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Tag Archives: motorcycle riding

On The Map…

06 Sep

Some groovy original signage, complete with martini!

From Downieville to Mineral via Quincy, on through Red Bluff and Redding to Shingletown and seemingly forever beyond, my motorcycle carried me some 800 miles this past Labor Day weekend, in the company of three motorcycling friends.  In addition to the undeniable fact this was one long and exhausting journey, pockets of California appeared before me that never before had, some I never knew existed!

Our location remained a mystery to me much of the time, meaning… I really had no idea where we were!   Still, I always love an adventure, especially one in which the planning is done for me.  Had I looked at our route map ahead of time, I might have been tempted to try to alter our ambitious mountain journey.  Silly me to think the four of us were riding straight to Redding.  Suffice to say, the element of surprise ultimately worked in my psychological favor.  Tired?  Yes.  Sorry?  No.

My favorite stretch of road had to be Highway 36, heading west from Mineral down into Red Bluff.  It’s here I took notice of the highest number I’ve ever seen on my SV’s digital speedometer… and I suppose that’s all we’ll say about that.  Lassen Volcanic National Park is stunning and well worth the visit, while there’s no doubt far more surrounding terrain remaining for me to explore.  With a tinge of regret, after 400 miles of riding on Saturday I opted out of Sunday’s jaunt to Klamath Falls, Oregon, a city I memorably visited in 1998 and to which I’d be curious to return.  Instead, Redding’s Hilton Garden Inn satisfactorily relaxed me throughout the hot late afternoon.  This, before a festive and filling group dinner followed by the enjoyment of some “local color” on the eve of another 250 miles of throttle to get us home.  Monday’s dinner stop in Napa topped off the long weekend quite nicely.

I’m reminded of the enjoyment of motorcycle use for more than just daily stop-and-go city commuting.  Such a two-wheeled journey does not come often for me, nor will it.  When it does, however, I’m generally pleased.  And in this case, I’m happy to say Northeastern California is now on the map… mine, that is!

 
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Posted by on September 6, 2011 in Motorcycle, Travel

 

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A Thursday Century

28 Apr

Of course when it comes to motorcycling, there’s always a big difference between tooling around the city in stop-and-go traffic vs. enjoying some good speed out on the open road.  As I’ve lately been all the former and none the latter, today’s small-group motorcycle excursion proved most enjoyable. Plus, given the ideal weather conditions, the scenery presented itself in top form as well.

Altogether, today’s route south on a practically car-free (fast) Hwy 280, west through the tree-lined mountains all the way to Pescadero State Beach, and north back to San Francisco on beautiful-yet-windy Hwy 1 covered right around 100 miles, for me door-to-door 103 to be exact.  Suffice to say, this was by far the easiest “century” I’ve ever done, considering almost all my others have occurred with merely my leg power, sans motor.  I need not mention yet again the obvious difference in calorie burning between pedal and motor, except to remind myself one more time of the paltry, though still hilly, 22 miles I bicycled yesterday.

From lunch in the forest at a relatively quiet Alice’s, to a stroll along the wave-front cliffs of Pescadero via some challenging canyon twists and turns , this turned out to be the perfect “Thursday century,” all the more in the absence of  the typical weekend crowds and traffic.  I can’t recall exactly the last time I saw my speedometer hit some of the numbers it did, though some of you might be relieved to know I remain a slower motorcyclist relatively speaking.  Then, considering I’ve now throttled all of a mere 1,400 miles in the past six months, today’s 100 of them came as quite a welcome, however rare, delight.

With skies like these...

... the coast was a must!

 
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Posted by on April 28, 2011 in Daily Activities, Motorcycle

 

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7.52 Miles

14 Mar

Here’s a prime illustration of how much, or little, I’ve ridden my motorcycle over the past few months since moving to San Francisco: 

Last November 1, on the one-year anniversary of my moto ownership, my odometer read 18,103.  Yesterday, on our Homoto ride down Hwy 1 and through Woodside, 133 days later, my odometer passed 19,103.  Simply put, it’s taken me nearly four and a half months to ride 1000 miles!  This equates to a whopping 7.52 miles per day.

Of consistent yet short-range use of late.

It’s not that my big red two-wheeled machine goes neglected; I’m on it regularly.  Except for a couple of weekend excursions and one round trip to Sacramento, however, the bulk of my moto use has been in and around San Francisco itself.  While a motorcycle is an enjoyable and practical way to navigate the city, naturally the mileage does not accumulate.  This is a far cry from last spring in Los Angeles, when I logged 3,000 miles in six weeks!

Nonetheless, yesterday’s approximately 100-mile journey was some good exercise, for my engine rather than my body, that is!  It’s always enjoyable to get out on the scenic roads, at least until the rain starts coming down!  Riding north on Hwy 280 in a downpour was the less-than-enjoyable part of the day.  Fortunately, the hearty burger and fries at Sullivan’s gave me the energy to deal with it and get back to the city in one piece.

Now, with spring upon is, let’s see how long it takes to log the next 1000.  Thanks the today’s ongoing rain and overall wetness, it looks like the next 7.52 will have to wait.

 
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Posted by on March 14, 2011 in Motorcycle, Restaurants

 

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