I wanted to finally check out the town of Mineral in Lewis County, and the roads seemed fine everywhere, but they ended up getting snowier the further up in elevation I went. By the time I hit the last road to get to the town, it was covered in slush and I went down maybe 100 feet after turning onto said road. Mineral will have to wait until the weather warms up a bit.
Even though the conditions weren't quite perfect for a long ride, I felt like I'd become rusty at motorcycle riding and really wanted to get into it. My rustiness really showed at the beginning of the ride, but I gradually felt into my usual groove.
Past rides in the area:
More after the break…
Outbound
I started at about 7 AM so I wouldn't have to deal with both cold and dark conditions, then headed south on I-5. My original plan was to cross Lake Washington via SR-520, but I recalled seeing signs about a closure while passing through the area over the past week, so I was forced to use I-90 instead. Once on the other side of the lake, I headed south on I-405 and SR-169. As my route ascended away from the rivers, lakes, and valleys, I noticed that it got a little warmer, which was very welcome.
My first stop was at Charlie's Cafe in Enumclaw. Unlike in the past, I got some much-needed cups of coffee to help me warm up. I typically would be worried about getting sick from the acidity, which has historically been common for me, but I put a little baking soda in my water bottle before leaving, which I've discovered completely solves the issue. While I waited for my food, I noted the large number of vehicles towing and carrying snowmobiles, which I should've seen as an omen. When my food arrived (a "222" pancake combo), a guy at a nearby table told me to be very careful with the syrup since there wasn't much room left on the plate for it to run off. (He gestured to one of his table-mates and said their syrup got all over the floor.) Heeding his advice, I cut up my pancakes some before pouring the syrup, which the guy said was "irrigation relief." His comment suggested to me that he knew a thing or two about water management.
Unlike last time, I found the correct way to leave Charlie's Cafe, which was very convenient because it lead to a traffic light on the highway. After getting gas in Enumclaw, and using the restroom at the South Prairie Trailhead, I headed south along Orville Road. Unlike last time, I was able to maintain my speed better through the curves with better technique.
When I passed through Eatonville, along a lane shift, I noticed that they were completely rebuilding the sidewalks. (The shift was such that my lane was a parking lane, while the opposing lane was where my lane would've been.)
Heading south out of Elbe, I noticed snow starting to collect on the highway's verges, but I didn't think much of it since the road itself was completely clear. That proved to be my undoing: as soon as I made a left onto Mineral Road, I saw snow and slush all over the road. Trying to follow a very careful line, I used very little throttle to keep moving…but even that wasn't enough. It wasn't long until the bike slid out sideways under me and I landed on my left shoulder and hip. After getting up, I didn't feel like any part of my body was badly damaged, but my top case did pop open. Thankfully, when I popped it off the bike, it wasn't damaged much at all.
Taking stock of the situation, I realized that I couldn't use the normal leg lift to bring it up due to the camber of the road and slipperiness of the surface. Luckily, a local drove the other way along the road and was able to direct and help me get it up. We inched the bike back and forth to get it closer to the middle of the road, then did a front-side lift to get it back up. He asked if it still started, and when it did, he asked if I needed any more help. I told him I didn't and he headed off on his way, keeping an eye on me as I had trouble turning the bike around to head back down the hill. Once I figured to use the throttle to help move it against the grade of the camber, he knew I was fine and continued to the highway. All the while, a couple of locals were chatting to each other from their cars a little uphill.
Inbound
I was definitely shaken after all that, but I felt more or less okay to start heading home since the road was impassible for me. I had a really difficult time getting on the bike after, though, as my quads were super-tight. Thankfully, it didn't take too much stretching to get the back to normal so I could roll slowly down the hill on the bike with my feet deployed in case I ran into any more slick spots. Once back to the highway, I had no trouble making my way down to Elbe for its rest area's restroom.
When I returned to my bike, I saw a bunch of sportbike riders pull into the gas station adjacent to the rest area. They must've seen me, as one of them walked over and asked me to join them. I told him about my fall and that I already had plans with my partner, which made him think I was declining mainly because of the fall. I do hope they didn't end up on slippery roads on their way to Eastern Washington. (The guy didn't know the route and was simply following the others.)
My original plan for this ride was to follow SR-169 back to Seattle, but I didn't really feel like doing that after falling, so I just punched "home" into my GPS and followed the route it gave me: SR-7 and I-5. I certainly had less trouble with SR-7 than last time due to my better technique, so it went by pretty quickly. As I rolled through Spanaway, I started running into worse and worse traffic, so I decided to hang a left and follow the much quieter Perimeter Road. I rode with apprehension until my GPS's route no longer advised me to turn around, then joined I-5 at exit 122 and moved into the HOV lane.
Needing a restroom, gas, and a break, I pulled of at the HOV exit at S 137th Street to look for a gas station. After finding one, filling up, and buying a Fig Newton as "bathroom rent", I was dismayed to learn that there was no customer restroom there. My next stop was the nearby Campeon Market…which also had no public restroom. I only finally found one when I hit the also nearby H Mart, where I also bought a chestnut roll cake a snack.
After meandering back to the same exit to rejoin I-5, I stuck to the carpool lane all the way to Georgetown, then followed a left exit that I'd learned about when my dad and I picked up 
my new dual-sport a couple weeks back. Following the same route from that trip had me use the SR-99 tunnel and get home at around 3 PM.
The following day, I posted a "winter is not my season" post with photos to the PNW Riders Facebook group and they kept going on about how much of an idiot I was. All of the other roads were clear on the 200 miles I rode that day. This one just happened to be the only slick one I ended up on. I ended up deleting my post and leaving the group.
On a more positive note, this ride inspired me to put together a wool base layer so I'd have an easier time staying warm.
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