We cruised out and over the Hood Canal Bridge only to find ourselves trapped behind a group of at least 12 Harleys going 50mph in a damn 60 zone! The most ironic part was seeing one of the guys with a T-Shirt that said "Rebel Till I Die!". Way to be a rebel dude, go 10mph UNDER the god damn speed limit! Eventually we had some passing room and we blew right past em. Other than that the trip to Port Angeles was pretty uneventful. We eventually met up with a sixth rider in PA and continued West. After an hour and a half of boring highway riding, we finally found ourselves in the midst of some fantastic sweepers and twisties.
We made it to Neah Bay and pulled over for a short rest when a local drove past and informed us that they had recently paved the road that went all the way out to the Cape which is where the Northwestern most point of the Continental US is located. With the news that it was no longer a dirt road we hauled ass out of there to check it out and found some of the most beautiful pristine pavement I've seen in a very long time. All brand new, clean and dry. It was only about 8 miles, but it was pretty awesome. We made it out to the cape and found another good sized group of riders already out there, and after another short break headed back into town.
The ride back was even better than the ride out as the sun warmed us up even more and we were all more comfortable riding just a little faster. We were ripping and railing through quite a few corners. I got down low enough into one that I scraped my left boot. That always gives ya a bit of a startle. By the time we hit PA again on the way back we were all pretty well beat up and tired so we stopped for lunch at a Taco Time. We were expecting a nice quiet boring ride down Hwy 101 on the way home, but boy were we wrong. We were making our way through traffic and eventually came up behind another group of guys on sportbikes (including one who was 2up) and well, that pretty much started it. Imagine driving down the hwy in your car just cruising along enjoying the day only to have 10 sportbikes come ripping past you at 100+mph. Yeah, that was us.
All in all, it was fantastic. This was the first real good hard run on my new bike and I couldn't be happier. I'm still trying to get the feel for the lower speed corners, but my confidence increased steadily as the day progressed. The bike has been washed, and I now plan to kick back with some beers and just watch some tv.
Oh yes, of course I took pics!
In Port Angeles:
In Neah Bay:
Somewhere along the side of the road:
