Dan Crouch Blog

I've been meaning to attend the DesmoNorthwest BBQ for at least two years in a row and this year I had no excuse not to. Naturally I hit my buddy Paul up to join me; he can't say no to rides over 100 miles, let alone nearly 650 miles. In two days total! Yep, we decided to ride up and back on Saturday and Sunday.

But the leg up on Saturday was the real meat of the trip. We rode back roads from Corvallis to Edgefield in Troutdale for a late breakfast. We both had the bacon scramble with fresh baby red tomatoes and smothered in freshly grated Parmesan. Delicious!

From there we hit I-84 for a quick blast to Hood River, where we took the bridge across the Columbia to Washington, and headed North for Mt. St. Helens. Turns out this area is a meca for sportbike riders as we must have seen nearly 100 riders in this area. Most of the roads are fantastic and the vistas are even more amazing.

We continued on past Randle through the Mt. Rainier area, past Mt. Adams, through Enumclaw, and then on to Issaquah. All in all, I think we were on the freeway less than an hour and half all day. Here is our route:

Unfortunately when you're behind on your day long back roads trip, you don't stop for pictures. But luckily lots of other Flickr users have. Here is what you can expect from the area:

After riding some of the best, and some of the worst, that SW Washington had to offer, we were beat. Ten and a half hours later, we were hurting to say the least! Paul being the saint he is, and having water-tight hard bags on the VFR, went and got us some refreshments to unwind with after our journey:

The next day we cleaned up the bikes and headed for the BBQ. After supporting the Ducati website for nearly 2 years, I was able to connect names and faces. I already knew the club was full of great people and it was a really nice gathering of like minded enthusiasts. Here are some pics of the rides that showed up:

The worst part of the trip was definitely the last leg, from Issaquah to home via I-5. A record heat wave started that afternoon and we rode home in some seriously hot air on the blacktop for over 5 hours. It was like being blasted from all angles with heat guns no matter how fast or slow we managed. So we ended up stopping about every hour to rehydrate and recharge. Not much choice as we both had to be at work on time the next day.

All that said, I'm really glad we did this trip. Not only did I finally get to meet some great Ducatisti, I proved to myself I'm still capable of a big trip. I can't wait to go again!

dc

The VFR750 and 750SS attack the Willamette Valley again, but this time the VFR is being piloted by Blake in a very generous loaner agreement with Paul. What can I say, the man is the shit for extending such an offer!

We took the back roads on Thursday for a killer ride up to Portland to visit with our SEO and PPC Vendor, Anvil Media Inc., on official OSU business. The weather on the way up was spectacular and we were treated to the best the valley has to offer while passing up all the various crops Oregon is known for: grass seed, wheat, filberts, strawberries, hops, grapes, green beans, corn, and many other types of organic produce. A ride like this reminds me why we live where we do!

Here are a couple pics from the Wheatland Ferry where we crossed the Willamette, and the current Anvil Media headquarters:

Here is the Google Map of our route up and pictures from the trip:

To follow up our trip, we assaulted Mary's Peak on Saturday morning via back roads again of course! Highway 20 leading to the peak has recently been repaved at the base of the mountain and the road to the summit is still one of the best hillclimbs out there in terms of corners per mile and scenic views. Here are the pics from the Peak:

Many thanks to Paul for loaning out the bike to Blake, the best in SEO and Social Media for hosting us: Anvil Media, and rural Oregon for best and most scenic roads anywhere!

dc

I was doing some late night surfing on German eBay last night and came across this rare piece: A 2.1L Hartge motor for the e36 3 series and the current bid is only 188 Euros! Check out the pics:

I remember European Car's e36 project from the mid-90's and their rave reviews about this motor. Naturally I went to bed with visions of that badass motor in something like Paul's 2002 project. I should've realized that the price was far too low, but I wanted to believe it could be possible. So this morning I ran the page through Google Translator and discovered this is actually just a display engine and is missing many key internals, like the pistons! Oh well, it was a fun pretending for a little while!

Shop for Hartge parts on eBay right now!

dc

Paul was one of the organizers behind this year's Euros in the Valley car show. Naturally I had to attend and I was really surprised with the great turnout. Here are my personal favs from the show:

Scirocco MK2 owned by Josh from Sports Car Shop:

Check out the uber rare Zender fan covers! I'm going to have to go back to the VW&Porsche archive to see if I can find an original ad for these. I hear the rims underneath are just as impressive.

Darren's sweet e30 325ic, which has been brought back from the dead, literally! Great job man!

This BMW 3.0CS was in fantastic shape:

I finally got to see Richard's e21 320i that I posted on German Cars For Sale Blog. The first real e21 buyer that comes along is going to buy this car. No negotiation required as $3200 is more than fair!

Paul's Porsche 911SC looks like one of the standouts at this years show:

My personal pick for best of show was this bus. Totally perfect in every way:

Though a close second would be this Sahara BMW 2002:

Here's a gallery of all the cars I took pics of:

Nice event! Looking forward to participating more in the coming year,

dc

New Years Day I took a trip down to the Sports Car Shop in Eugene. My close friend Paul works there and the owner, Bob, approached me about pictures that they needed for a couple of the incoming cars. One of the cars is a 2006 Jaguar S Type R:

I'm a 'prosumer' quality photographer with only a little gear in my bag. But considering the equipment, I'm okay with how these turned out. Especially this close up of the leaping cat and Jag badge. I made wallpapers out of these in 1680 and 1152 resolutions:

This is quite a striking car in person. I didn't get any seat time in the car, but the specs speak for themselves: (Edmunds.com)

The standard engine is a supercharged 4.2-liter V8 rated at 400 horsepower. A six-speed automatic transmission sends the power to the rear wheels. Performance is exemplary, with a 0-to-60 time of just 5.3 seconds, according to Jaguar, and an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph.

I'll be going back down to shoot outdoors later this week. I'll get details then regarding price, miles, etc... Stay tuned!

dc

Saturday morning, Paul, Scott, and I bombed up I-5 to catch the Seattle International Motorcycle show. It was a cool show with most manufacturers represented and lots of bikes to sit on, which is what makes these shows so much fun to attend! Here's the raw and unsorted pictures from the show:

My pick of the show is fantastic Aprilia RS125. At only 280lbs, it's light as a feather and makes my Ducati at 380lbs feel a bit chunky! Too bad the 125 isn't street legal though...

Here's a review of the RS125 on Motorcycle-USA.com

dc

Guest Blog entry by Paul

Last year Dan and I took a Saturday ride over to sunny central Oregon and checked out the Sunriver Exotic Car Show. The event was very casual, no charge, and open to the public, it seemed to be just a relaxed get together of car enthusiasts at a very nice resort. The following Monday I wasted no time telling my employers about the event and sharing the many photos I had taken. It had been a very fun day and was an event I thought we, Sports Car Shop, should make an effort to be a part of in the future. Well the future arrived this year with us as one of the show's few sponsors. The only trick was how to get several vintage cars and a couple modern classics across the mountains, of course I volunteered to help by driving!

This is where things got a bit tricky for me, as luck would have it the date of the show fell on the same day as my 5th wedding anniversary and the day after Dan and my latest trip to the track needless to say I was in a tight spot, a Friday spent racing followed by a day at a car show is not exactly what Mrs. Breen was dreaming of. Luckily I had a plan... We would head over to the show Saturday morning in a gorgeous 1974 E-type roadster

My vision was a warm top-down drive through the Cascades in a roaring 12 cylinder to arrive for a fancy lunch at an upscale resort. I'd get to look at cars while my wife was swept away by my James Bond-like driving, the beautiful surroundings, and the sheer romance of the event. What could go wrong? As it turns out almost everything!

What I had forgotten in my plan was that the show started at 9:00 AM which required that all cars be parked by 8:00, with Bend a good two and half hour drive away at close-to-legal speeds that meant a departure time of 5:30 AM, not a good start. The second problem evidenced itself Friday, I was getting sick, the bug that had been going around had got me, during our track day I was trying to deny my sore throat and achy body but there was no getting around it, by that night I was truly ill. I thought of calling the whole thing off but when I called my boss to give him the news he sounded very excited about the show and told my that instead of the E-Type he wanted my to bring over a 1995 Porsche 911

He had already put my room reservations on the seat, just pick up the car and meet him Saturday morning by 8:00. I couldn't back out now, I figured he was putting us up at a hotel and they really wanted the car there, what was I to do? Man-up and do it is what. I let Heather know as gently as possible that we would be waking at 4:30 and to avoid ruining her whole day we would take two cars, I would drive the 993 from work and she would follow in my 911, that way we could just drop-off the work car at the show then have the day to ourselves, I was determined to make a wife-friendly weekend plan that would work. She took it well and agreed, (in 5 years she's come to expect these kind of things I guess).

Saturday morning came too quickly and of course we didn't leave town until almost 6:00, we would really have to fly to make it on time. It took Heather a while to adjust the Porsche and being a cautious driver she was lagging behind, I gritted my teeth and slowed the pace to keep her in the mirrors. Luck was on our side, as we crossed the pass at sunrise the 993 informed me that the outside temp was a chilly 27 degrees!

I of course had packed for summer temps and had only short-sleeved shirts, I was hoping Heather had come better prepared (which she had). I called Joe from the road to let him know we were still an hour away and got the good news that they were on a frost delay. This year the show was being upgraded from a parking lot get together to a real car show and was to be held on grass of the golf course, nice! We arrived perfectly at 8:30 just as they were opening the course and allowing the long line of cars out onto the turf. I parked the 993, said hi to the bosses, got a couple mochas, and made a quick round of the show while people were still setting up. This was the only chance I got to take pictures and check out the cars as the rest of the day was spent with Heather enjoying the area's non-automotive attractions. All-in-all things went well and I consider the whole trip a success, Heather and I ended up having a great dinner at the Deschutes Brewery and stayed at a great little bed and breakfast, The Mill Inn just up the street.

Unfortunately I only got to enjoy the show for a few minutes while things were still being set-up. The cars on display were stunning and the reports I got from later in the day confirmed that it was a cool event not to be missed.

Do you ever pull out the map just to find long stretches of twisting road that you've never ridden on before? So do we! Paul and I were planning a day of motorcycling from Eugene to Bandon via some back roads, and then back up the coast via 101. But the weather forecasters suddenly warned of an incoming front that could drop rain as early as 11am at the coast. We decided to go east instead to seek out warmer temperatures and avoid the rain until the last minute on the way back.

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Nothing really that special about this route except that I had never been on Highway 242, which is actually the old pass highway to and from Eugene. The road isn't really maintained anymore and is actually closed most of the wet season. It starts out very inviting, similar to Highway 199 from Grants Pass into the Redwoods, or Highway 1 in NorCal: a thin strip of asphalt draped in the middle of a dense forest with corners ranging from 15 to 35 for at least 10 miles. It would've been pure bliss but nearly every corner had the gravel marbles dragged into the roadway by the oversized RV's littering our beautiful road. Nonetheless, the scenery was incredible!

After tap dancing through these tight and sometimes treacherous corners, we left the forest and ascended to the 5000ft summit where the road opened up a bit. Suddenly the vegetation was becoming non-existent as we crossed through the lava field. The landscape changes so quickly and completely, it was like being on another planet. Here's a picture I found on Flickr:

Highway 242 conveniently links right up to Sisters, where we would've ended up anyway had we taken 126 to 20. We pushed through the annoyingly crowded main drag (no choice) and headed onto Bend. And gosh, as long as we're in Bend, we better hit the Deschutes Brewery for lunch. I had the Ham wrapped Halibut, and washed it down with their Sagebrush Classic Pils. A really tasty lunch to say the least!

Not the Pils, but a shot I took of a Deschutes bottle a while back:

Then back to business as we headed home. Except the business of enjoying the 30+ miles of tight corners through the Santiam Pass that was practically ruined by the endless stream of RV's, dawdling sedans, and small trucks towing boats. It's a public road and all, but please use the turn-outs folks!

All and all though, another great day trip through western Oregon covering nearly 300 miles. And we beat the storm back home. It's been raining ever since I got home. Perfect timing!

dc