Death Valley and Beyond: Beautiful and Diverse California!

Chapter 1: Winter Wonderland.

I had been looking forward to the little get-away to Death Valley in March. Enjoy the early/intermittent Spring we had been enjoying till now, and what better way to live it to the max than getting on your trusted steed and heading out for the open road!

I caught a little break in the weather across the Sierra's and embarked on the journey Wednesday, a day earlier than my other FJR brethren who were riding on Thursday, but were planning on overnighting in Lone Pine. I was going to ride all the way to Death Valley and then a little further this day.


No early morning starts this time, didn't leave till about 9:30AM to give the sun a chance to start shining on the mountain passes. The roads were in surprisingly good shape, considering that a storm had just rolled through on Monday night, say what you may about them but CalTrans did a very good job.

I wasn't however taking any chances, kept the pace slow and steady even though there were only a handful of shoddy spots past Twin Bridges: sand on the road, melt from the stacks of snow piled high along the roadsides - the usual winter road hazards facing two wheelers across the mountain highways.

No pictures till I got to the Hwy 89 and Hwy 88 junction, then pulled over for a few shots. Hard to find good angles to shoot with the glare from the snow trying to white out any detail, I much prefer the colors of Spring, to the paleness of Winter. 

Found this peaceful creek flowing by the roadside with a thin sheet of ice and a sprinkling of fresh snow on top.

Quick run to the Ocean with friends.

Went for a quick run to the ocean today before the rain moved in this late afternoon, got back a couple hours ago, so I am a bit tired, but felt like firing off a quick ride report with a few pictures, didn't take as many this time because I was on a tight schedule before the skies opened up. I also apologize that my brain is a little mushy for clever prose right now.

A leisurely start at about 9AM, this time I finally got to take a decent picture of the Tower Bridge and Downtown Sacramento..

Hit or Miss - A weekend in Fernley.

1. Hit or Miss?

    The initial plan was to ride to Middlegate Shoe Tree stump a day before the memorial (and avoid the crowds - I hate crowds), eat some Western Bacon Cheeseburgers and hang out in Fernley for the night. I contacted Brian R. and he suggested something else, which "blew" the initial plans away!

Verdict? Hit or Miss? To be declared later..


2. Hit or Miss?

    Hycle contacted me Thursday evening about riding with me on Saturday morning to Carson City. Late Friday night I get a PM from him on the forum - he has to work and can't make it. I was looking forward to seeing Hycle Mycle and was disappointed he wouldn't be joining me, but I understand - new job, gotta keep the new boss man happy!
    I had also text invited Feeger, but he wasn't feeling well and had told me to check my messages in the morning before I left - no message from him meaning he was sleeping in. I checked before I geared up. No messages - this was going to be a solo ride.

Verdict? Hit or Miss? I would say Miss, because I missed out on their company.

I had created a route on foot hill roads to Pollock Pines. Essentially, Latrobe to Hwy 16, to Shenandoah Road, to Mt Aukum Road, to Sly Park Road and then catch Hwy 50 from there.
I started off about the time I was going to meet Hycle, it was a beautiful sunny morning and on an open stretch of the road, riding towards the Amador county vineyards, I spotted something colorful far in the distance..

Exploring a Slice of the East Bay.

What a great start to the year this has been. I have ridden 3 out of the past 4 weekends, including this one. Occidental and Bodega Bay with my friend Mike, then Woodbridge with my friends Mike, Hans and Tom, followed the same day by some lower elevation foothills run with Mike and Tom and now this.. 

This weekend, I wanted to do something different. I posted on the FJRForum Friday evening hoping someone already had a ride plan, something I probably won't come up with myself - I was wanting something new, to go someplace I haven't been before - but where my FJR's nearing the end of life rear tire will still take me safely..


Ask and you shall receive. Today's ride was just what I needed - A heady mix of great sweeping twisties, switchbacks, decreasing radius turns, gravel-ly goat trails, riding amongst the clouds and great company to chat with on stops and lunch.


The day began with receiving a text from Jerry (aka 2010 Cal24 Winner) a little after 7am asking me to ride over to his house that morning. I had a quick breakfast and I was out the door by 8am.


I wanted to take the back roads way to the East Bay (or as much as possible). So after a bit of slabbing on Hwy 50 - I was exiting on Jefferson Blvd (Hwy 84).


It was a soggy foggy ride..

Occidental and Bodega Bay.

oc·ci·den·tal or Oc·ci·den·tal
 (ks-dntl)
adj.Of or relating to the countries of the Occident or their peoples or cultures; western.
n.A native or inhabitant of an Occidental country; a westerner.

I have always been amused whenever I heard the name of this California town. So when Mike suggested riding to Occidental for lunch - I jumped at the chance. We have also been fortunate enough to have a little break from the soggy weather in Northern California this week. The cherry on top was supposed to be Saturday (01/15) with sunny skies and temperatures in the 60's. With that in mind, it seemed like a perfect opportunity for a ride to the always breathtaking California coast line this Winter, with an Occidental lunch break.

I met with Mike in West Sacramento @ 9AM for a Clutches out at 9:25AM. The forecast for the Sacramento Valley was clear sunny skies with a high of 64.
Hmm, well, maybe not at 9:25AM. I was hoping this wasn't a harbinger for the rest of the ride this day. The fog was dense, but not as dense as the fog which kept building up inside my SHOEI Multitec helmet. My helmet was fogging up in this weather even with the vents open - cracking the shield open and wiping off the condensation periodically seemed to be the only recourse.

Crossing Bridges on New Years Eve!

New Years eve and the day before in the Sacramento valley provided a much needed relief from the incessant rain that has been lashing California this winter. I hear we are already at 200% snow pack, but I digress - New years eve was a beautiful day to go for a ride and I had the day off from work - perfect!

I was meeting a friend for lunch at 12:30PM, but I got a ~9:00AM start so I only had 3-1/2 hours to goof around on my way to Davis, so I almost never got off the bike when taking these pictures..


I soon found myself west of Lodi heading towards the delta on Hwy 12. Pretty farm country and I happened upon this helicopter dusting the crops! I have never seen a heli dusting crops before...very cool!
Can you spot it? 

Wandering in Southern California, Utah and Colorado.

Chapter 1:

I had been planning this trip all year. Almost 3 weeks off in August to go play in the southwest U.S. and a perfect tool for the job - my FJR to tour on! 


The first leg of my journey was a solo trip to SoCal to see some of my friends. I wanted to make good time so I headed down Hwy 25 to Hwy 101. Hwy 25 is always a ton of fun, Hwy 101 not so much. I was tired of Hwy 101 soon and at Paso Robles, got off at Hwy 46 to head to Hwy 1 and the ocean. As it would turn out, albeit boring, it was smart to stay on Hwy 101, as the Pacific coast was fogged in pretty dense, and Hwy 1 packed with tourists in cages (cars)...