Epic California Ride - Now with pics/video!

[VEGASRIDER]

Jeolous! That's all I can add to this thread.

 

[Tailgate]

Stacy; j'espere que les cyclistes ont survecus!

Yeah, those bike riders can't rely on just being air-cooled going up those steep mountain grades---need lots of water! Below is the cyclist from Texas who obliged us and took some (actually, lots) pics. Notice the difference in gear!

 

[DefyInertia]

that dude is jacked!

glad things are working out. where did you guys end up crashing Thursday night?

 

[Wavex]

Alright we're home safe!

1527.9 great miles...

Lots of media to download/sort/etc... and anecdotes to share, and replies to this thread, but I won't get to it today (I need to sleep!!!), but what an amazing adventure... no problems (other than a little oops moment with my iphone - more on that later), great riding, great scenery, and above all great company. John thanks for the itinerary and for leading through all of that... you're da man!!!

 

[Cali rider]

Well, we are both back from the road. 1545 miles without any problems. I'm sure David will have many pictures/video/stories over the next couple of days, but I'll get in first with some of my own thoughts..

- I managed to see fuel usage of 60, 61 and 65.4 MPG over 502 miles. Considering the weight/size of my luggage it seems quite outstanding. However I have found the secret: High Elevation. All 3 of these measurements were from extended mountain climbing/descending activity at speeds of 40-70 MPH. However, when riding at the same pace at approximate sea level the mileage drops to 50-55 MPG. No complaints from me, just an observation.

- Stacy (Tailgate) and John (Lefty) were both great to meet and talk with. Very mature and smooth riders, it was quite generous of each of them to take time from their lives to accommodate our travel schedule. Both said they would make it down to SoCal soon to ride in our backyard. We both look forward to seeing you guys soon.

- The weather was unseasonably cool. The San Joaquin Valley is usually hot and humid now and it was very comfortable passing through. However, this was offset by cold and damp conditions along the coastline, and some rain when passing over the Sonora Pass.

- David had a blast riding roads he had never seen before, especially the Sonora Pass. It's always great to ride with him, and we had some great times each evening going over the events of the day. Thanks to Wavex for making this the best motorcycle tour I have ever had.

 

[Motogiro]

Glad to see you're home safe. Ignore the text and get some rest! Haha!

 

[Motogiro]

Well, we are both back from the road. 1545 miles without any problems. I'm sure David will have many pictures/video/stories over the next couple of days, but I'll get in first with some of my own thoughts..

- I managed to see fuel usage of 60, 61 and 65.4 MPG over 502 miles. Considering the weight/size of my luggage it seems quite outstanding. However I have found the secret: High Elevation. All 3 of these measurements were from extended mountain climbing/descending activity at speeds of 40-70 MPH. However, when riding at the same pace at approximate sea level the mileage drops to 50-55 MPG. No complaints from me, just an observation.

- Stacy (Tailgate) and John (Lefty) were both great to meet and talk with. Very mature and smooth riders, it was quite generous of each of them to take time from their lives to accommodate our travel schedule. Both said they would make it down to SoCal soon to ride in our backyard. We both look forward to seeing you guys soon.

- The weather was unseasonably cool. The San Joaquin Valley is usually hot and humid now and it was very comfortable passing through. However, this was offset by cold and damp conditions along the coastline, and some rain when passing over the Sonora Pass.

- David had a blast riding roads he had never seen before, especially the Sonora Pass. It's always great to ride with him, and we had some great times each evening going over the events of the day. Thanks to Wavex for making this the best motorcycle tour I have ever had.

Awesome John! Can't wait to see the pics and hear stories and experiences. So glad you guys had a great adventure and are home safe and sound.

Riding with SoCal riders Group tomorrow. The guys you and Dave met in Borrego at Carllie's.
Hope to see you guys soon for a ride.

 

[Wavex]

Alright, first the pics... they are a mix of my Canon SLR and iphone pics...

DAY 1 (500 miles):

6:30am on Tuesday:

1st stop due to a bee/wasp bite on my neck (it still itches lol):

On top of the "Sherman Pass"... beautiful up there...

 

[Wavex]

After the Sherman Pass we stopped at Mount Whitney...

 

[Wavex]

Finally arrived in Mammoth Lakes to end the first amazing day...

Here is John's friend's condo (awesome of him to let us crash in it!!!):

Where we ate dinner:

And the view coming out of the restaurant:

I`ll post DAY 2 later today... kids climbing on me right now

 

[lytehouse]

The sunset pic is beautiful....as are the rest of them!

 

[Wavex]

DAY 2 (~325 miles):

Yosemete:

 

[Wavex]

More Yosemete:

Getting ready to go over the Sonora Pass... (we hit rain and pretty cold weather up there!):

All the way on top! BTW, the Sonora pass is now my new favorite roads of all times... just an amazing road all together... it includes long sweepers to start for a good 30minutes... then more technical stuff starts in a beautiful, almost unreal, environment, and the insanely technical section ends the ride coming down the mountain on the other side... sick and a-ma-zing!!! I highly recommend it to anyone in the area...

More twisties to follow to get to Lake Tahoe...

Great times in Lake Tahoe's casino and I love the game "Let it ride!!" (cool name!) since I won over $200 in like 45 minutes lol I got very lucky... oh and Dinner was great too! We tried to empty one of these

 

[Tailgate]

Wow, Wavex, those are some great pics! I recognized (I hope I'm correct) the little parking lot at the end of the road going near the top of Mt. Whitney via that lonely and very steep grade "Whitney Portal" route. When I was there last year. I went inside the little cafe adjacent to the lot and sank a beer. A few famous classic Western films were shot along that route, huh? Spectacular pics! Yosemite is always spectacular no matter how many times one sees it, but, as you remarked to me during breakfast at Tahoe, very crowded with traffic during this time. Now that you built up the CA 108 Sonora Pass I'll have to do that (won't be but a day ride for me since live not terribly far). The pics remind/help me understand what Cali rider (John) remarked to me about NorCal being better than SoCal when it comes to more attractive/less congested bike routes. (I expressed envy about he living in the balmy SoCal weather region) Gawd, those pics are super clear and resolute!

 

[lytehouse]

Damn David, I was just thinking my trip (11days) was a bit long.....now I'm thinking how many days it'll take to ride out there so I can see Yosemite! I have a thing for mountains, lakes & waterfalls.....but you might have guessed that from my vacation pictures Great pictures!! Thanks

 

[Lefty]

Great, great pics David. :thumbup: That one of the stream in Yosemite really makes me want to go flyfishing! I can't wait to see the video of you and John riding down Hwy 9 (in between the construction zones that is). Waiting with baited breath....

 

[discgolfdude]

Wow, awesome pics!! Sounds like you all had fun. Thanks for taking the trip, and telling us your tale.:rockon:

 

[Wavex]

DAY 3 (325miles):

This was out parking spot @ Harvey's in Tahoe:

The view from our room:

We wake up at 6:30 to meet with Tailgate for breakfast, and my head hurts a little :BLAA:

lots of coffee and good company get me up and running...


Let's ride out of Tahoe towards Stockton via some beautiful scenery...

^ All these pics taken on the road are from my iphone... well a few miles after this spot (pic above ^), I inadvertently dropped it while opening the tank bag pocket... oops... long story short John finds it within 5 minutes and we're good to go. The Iphone touchscreen was cracked and its protective plastic enclosure gone, but miraculously it still works like new lol... I guess it can take a 60mph drop on asphalt dumbass moment on my part... good thing its a company phone......

Anyway, we keep riding and get to this beautiful spot (after a really steep climb through some very tight stuff):

 

[Wavex]

more of the same spot:

Here is one for you Tailgate

After that we continued on to Stockton,...

Here is Tailgate (taken from the dropped iphone lol):

Tailgate split with us here in Stockton after a great run.

 

[Wavex]

John and I ride over the San Mateo Bridge to meet with Lefty at the beginning of "Skyline"...

I was supposed to have GoPro footage of this section (and others), but I messed up the settings on it and got pics only... plus they suck (I do have some interesting HD footage though, to be posted soon).

So anyway, great road and great controlled pace set by Lefty to guide us through to #9... I really had an awesome time on that road even though there was a lot of traffic and road work... I wish that was my backyard!

I hope to ride with both you Lefty and Tailgate down here soon. You guys are great guys.

Lefty and Cali Rider at the end of our run:

Lefty with me this time:

This is how my bike looked at that point (first time I had seen it that disgusting ):