US MotoGP Day 11-12

California is HUGE

Man, I just didn’t realize how big California is. You always think of Texas and Alaska being the really big states, but it is a LONG ways from central California to northern California. I can’t imagine riding from southern California to Oregon or Washington, that would be a really long ways to ride.

After our scary trip through San Francisco and across the Golden Gate Bridge, we spent all morning on Monday doing laundry, repacking, shipping some extra stuff back to Oklahoma, and resting. Back on the bikes at noon, our goal was to get as far north along the coast as possible. Since we wanted to ride Highway 1 we couldn’t make great time since it is tight, twisty with a fair amount of traffic. The further north we got the thinner the traffic got. The road was just awesome, very scenic and twisty along the coast. However, it was COLD. We had our cold weather clothing on and our heated vests going and it was still cold. Go 20 miles inland and it might be 100+ degrees, but right along the coast it was closer to 50-60 degrees, which is pretty cold for riding. We were very glad to have the heated vests. I can see why all the riders have full leathers.

There were literally thousands of riders heading north along the coast after the races. We were able to talk to quite a few of them and passed lots more. Every gas stop saw bikes by the dozen. In some places we would be in a line of about 20 sport bikes all rolling through the corners at high speed in a congo line. Adam and I ran a pretty good pace and only a few were able to pass me, and I don’t think anyone was able to pass Adam. He did get some excitement from a near high side. Scared to dickens out of him. He was looking back in his mirror while turning a curve and his rear end slid out quite a ways on him. It then caught traction and nearly flipped him over the top of the bike. I am thinking he hit some sand or leaves or something he didn’t see. He slowed down after that and was pretty shaken up. We also heard about a guy riding down from British Columbia that hit a deer in the area. He survived and still made the races, but not something we wanted to experience. Lots of deer have crossed our path on the ride, and it I think even though you can be cautious and keep a close eye out for them, it is just dumb luck to get hit by one. I have hit three deer while driving cars and I never saw a single one until they hit me. You just never know and have to be careful at dusk and dawn. However, this guy got hit at 11:00 am so again, you just never know.

We spent the night at a small town in northern California along with about 100 other sportbikes. It is fun to sit on the lawn under the shade and talk motorcycles. You meet the nicest people on a Honda .

Redwoods

This morning we donned the cold weather gear again and traveled through the northern Redwood forests. A side road took us through the Avenue of the Giants with trees up to 360 feet tall and 2,000 years old. They were fascinating to look at as we meandered 36 miles through these huge forests.

Deciding we had better start making time towards home, we turned east a bit sooner than planned. I had wanted to ride up to the Oregon coast but it is much further than I had thought and we were both getting tired of the cold. Well, it didn’t take long and we were wishing we were back in the cold! About 100 miles east of the coast in Redding CA it was 106 degrees! It is just like riding in a blast furnace and even the Joe Rocket cool vests don’t help much. The great roads through the forests helped us forget about the heat for a bit. Eventually the roads opened up and we were able to pick up the pace and make time. We decided to call it a night on the extreme eastern edge of California, before crossing the Nevada desert. We might run 40 miles north to Oregon and catch the southern edge of Oregon just to say we rode there on a bike.

Tires

Once again we have to pay close attention to tire wear. At least we were using up the edges this time rather than the middle. This is the first time I have warn the rubber whiskers off the sides of my rear tire. I am slowly getting smoother, faster and better in the corners. Adam has been coaching me and it feels safer and faster.

Tomorrow we head across the desert again – boo.