| Author | Message | ||
     Reindog |
Intro: So here I was sitting not too long ago with our 25th wedding anniversary rapidly approaching and my wife, Laurie, starting to stare at me with a "so what are we going to do to celebrate?" look on her face. The lazy man in me said, "let's go to the all inclusive Moon Palace in Cancun and get inebriated and stuffed for a week". Not a bad idea we thought to ourselves. Not a bad idea at all. Except that we were already inebriated and stuffed in the luxury of our house so maybe this wasn't the greatest idea after all. So what does one do? Well, I was already green lighted to go to MotoGP at Laguna Seca and Laurie needed to be in San Francisco at the same time to help her mom. I suggested the impossible. Why don't I meet you in San Fran after LS and we go for a little ride on the Uly? We could go to Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, and Sequoia and blast down all the mean little twisty goat trails in between. Like a little boy expecting to be chastised for such blasphemy and she was going to counteroffer the Four Seasons or whatnot, I held my head down awaiting an answer. "That sounds like a GREAT idea!", she said. And so, A Foolhardy Ride was born. (continued) (Message edited by reindog on July 17, 2009) | ||
| Reindog |
Moving towards the Blastoff: So why is it called A Foolhardy Ride? Laurie spilled the beans to her mother who expectantly went nonlinear. "You are going on a foolhardy ride and are going to die lying in a ditch". More on her mom as the story unfolds. I liked what I heard and a foolhardy ride became known as A Foolhardy Ride in my head. What are the essentials of such a ride? * A 2006 Uly. * Heated hand grips. * Electric vest. * GPS. * A loving wife. * Moxie. I don't know how I managed to live before heated hand grips and GPS (with a RAM mount) but they are now indispensable. The logistics were mildly daunting. Laurie to SF, me to LS, us to the beyond. Laurie packed a Ventura pack to take on the plane and live on while in SF. The Uly side bags, tents, sleeping bags, and Laurie's riding gear went to Laguna Seca in Jerry Johnson's LoveShack freeing us hooligans to carve nasty corners between San Diego and Monterey. I would blast to SF solo with Laurie's gear and sidebags, tailbag, helmet, and tank bag where AFR would start. (continued) (Message edited by reindog on July 17, 2009) | ||
| Reindog |
If you have made it this far, okay, okay, I can already hear the clamoring for pictures. Instead of splooging them on Badweb, I collected them in my Picassa website. Click on the link below and select Slideshow or click on the first picture, click on "view full screen" and scroll with the buttons for the best view. A Foolhardy Ride pictures (continued) | ||
| Reepicheep |
I can't find the picture where you were laying dead in the ditch!  Or was it a Python thing ("I got better!") | ||
| Reindog |
Day 0 (Wednesday, 7/1/09) Bugs and Gremlims arrive early. See Laurie off on her flight to San Fran. Come home and fret whether I am totally insane. We never tested out full load with passenger. We had earlier tested Laurie, me, empty side bags, tailbag. Laurie fell backwards on her butt onto the driveway the first time she tried to dismount. Expecting to see "the trip is off" look on her face, I clinched hard. "Are you okay?" "Yeah". (more embarrassment than anger). "OK, GET BACK ON!" "OK" No problems after that. At least with Laurie (who is now 500 miles away). Not so with Al Lighton. His Uly is spitting out O2 sensor codes. Not so with Jerry Johnson. The Love Shack (with all our gear) has broken down five miles from Ebear's house. Broken rear axle spring. Not so with Pete. Sudden attack of kidney stones. Not so with the XB9S. The turn signals don't work. Not so with Glen Palmer. He changed oil and tightened the oil plug to Buell manufacturer's specs. Stripped the threads. What to do? We got a twelve pack and started drinking and working. (continued) | ||
| Reindog |
Day 1. (Hooligans seen flying over SoCal ala "Plan 9 from Outer Space".) Let's just say magic happened (it usually does). All problems solved by 9AM. Pete is out due to kidney stones. The group assembles. Al, Simone, Keith, Brian, Scott Paige, Glen, and me. Lets just say it was another spirited ride through Little Tujunga, other stuff, Cerro Noereste, and 58 to San Luis Obispo. SLO partying into the night. One can begin to sense excellence. Pete decides that he can't/won't miss MotoGP so he solos up to SLO and meets us at Day 1.5 before the bars close. 360 miles for the day. (continued) (Message edited by reindog on July 17, 2009) | ||
| Reindog |
Day 2 (MOTO GP!) Exuberance turns into a hangover but it is kickstands up. Our route is Interlaken, Fort Hunter Liggett, Nacimiento Road, Highway 1 to Monterrey. Masculine noises are usually not good emanating from a motorcyle but that is what Al was greeted with upon entry into Monterrey. We are wondering how the Uly is going to fit into the Love Shack to be trailered home. We triumphantly arrive at Laguna Seca where there is already a sea of motorcycles and tents assembled at the Love Shack. I make one of my few FUs at this point. Total brain fade on assembling my tent in the presence of too small real estate, wind, heat, hangover, fatigue, sobriety, and LOUD motorcylce noise on the track. I am tangled up in poles cursing LOUD figuring no one could hear me over the track noise. I was wrong. This is probably my eleventh (and final) apology for teaching ex-military people new swear words. Needless, to say, the Big Tent was eventually erected, beer was administered, aspirin was administered, and life became good again. Shawn Higbee and his wife Marianne stayed with us at the Love Shack. What a great people. Nice, humble, friendly, and going places. Ebear led a ride to Mt. Hamilton and Paul had an accident. He limped back and was on meds the rest of the weekend. We ate a Jalisco style Mexican restaraunt in Seaside where the waitress could barely speak English. My kind of place! Proved once again that the tail bag of a Uly can transport LOTs of beer. The loudest snore symphony I have ever heard enveloped the Tent City all night long. It was impressive how LOUD some people can snore. I thought about the phrase "War is all Hell" and imagined that the real Hell during WWII would have been in the hold of a troop transport ship sleeping with several thousand other stinky, snoring soldiers. That thought consoled me that this wasn't as bad and sleep finally came. ~150 miles for the day. (continued) (Message edited by reindog on July 19, 2009) | ||
| Reindog |
Day 3 (Nazis attack but the Resistance fights back) Al discovers that the horrendous sounds are from his Drummer pipe and not serious. Whew! The SCRAMP people get greedy and uptight when there are 50K people chilling. JJ gets totally harassed because we have 14 motorcycles at the Love Shack. They want $25/motorcycle and we politely tell them to FO. Actually, Ebear pulled his magic with connections at SCRAMP and they eventually left us alone. Great day. Higbee and the GEICO crew come visiting. Obigatory Cannery Row voyeuring. More beer gets hauled up the hill. Mileage: ~0. (continued) (Message edited by reindog on July 19, 2009) | ||
| Reindog |
Day 4 (The Big Split) Padroza wins. Rossi makes a hand gesture signifying that he has a small peepee? Fun. fun. Fun. Tents down, pack up, and time to solo to San Francisco. Al and crew are planning a blast back home like the glorious ride we did last September after AMA superbike. Glorious ride up highway 9 and 35(skyline) late in the afternoon. It was cold, foggy, with sunbeams intermittently breaking through. I was the ONLY vehicle on 35 and the good part of 9. BEAUTIFUL. I cruise into our motel at 8PM and Laurie is waiting. We sing the song: "Getting to know you. Getting to know ALL about you", and then its time for dinner. Joanne calls and says that one of the riders is down. There is a happy ending to this part of the story but I won't go into details. Al and the remaining riders had a cold, boring ride back home and got in at 4AM. Meanwhile, I slept like a baby. Mileage: ~130 (699 cumulative miles at this point). Pretty cool because my driveway to San Francisco is 480 miles by car. (continued) | ||
| Reindog |
Day 5 (Frisco Fun) Saw friends, rested, and saw Laurie's mom. "You are going on A Foolhardy Ride". But ya'll already know that. Mileage: (~10) (continued) | ||
| Reindog |
Day 6 (Fools launch from Frisco) This is it! The real Foolhardy Ride finally commences. For the first time, there is a full load on what is now called the Uly Barge. I am a little concerned because let's just say, the bike handles a tad different. I better make some practice runs before heading for the Golden Gate Bridge. One blocks worth. Let's hit it! GG Bridge, Muir Woods, Stinson Beach, Tomales Bay, Bodega Bay up to Skaggs Road. The Uly Barge surprisingly carves turns well so life is good. FU#2 occurs right now. Several times I dismounted first to make it easier for Laurie to climb off. BIG mistake. I started to dismount when the Uly leaned over and was trying to fall over. Luckily, my right knee caught the bike kept it from falling. Yeah, the same knee that I just had arthroscopic surgery on nine weeks ago. It kinda hurt and we were stuck. My foot was on top of Laurie's boot preventing her from moving. The bike WANTED to fall over. Three bicyclists were on the other side of the road gawking at us. I was screaming "help us" and they continued gawking. Adrenaline righted the bike and we flopped down. The Uly didn't. From now on, the dismount protocol is to lower the kickstand but not lean on it while the passenger dismounts and then the rider dismounts. Ouch, my knee kinda hurt. "I'm okay, honey". Turns out I really was. We hung out for a while and then blasted Skaggs Road. Beautiful. A road that has no business existing. It goes nowhere to nowhere. It starts out on the west side as a goat trail and ends up with huge sweepers before the 101. FU#3 starts now. Coming down Skaggs road sweepers, I applied rear brakes only to be greeted with the sound of metal on metal. Oops. I had preflight checked the front brakes but spaced out on the rears. FU#4 starts now. I had put on a new Scorpion rear tire and estimated enough tread on the front tire. Wrong again! We probably would have mad the trip on the front tire but it was getting inside my head. We cruised to the Trentadue Winery for some well deserved wine tasting. Highly recommended. We ended the first fine day staying with friends in Petaluma who we hadn't seen in 18 years. Brainstormed with Al Lighton at American Sport Bike about the brake problems when we realized that we were only 15 miles away from JTS Performance located at Infineon Speedway. A quick call to Terry and Fireman Jim got us set up for emergency triage the following day. Mileage: 220 miles (932 cumulative). (continued) (Message edited by reindog on July 17, 2009) | ||
| Reindog |
Day 7 (25th Wedding Anniversary celebration at JTS Performance). Terry and Jim acted like a pit crew fixing the Uly. Terry grinded the rear rotor and replaced the rear brakes while Christine drove our front tire to get it replaced and remounted with a new Scorpion! JTS Performance is the place to be when you need help or you need a dyno run. Thanks, everyone. Off to Lake Tahoe with only a few hours lost. Boring 12 to exciting River Road in the Sacramento Delta. Rush hour 5 and 50 and then we bailed at El Dorado Hills Road. Beautiful road and rich people homes up to Georgetown. Now the FUN begins: Wentworth Springs Rd and Ice House Rd! Zero cars and newly minted road. The Uly Barge can really go fast even when loaded down. Just like the Twilight Zone, look up at the signpost ahead. You are now entering the Uncle Toms Cabin zone. It is located on a dirt road off of Wentworth Springs Rd and has no public electricity. They use propane to power a generator to refrigerate the beer. And there was plenty of beer and good conversation with the guy running the bar. Unfortunately, I forgot his name. I mentioned The Shining and we both laughed as he knew what I was referring to about the isolation. They even had a Sno-Cat. We went fast down Ice House Road because we were running out of day. Wowsas! This road pair is highly recommended. Got to Lake Tahoe for a two night stay at Harveys at Stateline. Partied at the Hard Rock and off to bed relatively early. It was a perfect 25th wedding anniversary! Mileage 270 miles. (1202 cumulative). (continued) (Message edited by reindog on July 17, 2009) | ||
| Reindog |
Day 8 (Hit me! Blackjack that is) Mostly a day of rest. Quick run to Reno and back. Harveys and Harrahs (the same thing) suck. Virtually no $5 blackjack tables and I refuse to play $10. 30 minutes to get a free cocktail which cost me $50. Tahoe gaming is bull. Single deck blackjack pays 6:5 for blackjack and only doubling down on 10 or 11 for the first two cards. When I finally found a multi shoe $5 blackjack table, the pitboss raised it to $10 and refused to grandfather me in. Again no Free Beverage. Total BS and I vowed not to spend another penny at Harveys/Harrahs. Went next door to Mont Blue hotel/casino. I couldn't even sit down before the cocktail waitress fetched me a bottle of Negra Modela. Fun table and we were winning like crazy. Started doing tequila and butterscotch rum shots with two other players. It was a total gas. I walked away an overall winner but not sure of the amount as I kept flipping chips over Laurie's way. Mileage: 121 miles. (1323 cumulative) | ||
| Reindog |
Day 9 (This trip is getting mellow) Left Tahoe for Sonora. Cops, cops, Cops! This was definitely a go the speed limit kind of day. 89/88/4 to Sonora. Emmets Pass is 8700 feet and a virtual goat trail at the top. Lucky we went today because the following day was closed due to the Death Bicycle Ride. The ride went over five passes for a cumulative 15000 feet of elevation climbing. Stayed in Sonora and had the worst Mexican food in my life. How is that possible? Mileage: 128 miles (1451 cumulative) (continued) (Message edited by reindog on July 19, 2009) | ||
| Reindog |
Day 10 (Welcome to Yosemite City) Found Wards Ferry Road! You must do this road. Laurie was apprehensive to put it nicely as you can see on the look on her face in the WTF picture. It is a twisty one lane, rutted, dirty road down to a reservoir and then up to Big Oak Flats on the 120. For probably the first time in my life, I too was a little apprehensive doing the uphill portion of Wards Ferry Road. Debris splatters the inside corner and middle of road with potholes taking the outside when you look straight down several hundred feet over the side. The heavy load on the UlyBarge made it harder to turn at low speeds. Several 180 degree turns greeted us. I loved it! Cruised into Yosemite where there was a 30 minute traffic jam to enter the park. A BMW pulled up to us and said he could get us in for free. I like free. Eddie from Lithuania via Merced to the rescue. Nice guy. We cruised to Tuolemne Meadows after vigorously passing RVs for forty miles. We parked and swapped our motorcycle boots for hiking boots and hiked around for a few hours. Tuolemne is beautiful as you can see in the pictures. We hiked upon the cabin where the idea of Yosemite National Park was born one night by John Muir and his buddies. The Rangers who had come in on horseback served us free organic cookies and lemonade. The sun was starting to arc over to the western side of the sky so it was time to saddle up and skeddadle to Yosemite Valley where we had tent cabin reservations. If one has never experienced Yosemite Valley, then you are in for a never to be forgotten inspirational treat. There is no place on earth quite like this and it seemed like half the world was with us down here. Curry Village houses hundreds of tent cabins and they are really cool. They provide electricity, beds, sheets, pillows, blankets, and towels. Plenty of chow is available. The all-u-can-eat dinner buffet is $12. It closes at 8PM and we arrived at 7:55PM. Lets just say that I have an extraordinary ability to eat quickly. Turns out that the food stays out until 8:30 but starts disappearing by 8:15. I probably engorged $24 worth of food in ten minutes. The 8:30 campfire show was a program about the Fire Falls that occurred every night from the thirties until 1968. Some twisted minds came up with this one. Nightly, a huge fire burned for two hours at Glacier Point which is several thousand feet straight up from Curry Village in Yosemite Valley. At 9PM, they would pour the fire over the cliff and there would be a Fire Fall! Pretty funny when you view it from the perspective of us PC sheeple in the 21st century. Its kinda like watching the old tv ads of doctors endorsing cigarettes to sooth the nerves. All in all, a fine day. Mileage: 155 miles (1606 cumulative) (continued) (Message edited by reindog on July 19, 2009) | ||
| Road_kill |
WOW! Great RR. Loved the pictures too. Thanks for sharing | ||
| Reindog |
Thanks, Road_kill. I thought no one was reading so I stopped writing. Boo-hoo sez I. (Message edited by reindog on July 19, 2009) | ||
| Blake |
Please finish! Great adventure tale for sure! Worthy of publication for sure. | ||
| Reindog |
Day 11 (Knee Power replaces Horse Power) Some beast scratched at the crawl space all night! Laurie imagined a bear and I imagined getting nibbled to death by ducks. We survived. Breakfast buffet is $9 and is GREAT! Cheesy scrambled eggs with mushrooms, bacon, sausage, pancakes, cereal, coffee, juice, milk, hashbrowns, toast and THEN I was ready for seconds. I felt like the fat guy who exploded in that Monty Python skit when we lumbered away from the buffet. Time to work it off with a hike. We rode the hybrid shuttle to Happy Isles which is the kickoff point for Vernal Falls, Nevada Falls, Half Dome, and beyond. I am a little apprehensive. My right knee is still swollen after arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus nine weeks earlier. We start up the trail and its not too bad with just a little bit of popping. As you can see from the pictures, we made it to the top of both Falls. I imagined that we were like Frodo, Sam, and Gollum climbing the stairs into Mordor (except that it was pretty). Amazing sights greet those who make it. Years ago, we made it to the top of Half Dome in my usual reckless style. It was early October and we didn't start the hike until 11:30AM due to previous night partying. This is a big nono! The return hike was done in pitch black night past Vernal Fall which is a steep, wet staircase descent done with flashlights. But this was today. No time nor inclination for Half Dome on this visit. Why is it that the return leg always seems four times longer than the way up? An enjoyable hike was had and my knee survived. Tomorrow we are back on the road! Mileage: 0 miles (1606 cumulative horses, 8 cumulative kneepower) (Message edited by reindog on July 19, 2009) | ||
| Reindog |
Day 12 (Sequoia bound) We have been out of communication with the world for three days now. We plop into a coverage area only to discover that my mom-in-law has gone ballistic over our "disappearance". She was bugging EVERY family member about that she KNEW we were either dead or lay dying in a hospital. We had managed to send an email from Sonora to family saying that we were okay but she DID not believe it. EVERYONE was lying to her. She even had a person close to the family who works for the SF sheriffs office to contact law enforcement authorities to look for us. GREAT! That is exactly what I want while being a hooligan on the road. Nuff said. The hop from Yosemite to Kings Canyon/Sequoia was done on backroads found on Google maps and AAA maps. Redinger Lake Road was a real find. Twisties down a barely maintained road for 16 miles. Wards Ferry Rd looks like a superhighway compared to this. A mostly pleasant Sierra foothill ride through the golden rolling hills. Until we got to Pine Flat Lake where we were behind the sheriffs cruiser for 15 HOT, SLOW miles. Then I got a niacin flush inside my head inside my hot sweaty helmet. Problem solved as we finally ascended highway 180 up into Kings Canyon. The return of cool and trees was most welcome. We stayed for the night at Grants Grove Village inside a tiny but nice cabin. Check the picture out. Again, electricity, beds, linens, blankets, and towels provided. Oh yeah, we are now IN OktoberFAST country. Al and Joanne of American Sport Bike will be hosting a celebration this coming Columbus Day at the Montecito Lodge which is only 14 miles down the Generals Highway. Laurie and I had about three hours left of daylight to hike around. We hoofed it over to the General Grant tree. Outstanding. Check out the movie in the picture section. We ate at the newly opened restaurant at Grants Grove Village where where I managed to rough it with a New York Steak and a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. All the waitresses are Russian foreign exchange students which is nice but weird. Ended the night with a Ranger talk/slideshow of the wildflowers of Sequoia. Kinda boring as my FAVORITE plant was not included. Off to Sleep. Home tomorrow! Mileage 168 miles (1774 cumulative). (Message edited by reindog on July 20, 2009) | ||
| Reindog |
Day 13 (Home again, naturally). Wake up, get up, lets get going! We are READY for sleeping in our own bed. Bittersweet feelings about leaving paradise but it is time to skeedaddle. Paid a courtesy visit to Montecito Lodge which had been evacuated due to nearby fires a week earlier. Everything OK now and we are green lighted for American Sportbike Oktoberfast. FU#5 begins now. Fueled up and the Check Engine light came on solid a few miles down the road. Not sure how to short the test connector to spit out engine codes. Let's see. Light not on before. Ambient temperature is getting warm (80+). Filled the tank FULL. Elevation is 5000 feet. Ridden 14 miles for the day so far. O2 sensor???? Let the Uly sit in the shade for five minutes and the light reset and did not turn back on. OK, hit it. (Turns out it was an O2 code after we got back). Hiked down to the General Sherman tree. The biggest by volume living thing in the world. Wowsas! Highway construction forced us to stop for 30 minutes which was a good thing. We dropped out of Sequoia National Park twisties and only saw ONE car the entire way down. Nice! Did the mighty 190 and saw only two cars in our direction. Wow! My throttle hand is hurting at this point because the curves NEVER stop. Ate and drank at the Ponderosa at the top of the world and watched the beginning of the All Star Game and back on the steed. Down to Kernville and Wofford Heights where we paid our respects to the Thunderdome. The sun is quickly dropping out of the sky. Cruised the Lions Tail down to Tehachipi and had to dodge seven groups of cows rambling on the road. Go fast. Go faster. We gotta get home! Bug fest through the Central Valley and up the Grapevine. Did the 405 through LA at 10 PM and was scared to death. Narrow lane, no escape route, bumpy roads, lots of traffic. LA madness subsides and we started the cold cruise through Orange County and Camp Pendleton at midnight and then dropped into Carlsbad. Like Bilbo Baggins, we were Home! The End. Mileage 444 miles (2218 cumulative). (Message edited by reindog on July 20, 2009) | ||
| Road_kill |
Thanks Reindog. I really enjoyed your RR. Very entertaining & informative. It's been a while since I've toured that part of the country on a bike and the pictures stirred memories. The narrative was great too; I felt I was along for the ride. I think I'll run this by my wife as a suggestion for our next anniversary (she rides as well). I also have a mother who is less than enthusiastic about our motorcycle/camping/hiking/rafting trips. She hasn't sent the authorities after us (YET) but I recognize the sentiment all too well. Glad all went well - a foolhardy ride indeed! Thanks again and best regards, Road Kill | ||
| Lady_asb |
Tom, Thanks for sharing the story and pictures - it brought back some good memories of that area for us too. It was a great way to celebrate 25 years together... Sure there were some difficulties along the trip, but nothing you couldn't overcome, and experiencing them together only brings you closer. Here's to the journey of marriage celebrated in style! Somehow if you had gone with Plan B, the "all inclusive Moon Palace in Cancun and get inebriated and stuffed for a week" I don't think it would have done justice to your marriage... ... although certainly an idea to file away for future trips... Joanne | ||
| Reindog |
Never underestimate the value of inebriation and of being stuffed. | ||
| Reindog |
Final Thoughts: The Uly really is a workhorse of a bike and never had any major issues other than due to my own incompetence. Both passenger and rider could ride all day and not feel terribly tired. It handles adequately even when seriously loaded down. I mean the 170 degree SHARP uphill turns at 8700 feet on crappy roads. She burned no more than 1/8 of a quart of oil throughout the entire voyage. She now boasts 17000+ miles. The used rear brakes put on at JTS are already ready for replacement but that may be due to excessive rear braking on my part. I still use the stock 2006 seat which deters so many but I personally never had problems keeping the bike stable coming to a stop or walking her through stalled traffic. My dirt bike experience and 6'0" height make the difference. The headlights could definitely be better for night riding but luckily we kept that at a minimum. Call me Ewan but the Uly is fit for long hauls with persons of questionable sanity. Thanks for the few feedback posts. It is fun to hear what you think. | ||
| Reindog |
I wrote about Montecito Lodge and Sequoia country. Now is the chance for YOU to experience it at the American Sport Bike customer appreciation event this coming Columbus Day weekend. I am already chomping at the bit to get back. You should join us. Details are available at www.americansportbike.com | ||
| Blake |
I'm beyond envious. What a great vacation. Thanks for sharing, very liberal of you.  | ||
| Reindog |
Blake, Funny you should say that. For almost two weeks, we were away from the onslaught of witnessing the disintegration of our country by this current administration and life was mellow. We turned on C-SPAN when we got home at 12:15AM and within 20 minutes, we were enraged. Republicans may be stupid but Democrats are downright Evil incarnate. Where is Guy Fawkes now that we need him? Hope this thread isn't headed for the BB. It would be pretty funny to see the first Ride Report tucked away in the basement. (Message edited by reindog on July 20, 2009) | ||
| Reepicheep |
There. Fixed it for you. It's a bipartisan rant, so hopefully it can stay on the main board. | ||
| Reindog |
Reepi, fair enough. My last post was more a telling of the experience of coming back home to bedlam after a beautiful trip, rather than an attempt to get peoples shorts bunched up. We can easily do that elsewhere on Badweb |
