Day 3

I spent most of Day 2 fixing the flat tire. I took the damaged tire and wheel to The Portland Motorcycle Co, a Suzuki dealership near the Portland airport. After inspecting the tire the mechanics at the dealership suggested replacing it with a new one. They located the last dual purpose road and dirt type tire in Portland that fit my bike and installed it with a new innertube on my wheel. I also asked one of the mechanics, Jim, about a good road from Portland to the coast. He suggested taking the road from Clinton to Beaver because parts of it were unpaved and it was scenic drive. Jim had used this road two years ago but after calling a friend reported to me that this road was still open for the winter. Cameron and I stayed at Manzell's place for a second night, woke up early on day 3 and started driving to the coast.

Everything went according to plan as we drove southwest from Portland, into the Willamette valley. The day was cold and clear and we drove down two lane country roads towards Carlton. Upon reaching Carlton we stopped at an Italian restaurant for lunch. I ate a meatball sandwich for lunch with a Capresse salad as an appetiser (the waitress helpfully informed me that the salad contained no lettus). After lunch left town on the 40 mile long road to Beaver that winds through Oregon's coastal mountain range. At the summit we reached the McGuire reservoir, where what was a dry road began to show accumulations of snow and ice. As we drove west over the summit the road follows the Nestucca river, and we encountered increasing amounts of snow and ice.

Here is a picture me standing with the bike in front of the McGuire reservoir.

This a picture of the bike on the snow and ice of the Nestucca river road.

A picture from Cameron's bike of ice falls off the road.

Cameron standing next to his bike.