Numb-de-dumb

All week I had been craving it and today I finally made it happen. I needed to go for a real motorcycle ride. Not this bang around town shit. The plan was to ride up to Mt. St. Helens, cruise around their for a bit, then ride back. The plan was quickly scrapped as I discovered that signs in Portland that tell you which road to take to get to St. Helens actually point you to the town of St. Helens, Oregon. Live and learn never to trust signs posted by the man.

So instead of 100 miles to Mt. St. Helens and back, I decided to continue along this trail to Astoria, then down to Cannon Beach, and back to Portland for a trip of well over 200 miles. While my body had lost nearly all sensation due to the notorious Sportster buzz, the ride was superb. There were lots of great parts, but one thing stood far and above the rest. Perhaps even a once in a lifetime experience.

As I rode from Seaside to Cannon Beach, I passed a Ferari. I've only ever seen a Ferari on the road once before. They are truly marvelous sports cars. An engineering marvel of high power in a light frame that hugs the road so closely you can hardly tell where one ends and the other begins. Standing still these things looks like they are going fast. And today I learned they sound fast, even if they are only going 20 mph. Have you ever watched one of those films that shows a high speed European grand prix? Ferari's in real life make a sound similar to that in a way that a photo of a steak is similar to having a perfectly cut and cooked t-bone on a plate in front of you.

Then I passed another Ferari. This one was newer, but had the same red paint job, the same fast look, and a nearly identical fast sound. Then there were three more in a group, one of which was silver, all different models and years.

As I pulled into Cannon Beach to grab some lunch, there were Feraris everywhere. A tent downtown welcomed the Northwest Regional Ferari Club Gathering. Porches are junk. I have an affinity for older Corvettes. But these are clearly superior machines. I have seen how Corvettes handle the road. I've driven a big block Vette down a desolate stretch of highway. A Vette is a car. It may be a very fast one, but it is a car. A Ferari is a work of engineering art. There is no road fast enough, none twisty enough, to unleash the demon within these things. If a Corvette is champion warrior, a Ferari is a master assassin.

Up until today, I wasn't a big fan of Feraris. I know I'll never own one no matter how much disposable income I have, but it sure would be fun to drive, just once, preferably some place that has no speed limit or very few cops.