Back from WeSTOC XI and info on WeSTOC XII - Redmond, WA

[adamk]

Rolled back into Seattle yesterday afternoon after visiting with my son in Mountain Home Idaho the night before. The bike sure likes it better down here in the low lands! I experienced roll on stammers most of the week.
Nothing when I was really getting on it, but mainly when I was rolling on slowly in higher gears coming out of turns. Maybe I need a new air cleaner??

We hit a fair amount of wind and a dust storm in Eastern Washington yesterday. I'll definitely be changing the air filter with the one sitting on my bench!

Had a great time on the day rides Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thanks to all the people that came along on the various rides! The camaraderie was great! Thanks to Mike Turley for showing us around in the Bear Tooth Pass area of Montana.

Thanks to Whit and Rod for a wonderful WeSTOC experience in Golden! I hope my team and I can return the favor up here in the Pacific Northwest (Redmond, WA), next year August 9th through the 11th.

I'll be getting some preliminary WeSTOC XII info up on a web site soon and start working with Don Feyma on the official site. We've already put together about 15 rides! We have quite a variety of options available to us being based in the Seattle area. Ferry rides across Puget sound to the Olympic Peninsula. Riding north to Vancouver. South the Mt. Saint Helens and Mt. Rainier. The North Cascades Highway, Stevens Pass, Snoqualmie Pass, Blewett Pass, Chinook Pass, White Pass to name a few. You can also ride to Eastern Washington and visit Grand Coulee Dam among other interesting destinations.

If you missed WeSTOC XI and want to see the WeSTOC XII PowerPoint announcement presentation you can get it here:

http://koczarski.com/Motorcycles/WeSTOC12.ppt

My pictures from WeSTOC XI can be seen here:

http://koczarski.com/Motorcycles/WeSTOC/2006-XI/WeSTOC-XI-2006.htm

[AzDesertRider]

15 rides already? Maybe gonna have to arrive early & extend the stay.

Looking forward to "doing" the Pacific North West.

Adam, Thanks for the help with the ride maps for Golden. They worked flawlessly.

[AZST]

15 rides already? Maybe gonna have to arrive early & extend the stay.

Looking forward to "doing" the Pacific North West.

Adam, Thanks for the help with the ride maps for Golden. They worked flawlessly.

+1

Maps were great to have. Thanks.

--Bryan
04ST1300A
:04biker:

[adamk]

15 rides already? Maybe gonna have to arrive early & extend the stay.

Looking forward to "doing" the Pacific North West.

Adam, Thanks for the help with the ride maps for Golden. They worked flawlessly.

I've got Mapsource files for short rides to local viewpoints, as well as Big Dog routes over 500 miles, and everything in between. With so many interesting things to see you'll want to try and catch some of them on the way in or out of the area. I'll be glad to help anyone make some custom Mapsource files for the trip in or out on the best roads. I've also entered ALL the rides from 'Destination Highways - Washington' into Mapsource (which I'll be making available), so you can cut and paste the best local roads into your route planning. :D

Glad to hear the Mapsource files worked for you! They worked flawless for me too!

[sickchilly]

Geez, I'm from here, but may just have to pick up a GPS so I can keep track of all the great rides/drives this area offers. I've done a lot of the great routes around here with Italian car clubs, can't wait to see them on the ST. Cool that Redmond was picked as home base next year. That means I'll have no excuse for not making it.

I checked out your PPT as well. What's with the Nebraska Arbor Day pics popping in every once and a while?

[Louie Louie]

Great meeting you Adam and thanks for everything. I am keeping my Mad Map routes in GPS for my return trip to Colorado.!

Louie

[sherob]

I checked out your PPT as well. What's with the Nebraska Arbor Day pics popping in every once and a while?

They were trying to confuse us to where it would be... everybody was laughing when "Nebraska" showed up... :D

[adamk]

I checked out your PPT as well. What's with the Nebraska Arbor Day pics popping in every once and a while?

The story is the selection committee always threatens to have WeSTOC in Nebraska when nobody seems willing to step up and host a WeSTOC. Steve Kelley took the pictures of the 'Welcome to Nebraska' sign on his way to WeSTOC and offered them to me to 'sneak' into the presentation just for fun! :D Seems to have done the job.... :wink:

[Mellow]

See... I thought the Seattle pics were the teaser and it was in Nebraska... then I saw the last page... guess the joke is on me.. :nuts1:

[motorcyclelarry]

Back Home Again In Simi Valley Ca.,
I think I took the longest to get home for the miles driven, 1150 miles in 4 days. My girlfriend flew into Denver Thursday morning at 9 am and we took some time and explored Co. and "Utah" on the way back. The first night we were in Glenwood Springs Co. at the hot springs resort, day 2 we stayed in Panguitch Utah, the coolest little town were the locals leave there keys and purses in there cars and don't lock there doors. Last night we stayed at the Bellagio in Vegas and rolled in tonight (Sunday) at 5 pm. We hit some rain Friday in Colorado but the weather was awesome for the most part. Drive safe guys we saw a bad accident today in Barstow on I 15 between a bike and car and the coroner was loading someone I imagine the bike rider.

WeSTOC was the best and thanks so much to the men and woman that put in there time and effort to arrange it all. Meeting all those that attended and many coustomers, with all the nice comments, I can't tell you how good that feels. The side of my head still has a lump on it from banging it on a highway peg I was installing on Todd Ericksons bike, Todd it only hurts if I chew.

I look forward to the next WeSTOC in Washington. Again thank everyone that was responsible for the event and all those that attended.

Larry Wilkin
motorcyclelarry.com

[adamk]

Here's a picture from my office in downtown Seattle looking across Puget Sound to the Olympic Mountain range. Just a taste of what you'll get to see next year at WeSTOC! :)

[sherob]

I'm going to have to get 3 weeks vacation with the new job just to make my WeSTOC XII trip... looking forward to it! :)

[clmixon]

Back home safe on Sunday Nite. Had a great ride at Golden! Rob, Bryan, Jim and I covered a lot of ground out there. Pics and maybe a video or two soon.

Chris :06biker:

[Mark]

Here's a picture from my office in downtown Seattle looking across Puget Sound to the Olympic Mountain range. Just a taste of what you'll get to see next year at WeSTOC! :)

Cool... Adam just invited us all to come to his office to *see* that view!!!

THANKS Adam!!!! :-)

Mark

[Doobage]

Glad you guys made it back safe.

I kept kicking myself for not going up. After I filled up on fluids, I was feeling pretty darn good by Sunday before WeSTOC. I was north of Witchita, so could have turned around and gone back, but decided it was best to chalk it up as experience and try again another time.

Hope to see some pics and video Chris.

Later,
Doobage

[Mellow]

Glad you guys made it back safe.

I kept kicking myself for not going up. After I filled up on fluids, I was feeling pretty darn good by Sunday before WeSTOC. I was north of Witchita, so could have turned around and gone back, but decided it was best to chalk it up as experience and try again another time.

Hope to see some pics and video Chris.

Later,
Doobage

Sorry we missed ya. You have to watch the heat stroke thing, I got that after putting in a sprinkler system a few years ago and it took me a couple years before I could really tolerate any kind of heat again. That was an extreme case but better safe than sorry.

There's always TexSTOC... it's approaching fast...

[Doobage]

I've very tempted to do TexSTOC (my wife was pushing me to go as well), so I might do that.

Turning around was one of the hardest things I've done. Santa Rosa is right when things start to get nice looking. But I just kept thinking that Vertigo and Mountain Passes are probably a bad combination on the bike. I thought about going on the east side of the range and meeting everyone in Golden, but was nervous about getting worse.

Chris had offered to take me to the ER to plug in an I.V., which I'm sure would have made me feel immediately better, but it would have just been another delay in the group and I just can't have something like that hanging over my head.

The two greatest pieces of advice I got from it was....

Chris: "You should pee at every gas stop, and if you're not, you should drink until you need to." (This worked on may way home and made my muscles and brain work much better).

Rob: "You have to ride your own ride." Rob was excellent to ride with, no bones about it. But I did notice on my ride home that I felt more comfortable "riding my own ride". The big difference I think is that I don't have a cruise control and locking into a fixed speed takes a great deal of stamina. It's not so hard for 1 hour, but several hours of the same throttle position just seemed to cramp my full arm/shoulder. On the way home I noticed that about every 30 minutes I'd naturally change my speed from 75 imph upto 90 imph (or anywhere in between). That alteration is speed seemed to help my body and mind. Rob and I switched lead position a couple times but even when I was in the lead I focused a lot on trying to lock in a stable speed. Rob was very patient, especially when we reached the Texas/New Mexico border. Where I had to have at least a 30 minute break. Vertigo sucks!

I think the next day would have been better for me since it would have contained more variable speed. Also 800 miles is a long day. I think I'm going to aim for 500 mile days until I get better at long distance.

The good news is that my wife has pre-approved another week long ride for next year. Whahhooo!

[NewsMag]

Here's a picture from my office in downtown Seattle looking across Puget Sound to the Olympic Mountain range. Just a taste of what you'll get to see next year at WeSTOC! :)

If you zoom in on Adam's picture, you can just barely see this sign... ;-)

[sherob]

Hey Doob... get a throttle lock of some sort and it will help you alot ;) Start getting ready for Seattle :D We can take our time going... play speed tag to mix that throttle up a bit for ya... pull over whenever... I'll even have a C-pap machine by then... LOL!!!

[clmixon]

Hey Doob... get a throttle lock of some sort and it will help you alot ;) Start getting ready for Seattle :D We can take our time going... play speed tag to mix that throttle up a bit for ya... pull over whenever... I'll even have a C-pap machine by then... LOL!!!

Ohh Please dear god, Let him have a C-pap....:bow1:

Doobage did not have heat exhaustion, he had hearing damage....:rolleyes: DAHIK

Glad to hear that you are hearing better, we will have to start planning the rendevous point for our pack.

Chris :06biker:

[John Anthony]

Rider Alert!! Rider Alert!!!

Do not come to Washington on two wheels for the first time unless you give yourself extra time to take in the sites. The North Cascades loop is a great full day ride through some spectacular countryside. To the west, there are day long trips to the Olympic Penninsula that will give you a chance to check our ferries, great back roads and some beautiful national parks. To the south, there's a strong day long ride down to the Columbia River Gorge that takes you past Mt. Rainier as well as Mt. St. Helens.

Here's a couple of pix. from the Gorge ride Maggie and I took early last month. One of the pix is Mt. Rainier and another is Maggie and her new R1200RT.

John

[Medicine Bear]

Beautiful pix, John. I'm starting to get the itch for WeSTOC XII already. Looks like I'd better set aside some more time...

Fred :03biker:

[sherob]

Gorgeous scenery... and what a beauty, the bike too ;) Fred... you taking the Magnolia Machete Momma this time? :eek: Let me know what hotel your staying at... I'll stay elsewhere... LOL!!! :D

[AZST]

I'm excited about seeing Washington...wanna tour the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Pentagon....starting to get pumped !!!!! Is Redmond anywhere near Bethesda??

;)

--Bryan
04ST1300A
:04biker:

[AzDesertRider]

I'm excited about seeing Washington...wanna tour the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Pentagon....starting to get pumped !!!!! Is Redmond anywhere near Bethesda??

;)

--Bryan
04ST1300A
:04biker:

LMAO... you B taking the long way there.:eek:

[Putt]

On my map, it's only about 3 inches away....


Putt...

I'm excited about seeing Washington...wanna tour the White House, Lincoln Memorial, Pentagon....starting to get pumped !!!!! Is Redmond anywhere near Bethesda??

;)

--Bryan
04ST1300A
:04biker:

[Medicine Bear]

Gorgeous scenery... and what a beauty, the bike too ;) Fred... you taking the Magnolia Machete Momma this time? :eek: Let me know what hotel your staying at... I'll stay elsewhere... LOL!!! :D
I'm glad you'd be staying at another hotel - I might need to hole up there!

Yup, she's thinking of going...

Fred :03biker:

[adamk]

Here are links to some of the rides in our area. I lifted some of the pictures for the announcement PowerPoint presentation from these pages.

http://koczarski.com/Motorcycles/Trips/20030831%20Mt.%20Rainier/20030831_rainier.htm

http://koczarski.com/Motorcycles/Trips/20030817-18%20St.%20Helen's/2003081718_st_helens.htm

http://koczarski.com/Spams/20060423Hurricane/Ride.htm

[Mark]

HEY!!!
You guys look a little cold in some of those shots... Is there going to be SNOW involved with WeSTOC XII?

I might just have to load Chris up with electrical connections... she'll not get the most "STockled" award next year! :-)

Great pictures!
Mark

[adamk]

HEY!!!
You guys look a little cold in some of those shots... Is there going to be SNOW involved with WeSTOC XII?
k

That ride was earlier in the spring. By the time WeSTOC rolls around in August you'll only <see> the snow/glaciers on Mount Rainier and Mount Baker. The snow at Hurricane Ridge in the Olympics is typically gone by then too.

[curmudgeon]

Adam, How bad is the morning traffic going East from Seattle to Redmond? Guys be prepared for some horrific traffic in the Puget Sound region.

Living on Bainbridge Island I will be staying at home and commuting back and forth to the hotel. For those of you that looked at Adam's Powerpoint presentation; Bainbridge Island is the destination of the larger ferries in the photo. It is 8 miles due west of downtown Seattle, with a crossing time of 35 minutes. Across Bainbridge Island is the best way over to the Olympic peninsula and Hurricane ridge. Going up to Hurricane ridge is a nice winding road with absolutely amazing views on top. Looks something like the Swiss Alps up there.

Phil

[STill Fiddlin]

Traffic's bad - I know from my trips up visiting the "evil empire" in Redmond, but you can ride the diamond lanes on a motorcycle.

[adamk]

Adam, How bad is the morning traffic going East from Seattle to Redmond? Guys be prepared for some horrific traffic in the Puget Sound region.
It <can> be bad depending on the time of the morning. You'd be reverse commuting, but then so are most of the Microsoft employees. :)

I'll be talking about the traffic in the riders meeting and describing the best ways/days to do the various rides. There are some nice back roads through Duvall and Monroe on the way to the North Cascades Highway that bypass lots of the 405/I-5 traffic. If you have a gps it's a no brainer. If you're trying to do it via paper maps it can get a little confusing. Lot's of turns. A weekend ride up to Hurricane ridge isn't all that bad. The ferry traffic gets longer, but being on bikes you get to cut the lines for buying tickets and getting onto the boats. 1st on 1st off. :)

We'll be going over all the options so people can make the logical choices.....

[AzDesertRider]

I believe thats Arancio Orange (sp) on Jeff's bike. Awesome Paint job.

[Mark]

That ride was earlier in the spring. By the time WeSTOC rolls around in August you'll only <see> the snow/glaciers on Mount Rainier and Mount Baker. The snow at Hurricane Ridge in the Olympics is typically gone by then too.

I noted that the pics were taken in Apr; and, I've ridden Mt St. Helens in June; but, I have no idea about the Olympic peninsula...

Thanks,
Mark

[adamk]

I noted that the pics were taken in Apr; and, I've ridden Mt St. Helens in June; but, I have no idea about the Olympic peninsula...

Thanks,
Mark
I see them every clear morning from my office window. They are pretty brown looking lately. It's been a dry, warm summer around here....

[Rifraf]

The side of my head still has a lump on it from banging it on a highway peg I was installing on Todd Ericksons bike, Todd it only hurts if I chew.
Larry Wilkin
motorcyclelarry.com

Larry,
Thank you for taking the time (and lumps) to install your Hwy Pegs on my ST. I really appreciate it!!! I totally understand why you don't do installations...or why you would charge a "headache" fee :eek: if you do the install. I really appreciate your help and the donations you made to WeSTOC XI.

Also, many thanks to all the dis-organizers who worked so hard to make WeSTOC XI a success. It was a real treat to see that many STeeds in one location. The banquet was AWESOME as well! This was by far the best rally I have attended in my short time (4 years) back on a street bike.

I am really looking forward to WeSTOC XII. I am hoping to plan my PCH trip around this event.

[sickchilly]

Going west to east in the mornings, it's best to take 405 to 520 from the north or 90/405 to 520 from the south. You don't want to take 520 straight from the 5 because 520 doesn't have car pool lanes across the water, only when you get to the east side. Totally sucks. But 405 and 90 have car pool lanes for most of their urban entirety. I live close to the 5/405/509/518 mess by north of SEATAC so motorcycle freeway access is very friendly for me. Basically, avoid the 520 floating bridge like the plague anytime during rush hour or anytime just before a game or concert.

[adamk]

Going west to east in the mornings, it's best to take 405 to 520 from the north or 90/405 to 520 from the south.

Actually, from the south I like to take 90 to West Lake Samammish Pkwy and ride into Redmond along Lake Samammish. Even with the car pool lanes on 405 and 520 it's just no fun being in all that traffic. Of course I live right along that route so I'm biased. ;-)

[sickchilly]

Biased or blessed? I believe I've passed you on W. Lake Sam. a few weekends back. I was in my Lancia Beta Coupe though. I remember a blue ST with topbox and lamps under the mirrors...

[adamk]

Biased or blessed? I believe I've passed you on W. Lake Sam. a few weekends back. I was in my Lancia Beta Coupe though. I remember a blue ST with topbox and lamps under the mirrors...

Probably me. I leave my house at 6:30am each morning and head for I-90. If it was in the afternoon, I leave downtown at 4:10 and am on the Parkway around 4:30 each day.

[ligito]

AzDesertRider:

Did you stay in unifrom by wearing those orange gloves I gave you last year?:04biker:

[adamk]

Took a drive out to the Bakery in Black Diamond, WA for breakfast and Mount Rainier was a site! Breakfast at this place is on several of the routes for WeSTOC 12 in Redmond next year. Enjoy!

[AzDesertRider]

AzDesertRider:

Did you stay in unifrom by wearing those orange gloves I gave you last year?:04biker:


?? No orange gloves for me last year... I was riding my Yellow V-Strom last year. The ST did not make it to SLO. Had bearing problems.

The guy with the Orange ST at SLO Was Jeff Harr. I did get to ride with him though... Damn nice guy!