Saturday's Ride

Got home from the ride out to Neah Bay this afternoon, what a hell of a day. Got up at 7am, showered, ate and was out the door by 7:45. Cruised up to Kingston to meet the group as they came off the ferry. Only they were a little early and I was just finishing gassing up my bike as I heard the whole pack roar by. Busted out of there and caught up with em in no time though. It was my first time riding with a big group and it was a lot of fun. There were 17 bikes, one even had a passenger.

From Kingston we bombed out hwy 101 to Port Angeles and stopped at some fancy breakfast joint for some food. A few guys had to turn back, but we had 12 bikes go on to Neah Bay. We headed West out of Port Angeles down hwy 112 along the coast. The sky actually opened up and it was a very very nice day. The road however, was not nice. It was still wet and very dirty which made navigating some of the turns very tricky. At one point I came up over a rise into a blind left turn and ended up going off into the dirt for a bit because I didn't see the turn coming. A little scary but I was able to pull it off.

After a brief pitstop in Clallam Bay the real fun began. That far out there was hardly any traffic and the roads were much better. We started ripping down the coastline, and some of the guys up front fucking took off. I went around a couple corners and they were fucking GONE. I was bombing along at a good 90mph and they still completely dusted me and another guy on a 998.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I got to ride with a brand new 1098S? The most beautiful and awe inspiring bike I've ever seen in person. That thing gives me major wood.

So after a good 20 miles of high speed twisties, we made it to Neah Bay and stopped for a few pictures. I of course did not bring my camera, because it sucks donkey balls. A bunch of other guys did though, so I'll post up some pics when I can get em. We didn't stop for very long though because the weather was shit and was starting to rain. We took it a little easier heading back, but not much easier, I still couldn't keep up. I ended up going wide through a few turns and had to pull back because they it was just too fast for me. I caught back up to them when we came to an open flat section and I took it up to about 110. We took a different route back and ended up hitting hwy 101 again on the far side of Crescent Lake. That was a very cool stretch of road, the highway ran right along the waters edge, it was only like a foot off the road. Nice twisty roads with a great view of the lake and mountains. Lots of traffic though, so we didn't get to open up the throttle much through there.

Coming back from Port Angeles was pretty mundane. Lots of traffic so we didn't get to open it up much through there either. But man, when an opening presented itself (like with a passing lane) those guys were quick on the throttle and tore ass down the road. I've always been considered a total lunatic maniac driver/rider, but these guys were another notch or two above me. It was actually pretty humbling riding with a lot of guys who are far more skilled than I am.

Broke off from the main pack after we crossed the Hood Canal Bridge. They went left to get back to Kingston, and I went right to head home. Came home, stripped off all my gear and passed out on the couch for a couple hours.

Tomorrows Goals:
- Clean the bike
- Take pictures
- Go grocery shopping