In the picture above I’m wearing my new Klim two-piece riding suit, which features multiple vents on the jacket and pants. These worked very well in the high temperatures across the Sacramento River valley and through the Sierra.
The west is undergoing a heat wave so this blog entry is all about the heat. I left at 10:20 and rode across the Golden Gate Bridge on 101 north to Novato where I went across the delta on Highway 37. It was about 70 in San Francisco, 80 in Novato, 85 in Vallejo, and 90 at the rest area overlooking Vallejo. It was 85 at the Starbuck’s in Dixon where I had a sandwich and coffee, then 95 in Sacramento and 113 in Citrus Heights, the high for the day. It cooled down (briefly) to 85 going over Donner Summit, but quickly warmed up in Nevada and through Reno, and it stayed between 95 and 105 for the rest of the day until the last hour on the road when the sky clouded over and I even hit a short rain shower.
I turned into the Cozy Mountain Motel in Austin, Nevada at 10 to 6 and quickly walked over to Grandma’s Cafe where Sarah, who runs both places, was working. After a chicken salad dinner I returned to the motel, fished out the key to room 5 from the box by the office door, unloaded the bike, and signed onto the weekly Zoom meeting with my friends.
The display by the Cozy Mountain office is always fun - the pink rifle is a new addition.
Grandma’s is a nice place - dining room and a bar in an adjoining room.
Sarah, along with the owners of Champ’s (the gas station) are working hard to give Austin some pizzaz. About 10 miles from town I rode by a billboard which stated: What happens in Austin you brag about. Maybe the next time I’m through here there will be more places open.
Prior to my departure I was anxious about two things: The road construction on I-80 near Truckee, and critters on US 50 in the early evening. The road construction was a non-issue - just a brief slowdown in a couple of places rather than the miles long backup I’d feared. I may have been too early for the deer and coyotes to wander across the road, or perhaps they were just too smart to be out in the heat, because I didn’t see any. The ventilation on the Klim jacket and pants worked very well as long as I was moving and kept hydrated, so score one for technology. (408 miles)
(Wednesday, September 7) The alarm woke me at 5:45 and after a few stretches I walked over to Champ’s for a coffee to get me going before a proper breakfast in Eureka, 70 miles east on US 50. This turkey (?) must have wandered over from across the road.
At the gas station a Triumph Tiger (900cc Adventure bike) had just pulled in for gas and I started a conversation with the rider, Peter, who was from Arvada (near Denver) and had just been to San Francisco for Dim Sum. He said that he’d been working (in IT) for two years without a break, staring at his screen and the same people and he told his boss that he just had to get out of town. We chatted for about 20 minutes before I went in for my coffee and he headed east on US 50 for Delta, where he was spending the night.
I was on the road by 7:30 and an hour later I stopped at a cafe across the street from the Owl Club, but the cafe was closed, as was the Owl Club. Fortunately, just around the corner on Clark St. was the Eureka Coffee shop and I ordered an English muffin sandwich and coffee, which was quite good. (The waitress said that the cafe across the street is actually a gift shop, and that the Owl Club is only open for lunch and dinner now.) The coffee shop seems to be new and the pictures on the wall were by an Englishman who travelled around the USA in 1981 on a fellowship.
The pictures were from the Eureka 4th of July parade in 1981, and I was actually trapped in town by the 4th of July parade in 2005 or thereabouts. I’d had breakfast at the Owl Club and parked around the corner, and when I came out Main St. (US 50) had been closed and I couldn’t get out of town, so I just sat on a bench and enjoyed the parade - fire trucks, girls on horses, tractors, but no sack races that I saw.
It was 70 when I left Austin, and 75 in Eureka, and by the time I got to Ely and stopped for gas it was 85. It would be 85-95 for most of the day until late afternoon near I-25 when it got to 102. At the gas station in Ely I talked with a guy on a BMW GS who was from New York and headed to Santa Cruz, CA. The hills and curves east of Ely were fun, and I enjoyed the ride to the Utah border, even though I’d been on the same route a couple of months earlier on the Harley. The rest of the ride to Delta is, no other way to put it, boring. I stopped at a cafe (closed, although a sign in the window promised back soon) in Delta because there were two motorcycles parked in front. The riders were from Tasmania and had been on a BDR ride (backroads discovery route) in Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming and were headed for an unofficial Moto Guzzi rally in Ouray, Colorado. (One of the bikes was a Moto Guzzi, the other a Suzuki V-Storm.) The BDR was started several years ago by off-road motorcycle enthusiasts who mapped out unpaved roads and campgrounds throughout the country. The Tasmanians store their bikes with a friend in Fremont, CA and come over every year to ride the back roads and camp out.
Since the cafe was closed, I rode a block or so to the Rancher Cafe and had a late lunch. In the middle of my meal I looked out the window and saw a Triumph Tiger parking next to the building, and sure enough it was Peter, whom I’d met that morning in Austin. He was staying at the Rancher motel and he came in for a coke and to chat some more.
I gassed up in Delta, and stayed on US 50 to I-25 where I went north to Scipio, then to Salina where I picked up 24 east to Torrey. Highway 24 goes through small towns every 10 miles or so, but it is pretty country with no traffic and by the late afternoon it had cooled off to 80 or so. There were many deer warning signs, but I saw no deer, which is fine with me. There were a couple of road construction areas with one-way traffic control in Nevada, and also one in Torrey. I found the Motel Torrey, which has an unmanned office with a code key on the motel door. I’ve noticed this more and more in the last few years. Young owners will take over a motel and mostly let it run by itself - reserve online, get a code for the door, get a number to call for assistance of if something is wrong. That way they don’t have to pay a full-time person at a front desk (or work the desk themselves) and the owner can work another job. Dinner was at a Mexican restaurant across the street, and I walked a little way on 24 to see that the cafe/motel across the street where I once stayed seems to be permanently closed. (441 miles)
(Thursday, September 8) After coffee and a cookie at the motel I headed east on UT 24 and immediately ran into road construction. The wait for the pilot car wasn’t long, and the other two road construction areas in the 50 miles to Hanksville were the same. Traffic was scarce and I enjoyed the cool morning air (65 when I left the motel, then 75 the rest of the way to Hanksville) and the curves and scenery. In Hanksville I ate at Duke’s Slick Rock restaurant and topped up my gas tank before going southeast on UT 95. The temperature quickly went up to 85 degrees, and it stayed between 85 and 95 the rest of the day, except for a couple of times when it reached 100. There were a couple of construction areas on 95, but very few other vehicles and I enjoyed the red rock canyons, rock formations, and hills and curves. After 125 miles I turned north on US 191 and after 20 miles stopped in Monticello, UT for gas and lunch. I looked at my rear tire and saw this unpleasant sight:
Oil appears to be leaking from the rear drive; not enough to coat the rear tire or wheel, but concerning nevertheless. This has been a problem for BMW for the last 20 years and it is usually caused by a seal failure. Unfortunately, the seal fails because the large bearing in the rear drive is breaking up and the fragments destroy the seal. I called BMW of Denver (where the bike was purchased back in 2016) and spoke with the service advisor, who advised me to bring in the bike and they would look at it. So, instead of riding through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison tomorrow and then going on one of the few roads I haven’t been on in central Colorado, I will instead get on I-70 and head straight to Denver. It is possible that there is a simple explanation for this (bad crush ring on the drain plug) but chances are I’m in for an expensive repair and a couple of days (at least) extra time in Denver. Assuming I make it to Denver.
Back on the road I went east on US 491 towards Dove Creek and after less than 20 miles went north on CO 141 towards Gateway. This is actually a section of CO 141 I hadn’t been on before, and it is good road with elevation changes, decreasing radius turns, somewhat interesting scenery (mostly ranch land) but you can’t relax. There were several areas where bridges were being repaired and traffic signals controlled the one lane road. In Naturita I noticed two cannabis stores, which was strange because the town probably has a population of a couple of hundred, although the area is popular with outdoor enthusiasts.
After 100 miles I turned into the Gateway Canyons Resort which also has the Gateway Automobile Museum. I’d been there once before and it is a small (55 cars) but nicely curated collection built by John Hendricks, who founded the Discovery Channel. It was nice to get out of the heat, and I spent less than an hour there looking over the cars and taking a few pictures. (In 2019 John Hendricks put his entire Colorado holdings - Gateway Canyons Resort, his 22,000 square foot house, and the auto museum up for sale at $279 million. I don’t know if it sold or if he still owns it.)
The 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 GM Motorama show car is the pride of the collection and merits a room all to itself. When Hendricks acquired the car (at auction) it was in sad shape, and the display documents the extensive renovation. The car is fiberglass (like the Corvette) and was conceived as a companion to the Corvette, but whereas the ‘Vette had a six-cylinder engine and a two-speed Powerglide transmission, the F-88 had Oldsmobile’s Rocket V8 and a four-speed Hydramatic transmission. In the end it never went into production, perhaps because of poor sales of the Corvette, so the one in the museum is the only one in existence.
Cars in the 1950s had there own style and often featured flamboyant colors, such as on this 1953 Cadillac and Packard.
A 1957 Desoto has the famous Chrysler Hemi-V8.
A Kaiser Darin has sliding doors.
Back on the road CO 141 became a very pleasant ranch road that follows Mesa Creek. The scenery was interesting, but the road was challenging enough that one has to pay close attention. After 40 miles 141 ended at US 50, which I followed into Delta, Colorado where I’m spending the night at a Quality Inn.
I walked a few blocks to downtown Delta for dinner, and the town is quite pleasant with old buildings, many of which featured murals.
Tomorrow I should find out what (if anything) is wrong with the bike. Too bad that I’ll have to forego CO 114 and North Pass into Saguache, but that just gives me an excuse to come this way again. (408 miles)
(Friday, September 9) The Quality Inn was a little tired, but OK, as was the breakfast in the lobby. However, they did let me park the bike right next to the lobby window by the entrance, and that was nice. Last night I checked my Colorado map and saw that instead of backtracking on US 50 to I-70 I could head east on CO 92 and northeast on CO 133, a route that was 15 minutes longer but 20 miles shorter and much more scenic - the choice was obvious. After 20 miles on 92 I turned onto 133 and immediately the road narrowed, there were many more trees, hills, and curves, and the next 70 miles were just delightful. The road goes through the White River National Forest and follows the White River in many places. It goes over McClure Pass (8755 feet) and through a few small towns including the town of Paonia. I think that I may have been on this road over 45 years ago on Boris (my 1973 BMW R75/5). The few small towns (Paonia, Bowie, Redstone) seemed to exist for local farmers and ranchers and vacationers - there were ranches and small farms along the road and vacation homes. There were many scenic view areas that featured the valley, river, and surrounding mountains, but I was on a mission and didn’t stop. Too bad that neither Carol or Nikki was riding on the back on this trip to take pictures as we sped along, but I don’t think that either one would have enjoyed the heat of the previous two days. As I neared Carbondale (and the CO 82 turnoff for Aspen) a nice bicycle path appeared between the road and river, and there were more vacation homes and services. Carbondale was very busy and I suspect that it is a popular vacation spot. CO 133 ended at CO 82, and I went northwest for 8 miles to Glenwood Springs (also very busy but also interesting) and onto I-70, where I soon stopped at the No Name Rest Area to shed my jacket liner and warm gloves. The temperature was 65 when I left Delta, about 70 in Hotchkiss, and between 60 and 65 on CO 133, dipping to 55 in places out of the sun. As you can see from the picture I remembered to put a little strip of tape on the helmet visor to act as a sun shield when heading into the sun early morning or late afternoon.
I-70 through Glenwood Canyon is twisty and demands close attention as there is a lot of traffic, road construction, trucks, and uneven pavement. I stopped in Frisco for gas and something to eat, but couldn’t find a quick restaurant (I confined my search to the area around I-70 and didn’t go into town, which is supposed to be quite nice) and was soon back on I-70 where the weather became cooler (I had put my jacket liner and heavier gloves on in Frisco) and the sky clouded over. Over Vail Pass (10,800 feet) and then through the Eisenhower Tunnel (11,160 feet) and then began the long descent to Denver. There was a combination of fog and smoke, but no rain and I followed the GPS to Centennial and pulled into BMW of Denver.
Chris, the service advisor, had received the picture I sent of the rear wheel, and by the time we had finished the paper work the technician, Trent, had the bike on the lift and had pulled the rear wheel. After an hour (during which time I had a Jimmy John’s sandwich delivered) he had completed his diagnosis. The good news was that the rear drive appeared to be OK and that the leak was from a speedometer sensor seal and from the drain plug O-ring, both of which he replaced along with the drain plug itself, which had been damaged by over-tightening at some point. The not so good news was that the bike has a leak in the engine rear main seal and a balancer shaft seal. Neither was severe and Trent said that the leak would just slowly get worse over thousands of miles eventually contaminating the clutch. However, to replace the seals the whole back half of the bike has to come off, along with the transmission and clutch. Lots of labor and quite a few parts would need to be replaced, parts that they would have to order. They wouldn’t know what parts they needed until they had disassembled the bike. I was tempted to have them just go ahead since they are a good shop and I trust their work, but the possibility of being stuck in Denver for a week (or more) if parts had to be shipped from Germany was a deal-breaker and I decided to wait until I was back in San Francisco. I paid the (modest) bill and was at Vanya’s apartment building before 4. Check in went smoothly and I settled into the guest suite, which is a studio apartment that is modern and functional.
Vanya returned from work and we walked Rocky, her lab-mix dog, and had Indian food delivered to the apartment. We rearranged some furniture in the apartment and made our plans for Saturday, which included moving items in and out of storage, and dinner with Carol’s sister and husband, who live in Boulder. (289 miles)
(Monday, September 12) The two days in Denver were busy, but Vanya and I got a lot done although she still has quite a bit to do to get settled in.
I was up early on Monday morning, packed the bike, said goodbye to Vanya, and was on the road heading out of Denver a little after 8. There was traffic, but it moved along, and soon I was on 6th St. headed west and shortly after that on I-70. It was a beautiful morning with clear sky and although it was only 55 degrees the sun was warm at the high altitude. I stopped in Idaho Springs (after only 35 miles) for breakfast at the Main Street Restaurant downtown, which is closed off for several blocks creating a mall. Carol and I tried to stop here last year in June, but there was a lot of vacation traffic and no place to park, so we ended up at a Starbuck’s a mile or two away. This fine morning in September there were few people about, everyone in the restaurant was very friendly, and the food and coffee were good.
Back on I-70 there was the usual Interstate traffic that moved along at or above the speed limit. As Interstates go, I-70 is quite scenic with curves through the mountains and of course the up and down over the passes, although the road surface is rough and patched in many places and the lanes are narrow. Through the Eisenhower tunnel and a long descent, I exited at Colorado 9 in Silverthorne. CO 9 connects to US 40 in Kremmling and it has become a preferred route for those going from Denver to Salt Lake City, so there was more traffic than one might expect for a two-lane road in the middle of nowhere. The road is in good shape with many places to pass and, although it is a high elevation, the slopes are gentle. Over Rabbit Ears Pass I descended into Steamboat, where Carol and I used to meet my sister and her family for skiing. Steamboat is a major vacation spot, summer and winter, and I passed on through town stopping at the tiny town of Hayden 20 miles later at a Sinclair for gas at the Hayden General Store, which appears to be the only business in town. When I went inside to use the washroom, the sign said that there wasn’t one available for customers, and to use the washrooms in the park a block away. However, when the owner inside saw I was a bike, she said that she made exceptions for motorcyclists, seniors, and pregnant women and I qualified for two of those.
The day had started off at 55 degrees, and the temperature stayed between 55 and 65 until Silverthorne, and then it warmed up and stayed between 75 and 85 for the rest of the day, with an occasional 90. I stopped in Dinosaur for a late lunch at the Bedrock Depot and while I was eating outside, a bike pulled up and parked next to me. Simon Knill is from Sussex, England, and was on a 400cc Royal Enfield Himalayan. He had shipped his bike to Toronto, and then ridden across Canada to Vancouver Island and Tofino on the west coast, then down the west coast of the USA to San Francisco, and was headed to Chicago to visit his uncle. The Himalayan makes about 28 horsepower, and has a top speed of 75 or so, but the way his bike was loaded he said that he mostly cruises at 60-65
A sign on the Himalayan gas tank says “Simon Knill My Global Challenge” and he has a presence on Facebook. He got an espresso and ice cream and we compared road notes and he told me about his trip.
Back on the US 40 I continued to Vernal (where the pink dinosaur on the east side of town appears to have been recently painted) and then through Roosevelt and Duchesne. Along the way there was long section of one-lane road construction where the road was being chip sealed. The good news was that I got there when my lane was moving and I didn’t have to wait, but the bad news is that I was behind a tanker truck. The chips were down but not sealed, and that is like riding on marbles, and the truck was kicking up a large cloud of dust. Sometimes being out in the elements has its drawbacks.
Just before Daniel’s Pass (8000 feet) I passed the Currant Creek RV Park. There was a small motel there back in 1973 where a friend and I stayed on our cross-country motorcycle trip. About 8 miles from Heber City I rode by the Lodgepole campground where I’ve camped a couple of times, and then I was at the Swiss Alps Inn, my lodging for the night, right on Main St. AKA US 40.
As you can see from the picture above the repair in Denver was successful - no black oil.
The motel is a basic single story park-in-front-of-the-room place, very clean, a large room, but a bit tired. The desk chair is wobbly, the mattress too soft, and the place is probably in need of refurbishing. Still, it worked fine for one night.
Dinner was next door at the Dairy Keen, which seems to be a local institution, and very popular with the locals, including what seemed like several high school sports teams. I’d actually eaten there once before on a trip to visit my sister in Deer Valley near Park City. As you can see from the sign above, the labor shortage hasn’t abated.
As you can see from the picture above the repair in Denver was successful - no black oil.
The motel is a basic single story park-in-front-of-the-room place, very clean, a large room, but a bit tired. The desk chair is wobbly, the mattress too soft, and the place is probably in need of refurbishing. Still, it worked fine for one night.
Dinner was next door at the Dairy Keen, which seems to be a local institution, and very popular with the locals, including what seemed like several high school sports teams. I’d actually eaten there once before on a trip to visit my sister in Deer Valley near Park City. As you can see from the sign above, the labor shortage hasn’t abated.
(455 miles)
(Tuesday, September 13) It was 55 degrees with a few sprinkles in the morning when I walked across the street to Chick’s Cafe (opened in 1954 - the same year the younger of my sisters was born) where I had bacon and eggs and a scone. The Utah scone is nothing like your English Scone; it is the size of a small plate and is a puffy, fried bread that is served with butter and honey - very similar to the sopaipillas served in some Mexican restaurants. Heber City is a charming little town, but all the businesses are on US 40 which, as I mentioned, has become a major route with many trucks passing through. Back at the motel I spent a half hour working a little on this blog post, then dressed for rain, which consisted of wearing my rain gloves and closing all the vents on the jacket and pants. The nice thing about a proper motorcycle riding suit is that you are always dressed for rain. When I first started riding and for many years thereafter riding attire was Levis and a leather jacket. When it rained you stopped, dug out your rain suit, rain gloves, and maybe rain booties from your duffle bag, and continued on your way. This took a good 10 minutes or so during which time you were being rained on and getting wet, assuming of course that you stopped to put on rain gear before you were soaked anyway.
I left the motel around 9:15 - I was in no rush because it would be a short day, I would gain an hour going into Pacific Time, and I was staying in Austin again and there is no reason to get there early. I rode south on US 189 along the river and by a couple of parks and a waterfall (nice road with curves), through Provo (home of Brigham Young University), and went south on I-15. The GPS wanted me to continue on I-15 to Nephi for 20 miles and take UT 132 southwest to Delta, thereby saving some time and a few miles, but I exited the Interstate after just a few miles at Santaquin and US 6 west. I once had a delicious fried chicken dinner at Leslie’s Family Tree Restaurant and that included my first Utah scone. The building has a reputation for being haunted, and several reality shows have done stories on it. However, a web search says that it is permanently closed, a victim of Covid. I rode through Goshen and Eureka and then 6 angled southwest through the Tintic Valley. The road was deserted, the rolling hills were green, and there were a few farms and ranches. I got gas in Delta and took a short break at the Delta city park. There had been light sprinkles off and on, and the weather had stayed around 55-60 degrees. I checked the Dark Sky app on my phone, and it seemed I was in for colder weather and rain before I got to Austin. That proved to be the case. It started raining about 20 miles from the Nevada border and continued off and on the next 90 miles to Ely. Over Connor’s Summit about 20 miles from Ely it was raining hard and 50 degrees, so I was quite cold when I stopped for gas. I did not bring a base layer or a cold weather mid-layer or my electric jacket liner (remember, it was 95 degrees in Ely 6 days ago). Fortunately, after a half hour at the Tap Root coffee shop on the west side of Ely (where I had an almond scone and coffee) I had warmed up and when I headed west again on US 50 there were patches of blue in the sky and it was almost 60 degrees.
The 150 miles to Austin were pleasant and uneventful. There were sprinkles and the temperature remained between 55-60 degrees, so I was comfortable enough and looking forward to dinner at Grandma’s in Austin. The pools of water alongside the road were evidence of heavy rain earlier in the day, as was the dirt and gravel washed down on the road over the pass leading into Austin. I checked in at the Cozy Mountain Motel where the process consisted of looking for my name on a hand-written list on the the office door, and then fishing out the key to my room from the open drop box.
A slight change to bench in front of the Cozy Mountain office.
I added a little oil to the bike, then walked over to Grandma’s where a sign on the door informed me that they were closed for the day. I had carefully checked the restaurant hours and schedule before I left, but apparently something came up and Sarah couldn’t be there. Unfortunately, the food truck at Champ’s gas station was also closed, so I picked up a turkey sandwich and trail mix at Champ’s. (425 miles)
(Wednesday, September 14) This morning I was up before the rooster across the road and after a few minutes of stretches I walked over to Champ’s for a cup of coffee, which I drank while I checked the weather on my route for the day. It looked like I would stay dry, but might be chilly for the first few hours. As I was packing the bike I talked with Matt, who had the room next to mine. He and a couple of friends arrived after I did yesterday in two jeeps that were caked with mud, and they were going out again today to play in the dirt. Nevada has many well-maintained dirt and gravel roads that lead to small settlements (or former settlements) and abandoned mines. It was 55 degrees under an overcast sky when I left at 7:30 and I was cautious for wildlife in the early morning, but saw nothing except one dead deer on the shoulder that was partially in the westbound lane. It had rained at some time overnight and the road wasn’t completely dried out, not that it made much difference because with the exception of one half mile curvy section near Austin US 50 is straight going to Austin. The temperature hovered between 50 and 55, and gradually warmed to between 55 and 60 as I neared Fallon. Once over the last pass and into Fallon Valley the overcast sky gave way to a thick, smoky haze that would remain for the rest of the morning.
The smoke smell was quite noticeable when I arrived at the Courtyard Cafe & Bakery at 9:15 and I quickly went inside and ordered eggs benedict, which were delicious and presented so well that I should have taken a picture. Nellie, the four-year-old at the table next to mine was with two women, and Nellie was very impressed with the fluorescent yellow panels on my jacket and especially my helmet, which is the same color. She had quite a lot say and eventually revealed that her favorite color was purple, but that she liked my colors as well. I was back on the road before 10 and followed the GPS to US 95 south, which leads to Las Vegas. I was afraid that there would be a lot of traffic on the road, because it is the major road north out of Vegas, but that was not the case, although there was a moderate amount of traffic heading north. The scenery was rather desolate, with scrub bushes and strange, round hills and after 40 miles I turned onto Alt 95 in Schurz which goes directly west to Yerington where I got gas at a Sinclair station. My route led me through Yerington, which is a nice looking little town, and I went south on NV 208 for 40 miles to the California border and US 395. Along the way I was stopped for several minutes at a one lane road construction site, and I chatted with the road guard who said that he lived in Smith, and that the valley that I was now in was Smith Valley.
At 395 I went south through the CA agricultural inspection station (I was waved through) and once by Topaz Lake I turned northwest on CA 89 over Monitor Pass (8374 feet). There was little traffic in either direction and once out of Smith Valley the air began to clear so that over the pass it was a lovely and sunny day. I went east on CA 4 (which I would follow all the way to Stockton) and the 31 miles to Bear Valley seemed more like 60 because the road is very narrow and twisty (several first gear corners) and demands complete attention. I was lucky and I had the road mostly to myself heading east and once over Ebbett’s Pass (8732 feet) and Pacific Grade Summit (8050 feet) I began the descent to Bear Valley. For about 25 of the miles the road was so narrow it didn’t have a centerline, and of course there was no shoulder. Extreme caution was required, but it was still a lot of fun. Back before kids, when Carol and were working at Western States Bankcard, we would ski at Bear Valley with a friend from work and his family. Leave Friday after work, ski Saturday and a half day Sunday, and then drive home and work on Monday.
After Bear Valley CA 4 becomes and very nice mountain road with good pavement, shoulders, and a center line and there was little traffic until Big Trees State Park. I stopped in Arnold at the Bistro Espresso for a delicious barbeque grilled chicken salad (half of which I carried home for dinner) and coffee.
There is always traffic on CA 4 after Arnold, but it was mostly moving along at or above the speed limit and there were a couple of places to pass. There is now a bypass around Angel’s Camp and soon I crossed CA 49 and followed the once again twisty and narrow road to Copperopolis, where CA 4 widened and became dull and straight with the exception of a section with many short hills. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere and the cars and few trucks moved along over the limit, so I just followed along. The day had become warm (I’d shed my mid-layer in Arnold, opened the vents in my jacket and pants, and switched to lighter gloves) and it was over 75 in Stockton, where I went south on I-5. I stopped for gas and after 15 miles of heavy traffic moving along at 75 mph I was on I-205 through Tracy, and then I-580 to Hayward, and then 238 to I-880 south to CA 92 and across the San Mateo Bridge to US 101 to SFO and I-380, I-280, Skyline (foggy and cool), and home at 5:40 where Carol and Walter greeted me enthusiastically.
If I had continued on US 50 from Fallon to Fernley and then I-80 home I could have saved at least an hour and a half and 60 miles, but where is the fun in that? Also, yesterday there was a fire near I-80 in Colfax that closed the Interstate and I didn’t know if it had been contained yet. I had checked the Cal Fire website in the morning, but at 6 AM it hadn’t been updated. (I-80 was open all day.) I was happy with my route - I got to ride through a couple of places I’d never been, revisit favorite places, and enjoy several hundred miles of mostly empty roads.
The bike ran great the entire trip, with the exception of the leaky rear drive, which was quickly resolved by my friends at BMW of Denver. It is happy going over gnarly mountain passes and blasting along at 80 mph on the Interstate, and is quite comfortable. The little wind deflector that attaches to the top of the windscreen reduced wind noise and buffeting, and my new Klim riding suit is very well designed, comfortable, kept me dry in the rain, and worked well in 50 degree weather and 100 degree weather. I’m not so sure about the helmet - I still think that it is tight around the ears and forehead, but I’ll give it at least one more long trip before I consider purchasing a different helmet. A good trip. (465 mile day, 2890 miles for the whole trip)
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