
Minimal traffic, the bike purring beneath me, not a single police car in sight, my radar detector glowing it's reassuring green led at me. Reached the small town of Darrington, the clouds broke up and the sun started streaming down.
Flowed through the roads leading up toward the pass, following jagged riverbanks. The rivers now mere trickles, the logs and debris piles from the massive spring glacier runoff towering over the gravel beds. Green. Everything so green and lush, the sun filtering through the leaves.
No pics from the trip to Winthrop, too busy enjoying the road, no traffic to speak of, and the few vehicles I did come up on pulled over to let me through. Lots of riders even this early, but mostly cruisers just putting along. Everyone smiling and waving.
Got to Winthrop just as my low fuel light came on, gassed up, and decided to hit a local brew pub for some lunch. Grrr. Not open until 11:30 . I pulled a granola bar and a bottle of water from my tankbag, deciding to do the return trip.
Reset my tripmeter, and pulled out. Cruised the straights along the long flat valleys of desertlike Eastern Washington, mindful of the huge deer population. Great herds, a roadside sign has a tally of collisions, it's over 800 this year alone. I didn't see a single one, though.
Gradually winding upward, leaving scrubland for forest, the road starts to sweep back and forth as it climbs. I pass a few RV's, come around a curve, and....
As the road sinks into the side of a rivercut ravine, it tightens up slightly, there's 10-15 miles of 90-100mph sweepers, linking left, right, left... The pavement is smooth, the radii are constant, you can really feel the tires set and the suspension work. Legs get a little tired here, as you're constantly hanging off alternate sides, bracing against the acceleration/braking forces as you pull from one apex to the next, never coasting, either on the gas or the brakes. That magical flow so few rides end up having.
After the sweeper section, the highway tightens up as it's choked up by the terrain, having to bend disjointedly around rock outcrops as it clings to the exposed mountainside. Hard to flow here, the speeds are anywhere from 20 to 120, with a few decreasing radius curves to keep you on your toes. Also, there's nothing but thin air to your right, a mistake here will ruin your whole day. This dischordant ( but challenging and fun because of it) section lasts for 20 miles or so until you're spit out in the small speed trap town of Newhalem, where the road takes a 90 degree right and leaves the company of the river it was following for so long. The speed limit also hauls down to 30mph, and the town cop loves to sit around the bend just past the sign and ticket riders as they're slowing. No one there today, though, as I cruised at the limit through the quarter-mile of "town".
Newhalen to Marblemount, this 20 mile section of road follows another stream, winding through a lush tunnel of green....
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