions a mix and tight twisties through ups and downs on the canyon floor....rise and falls from rich agricultural high plateau areas. Day 8: Lewiston to Enterprise, Oregon. Hwy 129 (A+ for scenery & road) ups and downs through high elevations, switchbacks in the rain, rolling turns on the canyons floors. Hwy 3 - Climb through Elk Mountain Pass (5200 ft.) got the heart pounding,..slow and easy riding required with a keen eye for deer in the ditches and roadside forest....Ian saw a bear cross the road. Day 9: (A+ for technical riding) Up and down over 3 Mountain Passes (7000 ft.) in the Willowa Mountains...through Hells Canyon along the course of a large section of the Snake River Valley (remember Evil Kinevil? "Edge of wetness" switchbacks with fallen rocks in blind turns around high cliff faces, fallen trees on the road.....our riding skills and experience challenged to the max! Neil