Ridin Plans ... Where you going this year. Hmmm?

[Global Rider]

More of the same as a tour guide for a friend who is coming along again this year; I knew he'd be hooked on the Alps.

[Kootenanny]

Well, if I'm still here after 6:00 tonight, looks like I'm going to Hell...

[ST1300Rider]

Well, if I'm still here after 6:00 tonight, looks like I'm going to Hell...

You'll have company.  

[Croak]

[notarian]

For the most part, Scotland.

I'm still fussing with Norway and their 50mph speed limit, 71mph instant leave the bike on the side of the road and go to jail for 18 days plus a £3500 fine AND booted out of the country after retrieving the bike via a tow truck (if its still beside the road after jail time).

However, I'm happy to report that plans are newly afoot for two weeks in Ca and three weeks going to Banff via Idaho, around BC again (Bubba, I'll give you a shout!), eastern Wa and Or plus other undecided bits at this time.

EDIT: Whoa! Just had a look and see the Borscht, Burn and BBQ is on for 22-24 July = this just might fit in most excellently.

[Kootenanny]

EDIT: Whoa! Just had a look and see the Borscht, Burn and BBQ is on for 22-24 July = this just might fit in most excellently.

C ya there!

[birdrunner]

EDIT: Whoa! Just had a look and see the Borscht, Burn and BBQ is on for 22-24 July = this just might fit in most excellently.

That by itself will make the summer worth while

[T.Senchuk]

Surrey to Eastern Passage, NS.  On the return path, I will be going around the Gaspe peninsula and follow the St Lawrence back.  Maybe see C Boorman passing by...or catch him on my return pass.

[Galo]

yeap.....Geoff stayed over last night and we pumped him full of wine, food and 15 year old Puerto Rican rum.....he needed coffee this morning as he struggled up ftom deep sleep.
 
 

[KLRchickie]

yeap.....Geoff stayed over last night and we pumped him full of wine, food and 15 year old Puerto Rican rum.....he needed coffee this morning as he struggled up ftom deep sleep.
 
 

 
Knowing your hospitality, I do NOT find this hard to believe!!!

[Kootenanny]

Yes, a bit of Galo's coffee, and I could watch the hair on my chest grow...got a bit prickly under the riding gear later, though...

Had a great ride yesterday through the "West Cascades Scenic Byway," followed by a few hours of slabbin'it on the I-5.  I'll put up a ride report when I'm back home (when will that be?--open ended vacations are nice )

[ajf]

Had a great ride yesterday through the "West Cascades Scenic Byway," followed by a few hours of slabbin'it on the I-5.  I'll put up a ride report when I'm back home (when will that be?--open ended vacations are nice )

I'm just back from riding some of Northern California on the CBR, except I towed it down - my hat's off to you for planning to ride your sportbike that far.

You haven't asked for route advice, so I'll just make a few comments about four of the many great roads west of the central valley.  Two fabulous roads have so much traffic and enforcement that riding them is about as close to wasting time as you can come in that area:  DH 13 (#299 from Weaverville to Willow Creek) and DH 32 (#20 From Willits to Fort Bragg).  And two equally fabulous roads that have much less traffic:  DH2 (#93 from Callahan to Cecilville) and DH15 (#162 from Longvale Junction to Covelo).  DH2 is particularly attractive.  I rode up and down twice and met 10 cars, at most.  The pavement is excellent and the twisties are as at least as good as those of 31a and 6 in BC.  It's a lot higher than most of the good roads in the Weaverville area, so temperatures were in the comfortable 70s while the roads in the valleys were in the 80s to 90s.  But be careful about gas.  Coming from the south I filled up at Trinity Center and was on reserve at 190 miles when I got back there -  the station in Cecilville is closed.

You might as well put your radar detector away.  Mine sounded a half dozen times without any warnings from cars being lit up ahead of me.  Clearly the CHP has instant-on radar and is either very selective about who they aim it at, or they use a very low power beam.  Fortunately I was running at around 65 each time and with the universal 55 mph speed limit the cops didn't look at me as we passed.  (One even ignored me after rounding a corner while I was in mid-solid line pass.  There was plenty of room to pass safely and I guess that's a higher priority than rigidly enforcing the law - at least for that officer.)  Incidentally, the same roads in BC would have 60 speed limits, and being caught doing 105 would cost you over $2000 and the use of your bike for a week - for a "crime" that's not worth writing a ticket for in California.  I'll be back down there next spring!  (Except I'll go earlier in the year when temperatures aren't prohibitive in many of the areas I want to ride.)

Finally, I just have to say how much I love the ABS on the CBR.  I never commit to maximum lean until I can see the whole corner, so I haven't had to brake hard while as close to the limit as I ever get.  But at blind corner entry speed I can confidently stop very hard.  The occasional unmarked blind decreasing radius corner - much more frequent in N Cal than in BC - normally would have me tiptoeing into blind corners.  With the CBR my corner entry speeds for blind corners increased 10 - 15 mph, yet I felt more comfortable about being able to slow substantially within my sightline than I would have on previous bikes.

[Kootenanny]

I'm just back from riding some of Northern California on the CBR, except I towed it down - my hat's off to you for planning to ride your sportbike that far.

I got back last week, had a great ride.  And while the roads of NorCal are amazing, getting there and back was half the fun!  I'll ride down there again sometime.

Basically, I rode Hwy 96 from Yreka to Eureka (DH23, DH12, DH31), then from Eureka I followed Rob down to Leggett along 101 (detouring along Avenue of the Giants, DH66) and then down #1 through Fort Bragg to Mendocino (DH5), where we took a detour to Booneville via Comptche.  Rob headed back from there, but I took Mtn View Road (a real goat track) back down to the coast, and continued south along #1 to Jenner, where I headed inland to Santa Rosa (where I had a place to stay for the night).

Further routes included Coleman Valley Road (from Occidental to the coast), continuing south on #1, up through Tamalpais to the Golden Gate and into SF (where I parked for several days--my wife flew down to meet me).  Upon leaving, I visited some friends in Sacramento (took Wooden Valley Road to 128 to 121--DH 34 to the Sac), then was toured around a bit in the Sierras for a day (parts of DH19, DH16, DH54) before taking Ebbetts Pass (DH41, TEC, part of DH1) on the way out.  Went through Lake Tahoe (DH54) on my way to Quincy via Truckee (this was July 3rd--traffic was hellish, but ya gotta like lanesplitting!).

From Quincy, north on 89 (DH3) to Taylorville, and then around Antelope Lake (DH42--a real highlight of the trip!) and on up to Susanville, around Eagle Lake on A1 (DH60) and north to Adin and Alturas.  From there, it was into Oregon and through the desert on 395...not much of a road (looooooong and straight) but a real experience for a guy who's never ridden through a desert like that before.  

Anyway, I do intend to post up a trip report, once I get all my photos sorted and culled (I have well over 500 pics...).