[bwhip]

Toward the end of last week I was thinking it might be kind of fun to take the M2 on some of the roads I'd visited a few weekends back (and many times before) in Central Oregon on my motorcycle. Thankfully more than half of the roads I did on that trip were pretty clean, so I wouldn't have to worry about sandblasting the lower extremities of my baby as I did back in January.

I was able to leave the office around 3 on Friday afternoon, and the weather forecast was not that great for Friday PM (showers), but supposed to be mostly cloudy on Saturday. Plan was to drive the four hours or so to Hermiston, Oregon, then loop back on a fun and curvy country road back to Pendleton, where I'd spend the night. Because one of my goals (as usual) was to take photos along the trip, especially Saturday, I was hoping to avoid much rain at all - so the car would be shiny and clean! Well, it started raining about an hour into my drive, and continued for three more hours, so no chance of that. Still, I figured I could wash the car in Pendleton Saturday AM. Either way, even if it couldn't be a perfect photo trip, I knew it would be a fantastic driving trip.

Highway 37 Friday evening was my first opportunity for some high-speed fun in the corners, and it didn't disappoint. Quite empty, like most of the roads in this area.



I spent the night in Pendleton, hoping for the dark clouds to clear, and for the roads to dry. No such luck, as about 6:30 Saturday morning, I heard it raining hard outside. Oh well, so much for a clean car. Forecast still showed clearing, so at least the roads would get drier and more grippy through the morning.

I headed south toward Pilot Rock and then west on Hwy 74 toward Heppner, which is utterly fantastic. The roads got drier as I went, and although I started out pretty concerned about grip, the more I pushed the more impressed I was with the Michelins. Wow! I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story of how great this road is.









As you can see, traffic was unusually bad (just kidding). What a road!

Heppner is a very small town, but I thought maybe, just maybe, they'd have a car wash there. They did! However, it was out of order - old and overgrown with weeds. Oh well, now I'd just focus more on driving and less on having a perfectly sparkling car in my photos.



And the driving was spectacular! Ultimate Driving Machine indeed. I have NEVER had a driving experience like this one. The car is completely brilliant. I absolutely could not believe how planted it stayed through the corners, no matter how tight, how fast - nothing but grip. In fact, I found that my core was getting a good workout, since the corners were working me even harder than the car. Almost as if the car was saying, "I can handle these corners just fine - can you?"

From Heppner it was on to Condon, and this brilliant bit of tarmac:







Obviously, driving these roads is a very, very different experience than riding my motorcycles here. Still completely thrilling, just not quite as hyper-intense. I don't have to worry about every little tiny piece of gravel in a corner the way I do on my bikes. Certainly it's warmer, dryer and more comfortable! So grateful that I get to experience both, because each has its own incredible rush.



I passed through Condon, then south to Fossil, and turned west onto the Shaniko-Fossil Highway.



This road was designed for the BMW M2! I was literally laughing in sections because it was such ridiculous fun. Holy crap!







This favorite section is just a couple of miles from Antelope - former home of the Bagwan Rajneesh crew*. They must have really liked awesome, twisty roads.



Unbelievable.

One of my favorite things about this car is the sound, especially with the BMW Performance Exhaust I put on it. Sport + mode is so thrilling and intense, the car gets very hyper, with every touch of the accelerator pedal giving instant response, and the growl of that exhaust, with the little pops when you upshift, and the auto-blipping with every downshift, just adds to the overall thrill of the driving experience. It's so bloody awesome.



I looped back to Fossil, and headed east toward Spray. Of course, I had to take a little detour south on Hwy 207 toward Richmond, for yet more fun and challenging corners, not to mention some awesome scenery.







Next was the very scenic John Day Fossil Beds National Monument area, including Cathedral Rock:










I stopped for a burger in Dayville, some fuel in John Day, and then drove the final 2 1/2 hours home. On the way out of John Day I looked back for one more beautiful vista:



Nearly 800 miles total for the 1 1/2 day trip. The car is simply unbelievable, and I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to drive it the way it's meant to be driven on these amazing, empty roads. Like a 400 mile track. It was incredibly comfortable, even the 10 hours or so I spent in the driver's seat on Saturday. I absolutely love this little beast.

I made it home around 7 PM. Still plenty of daylight, so can you guess what I did?

Of course, proper bath for my baby!

[voyagergab]

Thanks for the amazing photos and narration!

[No Boost]

BMWHIP

[Top Gon]

just EPIC!. Thanks for sharing such an awesome experience.

[AndrewC1989]

Yay, you took the front plate off lol. Amazing photos. Thanks for sharing!

[M2PDX]

Awesome! I've driven on those roads! And the LBB really pops in the pictures.

[Quampa]

Stunning! Thank you for sharing.

[monochrom3]

Love the pics!!

[ScreamingChicken]

Thanks! Nice to see a Pacific Northwest trip. I'll have to try it sometime.

[dmboone25]

Wow - awesome roads and pictures.

Very nice write-up - I am jealous!

[M235guy]

Great pictures!! Have a cabin in the mountains near Sumpter but never get to drive the car there, I bet it was a blast.

[Oxymoron]

Wow!!! I had no idea where any of the places you mentioned were, so I put them all into google maps to get a better idea.

Thats another one for the bucket list for sure.

Thanks for sharing

[bwhip]

Thanks! Here's a map of this particular route. Soooooo many great roads in this region.



The Butler Motorcycle maps are a fantastic resource for finding the most thrilling, fun and scenic roads. I use them for multiple states. http://www.butlermaps.com/

A couple more pics from yesterday:

[amancuso]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

[bi0hazard]

great pix!

[Leon007]

Great!! Thanks for sharing ^^

[DelGriffith]

Just fantastic.

Thanks for sharing (JEALOUS!)

[Benzima]

Never tired to see LBB!

[Saphirschwarz]

Waaaaaow....
Also, i like the subtle mods, very classy

[Fear-Mongrel]

One of the best photo arrays and presentations I've seen on this forum. Thank you!

Not only that, but whatever camera you're using it's not applying too much, if any, film simulation effect to the photos or shifting the color of the LBB. Yours are some of the most accurate renditions of LBB.

[termigni]

wow those pictures!

[nd2002]

Awesome pics and drive!!