Guest klinquist Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 I really want to do a 2000+ mile ride in October, so I figure I better get my butt in shape (literally, so my butt can handle it!). I finally bought another VFR (2004) in March after selling my 1996 VFR two years ago. On my old VFR, the longest ride I had ever done was down to San Diego and back - and that was for a wedding and I didn't have time for twisties. All freeway. I had done a Big Sur twisties route several times (300 miles) and did the same route once on the new bike. I started planning a long weekend a few weeks ago and wanted to include as many pashnit.com roads as possible. Just got home and it was frickin epic . Friday night 6:00PM, me, Brian (Triumph Sprint ST), Aleks (CBR 929), and Gabor (SV650S) left my house in San Jose to slab it up to the Motel 6 in Auburn. There we met Raza (F4i) and Troy (FZ6) who took another route up. Traffic was horrible.. we probably split lanes for 30-40 miles. It really got fun near Tracy where the lanes got a little thinner . Had dinner at TGI Fridays in Elk Grove (btw, our waitress was not wearing enough flair) and then made it to Auburn around 10PM. The Motel 6 was fairly new and actually pretty nice... not to mention the cheapest room in town @ $60. We all pretty much crashed out. Our crap in the room Bikes outside the next morning We were up at 7ish.. it was already warm (high 70s). Went to the Dennys across the street. Us hooligans at Denny's Both the Motel 6 and the Denny's are located right on Foresthill Rd... so we proceeded down toward Foresthill at 9AM. I told everyone we should take it easy since there are lots of LEO reports... but taking it easy is a lot easier said than done! Luckily, we had a local that could *really* drive right in front of us to play rabbit! I let him stay a quarter mile ahead and had a blast . We gassed up at the Valero in Foresthill and proceeded down Mosquito Ridge Rd. Other than LOTS of gravel on the road right after the Circle Bridge, the road is pretty epic. Hanging out near the top (approx 5800') of MRR. Here's the only video I took the whole weekend - going up Mosquito Ridge just after the circle bridge. I finally got around the raft-carrying van about 1 min 19 seconds into it: We proceeded down to the reservoir and then back up the way we came. We switched bikes and I tried out the 929... gobs of power! All the downhill wasn't a whole lot of fun on my wrists, but it sure is fun... Once we got to back to Foresthill we took a right on Foresthill Rd and then a left on Sugar Pine which turns into Iowa Hill Rd. I really enjoyed the first half of it... Small and twisty yet smooth pavement... you really get to body steer your bike. We then came to the top and headed down to the river - holy schnikes! 5mph downhill hairpins! Of course we then went up as fast as we went down. Others were complaining about the road but I tend to be a real masochist sometimes and loved it . We gassed up in Colfax. At the gas station in Colfax My trusty steed When at the gas station, something caught my eye- what looked like a very small finishing nail was stuck in my tire- damnit! I had my Stop-n-go tire patch kit with me, but didn't want to use it just yet. It was inside the tread groove and at an angle. I cupped my hand and poured some water on it as well as checked my tire pressure - it wasn't leaking at all. I decided to leave it in . We took 174 to 20 through Grass Valley to Pleasant Valley Rd (through Bridgeport). On PVR we see the highest temp of the day - 95º. From the end of PVR we take a left onto 49 (sidenote: we got lucky with a LEO on 49 - a CHP came around the corner just as we were all making a sketchy pass - he just flashed his high beams at us :D) and left on Marysville Rd and then a right on yet another Pashnit.com Rd, Oregon Hill. After about 1/2 mile, I pull over... the road has a cobblestone-like surface and we decide to use the GPS to find another route. Oregon Hill Rd Gabor Brian Raza and Aleks Now, when planning the whole route I was using AAA maps and Google Earth to identify and avoid non-paved roads. As we turned around and began to follow the GPS, the thought that it may be taking us off pavement did cross my mind. We continued up Marysville Rd and took a right on Indiana Ranch Rd. It was a small 1 laner with almost new blacktop - perfect! ...perfect until a few miles later when the pavement ended. :funny I came to a stop and said to everyone, "4.8 miles. OK?" I got thumbs up from the other riders so we went for it. Not the first time I've been on gravel, but I've never owned a non-street bike. No worries, I knew to keep loose on the bars and just take it easy. I was able to keep it between 25-30mph- the road looked like it was just recently re-graded/graveled. It was as good as a gravel road could be. Of course, Indiana Ranch then hits Oregon Hill Rd, which at that point was great quality (so the cobblestone surface probably wouldn't have lasted long). I reached the end of the gravel a bit before everyone else and was able to take this pic of a few of the guys (pardon the high res, I really like this shot): Adventure riding is a state of mind! Of course, the others were complaining about their road and their filthy bikes.. but once again the masochist in me loved it... all part of the adventure! I had recently been talking about the advrider.com a lot... so the guys were saying that I had secretly planned the gravel road route to get the picture above... I didn't, I swear! The only casualty seems to be the ABS system on my bike - my warning light was on for the remainder of the trip. Hopefully it's just a dirty sensor or something that can be reset. We continued up La Porte Rd... what an incredible road that is! It just got better and better as we climbed. The trees grew more sparse allowing you to see farther through corners. Taking a break in La Porte Dirty bike! As we proceeded out of La Porte, I missed the right turn to continue on La Porte-Quincy Rd. I realized I had missed the turn and slowed way down... which is when a CHP came around the corner. Whew! More good luck! La Porte-Quincy Rd is EPIC. The others on the ride agreed it was better than MRR or even Skaggs Springs. It would have been even more fun the opposite direction (uphill rather than down). The pavement looked new and was perfectly smooth. Almost zero traffic. Absolutely amazing! We took a left when we got back to 70 and had dinner at Mi Casita in Quncy. They had a page of American food on the menu... when Brian asked the waitress (wish I took a pic of her, she was pretty smokin!) if the burgers were any good, she replied, "yes, actually we're known for our burgers." Is that a bad sign at a Mexican restaurant? I had a chimichanga that was just ok. I think we went through three pitchers of water! At least it was cooler in Quincy - about 78º... it was in the upper 80s for most of the day thus far. Quincy The original route plan was to take the Oroville-Quincy Highway to our hotel in Oroville, but we were pretty tired so we just took 70 - which is a gorgeous highway by itself as it follows the Feather River and crosses back and forth over it. It's a great lazy highway where you can have a blast going the speed limit leaning the bike left and right. It was pretty smoky coming down through the canyon from all of the nearby fires. A rest stop on Hwy 70 We got to the Sunset Inn in Oroville around 7:45PM. Minus the time we spent eating, that's nearly 10 hours and over 300 miles of non-stop twisties - we're talking zero freeway miles. Like I mentioned earlier, I had done 300 mile days in the past - but nothing compared to the level of exhaustion of this route! We all agreed it was absolutely incredible. The Sunset Inn was nice enough (also the cheapest room in town on Expedia @ $60) and they had a pool. We all put on shorts and jumped in. We were fast asleep by about 11. Bikes in the parking lot of the Sunset Inn Aleks in the Sunset Inn room Now, about that finishing nail in my tire. I had been checking my tire pressures throughout the day on Saturday and they hadn't dropped a bit. Sunday morning I checked them again - once again, zero loss. I put the bike on the center stand and spun the tire around to see if I could find the nail. I found the hole where the nail was, but no more nail! Looks like the nail had never completely gone through the tire... awesome. Summary of this story: If you've got a foreign object in your tire, just ignore it! It'll go away and nothing bad will happen. :funny We all slept in pretty late - we ended up heading to breakfast around 9:45AM. We went next door to The Waffle Shop which advertises the best waffles ever. At $7.95 for a waffle combo (waffle, two eggs, and bacon) it was a good deal and the waffle was pretty darn good! From Oroville, we rode approx 100 miles by taking 162 to 45 to 20 to Lower Lake, CA (south tip of Clear Lake). 162 and 45 are mostly straight farm roads and we were able to put the miles behind us pretty quickly . 20 goes over a small mountain pass and its a pretty fun highway (Reminded me of Hwy 152 over Pacheco Pass). We stopped in the Shell in Lower Lake and quickly discovered that if we sat near the opening in the side of the car wash, we would get sprayed by the rinse cycle which felt great . Car wash in Lower Lake From Lower Lake we took Morgan Valley Rd to Lake Berryessa. Morgan Valley was absolutely incredible for 5 or 10 miles... and then it turned from incredible to absolutely crappy in no time at all! I enjoy goat trails but even this one was pissing me off a bit . 12 miles of crap and we reach Lake Berryessa. My VFR at Lake Berryessa We continued along Lake Berryessa to 121 to Wooden Valley Rd - Wooden Valley was another awesome road of nothing but curves! That took us near the 80/680 Jct where we went to Wendys for our lunch and goodbyes. Came down 680 and got home just before 5PM. Here's the trip odometer I reset when we left my house on Friday: Trip Odometer I'd like to give a special thank you to pashint.com for the great resource his site has been! My plan is always to stop along the roads and take pictures of the curves... but stopping is usually the last thing in my mind when the adrenaline is flowing . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 Nice ride report. 300 miles a day on back roads is one of my favorite past times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer poconovfr Posted August 2, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 2, 2008 You guys and those dam canyon roads :fing02: Great report,GREAT video. Hey so when you came upon the pickup.......he was.. mmm... say.. 15..20 below the speed limit? :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 Great report,GREAT video. Hey so when you came upon the pickup.......he was.. mmm... say.. 15..20 below the speed limit? :fing02: :rolleyes: Oh.... at least!! I've got another 700 mile 2 night trip planned for the sierras Thursday evening Sept 4 to Sat Sept 6 and a 1300 mile 4 night trip Thurs Oct 2 - Mon Oct 6. For those in the Bay Area that are interested, hit me up . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BonusVFR Posted August 2, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 2, 2008 Thanks ......always looking for new roads and ideas. On our Sierra trip, We thought about shooting up to Quincy or Lassen but heard that the NP was closed due to fires. There is always next time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 Thanks ......always looking for new roads and ideas. On our Sierra trip, We thought about shooting up to Quincy or Lassen but heard that the NP was closed due to fires. There is always next time! Yeah, the roads we were on were never closed.. I just checked the county and CDF web sites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BonusVFR Posted August 2, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 2, 2008 Thanks ......always looking for new roads and ideas. On our Sierra trip, We thought about shooting up to Quincy or Lassen but heard that the NP was closed due to fires. There is always next time! Yeah, the roads we were on were never closed.. I just checked the county and CDF web sites. But do I need a KLR?? Looks like a cool loop out of Quincy going sourth around Lake Orville thru La Porte to Orville and then back North on the Orville Quincy road to the North end of Quincy. Da........I love these roads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 But do I need a KLR?? Looks like a cool loop out of Quincy going sourth around Lake Orville thru La Porte to Orville and then back North on the Orville Quincy road to the North end of Quincy. Da........I love these roads. What doesn't down you makes you a better rider, right? No KLR necessary. Quincy-La Porte Rd is incredible... smooth as glass north of La Porte. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 FYI, this is the Sept route we're planning: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&saddr=....822754&z=8 and this is the Oct route: http://tinyurl.com/5zgrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BonusVFR Posted August 2, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted August 2, 2008 But do I need a KLR?? Looks like a cool loop out of Quincy going sourth around Lake Orville thru La Porte to Orville and then back North on the Orville Quincy road to the North end of Quincy. Da........I love these roads. What doesn't down you makes you a better rider, right? No KLR necessary. Quincy-La Porte Rd is incredible... smooth as glass north of La Porte. You are right about that. Last Spring 07 took my Wing to the Southern Sierras and it raised my riding level one notch even if I got the worst mileage ever out of my rear tire. Maybe I will get the KLR anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superfunkomatic Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 great ride report. my list of places to see keeps growing. now if i could just clone myself.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soichiro Posted August 3, 2008 Share Posted August 3, 2008 :rolleyes: very nice. Thanks for sharing. I like the video. I love the vtec and it was ridden well. Hit the vtec while leaned over and didnt crash once. Good stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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