Trip Report: GWRRA WA-X Disabled American Veterans Run

Saturday, June 21st, GWRRA Chapter X out of Vancouver, WA hosted a benefit
ride for Disabled American Veterans (www.dav.org).  Even though I had just
finished a 12-hour midnight shift and Saturday was to be my only day off, I
decided to attend this event.

The ride started at Wingman Enterprises in Portland, which had coffee,
donuts, and bottled water out for the riders.  There was no set ride entry
fee, only a donation for the DAV.

The well-planned, technical course was approximately 90 miles long with
quite a bit of it spent in 2nd and 3rd gear.  The twists and turns are too
many to list and I’m guessing you’d need a county map to find some of these
roads; however, anyone who is interested in the full course can e-mail me
and I’ll be happy to forward it to you.

The highlights of the route were many.  The first highlight was the weather.
It started a little gray, but the sun soon shone through and remained for
the entire day.  Temperatures were in the low 80’s, but the humidity kept
climbing as the day progressed.

I left Wingman and traveled along the Columbia River past a marina and some
floating houses to the Bridal Veil area where I turned onto the Historic
Columbia River Hwy.  This road has many twists, turns, elevation gains and
losses to keep you on your toes, but still enjoy the ride.  The road is a
fairly narrow 2-lane excursion with areas of wooden, concrete, or no
guardrail between you and a very nasty dropoff.  An overhang of trees
provides an umbrella of greenery.  We were also sharing the road with a lot
of varied groups from bicycle riders, cars, a group of vintage mustangs, and
even a tour bus!  I took a break at the top to enjoy the view at the Vista
House (www.vistahouse.com) before twisting and turning back towards the
valley floor.  Turning inland, I traveled along and over Gordon Creek, which
is a larger water system than its name would indicate.  Upon leaving the
woodlands and watershed areas, the scenery changed to grasslands, farms, and
multiple berry stands while skirting the Clackamas River.  A final push into
Gresham, OR then a few back roads brought me back to Wingman where it all
started.

BBQ’d hot dogs, chips, chili, and assorted condiments were waiting at
Wingman when I arrived.  I managed to find a pair of new Tourmaster
motorcycle boots in my size and added them to my gear.  The door prize
drawings were delayed slightly as the course sweepers were a bit late in
arriving, but all ended well.  There was a nice mix of door prizes with many
gift certificates for various businesses, an air-driven motorcycle dryer,
hotel packages, and more.  I ended up snagging a University of Washington
camping chair.  Luckily, Mar came by in her Mini so I didn’t have to figure
out how to carry that home!

Chapter X is a new chapter in Vancouver, and this was their first attempt at
an event.  By all accounts, it was a rousing success.  The Wingman parking
lot overflowed with bikes, there were (reportedly) 111 people that took part
in the event, and around $1200 was raised for the charity.  Great job,
ladies and gentlemen!

Total miles for the day:  105.2

Allen
‘02 1800 Ka Uila (Lightning)
Vancouver, WA