Metastable
13th September 2016, 15:26
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First off.... this started out as an "out there" idea. I was going to buy an R6 to make it a track bike, but before tracking it, I wanted to do a Northern California loop. My friend who didn't live anywhere near me, decided to buy another R6 where I live, fly out and then ride back after we finished California... his R6 also destined for the track. Anyway - we're both over 40.... and the R6 is no touring machine, so we put them on the back of an F-150 and drove down. We stayed at a friend's place in Modesto and also rented a farm cottage in Santa Rosa. From those locations we did day trips. We were there at the end of August.
First ride we hit up Sonora Pass - good pavement, we hit rain... not sure how since it was dry everywhere else. Even in the rain it was lots of fun.... in the dry there is a section getting close to the summit that is absolutely "the bomb".... good sight lines and great pavement.
Then it was off to Sequoia National Park - you have to pay and there is a lot of car traffic and the speed limit is on the verge of silly slow. Most of California is very reasonable with twisty roads often 55mph = 88km/h.... and really I don't think they pull anyone over for less than 100kph.... more on that later. Very good roads, but really the reason to do this is to check out the trees. They are incredibly huge. The bark is soft. If you want the good twisties going up hill, come in through the south entrance.
Then we rented a cottage at a horse farm in Santa Rosa. From there .... very good riding options in all sorts of directions. The highlight for me was PCH1 north of Jenner (I didn't go south mind you)..... we did Jenner to Fort Bragg.... plus a bunch of other roads in the area. The video is from PCH1.... we are heading south to Jenner.... first time on the road and it was misty then it started to drizzle. Being old and not so good conditions we took it easy. The road could also be bumpy at times..... not to mention you don't want to overshoot some of the corners there.... it's straight down for a long way.
I think we saved the best for almost last. We started near Tracy, hit Tesla Road -> Mines Road -> 130 -> San Jose. If you like corners.... there are all types. Tight, sweepers, single lane, double lane..... very little traffic mid week. At the top of Mount Hamilton there is the Lick's Observatory. Good place to get some food or a drink, but keep in mind it opens at noon. The road down from Lick's towards San Jose (still 130) is awesome. Be careful with blind tight stuff... there can be some dirt/rocks, but many of the corners are tight, with excellent pavement and sight lines....good scratching potential. From there we hit up Alice's Restaurant.
On the final day we did a loop near Tahoe.... very good too. My favorites were the Mines Road loop and PCH1. However, you really can't go too wrong. Plus there are many more roads to do.
So Riding in California.
- It is officially legal now to lane split. You do it between the middle lane and fast lane on most freeways.... no shoulder passing. The locals split with a fair bit of speed.
- Speed limits - well, going with the flow on the fast lane when there is no traffic jam..... you're doing 80 mph (~130kph) or so and some folks will be going faster. On the last day of riding we were with our local friend and honestly although the pace felt perfectly comfortable for us, IMO we were pushing the luck with the police. On a 55 zone... (one lane each way) which the traffic was already doing 70mph.... we safely but swiftly passed a line of traffic. Except after merging over we noticed a California Highway Patrol vehicle. It turned around..... we pulled over before he even turned on the lights. Poor fellow was a bit confused. "Do you guys always pullover whenever you see a Patrol vehicle?" The local friend pipes up and says....well we were passing, so we were definitively over the limit and when you turned around we just pulled over for you. Cop asked us if we knew each other... yup.... going back to his house... yup. OK... cool, you guys were passing no worries. I think the fact we all have grey hair or no hair helped. ... later that evening my one friend did comment.... not sure what you have to do to get a ticket around here.... but we don't want to find out. I think we were a tad lucky to be honest. For the previous part of the trip, we kept it very sane... so don't expect to get away with a heavy dose of speeding.
- Most cars will move over for bikes..... some don't. You see this on the video.... it's nice. Oh on the video you'll see me hitting the brakes going into the corner, mid corner.... whatever, don't get started on where to brake.... I'm comfortable doing this so let it be.... plus I'm going slow anyway. :D
PCH1 Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VY_OT0N8Ko
Note: the video is not exciting.... I just posted it so people can see what to expect. Like I said it was misty and then started raining. Also, the corners are somewhat straightened out by the camera... and I ride fairly slow on the street.... track is a different story. :)
Pictures:
Sonora Pass (slow speed action shot)
Sequoia National Park (big trees - the tree hug is for perspective)
PCH1 north of Jenner (Pacific Coast Highway #1)
Mount Hamilton towards San Jose.
Anyway - hope you guys enjoy the info. Honestly, there are fantastic roads in New Zealand, so I'm not sure you're missing anything related to "road riding".... but if you are thinking of heading to Northern California to take it all in, I hope this helps out. I had fun. I'll post up a Mount Hamilton video when my bud uploads it. Cheers!
First off.... this started out as an "out there" idea. I was going to buy an R6 to make it a track bike, but before tracking it, I wanted to do a Northern California loop. My friend who didn't live anywhere near me, decided to buy another R6 where I live, fly out and then ride back after we finished California... his R6 also destined for the track. Anyway - we're both over 40.... and the R6 is no touring machine, so we put them on the back of an F-150 and drove down. We stayed at a friend's place in Modesto and also rented a farm cottage in Santa Rosa. From those locations we did day trips. We were there at the end of August.
First ride we hit up Sonora Pass - good pavement, we hit rain... not sure how since it was dry everywhere else. Even in the rain it was lots of fun.... in the dry there is a section getting close to the summit that is absolutely "the bomb".... good sight lines and great pavement.
Then it was off to Sequoia National Park - you have to pay and there is a lot of car traffic and the speed limit is on the verge of silly slow. Most of California is very reasonable with twisty roads often 55mph = 88km/h.... and really I don't think they pull anyone over for less than 100kph.... more on that later. Very good roads, but really the reason to do this is to check out the trees. They are incredibly huge. The bark is soft. If you want the good twisties going up hill, come in through the south entrance.
Then we rented a cottage at a horse farm in Santa Rosa. From there .... very good riding options in all sorts of directions. The highlight for me was PCH1 north of Jenner (I didn't go south mind you)..... we did Jenner to Fort Bragg.... plus a bunch of other roads in the area. The video is from PCH1.... we are heading south to Jenner.... first time on the road and it was misty then it started to drizzle. Being old and not so good conditions we took it easy. The road could also be bumpy at times..... not to mention you don't want to overshoot some of the corners there.... it's straight down for a long way.
I think we saved the best for almost last. We started near Tracy, hit Tesla Road -> Mines Road -> 130 -> San Jose. If you like corners.... there are all types. Tight, sweepers, single lane, double lane..... very little traffic mid week. At the top of Mount Hamilton there is the Lick's Observatory. Good place to get some food or a drink, but keep in mind it opens at noon. The road down from Lick's towards San Jose (still 130) is awesome. Be careful with blind tight stuff... there can be some dirt/rocks, but many of the corners are tight, with excellent pavement and sight lines....good scratching potential. From there we hit up Alice's Restaurant.
On the final day we did a loop near Tahoe.... very good too. My favorites were the Mines Road loop and PCH1. However, you really can't go too wrong. Plus there are many more roads to do.
So Riding in California.
- It is officially legal now to lane split. You do it between the middle lane and fast lane on most freeways.... no shoulder passing. The locals split with a fair bit of speed.
- Speed limits - well, going with the flow on the fast lane when there is no traffic jam..... you're doing 80 mph (~130kph) or so and some folks will be going faster. On the last day of riding we were with our local friend and honestly although the pace felt perfectly comfortable for us, IMO we were pushing the luck with the police. On a 55 zone... (one lane each way) which the traffic was already doing 70mph.... we safely but swiftly passed a line of traffic. Except after merging over we noticed a California Highway Patrol vehicle. It turned around..... we pulled over before he even turned on the lights. Poor fellow was a bit confused. "Do you guys always pullover whenever you see a Patrol vehicle?" The local friend pipes up and says....well we were passing, so we were definitively over the limit and when you turned around we just pulled over for you. Cop asked us if we knew each other... yup.... going back to his house... yup. OK... cool, you guys were passing no worries. I think the fact we all have grey hair or no hair helped. ... later that evening my one friend did comment.... not sure what you have to do to get a ticket around here.... but we don't want to find out. I think we were a tad lucky to be honest. For the previous part of the trip, we kept it very sane... so don't expect to get away with a heavy dose of speeding.
- Most cars will move over for bikes..... some don't. You see this on the video.... it's nice. Oh on the video you'll see me hitting the brakes going into the corner, mid corner.... whatever, don't get started on where to brake.... I'm comfortable doing this so let it be.... plus I'm going slow anyway. :D
PCH1 Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VY_OT0N8Ko
Note: the video is not exciting.... I just posted it so people can see what to expect. Like I said it was misty and then started raining. Also, the corners are somewhat straightened out by the camera... and I ride fairly slow on the street.... track is a different story. :)
Pictures:
Sonora Pass (slow speed action shot)
Sequoia National Park (big trees - the tree hug is for perspective)
PCH1 north of Jenner (Pacific Coast Highway #1)
Mount Hamilton towards San Jose.
Anyway - hope you guys enjoy the info. Honestly, there are fantastic roads in New Zealand, so I'm not sure you're missing anything related to "road riding".... but if you are thinking of heading to Northern California to take it all in, I hope this helps out. I had fun. I'll post up a Mount Hamilton video when my bud uploads it. Cheers!