The "Adventure" Begins...............

[twr1776]

I am now in Santa Maria CA. I stopped in LA/Torrance and stayed with Dan part of the day Saturday and all day Sunday. His little ones were very entertaining and he and his wife were very kind to this "weary traveler". I changed oil/filter and caught up to a spare clutch and throttle cable set I left at home that my friend Brian sent to me. We also had a chance for a quick spin on the canyon roads by his place and I finally saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time. We also did some "lane splitting" which is in a gray area of the law but everyone in CA. does it. When I came on on CA-91 Saturday there were a few spots that backed up but I saw at least two bikes splitting at approx 25 - 30 mph through nearly stopped traffic. I can attest that the LA traffic sucks, and when it does loosen up there is no speed limit. We also stopped by Nessism (Ed's) place and I drooled over his pristine 1000S and visited for a bit. W

Dan recommended I take two days to get to San Francisco and part of the PC Highway and go up Tenga Canyon road and cut across on the Mulholland Highway which puts you back on the PC Hwy which I did. Very technical and when I stopped at an overlook and talked with a couple other riders I was told there are a couple of riders every weekend going splat in a couple of reducing radius corners if they don't know which ones they are. Since I am running this trip alone I have instituted a "no outrunning your sight line" policy which came in handy for some of the graveled corners I encountered today. Tomorrow is the very scenic part of the PC highway through Big Sur, etc. and on to SF.

 

[salty_monk]

Topanga Canyon to Mulholland Drive The corner you're talking about is "the snake" just up from the Rock Store.

You tubes have been posted on here a couple of times: http://www.wired.com/2014/02/mulholland-the-snake/

Glad you enjoyed my little route change! You can tell Mr Nardy that Mr Awsome did the ride he missed..

Thanks for stopping by. (Tim got to help with installing my sprinklers, TSP washing a wall, and installing a kitchen countertop... lucky him!).

We did get a nice spin in & a couple of good meals & a beer or two.....

I think we did some firsts:

Lamb burgers with Goat cheese and 2am burgers (beef with fried eggs & bacon marmalade).

English tea

By the end of day Sunday Tim was one of the family

Oh & I didn't need the nighttime earplugs - either the sea air is good for him or I managed to get enough doors closed between us

 

[twr1776]

Don't forget crumpets. Thanks again.

 

[BigD_83]

Sounds like you are having a great adventure.

How far north are you heading on your journey?

I'm sure at least one of us would be happy to take you to some of the local scenes, should you find yourself crossing the 49th. I don't have any dirt-accessible wheels at the moment, but there is still plenty of blacktop that will get you to some amazing sights.

 

[twr1776]

BigD, tomorrow will be my northern point in CA with the destination being Redwood National Park. My aunt visited Vancouver Island and said it was one of the most beautiful places she had ever been to.

I stayed in San Francisco yesterday evening and my GPS got wonky on the way out and I also had a mechanical issue today with my fan relay not working in traffic. I was able to get out of town and the rest of the day I was OK without it running. I pulled the side stand relay which is the same and swapped it tonight but it required pulling the tank and plastics. Brian had it happen to him on one of our Smokies trips so I knew I had a spare on hand and it is the same as a power window relay for a 94 Toyota Tercel so I will be stopping at a auto parts store tomorrow for a spare. I also got pulled over by the Marin County Sheriff's department today. I was told I passed in a double yellow and I did pass but not in a double zone. The officer that pulled me over ran my license, etc. and told me to wait for the other officer for what I assumed would be at least a talking to and maybe a warning. I waited approx 15 minutes for the other officer to show up and he pulled up and said that is not the guy he was looking for. The second officer said he was after a couple of sport bikes going really fast and passing everyone along their way. He said the bikes he was looking for did not have the "junk" AKA yellow tent bag on it. I of course mentioned one man's junk was another man's treasure and we all laughed. The second officer that showed up was a rider so I demonstrated my 132 DB Fiam highway blasters and mentioned the trip I was on and he said he was hoping to do the same thing when he retires. I am hoping tomorrow will have less "adventure" than today.

 

[salty_monk]

Nice... glad you got away with that one!

 

[twr1776]

Been slacking and not posting. The fan relay was a bit of a false alarm. I checked with tech support (Brian) when my fan did not work the next day after I pulled the tank and discovered it was only a fuse. I replaced the fuse and got a five pack for spares and all better now. At least I verified I have two operable fan relays so I guess that is good.

CA-1 was probably the best motorcycling road I have ever been on. The stretch just north of SF was very technical and also the ending 23 miles which I only saw one welding truck on and he let me "play through" at the first turn out. The last stretch was very intense with all types of curves and a few switchbacks mixed in.

I stayed one partial day and one full day in Redwood National Park area at the KOA. Very nice campground with a pool and whirlpool which was very nice after a day on the road. The full day I stopped for the t-shirt at the visitor center and the park ranger was nice enough to highlight a map of don't miss roads and stops. I did end up on a gravel road he recommended and checked out some old growth trees that were approx 450' tall in the Jededah Smith State Park area. I left there the next AM and took CA-299 east through Weaverville, Susanville and ended up in Reno for the evening. 299 was a Butler Map road and was very nice and ran along a creek in between mountains. CA-44 was also very nice and ran past Larsen Volcanic NP and I stopped at for a quick photo op and added it to the "list". My original plan was to go to Great Basin NP in Nevada but I spoke with someone who mentioned I would have to take US-50 which is tagged the lonliest road through Nevada and is 100 miles between gas stops which is not a big deal but I didn't want to have an issue where you only see a couple cars per hour so I scratched that one of the list.

From Reno I went south and went through Yosimite again on CA-120 to CA-41 which was also very nice. I was there approx 4 years ago when we went to the Western Rally but it was still pretty much stunning with the views, etc. and I ended up in Coarsegold CA at the KOA. Not as nice as the previous two I stayed at but did the job for the evening. The owner recommended the Miners Restaurant in town for breakfast and it was very good and my first B & G of the trip. Since I had deviated from my plan I decided to go to Vegas baby. I booked a same day room at the Stratosphere for 45 bucks at the McDonald's in Fresno and headed that way. I pretty much slabbed all the way on CA-99 to CA-58 to I-15. Once I got on CA-58 to I-15 it took me through the north part of the Mojave Desert and it was stinking hot so I had to make more stops for hydration but pushed on. The last stretch of I-15 to Vegas had a 16 mile upgrade and there was a recommendation of turning your A/C to avoid overheating. My radiator water temp was higher than I had seen it before but still below the red by a decent margin so I stayed in the slow moving truck lane passing every now and then to take it easy and kept an eye on the temp. That stretch of road should be called the "Corridor of Overheating" since there were cars off to the side it seemed every mile or so. Kind of "puckery" when you are a couple thousand miles from home. I can tell you once I hit the door at the hotel I stood there for a couple of minutes to soak in the COLD AIR. After I showered and made a pig of myself at the buffet I ended up going to the tower that overlooks Las Vegas Strip and the view was outstanding. They have a ride on top that takes you over the edge of the building but i passed. I did take the KLR up and down the strip once from the hotel after it got dark and it was surreal.

Today was another stinking hot day but i checked out at the last check out time this morning and only had 170 miles to Zion NP. I was going to camp but checked the campground and the tent site was in the direct sun and with yesterday and today I am staying at a hotel with the A/C set at "meat locker".

 

[gbw]

Thanks for the update Tim and keep 'em coming. Some of us are living vicariously through you and others are taking notes for that "someday" when the time and money come together for such an adventure.

You were missed at BC. You were also a constant source of conversation there. Everyone was asking where you were and what you were doing and stuff.

Stay Cool and Ride fast!

 

[Joe Nardy]

The KLR must be getting plenty dirty on this trip. I hope you are keeping up with frequent bike washes.............

 

[Redman]

Hey, Tim, Good to follow your adventures.

What? One cop pulls you over and tells you to wait for another, and leaves, and you don't really know how long you are suppose to wait. Strange.

Ew, Zion NP, that should be good, lots of different things (was my best experience of visiting a few natl parks out that way).

And an update for you: to let you know that your room at BC Tina was good.

Dave

.

 

[Guest]

A ride report without pictures is like a stripper without boobs. :lol:

 

[twr1776]

Today, 01:04 PM B.C.G.S. A ride report without pictures is like a stripper without boobs.

Hey you get what you pay for. I might have actually figured it out. Check the first post. Might be some duplicates but I am not a computer person by any means.

Dave the first cop checked my "credentials" and stayed with me until the second one showed up. I think he lost the other guys and circled back to see if I was one of them. I did miss BC but figured I had a good excuse. Next year for sure.......

Today 07:32 AM Joe Nardy The KLR must be getting plenty dirty on this trip. I hope you are keeping up with frequent bike washes.............

A clean bike is a happy bike.

Today 07:30 AM gbw You were missed at BC. You were also a constant source of conversation there. Everyone was asking where you were and what you were doing and stuff. Stay Cool and Ride fast!

Don't forget "shift a lot". I did miss the "usual suspects" at BC.

Today was another OUTSTANDING day. Still pretty toasty at 102 degrees but at least it wasn't raining. I was at Zion NP and took the sightseeing bus ride and caught Kolob Terrace road on the way back from the park. It was outstanding and went to an elevation of 7200 which cooled me off for a bit. I took it all the way to the reservior and back as recommended by the information desk at the park. Every park I have been to I have told them I am on a bike and they have really been extremely helpful with the best roads/activities to check out. Kolub had a 5 MPH switchback on it and was serious with the speed. Probably 340 degrees and 30 percent up slope. The park itself had red rock formations that really look like Mars landscapes. Every corner on Kolob would open up new and amazing views of the rock formations and went from scraggly trees to pine trees to i think birch trees with white trunks as you went up and down the elevations.

I did run into what my son calls an a@@clown on the way back down. There was a car on a blind 15 mph curve stopped dead in the road just after the apex. Of course the driver was yapping on the cell phone I assume since got a signal and he also had an IL plate. One of my "rules" for this trip is not to overun my sight line so I was able to stop in plenty of time but was not happy. I had such a good day I didn't even blast him with 132 decibels of dumba@@ pull off the frigging road to make a call. Tomorrow I am going to Bryce Canyon on UT-9 which goes through a mile long tunnel build in the 30's by the CCC and is also supposed to be very scenic.

 

[bwringer]

Testing a few image embeds:

 

[twr1776]

It works, it works! Maybe this "old dog" can learn some new tricks.

 

[Redman]

Good pic, in my estimation.
Bike, and Road, and scenery. (Can trade less scenery for more of road if view of road is more interesting.)

My theory is that a picture of just scenery, aint no different than the picture the next tourist that just got off the tour buss might take.
Just my thought.
My idea is: Picture of bike, road and scenery is picture of YOUR RIDE that day.

.
Since you have the pics in online albumn, you then need to somehow copy the pictures address, looks something like this:
h t t ps : h5 . googleusercontent.com -0Fa4q3ITI1Y/U6ubJljW7LI/AAAAAAAAAso/qsghdLZBb5c/w1134-h850-no/DSCN0018. J P G
(maybe when you log into your album it has some tools to do that for you)
and then, in GSR post, paste that it into the prompt when hit the photo icon (looks like mountain and sun photo).

Many details to describe, not easy to describe, and are a few other ways to do it.

Thanks for posting link to albumns.

Do keep up with the updates.

Any thing else on the bike re-fuse to operate?
(pun intended)

Dave

.

 

[bwringer]

Just call me Mr. Tech Support...


I do see disturbing evidence of a lordly Mountain Man beard in the making...

 

[salty_monk]

That's a road beard!

 

[twr1776]

Yesterday 03:45 PM bwringer I do see disturbing evidence of a lordly Mountain Man beard in the making...

Well I do have to keep up with my normal "good looking bearded men" riding friends.

Yesterday I left Zion and am now at Bryce. I took UT-9 through the two tunnels and after the tunnels it was very nice. The road between the two parks was at elevation and both me and the bike were refreshed by the cooler temps. There were wind warnings out but at this point I am pretty used to taking a beating and the scenery made it worth it. When I turned on UT-12 it went through the Red Canyon and the rocks were deep red. The road here went under two arched tunnels that did not have heights posted and the RV I was following slowed way down to make it through. I also gave him plenty of space in case i needed to dodge the A/C unit that might have low bridged off his roof. Fortunately not and the road went up to 55 after that with a good passing lane and he was only doing 35 so I left him in my wake. I got to Bryce and set up camp and was able to go to Sunset point. WOW. Heading to the info center now for the park highlights and I saw there is a helicopter ride and might check it out.

http://www.eastziontourismcouncil.org/zion-tunnel-escort.htm

 

[twr1776]

Still in UT and staying between Arches and Canyonland and going to check them both out the next few days. Lots more pics of Zion and Bryce but staying at the KOA and looking for powa.

Dave you will be happy to know I have some "Redman Approved" pics from the last few days for next time I download them.

 

[Rockgs1000]

i have rode ca-1 two years ago. that was by far the best road. i came from AR and even took Beartooth pass in Montana that was rated the number one road in the US. i still think the northern part of route 1 in CA was better than it. great roads through there keep up the travels i plan to start mine again on the 15th of july. plan on a CO and Utah trip then Sept taking a trip to Maine.