favorite roads:

[seasvx]

in his post on Earl's "quick trip to california" thread, mbtoloczko says:
"If you want a more entertaining drive, take Highway 97 that goes north through the Oregon Cascades to the Columbia River Gorge. Very scenic drive. Terrain changes back and forth several times between forest and high desert along the way. Some nice curvy roads on the last part too. The turn-off to get on Hwy 97 is at the Central Weed exit on I-5 in CA."

...which got me to thinking: what's your favorite SVX driving road?

To date, my fav is NF 26, down the east side of our local volcano (recounted on this board under the title "judgement upon my svx"). more curves per mile that any road i know. on that road, in the company of several other pedigreed sports cars, i had the best performance drive so far with this car.

a very good friend of mine (Mini) (genunie MkII, not the new BMW thingie) swears by California 96, from just south of the Oregon border, along the Klamath River through the Nat'l Forest out to Eureka on the coast. gotta try that.

ok, NW Forum: got roads?

[mbtoloczko]

Highway 97 is added to the list already. :-)

A good road for all out top speed runs is Highway 14 on the WA side of the Columbia River gorge between Biggs and Highway 395. Besides getting an adrenaline rush from what ever speed you reach, there the road is also very scenic in some locations. Great views of the gorge.

For pure scenic value, Highway 508 in WA from I-5 to Highway 7 is great. Its a nice alternative to Highway 12 in that area. Not much traffic, and plenty of scenic farmland. As I recall, I think we saw some wild blackberry bushes somewhere along the way too.

[lee]

I don't exactly live in the great NW.

However, about 20 years ago I was attending grad school in Beaverton/Hillsboro and when things would get a little tense I had a favorite short ride just a few minutes away - NW skyline Blvd and the roads adjoining.

Of course didn't have an SVX then, but my Norton was and a quick half-hour ride was very relaxing (post-ride that is). Maybe all built up by now, but back then it was a great country road just minutes outside the city.

[seasvx]

Originally posted by lee
...my Norton...

motorcycles are indicators of good things: any road where i find a bunch of bikes just always turns out to be great for the svx! thx fer kickin' in!

[manofmayo]

My favorite road in Seattle is East/West Mercer Way on Mercer Island. Lots of switch backs, but also slow pokes, dog walkers and kids.

[seasvx]

somebody tell me about the old road between e'burg & yakima. i think i was a kid the last time i was on this road but my memory is of miles of two-lane asphalt that follows every curve and bend of the yakima river. anyone have recent experience with this? is it the canyon-carver that i think it is?

[Alycone]

I didn't take a cool road between Ellensburg and Yakima, just I-82. Is the cool one HWY 821?

I had fun driving US 97 between Levenworth and Ellensburg after the camping meet in the middle of the night, it was completely empty. There's a cool two-lane seldom-used hwy somewhere around there that I used (during the day) to try going over 100mph. There's a long straight stretch with rock on one side and water on the other, but it gets curvy before and after. I'll have to check a more detailed map to find it.

[JENKIN]

The yakima/ellensburg canyon road is just as bendy as you remember it. The main problem is that they dropped the speed limit to 50 to discourage use by trucks, and they patrol it pretty heavily ( i think WSP prefers to drive it vs 84- I do).

[seasvx]

Originally posted by JENKIN
... they patrol it pretty heavily

[PhatWeasel]

1. 20 to Port Townsend from the 101. Curvy, smooth and scenic. Yum.

2. North Cascades Highway. Curvy, scenic, long drive, but Winthrop and Twisp are cool.

3. I am seconding East Mercer Way, but only very early in the morning, too many bikers/dog walkers/oldsters.

-Nate

[manofmayo]

Wow

Someone who has driven East Mercer Way.

Must be a former Seattleite.

[PhatWeasel]

I lived on Mercer Island for about a year back in 1998. Prior to that I was living in Port Angeles going to school at Peninsula. Weather was too nasty for me in both places so I moved back to Arizona. I do miss Seattle though, and the 2 week summers there.

-Nate

[manofmayo]

I grew up on Mercer Island....moved off in 1992. Place used to be more friendly back then. Hate going back to visit. Snobs abound.