Today's ride was up to Mount St. Helens. Most Americans older than 35 or so remember the explosion event vividly, not so much with the younger generations. I went up there with another fella from the local Ducati club, Ducati Pacifica, on his 2014 Multistrada. The roads were a combination of spectacular and helll-scape and there was no indication which it was going to be at any given point in time. Beautiful views along the way too. Started out early and it was definitely an Autumn day in the US - warm sun, cold air, and the smell of brown leaves in the air. There was a particular stretch of Windy River Road at the north end that was billiard table smooth and would have made an amazing race track. The kind of road you want to turn around and do over and over-again.
The route was up I-5, and out Highway 14 to Carson, then north in Windy River Highway and keep following the signs for Windy Ridge Lookout. We backtracked a good portion, but he split of on WA-503 to go home, and I took the I-5 and slabbed it back to beat traffic.
While we were up at Windy Ridge we ran into a guy riding a Kawasaki Versys. He, literally, rides his bike for a living - his living is writing for
Best Motorcycle Roads Oregon Washington California. He was stoked to see an SS in person, he had heard about them and watched a few videos but this was his first time seeing one. He tagged along with us for a little bit to check it out. I suppose when you live in the world of Japanese bikes it's easy to miss out on the release of something from Italy.