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2 Day Norcal loop

M

mlm

.
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Location
Bay Area
Moto(s)
Yes
Name
OG
BARF perks
AMA#: 874813
2 Day Norcal loop (6/15/07)

Got another kitchen pass to go riding last Friday and Saturday so I made the most of it. Couldn't decide between Yosemite, Tahoe, or HW36, so I decided to do all three. Here is the route for day 1.

I left about 9am on Friday, and had more traffic than I was hoping for until I got to Sonora.

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Rode straight through till I filled up at Angel's camp. Next I stopped to take a few pictures and eat a sandwich at Sonora pass on HW 108.

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Another mountain picture. A few more rocks on the road than I would have liked, but the temperature was great and very little traffic.

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Here is a picture looking down from the summit. The road was pretty good here, but the tar snakes they laid down in the area were really thick, and made for some nice surprises.

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The obligatory photo at the top. Took this right after I got busted irrigating the shoulder.:)

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Had too much fun till I got to Tahoe. Could have done without the lake traffic, but I'd never been to the NE side and the view was pretty cool.

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Took HW 89 all the way up to HW36 in the Lassen National Forest. This was a great ride. Very little traffic, nice sweepers, and really let me make up some time. Here is a long stretch where there was a good view of a mountain.

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Figured I was so close I might as well take another signage pose at Lassen National Park. Thats as far as I rode in because I saw some construction signs, and didn't want to stay out too late.

The rest of the haul to Red Bluff was "brisk", and the temperature rose steadily into the 90s as I descended from the beautifull mountains into the smog filled yuck of Red Bluff.

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Slept in a bit and left the hotel in Red Bluff around 9am. HW36 was fun. The first quarter has a bunch of the infamous whoop-de-doo hills. Watch out near the end...about 27 miles...it's real easy to drift into the oncoming lane as the road turns right just after the hill. That was my only "foul" of the tour...I DID drift into the other lane, but only because I saw no oncoming traffic. Only mentioning it because I was recalling my last trip through here and did the same damn thing.

Then I saw this!

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Luckily the construction was just a bit over a mile long:teeth

The next quarter of the road works itself up into the hills. Gotta watch out for rocks in the lanes, but nothing real bad. Here is a view towards the top.

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The 2nd half start working down with better road conditions (less debris).

Must have been small critter suicide day that Saturday. I swear I saw at least 20 or so road kills, not to mention a near miss on a squirrel. Had to stop and record one for posterity.:barf

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When I packed up Thursday night I left my rain gear out to make room for more bottled water. I was starting to debate the wisdom of that decision about 20 miles from 101.

I stopped here and bundled up a bit more. It was pretty foggy for about 20 miles and ultimately cleared up once I got a few miles south on 101.

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Highway 36 has nothing on HW1 from Leggett to the coast. Tight, smooth and LOADS of fun. Only thing that kinda sucks is that there are all these series of blind right handers leading into a tight left...probably not that bad afterall bacause it kept my speed down.

Here is a view looking down from the top.

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Same picture. but with the bike, and last picture I took.

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Highway 1 was nice and relaxed and I decided to take Skaggs Spring from Stewarts Point. My first thought were: WTF? Damn goat trail for 15 miles. Towards the end were some fantastic sweepers. No traffic to speak of and the 30MPH speed limit?:hand

Kinda wish I hadn't cut over so soon, but I wanted to get home to see the kiddies before bed so I slabbed it the rest of the way down 101 and then 280. Was making good enough time I decided to jump up to 35, but the weather sucked.

Had a great time. A little over 1000 miles in two days, and I definitely could have ridden more. Maybe next time I'll go farther North.

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Great Write up! Really like how you put up the maps to show where you went. For someone like me who never remembers roads, it made it so I could actually understand where you went.
 
It did seem like the bike was a bit sluggish in the stop and go traffic around Tahoe, but didn't have any problems.

The yahoo site works pretty good for patching together the route maps. If you decide to use it, try right clicking the mouse and selecting the to/from location options. If you enter the city names it will make the route go to the city center on each stop.
 
Nice write-up and cool pictures.:thumbup I cant believe you rode 500 mi. on a F4i, do you have an aftermarket seat? Because after 150 my ass is:deadhorse Im thinking of making my F4i more long-distance freindly, but dont want to take away from the sporty aspects of the bike. Heres what Im thinking, Hunterflat bar grips(how does that work on the throttle grip), Corbin or a gel seat, moving footpegs, up/back an inch. ANy input or other suggestions.
 
Corbin seat, Givi sport touring windshield, and ThrottleMeister bar ends. Highly recommended.
 
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