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| 03/21/09 When I got up the temperature was about 28*F on my back deck and the skies were clear. Things were looking very good considering the iffy weather forecast as Daren and I rode to the meet up site at the Lynnwood Jack in the Box. Seven or eight of us left Lynnwood for Castle Rock. The road was clear until we we hit Seattle. It remained foggy or overcast all the way to Castle Rock, where the clouds began to part. |
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| We assembled at the usual spot, the Shell Station in Castle Rock just off I-5. I have always wondered if the folks at the station have caught on to the record number of gasoline transactions around the first day of Spring, but none totaling more than $10.00. When Randy started the EoW Ride in 2006, he was riding a Honda VTX 1800 with one camera. Due to the staggered departures of the motorcycles from Castle Rock, he recorded the starts of the 2006 and 2007 rides and rode on up with the last group of cruisers. |
Now that Randy is riding a Honda ST1300, he departs ahead of the cruisers in the sport touring group and carries three cameras in his photographic arsenal. I headed up the ST group as it left town, but I was quickly passed by the others at the first opportunity. How far we get towards the end of the road at the Johnston Ridge Observatory depends on the how severe the winter has been and how far up the road has been plowed. Last year the road was open only as far as the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center. This year unseasonably warm weather in January melted much of the early winter snow and not a lot has fallen since since. The snow banks along side the road were not as deep as last year's. The road was open to a trailhead parking lot just past Coldwater Lake down in the valley between Coldwater and Johnston Ridges. Randy and I stopped at the closed off entrance to the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center for a few photos, then quickly left so Randy could record the arrival of the last group of cruisers at the trailhead parking lot (Check The Video). I counted 82 motorcycles in the parking lot. Randy estimated over 90 bikes turned out as there were a few bikes which did not make the ride up from Castle Rock. While most of the bikes were cruisers, other types were represented as well. I took some photos which I will post up in the PHOTOS section of the homepage. My ST4s and Fast Freddie's yellow Multistrada were the only Ducs I saw on this year's ride. Randy, Daren, Fred, and I went to the sign board at the end of the trailhead to provide a photographic record of our exact location. While there, we had a little fun with the folks from the South Bay Riders forum (SBR) out of Northern California as we "found" one of their "hidden" tag chips that they did not know was up here in the PNW. Some of us were going to meet at the Olympic Club in Centralia for a late lunch, as were the large cruiser groups. We hightailed out of the parking lot and down the hill to get ahead of them. The Force must be with the chip, as there were no cars ahead of me for most of the ride back down the hill. I had great fun exceeding the 55 mph speed limit on the sweepers leading down from Coldwater Ridge. Light snow flurries had started as we left, which added to the fun. I hope Randy captured them in his recordings, so others can experience the thrill of riding through lightly falling snow past the large snow banks which lined parts of the road. Lunch at the Olympic Club was good. Randy and I ordered fish & chips. The catch of the day was shark, which was a first for me. Daren settled for the more prosaic chicken pasta. Before we headed for home, I took some shots of the bikes lined up on Tower Street outside the Olympic Club. Another End of Winter Ride is in the books, but the story of the wandering chip from California has just begun. Bill Anderson & Mao Tse Duc (04-ST4s, red) Edmonds, WA. |
