Distance travelled (by bike): 41.280
An accident was long overdue, it happened today!
After an interesting night in Eureka it was back on the road. Heading up the coastal route 1 through Redwood National Forest, throughout the forest there are herds of wild elk, totally oblivious to the traffic they were grazing on the side of the road. Twisting along the coast we got to Crescent City in time to see some of the longboard surf competition and grab some lunch.
Heading inland through Klamath National Forest we stopped at the Oregon Caves National Park. The Caves are in the Siskiyou mountains, unlike 95% of other cave in the world these are formed from marble.
Taking the horrifically twisty road back to the highway we headed east to Grants City. Driving into the city the sun was setting behind us, i could see nothing in my mirrors. As we approached a traffic light it changed from green to amber, usually i would have run it, but not knowing how far behind me Matt was i decided to play it safe and stop. Turns out Matt was very close behind and thought that i would run the lights, if i was going so was he. The result, a harley Davidson riding into the back of a BMW. The Harley handle bars hit my panniers and resulting in matt and the bike having a little slide into the junction.
No sooner had i pulled over Matt was back on the bike having picked it up and started it, good recovery, fuelled by adrenaline and embarrassment. I did explain that having a foreign plate more people would presume that i caused the crash.
Luckily Matt and the bike were unhurt. We called it a day pulling in for some much needed beers.
We decided this morning having looked at the weather forecast to get up to Portland today as the next few days are forecast for rain.
Taking it easy for the first few miles waiting to see if anything fell off the Harley we stuck to the I5. Satisfied that the bike was holding together we headed of the highway onto the backroads. The roads became increasingly rough, twisty and for the states very narrow. Matt was having nightmares that i was leading him to some offroad track, i didn't through the road conditions were on par to a lot of the trails i've been riding.
As the rain started to fall we cut back onto the I5 driving hard north to Portland.
Most people we have met have told up that we must stay in Portland for at least 2 days, the vibe, the people etc make the city very cool. On first impressions Matt's idea of cool is very different from the people who recommended we stop at Portland.
After talking to some of the locals we were told that on sundays we had to go to Dantes. Amazing night, a series of very bizarre and strange acts mixed with some serious heavy metal. After a few hours of local metal bands the stage was taken over by the acts, theses included, burlesque, a flying dwarf dressed as a monkey, a performance act using flatulence to play tunes, fire eating, contortionists and crazy dancers. Bizarre but brilliant night.
paul and his ox
caves
so true...
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