Girl Meets World on FZ-07 Motorcycle - Chapter 2 - Part 2

Tiff and I met at the track, where she races her Ninja 250 with more enjoyment and positivity than anyone else on the grid. When Tiffani got word that she’d be getting laid off from her job in Los Angeles, she didn’t fret. In typical ultra-optimistic Tiff style, she saw it as an opportunity to hit the road on her newly acquired Yamaha FZ-07. What follows are Tiffani’s reports from the road, albeit a bit delayed, originally posted for her friends on Facebook but shared here with her permission for all to enjoy. — Ari Henning

However cold I thought was the coldest I've ever been in my life, I have now officially been colder than that. Jesus Christ, Oregon. Jesus. Christ. As my fingers slowly but surely regain feeling in this warm motel, let’s recap!

After leaving my camp spot on Mount Shasta, having once again not been eaten by bears, I headed to Lava Beds National Monument, which would be my last stop in California. It was pretty chilly, so much so that I stopped at a rest stop on the way to dig out some extra layers. While I was warming up, a couple on matching Harleys pulled into the rest stop and gave me some hand warmers figuring I must be freezing (they had heated gear and said it really wasn’t too bad out. I acknowledged that mistakes were made in my preparation). I thanked them and continued to the park to check out the caves. The temps were still a little rough, and I didn't have proper caving gear (they do rent out flood lights for free, so that’s kind of cool). I only looked around for a couple hours before setting my sights on Crater Lake in Oregon. Lava Beds was a super interesting and unique place, though, so definitely worth a return one day.

As I got into Oregon, the low temps were complemented by even colder rain, but I was pretty determined to make it to the lake, so I headed up Highway 62 just the same. I got within 10 miles of the lake before the rain turned to full on snow. I tried to go another mile before the snow started making it difficult to keep my visor clear, and I had to have a "why are you doing this to yourself" talk.

If you've ever hopped on your motorcycle on a 30 degree day, watched the light rain turn to pouring, felt your entire SoCal-acclimated body freezing over from the 65 mph wind chill, pulled over on a highway shoulder to start doing calisthenics, then found yourself laughing, you now understand what it's like to vacation with Tiff.

This morning, I put on all of the warmest stuff I had (literally all of it, judging by how hard it is to move) because the forecast where I was and where I was going was in the 30s - low 40s and raining. I made it 20 miles before I had to pull over because I had lost all feeling in my hands, where I remembered Ari's suggestion to do push ups to try to get blood flowing again. It definitely works, but as I had to do this 4 times on the 120 mile ride to Bend, all I could think was that I'm going to have killer biceps by the time I get out of Oregon. As such, I determined that I'm going to save these northwestern states for after Laguna seca when they have hopefully figured out what the hell spring and summer are, as there's no way my SoCal-acclimated ass can actually enjoy what they have to offer in this kind weather without any heated gear, and there are way too many things I'm excited to see around here to let my bad luck ruin them for me. I’m currently working on bee-lining it through some more freezing rain toward Boise, Idaho and hopefully it'll be a little warmer over there!