The Vulture's Chronicles
2009 has been an interesting year in the motorcycle industry. The economy dictates flexibility in sales and flexibility working with others. I'd say 2009 has been a good year in both dimensions for our store and we enjoy a degree of success few other stores have been able to achieve. I am fortunate to work with a great bunch of people; about the same caliber as my service mates and I consider that a rare thing in the civilian world.
I also have made the acquaintance of some special people who I have included into my life at least as far as riding goes and riding with spouses on occassion. 2009 added spousal activity to the mix and it has been different for me and very enjoyable. With that as a preamble, know that my planning for my annual September Marty ride has been accomplished in fits and starts and in between the press of doing business in different ways.
There were some suggestions from last year's group that I include some more twisty roads, and perhaps find a location from which to do day rides. I initially figured to make that happen, but the more I got into the task the less enthralled I became with it. Primarily because this is my vacation ride that allows me to unwind from work, and the traditional way I do that is to pound big miles in a day, arising before sun-up and stopping when I feel the need. Short day trips from a central location just wasn't working for me so I abandoned that part of the suggestion.
I included a lot of technical twisty roads in wooded areas to satisfy some of the wishes of the group though - and I added open spaces where I feel most free. It seemed a good compromise and as always members of the group can ride all of the route, some of it, or none of it - but it is my ride and that's the way it is. It is a system that works. Nobody feels pressure and we each can ride what we want to. The map below outlines the general route, but it got changed along the way slightly.
I have been working towards a way to update my web site as I travel. The easiest way would be to buy a Mac laptop but I just didn't want to pony up the cash for a limited use item that a full on laptop would require. I found ways to use my iPhone and for the most part that works well, but there are things one can do with video these days that exceed the iPhone's ability - figure it out or live with the limits of my technology. Bob, a friend of mine, showed me a Windows based NetBook he uses and Voila - solution in hand. I used it on this trip and it works pretty well, even if it is Windows based. Today, I connected it to our home network and have been copying files to my Mac which is pretty easy to do.
Like most married people, I do promise to call home at night and check in. In preparation for some Iron Butt rides I have been planning, I acquired a Spot Tracker which is a GPS enabled device that plots your location every 10 minutes, and permits you to call 911 services if you have an accident in your riding group, or simply request people at home send some help - like you run out of gas in the middle of nowhere and have no cell coverage. The family members actually monitored our ride on a routine basis, as did friends, work mates, and one poor soul confined to jury duty. He was scheduled to ride with us but his civic duty came first so he rode along via Spot and sent me e-mail analysing our route changes and apparent speed. Intel guys.....
All of my technology garnered commentary from the two guys I made the trip with - former submariners who speak Navy instead of Air Force. Apparently, I'm akin to a landlocked AGI, in their parlance. Sounded ominous :) I got even later.
So off we go on Day 1 which was a simple ride down Interstate 5 to Yreka, CA. Once past the Willamette vally things can brighten with some nice sweepers to make a freeway ride acceptable. The only problem for me is I had a tooth extracted a few days earlier and the antibiotic has killed the microbes in my gut. The result is fire when eliminating, and a most nasty and uncomfortable ride on a motorcycle. Of course Rick tells me I was supposed to ingest the medication orally - what a kidder.
You DO meet the nicest people on a Honda - A decent couple from Portland
At dinner, we learn that the CA 96 that we will ride tomorrow was a big deal to the locals around the turn of the century. They needed a road to the ocean and lobbied to get convict labor to build the road. I have not researched it yet but whoever did build the road had to be a group of motorcyclists.
I planned this route with my K1300S in mind, but as it is in the shop for some repairs I chose my K1200GT. On day 2 we embark on 480 miles of the twistiest road I could find - some of which I have ridden before - most I have not. The big GT manages well, but at my age I feel its heft when I ride it agressively for extended periods and instead of a day of brillint riding, I have to be content with episodes of brilliance. What fun!
At Happy Camp, I learn we are riding the Bigfoot Highway. I am paranoid about deer having close encounters on other rides, and now discover there are Sasquatch to watch out for too. Just look at this ugly dude!
No need to hang out here, in what they call Happy Camp.
We were getting hungry though and looked for a restaurant. I timidly rode around this place a few times and we then hung out in the parking lot for a while, afraid to go in. Eventually we saw people emerge and went for it. The food was good.
A little way down the road we stop for gas. The old guy on the scooter says he normally rides a Harley - I'm thinking his scooter is a better choice in these twisty bits.
More superb roadway on down to CA 299 and then east to Weaverville. Stopped there for a snack. I wanted bread pudding - she said there isn't any - damn, I rode all the way from Seattle just for the bread pudding - It's all gone, what do you want? I'll have a vanilla shake please :(
Highway 3 south to CA 36 is worth doing and then we head West. I made a video of some brilliant moments on this road, and you won't see the less than brilliant.
It began to rain at the toughest section near the coast. And I mean real rain - the kind that would drown a salmon. The interesting thing to note here is we have covered about 400 miles of demanding road, and we are tired so the ride down highway 101 is a welcome low demand affair. What I did not know when planning the ride, was the toughest part - the bit on highway 1 to Fort Bragg was ahead of us.
Holy crap! 15 mph corners one after another, steep, slippery wet roadway, deer, and fatigue all come together for a final "screw you guys" thing. ABS works repeatedly when bleeding off speed and saved my ass when a couple of deer jumped in front of me. Ask me why I like to ride in Nevada.
But, we are tough old geezers and enjoy stuff like this as a reward.
Got into Fort Bragg so late we were the last customers in a pizza joint. Man did that pie taste great! Phone calls made home, and into bed. Where's the Ibuprophen?
Day three has the Clown Motel in Tonopah NV as our destination. And we are to meet Jennifer and her hubby Luca on the way. The roads are still moist, and quite tight/demanding. I noticed a habit of my GT to lose the front end when Laurie was with me in July and today I lose it a couple of times mid corner when the roads were wet. I wish I had the traction control of my K1300S as I spin the back tire a couple of times too - point is, no time to be made on this section; better to be safe. I'm pretty sure it is the Bridgestone BT-021 tires causing all the weirdness.
We do hook up with the two from San Francisco and after the normal pleasantries get moving. I have a route in mind, but Luca knows the area and suggests an alternate. It is an interesting twisty road, fun to ride, and takes us to almost Sacramento. We stop for lunch and then work our way to the freeway and Reno. This is the first major change in the route acknowledging our being tired and the remaining distance to travel. The freeway is more direct.
Donner pass is impressive and I enjoy the ride through Reno and on to Fallon, NV. We have a break at a gas station to rest our weary, and in my case still inflamed, butts.
I suggest we dine in Hawthorne as there is nothing in Tonopah worth dining in. And we stop there for dinner.
I also have made the acquaintance of some special people who I have included into my life at least as far as riding goes and riding with spouses on occassion. 2009 added spousal activity to the mix and it has been different for me and very enjoyable. With that as a preamble, know that my planning for my annual September Marty ride has been accomplished in fits and starts and in between the press of doing business in different ways.
There were some suggestions from last year's group that I include some more twisty roads, and perhaps find a location from which to do day rides. I initially figured to make that happen, but the more I got into the task the less enthralled I became with it. Primarily because this is my vacation ride that allows me to unwind from work, and the traditional way I do that is to pound big miles in a day, arising before sun-up and stopping when I feel the need. Short day trips from a central location just wasn't working for me so I abandoned that part of the suggestion.
I included a lot of technical twisty roads in wooded areas to satisfy some of the wishes of the group though - and I added open spaces where I feel most free. It seemed a good compromise and as always members of the group can ride all of the route, some of it, or none of it - but it is my ride and that's the way it is. It is a system that works. Nobody feels pressure and we each can ride what we want to. The map below outlines the general route, but it got changed along the way slightly.
I have been working towards a way to update my web site as I travel. The easiest way would be to buy a Mac laptop but I just didn't want to pony up the cash for a limited use item that a full on laptop would require. I found ways to use my iPhone and for the most part that works well, but there are things one can do with video these days that exceed the iPhone's ability - figure it out or live with the limits of my technology. Bob, a friend of mine, showed me a Windows based NetBook he uses and Voila - solution in hand. I used it on this trip and it works pretty well, even if it is Windows based. Today, I connected it to our home network and have been copying files to my Mac which is pretty easy to do.
Like most married people, I do promise to call home at night and check in. In preparation for some Iron Butt rides I have been planning, I acquired a Spot Tracker which is a GPS enabled device that plots your location every 10 minutes, and permits you to call 911 services if you have an accident in your riding group, or simply request people at home send some help - like you run out of gas in the middle of nowhere and have no cell coverage. The family members actually monitored our ride on a routine basis, as did friends, work mates, and one poor soul confined to jury duty. He was scheduled to ride with us but his civic duty came first so he rode along via Spot and sent me e-mail analysing our route changes and apparent speed. Intel guys.....
All of my technology garnered commentary from the two guys I made the trip with - former submariners who speak Navy instead of Air Force. Apparently, I'm akin to a landlocked AGI, in their parlance. Sounded ominous :) I got even later.
So off we go on Day 1 which was a simple ride down Interstate 5 to Yreka, CA. Once past the Willamette vally things can brighten with some nice sweepers to make a freeway ride acceptable. The only problem for me is I had a tooth extracted a few days earlier and the antibiotic has killed the microbes in my gut. The result is fire when eliminating, and a most nasty and uncomfortable ride on a motorcycle. Of course Rick tells me I was supposed to ingest the medication orally - what a kidder.
You DO meet the nicest people on a Honda - A decent couple from Portland
At dinner, we learn that the CA 96 that we will ride tomorrow was a big deal to the locals around the turn of the century. They needed a road to the ocean and lobbied to get convict labor to build the road. I have not researched it yet but whoever did build the road had to be a group of motorcyclists.
I planned this route with my K1300S in mind, but as it is in the shop for some repairs I chose my K1200GT. On day 2 we embark on 480 miles of the twistiest road I could find - some of which I have ridden before - most I have not. The big GT manages well, but at my age I feel its heft when I ride it agressively for extended periods and instead of a day of brillint riding, I have to be content with episodes of brilliance. What fun!
At Happy Camp, I learn we are riding the Bigfoot Highway. I am paranoid about deer having close encounters on other rides, and now discover there are Sasquatch to watch out for too. Just look at this ugly dude!
No need to hang out here, in what they call Happy Camp.
We were getting hungry though and looked for a restaurant. I timidly rode around this place a few times and we then hung out in the parking lot for a while, afraid to go in. Eventually we saw people emerge and went for it. The food was good.
A little way down the road we stop for gas. The old guy on the scooter says he normally rides a Harley - I'm thinking his scooter is a better choice in these twisty bits.
More superb roadway on down to CA 299 and then east to Weaverville. Stopped there for a snack. I wanted bread pudding - she said there isn't any - damn, I rode all the way from Seattle just for the bread pudding - It's all gone, what do you want? I'll have a vanilla shake please :(
Highway 3 south to CA 36 is worth doing and then we head West. I made a video of some brilliant moments on this road, and you won't see the less than brilliant.
It began to rain at the toughest section near the coast. And I mean real rain - the kind that would drown a salmon. The interesting thing to note here is we have covered about 400 miles of demanding road, and we are tired so the ride down highway 101 is a welcome low demand affair. What I did not know when planning the ride, was the toughest part - the bit on highway 1 to Fort Bragg was ahead of us.
Holy crap! 15 mph corners one after another, steep, slippery wet roadway, deer, and fatigue all come together for a final "screw you guys" thing. ABS works repeatedly when bleeding off speed and saved my ass when a couple of deer jumped in front of me. Ask me why I like to ride in Nevada.
But, we are tough old geezers and enjoy stuff like this as a reward.
Got into Fort Bragg so late we were the last customers in a pizza joint. Man did that pie taste great! Phone calls made home, and into bed. Where's the Ibuprophen?
Day three has the Clown Motel in Tonopah NV as our destination. And we are to meet Jennifer and her hubby Luca on the way. The roads are still moist, and quite tight/demanding. I noticed a habit of my GT to lose the front end when Laurie was with me in July and today I lose it a couple of times mid corner when the roads were wet. I wish I had the traction control of my K1300S as I spin the back tire a couple of times too - point is, no time to be made on this section; better to be safe. I'm pretty sure it is the Bridgestone BT-021 tires causing all the weirdness.
We do hook up with the two from San Francisco and after the normal pleasantries get moving. I have a route in mind, but Luca knows the area and suggests an alternate. It is an interesting twisty road, fun to ride, and takes us to almost Sacramento. We stop for lunch and then work our way to the freeway and Reno. This is the first major change in the route acknowledging our being tired and the remaining distance to travel. The freeway is more direct.
Donner pass is impressive and I enjoy the ride through Reno and on to Fallon, NV. We have a break at a gas station to rest our weary, and in my case still inflamed, butts.
I suggest we dine in Hawthorne as there is nothing in Tonopah worth dining in. And we stop there for dinner.
Luca is into his salad and Jen is making a point - I don't recall the topic - I was just keeping an eye on the fork. These two love birds kept us old guys entertained with PDA (Public Displays of Affection) and other newlywed antics and it is refreshing to see. Luca has lost a TON of weight and I didn't recognize him - he's quite the handsome Italian man. And, of course, Jen remains beautiful - they make a really cool couple and I'm glad to have had some time with them.
Stopping like this meant a good butt break, and a high speed ride in the dark for the last 100 miles. Thoughts of Coyote and Rabbit enter the headspace every now and then but one simply puts his hands in fate, and twists the throttle. And the reward is the Clown Motel.
I took this picture early as the sun came up on Day 4. I also discovered this:
Kind of interesting to have quiet neighbors for the night
I also decided to shorten this day for a couple of reasons. One of us recently had some abdominal surgery and the ride was taking its toll, and our destination was scheduled to have thunderstorms. Better to have a shorter day and a dry one. As we had extra days built in, it met with approval. So, on Day 4, we headed out of Tonopah, NV onto the Extraterrestrial Highway. Now this is fun. Our Intel officer at home noticed the distance between Spot Tracker updates was pretty huge - and there is a reason for this.
Figure it out :)
At the end of the day we were told at Ruby's Inn that they were full. No Vacancy. So we back tracked a few miles to secure room in a less impressive motel. 3 of us slept in one room. I snore; we never shared another room. Paybacks are hell. Landlocked AGI my ass :) But it was clean and warm.
In the morning we are greeted with frost and frozen rain water on our bike covers. It is cold. Breakfast at Ruby's Inn makes it alright and things warm up a tad. Today is a short ride to Torrey, UT and we get on with it.
I thought this was a kid - not at all - a very small woman.
Road surface has been made over - Nice!
And so it went till our destination. We encountered a lot of people this year, on this section of road, and most were on bicycles. They were headed downhill as we went up and motorists behind them would see us coming and pass in our lane. To them a motorcycle must seem small, but we almost had a head on encounter a couple of times - and up until then my butt was in recovery.
Torrey, UT has an excellent Coffee shop and I lust after their Cappuccino. I'm rewarded and savor it in the sun. A 200 mile day now and then is just right, and so it was today. Our motel was next door and we registered and then took off for Capital Reef which is just around the corner. I have been here several times and always enjoy the scenery. Today, I have it in mind to see some petroglyps that I have ridden past on every other visit. So that's where we go. 
Steve approves!
I'll have a photo album set up so you can see these full size - here's the petroglyphs:
These are modern man petroglyphs
These were high up the rock face with no obvious support for the artist - lots of speculation on how sh/e got to do the job
Had a great dinner of roast pork and then to bed. I didn't sleep much. I thought earlier that I might be breaking loose a kidney stone - I have had a lot of these and know the symptoms. All night I writhed in pain, not looking forward to what was next, but it was another short day as I decided give myself some room to stop when the pain got too much.
It is cool in the morning and we take off for Ely, NV on our return leg of the trip. I can ride the bike OK as the seating position eases the pressure off my mid section, but every now and then I get a surge of pain. Our waitress at breakfast says I look too tired to ride a motorcycle, but I tell her I just look this way naturally. The ride north is enjoyable, but I lose some concentration and miss a turn - I'll bame it on the Garmin 660 I have as the maps are outdated for the area we are riding in - but truthfully I was hurting. Easy to recover from the mistake however and we make for Highway 50. This section of Highway 50 is new to me and I dig it. It is straight, flat, and pretty lonely looking, with some big sweepers thrown in to make it interesting. We haul the mail after getting passed by a guy on an R1200RT and I enjoy the barren vistas, the heat, the sound of the K1200 engine - the whole damned experience.
Of course, we get to Ely pretty quick as the result and decide to go on to Eureka, NV for the night. I have enjoyed this section of Highway 50 for years and it pleases me again. I didn't take any pictures simply because I hurt a little with the kidney stone thing and I have plenty pictures of it elsewhere on this site. Score a room, and make for the call home procedure but we are in what the Verizon folk call a "Dead Zone" and there is no Internet available. Oh well, supper is good and I do get some sleep.
Our next day takes us to Boise, ID with a follow-on up highway 93 to Hamilton, MT and home over Lolo Pass and across Washington. The route from Eureka to Boise is kind of boring with about 15 miles of simply stellar twisty bits alongside a small river. The only damned SUV/Car/Truck we encounter is smack dab at the start of this section of twisties. Takes the guy a while to figure out he could ease over and slow down a tad to let us past - which he did with about 2 miles to enjoy. Take em as you can.
Near Boise I mentioned to one of our group that his rear tire looked a bit worn - I'm a master of understatement sometimes. He looks at it and says it's OK so we motor on. I think his butt hole slammed shut when he looked at it again when we stopped at the motel.
It's OK
The good news is we are one exit from a BMW shop - Big Twin - in Boise and they have a tire in stock. We decide to do that in the morning and cut the day short ride wise, going up to Lewiston, ID about 200 miles. Dinner in an Applebee's is uninspiring and Rick decided to take a dessert to the motel and eat it before he goes to bed. Poor guy got the green apple quick step and looked drained in the morning. I actually slept reasonably well. The Tylenol I was pounding down my throat seemed to take the edge off.
The tire goes on, and we head north. I had heard the route was worth riding and comparable to route 93 which is to the east, but it isn't. There is a lot of traffic - college kids - and gapers. The road does have some really nice twisty sections but I found them a bit intimidating - the road had been resurfaced in most corners and poorly done at that. Consequently they were bumpy and unpredictable, at least for me. Been there and done that, won't go back. The upside was the "flower sniffing".
Our motel in Lewiston sits next to a Flying J truck stop so we figure finding edibles will be easy - truckers eat well. Wrong. They have microwave food. I didn't want to ride into town so Steve suggests we have some food delivered. Italian gets ordered, delivered and devoured. My turn for gastric distress - but I otherwise sleep really well and pain free.
Our last day takes us through familiar country via Starbuck, Othello, Ellensburg, and home. It is a slog of sorts, riding through places you have ridden through a million times but in no time our road trip is over. As always, I learn a little and contend with the mild depression that sets in once the fun is over. I like riding with good natured companions and hope they join in other rides next year.
Observations: A Spot Tracker is a good thing if there are people who care about you and want to know where you are. A small NetBook computer is a handy tool if you need to keep up with e-mail while traveling and it facilitates managing video which I find to be an interesting addition to motorcycling.