Day 2 - to Eureka California

Left home about 0700, cloudy and very cool. No rain until past Portland when I had the occasional sprinkle as far as Grants Pass. It was very blustery as well, glad I had on my jacket liner. Photo is leaving home for Eureka.

The bike eats up the miles, but unfortunately also the gas. It has never been an economical bike for gas, but I could get at least 180 miles from the 5 gallons, so normally looking to refuel about 150 miles. Since the big bore upgrade my mileage has dropped to 30 per gallon, even with the gear ratio change for lower revs in 5th. This means I have to be more aware of mileage, especially when riding Interstates at 60-70 mph cruising. Gas stations tend to be more frequent there, and it is the back roads one has to be very careful on. This specifically applies to Alaska. One good thing is that I get to stretch my legs every 2 hours or so. As a test I ran the bike at 65-70 between Albany and Roseburg, and gassed up. It took 4 gallons, distance was 100 miles, so it meant 25 mpg. Ouch. So lesson learned.


The ride itself was uneventful, the scenery blah until southern Oregon, where it became good to view. Cutting on to H199 from Grants Pass to Crescent City, then H101 to Eureka was by far the most scenic.

Entering California

The Siskiyous are much like the Cascades, like riding Highway 2, but with tighter bends and many more of them. Coming out of the mountains I encountered one tight bend, and came face to face with a socking great redwood tree. The tree was the reason for the bend, and for quite a few miles after the road twisted around trees. Quite awesome. I think that was the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.

Reaching Crescent City, one sees the Pacific, and the road to Eureka pretty much follows the coast.

Crescent City

Bedtime is at the Rodeway Inn, I can recommend it.

Miles travelled = 581