Friday–Monday, 17–20 Apr 2009
Marc writes:
Friday
Low fog near Hollister
Another spring, another spring ride to Death Valley and Paso Robles. This ride started for me early Friday morning in mid 30 temperatures. I rode, alone (of course!), to Hollister for breakfast at the Cozy Cup. It was light as I left the house about 6 AM, but the sun wouldn’t rise above the hills in the east for another 30 minutes. The 1/2 moon in the southern sky was bright orange. It looked to be a good day.
Ca 25
Warming up
Green hills
After breakfast I rode down Ca 25 to Ca 198 with a stop in Coalinga for gas. No traffic. No critters. The temperature rose with the sun.
Ca 33
I’m having more fun
Vineyards everywhere
The next leg was down 33 and over 46 to the 46/99 interchange. I rode with the iPod providing tunes to help while away the time. Bet I was having more fun than the guy with the KTM on the back of his RV.
Finally, curves
More curves
Granite Rd
Green, again
Glennville
I took a rest break at the service station just east of 99 on Famoso road. On my way there I passed Dave and Jerry who were at a gas station in Wasco. I passed another group of bikes getting gas just east of I5, but I couldn’t tell if they were SMBC members or not.
I headed toward Lake Isabella throug Glennville and over Greenhorn summit (elevation about 6100 ft). Blue sky all the way. There were remnants of snow along the side of the road above the 5000 ft level, but nothing to stop the enjoyment of the ride. I met up with Fred on Ca 178 shortly after turning onto it at Lake Isabella. We stopped at a gas station east of Lake Isabella and were soon joined by Carl, Helmut, and eventually Dan.
I took off before the others (remember, I’m riding alone this trip) and kept heading east. All was well until the climb to Walker Pass.
That turn
Loose stuff
I hit this 20 MPH turn not much more than 20 MPH. Well, I was in third gear, but still… The black near the center line is not skid marks as I’d assumed. It looked like loose bits of ground up asphalt when viewed up close.
The rear end of the bike went out from under me, doing a 180 and leaving me facing the wrong way on the ground in the blind portion of the turn. Ooops!
Went down here
close-up of loose stuff
I wanted to get the bike out of the way before someone came around the turn and damaged it (and me!) Luckily, the first car that came around was able to swing wide. They parked and directed traffic around the turn as I lifted the pig (now I know why the GS is often called that) and got it off the roadway.
Right hip
Right side lower knee
Jacket, right hip
No damage to me. Minor damage to my riding gear. The damage to the right hip area of the jacket was due to carrying a small flashlight at that location. The fabric was stuck between flashlight and road. The knee armor protected my legs.
Crash bars work
Pannier damage minimal
The damage to the bike was also minimal. A scrape on the crash bars and another scrape on my right pannier. My hand guard and right mirror were slightly twisted. Didn’t need any tools to put them back the way they belonged.
Approaching Trona
GS at Trona
I thanked the folks that stopped to help then got back on the road. My next stop was at the Trona rest area. As I was taking pictures of the damage to the bike and talking with another rider Dave, Jerry, and Helmut passed. I guess Helmet joined them at Ridgecrest as I’d seen their bikes parked outside of the Ferris diner as I rode through.
Riders ahead
Home for 2 nights
I got back on the road and caught up with them, riding through the Panamint Valley. They turned toward Panamint springs and I headed straight, taking Wildrose into Death Valley. I rode to the Furnace Creek campground and eventually found a place to pitch my tent.
The walk-in and tent-only sites were full. I picked one of the RV sites that looked fairly tent friendly The folks in the next site over had done the same thing.
Dan and Fred/Stovepipe Wells
Dan and Fred, again
After getting camp set I rode back to Stovepipe Wells where I had dinner with Carl, Dan, and Fred. Before dinner Carl volunteered a bottle of Fred’s beer. Dan bought dinner. Life doesn’t get much better than free food and drink.
I rode back to the campground where my camp neighbors invited me over to sit next to their fire, swap lies, and help drink their wine. I finally got into my sleeping bag around midnight. Maybe two hours later I awoke to the noise of my shade tarp blowing in the wind. One corner was staked to the ground but the ground was too soft to hold the stake against the breeze that came up. I took the tarp down and stuffed it out of the way then went back to sleep.
