We rode in the "MonkeyButt 300" from Burlington, Washington
to Winthrop Washington (and back!) on August 17th, 2008
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Jackie and I joined a lot of other folks on the "MonkeyButt 300" ride sponsored by the good folks at Skagit Powersports in Burlington, Washington. I stopped counting at 55 bikes gathered for this ride. I'm sure there were many more than that by the time the ride got under way... |
| There's a lot of bikes lined up at Skagit Powersports in Burlington while the owners register for the ride and visit. This ride will take us to Winthrop, Washington and back... |
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Many of the bikes are Sport Bikes, also affectionately known as "crotch rockets". They even look fast sitting still... |
| But there's also some "baggers". The silver, two-toned VStar 1300 parked next to our blue one belongs to Lenny... |
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The weather promises to be beautiful as registration continues in the service bay of Skagit Powersports.. |
| Riders were even parking in the street waiting for the ride to begin... |
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Finally, we gather around for the pre-ride briefing... |
| Bill Cameron, of Skagit Powersports, gives the briefing. For this ride, due to the mixture of sport bikes and cruisers, Bill tells us there won't be any formal riding groups set up. We can form our own groups and mix and match as we wish... |
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We're given the destination (the big red barn in Winthrop where Skagit Powersports is kindly providing a catered BBQ meal) and possible routes to get there. Bill notes that the police are aware of this ride and will be watching for infractions.. |
| Skagit Powersports provided all registrants with suitable attire. Now we can say we've "been there, done that, and have the t-shirt"! |
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Finally, we're on our way. We're riding along with Lenny, a fellow NW Cascades Star Chapter 154 member. We stopped for some fuel in Marblemount (about 60 miles away from the start) and picked up another fellow VStar 1300 rider there. His name is Mark. Our next stop was a break alongside the road at a lookout over Ross Lake and our bikes are running fine... |
| Lenny is on the left and Mark on the right. |
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Lenny is a 30 year, retired Navy Master Chief. He's also not too far away from a Master's degree. Pretty impressive accomplishments and a interesting fellow to ride and visit with! |
| This bike was parked nearby. I think it's more bike than I am man!. That's a 350 cu V8 riding below that seat.. |
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Here's another look at the "Boss Hog". Note the huge radiator and the alligator leather seat. Dang! That's got to rub a fellow raw! |
| Here's a view out over Ross Lake. The dam is in the distance. The water is a deep green caused by glacial runoff. Beautiful!... |
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Our next stop was the rest area at the top of Washington Pass. Elevation was 5477 feet. Our bikes were running cool and smooth... |
| Lots of pretty mountains around these parts... |
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Quite a few of the sport bikes pulled in here as well to discuss the ride so far. Sounded like they were having a great time, too. We did see some instances of the sport fellows riding front wheel to license plate and passing on blind corners over double-yellow lines. When they pulled in behind us as we were riding we simply moved over to the right as far as we could go and waved them on by. Most of them waved back in thanks as they passed us... |
| The parking lot in the rest area is a pretty busy place... |
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It's 104 degrees farenheit as we arrived at the Red Barn in Winthrop and we're sweating profusely... |
| Thanks to our sedate pace and picture taking there's a lot of bikes already here. We're not too late to eat, though! |
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Inside the barn it's much cooler and Skagit Powersports has provided some fine catering for us... |
| These folks were working their tails off to provide a bunch of happy and hungry bikers with a good meal and they did it quckly, courteously and professionally. Thanks!... |
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The food was perfect after a long ride and who could turn down those great brownies? |
| It was Bill Cameron's birthday and I can't imagine a worse present than 60 bikers singing "Happy Birthday" but he seemed to take it well!... |
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Time to leave. We stopped close to the top of the pass and looked back towards Winthrop... |
| We had met a couple of Lenny's relatives in Winthrop and they rode back with us. They're eager for a break and some picture taking, too... |
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Our blue VStar looks great against the Cascade mountains... |
| I almost made a fool of myself trying to pick up this beautiful princess standing alongside of the road before I remembered that I'm married to her! Whew!. I'm such a lucky guy! |
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Pretty mountains wherever we look it seems... |
| Doug and Faith are relatives of Lenny's and are riding this fine Harley. They'd spent the night camping near Winthrop and joined us for the ride home... |
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It's still plenty hot even up in the mountains and Mark gets some water while the rest of visit and take pictures... |
| We head out thataway up the valley and back over the pass. We stopped once more for ice cream and water and some visiting before splitting up to head our various ways home. Out total mileage was around 282 for the day. Our profound thanks to Bill Cameron and Skagit Powersports for providing us with a very nice meal and a really great ride!. Thanks also to our riding partners, Lenny, Mark, Faith and Doug... |
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