Go Big (Money Rally) or Go Home..

I hadn't been taking any pictures while riding. Sure, I take plenty when I am off the bike, or when I have reached my destination for the day or night, but none while riding. There is a certain element to a ride report which actually has riding pictures, a lack of which is a missing ingredient whose absence is definitely felt, even though it is not an absolutely essential element.

With that in mind, and also being mindful of some upcoming trips to some beautiful Western and South Western countryside, that is in the works - I decided to invest in a GoPro, like many have done so before me. Go(Pro) or Go Home, they have said, which could easily have been the title of this ride report, but I am no Pro, and I like big money (rally) better. :)

Having said that, I am actually not a registered rider in the BMR this year. The scales of the work-life balance have tipped very unfavorably in the past few months, and I foresaw and correctly so, that I wouldn't have time to do a whole lot of riding this year. Not as much as I would like to anyway, and certainly not as much as I did in early 2014. 

Becoming a BMR finisher isn't a difficult task, I mean you have almost 5 months to do it, but since when has just being a finisher been enough for me? I may say it is initially, if you asked me, but I know better. Once those competitive juices start flowing, there is no stopping till Gold. 

I don't have time for Gold, not this year. I do have time for Finisher, but I wouldn't know what to do with that competitive devil hovering over my left shoulder, hungry for and pissed there isn't going to be any Gold! 

Fortunately for me, a solution presented itself. My very good friend Albert signed up for the BMR. Al has been recovering from an incident a while ago, when a car turned left in front of him, while he was riding his motorcycle. I won't go into any detail about his injuries or his ordeal since then, suffice to say - he has been suffering from the aftermaths of that concussion. He doesn't ride much anymore either, for him joining the BMR was an avenue which would lead him to getting on the motorcycle a bit more. A form of meditation and therapy, of being mindful, focusing, anticipating, processing and of course having a little fun. 

Anyway, Al has asked me to help him be a BMR finisher, and I am more than happy to help him with the research and routing/planning and riding along. His riding range is limited these days, so it will be short(er) and sporadic rides on a few weekends, but it should be enough to get him to finisher, besides it is all I have time for these days, so it will work for me just as well as it works for him - I still get to (kind of) ride in the BMR and I get to help my friend while doing so. Perfect! :)

This past weekend was our first BMR outing. A short 160 mile ride door to door, but rich in points. When I did my research, I found a treasure trove of points right in our immediate vicinity, with some terrific weather and great riding roads in the mix to get to them. This was going to be a wonderful start! 

Laird Rd.

Let there be .. A Ride Report.

Let there be .. a ride report! Yes, finally and long overdue! :) 

A few months ago I had predicted, if not promised that it would be 2015 before any motorcycle content may show up on this blog. At that time I was expecting that I may actually not have any time to ride till the new year rolls around. I was only partly correct, and the report which follows is of a ride in December of 2014. It's just that I have only now found the time to write about it. :)

It was not a foray into uncharted and unknown territories, I was re-discovering some familiar grounds, which I had not stomped on in quite a while, while hoping to rejuvenate some friendships along the way, which had also laid dormant for quite some time. It was to be an oft piloted route to San Diego, with some beloved stops along the way - including the Big Sur coastline. The weather gods, however, had a different plan. The California coast and the rest of the state, had just a day ago, been hit by what some were calling the "Storm of the Century", the Pacific Highway had predictably experienced landslides and was closed in several locations, it was going to be a pre-dominantly uneventful and very fast in-land route for me, until I could mosey over to the coast just past Paso Robles on Hwy 46 to meet the coastline just south of Cambria. 

It had been a while, since a ride of a longer duration, and I wasn't quite in the mood to stop to take pictures along the way. In fact, I didn't take any pictures along the ride on this day, till I reached my destination. I had a feeling this first day had actually set the trend for this trip. No pictures, till I was stopped for the day, so that's what this ride report will present, for the most part. 

My stop of the day was beloved Morro Bay. I was meeting my friends Tim and Mary for dinner here, before dinner, however, I was going to catch the show .. the light show. :)

Let there be .. Light! 

The show was only just beginning. Here is the first view, looking at the Morro Bay Docks as the sky was just beginning to turn.

Touring the Golden State in their Golden Years - Redwoods and the Coast. (Not a Ride Report)

It has not been a fun task, writing the final chapter of the 'Golden Tour'. Granted the entire purpose of this blog is to serve as a memoir of sorts, call it a repository of photographic memories, enabling me to return, days, months, even years later and reminisce with a clarity which remains as precise as when the memories were made. Despite all that, I do miss my family and wish the tour could have just continued on. Writing about this last leg of our trip together, thus, puts me in a somewhat pensive mood. 

We had a bit of a slog from Mt. Shasta to get to the Avenue of Giants. Hwy 299, which keeps getting busier and busier, can still be a fun ride on the motorcycle, much less so when driving a rental car. Suffice to say, my parents were happy to stretch their legs and just stretch out and rest for a bit under these massive trees. The Giant Redwoods don't quite sport the girth of their cousins - the Giant Sequoias, but grow much taller, up to 375 feet or more. 

Touring the Golden State in their Golden Years - Lassen, Shasta and Crater Lake. (Not a Ride Report)

It has been a while since I have updated the blog, the back log is now a few months long. I have been in a time crunch all year, which has shown no signs of relenting. Nevertheless, I wanted to try at the very least to continue and finish the story of my parents' grand tour of California during their visit here this summer. Once again, as is evident from the post title, this is not motorcycling content. It appears it will be 2015 before any motorcycle content appears again on this blog, it has been that kind of a year. The readers of this blog primarily being of the motorcycling community, I am not sure if they are following along, and if they are, then I thank them for their understanding and patience. I must finish what I started, but it is not just that, needless to say I am taking great pleasure reminiscing on this blog, about the time I spent with my family this summer. So be forewarned, pictures of my family have replaced the usual pictures of my motorcycle juxtaposed against grand vistas. :)

After our return from Yosemite, our sights had shifted north for another great outdoors expedition to the volcanoes of northern California and southern Oregon. Our first stop was Lassen National Park. This park has the southernmost active volcanoes in the Cascade Range, part of the 'Pacific Ring of Fire'. This is an active geological area with boiling mud pots, smoking fumaroles and churning hot springs. In the picture below, you can see a smoking fumarole in the background.

Touring The Golden State in their Golden Years - Yosemite. (Not a Ride Report).

In case some of you have been wondering, what happened to my wanderings? This Summer I took a long break from 2 wheeled adventures and spent some very enjoyable and quality time with my parents who visited me for a couple of months. It was a conscious decision to forego any solo 2 wheeled adventures during their entire visit. Although I missed riding off into the yonder, I wouldn't have had it any other way than spending time with them while they were here. 

This didn't mean that we stayed at home all the time, I took this opportunity to show them around our diversely beautiful California. My parents have been to California before, that trip, we mostly explored the great cities of California - San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and even an excursion into Nevada for a trip to Las Vegas with a side trip into Arizona to see the breathtaking Grand Canyon. This time, however, we mainly stayed away from the concrete man-made jungles, with all the overcrowding and awful traffic and focused instead on what I call God's country here in the scenic wilds of California. 

Our first excursion, in our journeys, was to a place that I consider to be one of the natural wonders of the world - Yosemite!

Our first photo stop being "Tunnel View" vista point, you emerge from the tunnel on Wawona Road and it just takes your breath away!

Not too late to enjoy Spring in Northern California.

A sprinkling of April showers have so far kept us cooler here in the Northern California valleys, while the showers haven't alleviated the drought situation that we face now and which will only worsen in the Summer, they have so far managed to bless us with mild temperatures in what soon promises to be one hell fire of a late Spring and Summer. Those of my friends who live closer to the coast may not appreciate how nice this time of year feels for us in the valleys inland. Dry heat it maybe when it finally rolls in, but it is an oven nonetheless.

For now, however, it is as pleasant as it can be. So far, I hadn't taken the time or the opportunities to explore the soon to turn golden hills of the Sierras for some Spring color and some Spring blooms. The last couple of weekends, I decided to just that. Take a short break from the preponderance of BMR bonus hunting for a weekend, and get back to a more relaxed state of riding and exploring and take my time whilst taking a lot of pictures, instead of shooting and scooting to the next one, as I have been doing most of this year. I also had a very dear friend visiting from out of town for a long weekend, so that was another excuse to get out and enjoy Spring, whether on the motorcycle or on 4 wheels.

There are some great wineries in Amador county, I very much enjoy coming here for good wine and great scenery, it is much less crowded, and much more laid back and relaxing here, not to mention unpretentious and not stuck up like Napa valley. Very welcoming and inviting too, like how I felt about the walkway in the picture below, that drew me in.

Young's Vineyards. Amador County.

Marching across bridges - with a motorcycle and a cell phone.

Several quotes come to my mind when I think of bridges. 

Some which make me ponder and smile..

"We build too many walls, but not enough bridges." - Isaac Newton

"Fear builds walls instead of bridges. I want a life of bridges, not walls!" - Lisa Wingate

I love both of these quotes, it is so much easier to build walls, than bridges, but walls take you nowhere, and neither do they show you what's on the other side. :-)

.. and others which leave me conflicted..

"A bridge has no allegiance to either side." - Les Coleman.

“The wisdom of bridges comes from the fact that they know the both sides, they know the both shores!” - Mehmet Murat Ildan.

"The fate of bridges is to be lonely; because bridges are to cross not to stay." - Mehmet Murat Ildan. 

It leaves me conflicted because here we have philosophers opining that one's fate is to be lonely, unless one picks a side. Knowing both sides is not enough, is this akin to sitting on a fence (wall)? Are bridges then in some sense also like a wall?

.. and yet others which make me scratch my head and go - What the heck! ;-)

"I can almost understand why people leap from bridges." - Charles Bukowski.

I will cross that bridge, when I come to it, I suppose, which I hope is never! :-D

I did, however, cross many other bridges in March, another fun theme in the scavenger hunt called the Big Money Rally. I am as competitive a person as any other, and this rally demands a lot of one's time and attention to stay competitive, especially if you are handicapped by the demands and responsibilities of work, which limits your riding to the weekends only. The landscape of the rally leader's board changes constantly, and a couple missed riding weekends will sink you into oblivion. I haven't been carrying my Panasonic bridge camera with me while I have been rallying, barring a few exceptions. This rally relies mainly and solely on cell phones to take and submit pictures, so most of the images have been cell phone pictures, save a few. I doubt these images will stand up to scrutiny on a larger canvas, but they do muster acceptability (barely), for mere blogging purposes.

Pedestrian bridge over the Yuba River.