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Wed May 14 & Thu May15/03 Brian
After arriving mid-afternoon at the airport in San Francisco, I
caught the shuttle bus to the Colma BART station. They sure don't
do much to promote use of this rapid transit system. The laughable
announcements made over the PA system appear to be in Outer
Galactican and the ticket machines are almost as difficult to
understand. The stations, which have the ambience of Eastern Europe
prior to the collapse of communism, are poorly lit, gloomy, soulless
places with absolutely no services. Hell, even the restrooms are
closed. Somehow this is supposed to thwart terrorist bombers.
Now I
ask you, if you were an al-Qaida operative looking toward your heavenly
reward of 23 virgins, would you shrug and say to yourself "Oh darn, its
locked. I guess I can't blow up today, praise God" and just leave,
grumbling about the perfidious infidels? Or would you wreak havoc on
something other than the plumbing? Hey, if the evil doers are that
unimaginative, they don't stand a chance. Seems to me if you can’t take a
piss in a train station rest room, the terrorists have already won.
The
trains themselves though, work quite well and are fast and smooth. After
about one and a quarter hours, I was deposited at the end of the line in
Pleasanton. (If you were to guess this isn't a town of much pleasantness,
you'd be right.) My sister-in-law, Cat, was hung up in California freeway
gridlock (what else) but arrived to pick me up after about 15 minutes for
the minivan trip back to Turlock.
The
next morning, I rode my VFR the short distance up Hwy 99 to Honda Kawasaki
of Modesto to get the balance of the 600 mi (1000 km) service check stuff
done (minus the oil change Mike and I had done, of course). On the way
back to Turlock I was loafing along somewhere about 85 mph (135 km) when I
noticed an older sedan a little ways back, pacing me. No problem I
thought, it's way too old to be a ghost car. I pulled off at the exit
into Turlock and continued down Monte Vista Av, throttling back to my
usual Mike-mandated urban speed of a titch over whatever the limit is.
At the
first traffic light, I noticed the older sedan that had been shadowing me
right behind with its tell-tale, cherry light on top of the dash. Well, at
least he hadn’t (so far) collected any speed tax from me for a new
cruiser. I continued at my sedate pace and a few streets later, he
bailed. When I arrived at my brother's I Cat informed me that the local
STCs rake in a lot of revenue on that stretch of Monte Vista because of
the school zone. Hey, but thanks officer for the slack you cut me on 99.
That
afternoon I spent with my brother in his Cessna flying air recon of nearby
potential TEs just into the first, low, Sierra Nevada foothills. At the
end of our last trip Don flew Mike and I to San Francisco for our flight
home. All three of us were looking down at the roads we flew over and,
although none of us said anything at the time, we all had pretty much the
same thought: maybe surveying roads from the air first and just riding the
appropriate ones could save us a lot of punishing, pointless miles and
speed up our research process.
Mike
and I felt this would be more helpful at separating the wheat from the
chaff for Twisted Edges rather than Destination Highways. That's because
potential DHs are often more obvious than potential TEs are. And although
most people think we spend most of our time on DHs, much of our riding
time is, in fact, actually spent scoping out the myriad smaller side roads
for TEness. So, we log a lot of time on roads which turn out to be neither
DHs nor TEs. We can ride all day checking out these duds and end up only a
few miles away from where we started. (Feel sorry for us yet?)
Anyway
to check out our theory, on this solo trip I was tasked primarily to
combine air reconnaissance of potential TEs with subsequent on the ground
inspection. Mike could then swan in on a later trip and gather TIRES data
from just whatever potential DHs I found, rather than wasting a lot of
time patrolling nothing roads.
The
inaugural flight seemed to go well and, partly because there were no air
pylons to slow us down, we covered an amazing amount of ground in only a
few hours. This was looking good.
Because of the threat of terrorism, we were under FAA restrictions not to
“loiter” around infrastructure such as dams and reservoirs. You might be
surprised at just how many dams and reservoirs there are scattered about
California. And how many roads are nearby them (and even go over the
dams). Still, constantly flying around the same area when you’re engaged
in valuable research can hardly be considered loitering, can it?
No Air
Force interceptors showed up to argue otherwise, so the only problem I had
was my mild case of air sickness from the ex-RCAF test pilot major having
to occasionally throw the Cessna around like it was a frickin’ F-18 in
order not to lose track of some roads. Side to side I was used to, it was
the up and down added in that got me. Still, if you don’t blow chunks how
bad can it be, right? Tomorrow, I’d verify the air research with my
Interceptor.
Fri
May 16/03 Brian
North from Turlock on county road J9 brought me to Hickman, just south of
Waterford. From there I headed east on Lake Road which runs along the
south side of the Tuolumne River valley, opposite Hwy 132) on the north
side (DH Waterford – Coulterville). Appropriately enough, Lake Rd winds
around the north shore of Turlock Lake (which looks like it has a nice
beach) before winding into some foothills and connecting with Hwy 132, a
couple miles west of La Grange. This TE is very complementary to the DH
and was as good as it looked from the air.
Backtracked along Lake Road and down Los Cerritos/J16 to Snelling and then
took Hwy 59 down to Merced to see if it was anything. Back up through
Snelling and then up J59 to LaGrange. Neither will probably be anything,
although you'd probably ride ‘em in preference to the alternatives if you
were going this way. North of La Grange, I had to check out a couple of
possible TEs that Mike and I had passed by when we did Waterford -
Coulterville. Both Bonds Flat Rd and Granite Springs Rd - Penon Blanco Rd
were a complete waste of time. Tellingly, I had not checked these out from
the air yesterday.
From
La Grange, I headed east on Hwy 132 to the junction of Merced Falls Rd and
then headed south. Merced is a nice road, again confirming what I was
expecting from yesterday. Some decent curves and pavement should make this
a good TE, I thought. Once I got to the no-town of Merced Falls I was
looking forward to the sweet little dead-end Lake McClure Rd past Lake
McSwain and out to the McClure Pt CG on the (surprise, surprise) Lake
McClure. It had looked great from the air and indeed that proved to be
the case.
The
Lake McClure - Lake McSwain Recreation Area is operated by the Merced
Irrigation District Parks Department. There is a booth at the beginning
of the road levying a day use charge. Just don't expect to get any
information for your money. Among the other things the person in the booth
didn't know was the existence of a campground less than half a mile away
on Lake McSwain. On the other hand, I was able to obtain a free in and
back out pass. It's a great little seven mile ride with some good scenery
and pavement and even better twisties.
After
I'd come back, I took the bridge across the Merced River and got on
well-paved and engineered (except for the roller coaster stretch) county
road J16. It has a nice, remote feel to it, starting out in quite
wide-open country which starts to get hilly and tree covered as you get
close to Hornitos (population once 15,000 and founded by Mexican '49ers).
Mostly forgotten by time, Hornitos still feels a bit like an old,
authentic Mexican town. Well, except for the unnerving banjo-guitar
Deliverance scene on the verandah of an old house.
After
cruising through town, I checked out the Bear Valley Rd up to DH Moccasin
- Bear Valley (Hwy 49). North of Hornitos, the country gets more rugged
and forested and puts in some nice kinks in Bear Valley Rd. It'll
definitely be a TE.
I
re-did Bear Valley back to Hornitos but before continuing east on Hornitos
Rd, I stopped at a bar, the only service left in the old gold mining town
since Roy's Cafe (check out that old sign) closed 20 years ago. I was
intrigued by the Plaza Bar sign which suggested that you could get
cocktails to go. Not the case, of course. This ancient, old-fashioned
bar has been run for the last 55 years by 76 year old Manuela Ortiz who
came here from Spain in 1948 when she was 21. If you pop in, say hi for
me.
Hornitos Rd the rest of the way was also as good as it looked from the
sky. Its excellent pavement winds through pretty, rolling and almost
completely undeveloped countryside (although there are some ominous signs)
dotted by large, attractive trees turning south to the mapdot of Cathey's
Valley on Hwy 140. This was a much nicer ride than the last time we were
on this road between crappy Old Toll Rd and crappier Indian Gultch Rd
running out of gas at dusk and having no idea where the nearest gas was.
Today I discovered that, a mere couple of miles away from where we needed
gas that earlier evening, Cathey's Valley has not one but two gas stations
(sadly, it also looks like it's going to get a subdivision).
As I
headed east up Hwy 140 (one nice twisty bit) to a motel in Mariposa, I
reflected on the fact that the only crap roads I had done today were the
ones not surveyed with AirBoz. It looked like this was going to be the
beginning of a beautiful relationship.
Sat May 17/03 Brian
Next morning,
I headed back from Mariposa to Catheys Valley in order to do the Hornitos
Rd - Merced Falls Rd DH (back to Hwy 132) in one piece. Instead of just
retracing my steps back along Hwy 140, I rode a few miles north on Hwy 49
towards Bear Valley to check out the Mt Bullion Cutoff Rd over to Hwy
140. It's better than the initial straight stretch of Hwy 140 south of
Mariposa and reconnects with the highway just before its best curves on
140. Less STCs this way too.
As a
matter of fact, I did Hornitos Rd - Merced Falls Rd twice, because coming
back on it was the fastest way to get back to Mariposa and to my main
assignment for the day. Which was to check out a bunch of side roads for
TEness between Hwy 49 and Hwy 99 (east of Hwy 41).
I
headed south from Mormon Bar on Ben Hur Rd, which has a little B&B on it
hidden just off Hwy 49. The top half of Ben Hur is a brawny piece of
pavement and not very enjoyable. I was beginning to conclude that the VFR
clip-ons were too low for me; on a slow road like this one, my palms were
going numb from too much abuse. The road does smooth out on the lower
half, where it's also nice and remote but the whole trip is not really
worth the punishment you have to endure on the first bit. I ended up in
the little town of Raymond, which has a general store/restaurant/bar as
well as another bar that only serves beer and wine. That's good, I needed
a break. If you order a sandwich, be aware: local tradition seems to call
for the butter to be on the outside of the bread.
After
washing my hands, I went south from Raymond on Rd 600/603 around the
western side of Hensley Lake and then did the lower half of Rd 400
(romantic road names around here, aren't they?) down to Hwy 145 just
outside Madera. This takes you out of the low foothills of the Sierra
Nevada and down into the central valley. Not a bad scoot, but it does get
straighter, less interesting and hotter the further south you go. I
arrived at the junction with Hwy 145 with 15 seconds of videotape left.
Perfect timing or what?
I
didn't tarry long in the heat of the big valley. After popping in a new
tape, it was back up into the foothills to check out the top half of Rd
400, which runs along the east side of Hensley Lake. Unfortunately, the
pavement here is pretty crappy and will not receive a Destination Highways
recommendation.
Raymond Rd (Rd 415) between Coarsegold (on Hwy 41) and Raymond is a little
busy at the Coarsegold end but falls well within TE parameters. It
connects with Grub Gulch Rd just north of Raymond (or you can split off on
Knowles Rd (Rd 606) past Knowles (which also has a bar) to connect south
of Raymond with Rd 600). Grub Gulch is certainly the best named and best
road around here. It's quite twisty and challenging in spots. And the
approximately 15 mi (24 km) of pavement is decent enough as it runs
through mostly undeveloped countryside to Ahwahnee on Hwy 49.
My day ended by motoring along the boring
Fresno Flats stretch of Hwy 49 into Oakhurst where I stayed, just outside
town, at the Sierra Sky Ranch (converted from working to guest ranch in
1946). This old place is very peaceful, full of charm and sure beats the
chain accommodation in Oakhurst (which often fills up early because of
Oakhurst's proximity of Yosemite). You'll also get a warm welcome from
Kim. Another place I spotted was the Pines Rose Inn B&B, a couple of
miles up the Bass Lk Rd (Rd 222). Big on Jacuzzis, it also seems quite
appealing.
The nearby Mountain House Restaurant, on
Hwy 41 right at the Bass Lake Rd turnoff provided me with an incredibly
good blue cheese burger (very common throughout California for some
reason) followed by warm blackberry pie while I watched the third period
of the Stanley Cup semifinal sixth game between Ottawa and New Jersey.
Ahhh….
Sun
May 18/03 Brian
I wasn’t expecting to find myself at the conclusion of the day in an
eerily empty downtown Fresno feeling lucky to find a Denny's for
“dinner”. But since much of the day was kind of Denny's-like, maybe its
end was fitting.
That
morning, after a particularly peaceful sleep at the Sierra Sky Ranch, I
checked my air pressure and decided to go into Oakhurst to pick up a few
pounds (kilobars). Then it was back up the Bass Lake Rd (Rd 222) to check
out stuff around Bass Lake. I jaspered the town of Bass Lake for services
(the restaurant in the main lodge there is supposed to be very good) and
then decided to check out a couple of miles of Beasore Rd (FSR 7) which
runs north out of town. If it quickly turned to shit, I wouldn't have to
worry about checking the north end of it later on.
Beasore looked fine, so I decided to turn around and focus my attention on
the TE possibilities south and west of the lake. Beasore was too narrow
to turn around on the pavement, so I had to wait until there was enough of
a shoulder on which to pull over. Impatient to get on with my day, I
turned the bike off the shoulder and back onto the pavement at 90° rather
than remain on the shoulder until it was nice and wide a little farther
along, where I could more cautiously choose a less aggressive angle at
which to remount the paved surface. More importantly, I also failed to
appreciate that, at the point I’d chosen, the asphalt was about 7 inches
higher than the shoulder. I got my front wheel up on the pavement no
problem, but then grounded out the undercarriage on the raised lip and
came to a stop. I had also not clued into the fact that the road’s surface
here was banked at right angles directly away from my (badly) chosen
path. Before I could get my foot down in the correct place to support the
bike, gravity spied an opportunity and slammed the VFR down on its right
side past my too late and too feeble attempts to keep it upright.
The
good thing about hard luggage? It's a great crash bar for the back of a
bike. The bad thing about it? It tips the front of your fairing into the
asphalt. Great. I find few things sadder than a motorcycle that's not
rubber side down. Unless, of course, it's my motorcycle in that
position.
I
apologized to the VFR and then, feeling a little depressed by my idiocy,
took off the top pannier and the side one that wasn't supporting the back
of the bike while grinding the front right fairing into the asphalt. With
gravity working directly against the direction I'd have to lift the bike,
there was nothing to do except wait for help and ponder my ineptitude.
Some of these forest roads don't get much traffic so I was afraid I might
be here for awhile but it was only a couple of minutes until the first
helpful motorist came along. We righted the bike in short order. Hell,
unless you looked, you couldn't even see the gouges in the fairing.
Now, I
don't want to go on a rant here, but I'm wondering why Honda doesn't have
those sacrificial, protective knobby things I've noticed on other faired
bikes? Not to make excuses, but no-speed tip overs are not exactly
unheard of in motorcycling, are they? And they shouldn't cost you US$650
(CDN$3.7 million) in bodywork (as I later found out) at this point in
motorcycle evolution, should they? Or maybe it’s just me who doesn't
think this is right? And do all these questions capture my snarky,
indignant tone?
Trying
to salvage something from the situation, I asked the helpful pyloneer if
he knew what this road was like up ahead. “Oh, farther along it's not very
good. And in any case in about 8 mi (12.9 km), it's completely blocked by
snow.” Perfect. I tip over on a road that's no good and one I can't ride
in any case.
For
some reason, things like tip overs always seem to heighten my awareness of
mortality, so I took a moment out to pray:
“Please Lord, if You decide to shut out my lights while I’m riding, can it
be on one of your Destination Highways rather than some nothing piece of
crap road like this one I just dumped my VFR on? Oh, and if it's not too
much trouble, can it be one of your best DHs, say number 5 or better? I,
uh, don't mean to beseech but your number 1 in any jurisdiction would be
the ideal way to go, of course. Amen.”
What was it Mike keeps saying? Oh yes,
“these bikes are just tools.” Right. Since the tool was functioning just
fine, back to work. I spent the next tedious hour or so writing off
possible TEs close to Oakhurst, largely because of sprawl. One which will
be a TE is made up of Roads 426/223/221 running south from Oakhurst to the
North Fork Rd (Rd 200). I'm hopeful that North Fork/200 will turn out to
be a DH when combined with the Bass Lake Rd (Rd 222).
While on Rd 223, I passed some Harley's and
an ambulance. I assume one of the riders had sacrificed some skin for the
cause since I could see a rider in his protective T-shirt sitting in the
back of the ambulance with his arm all bandaged up. I wondered if he knew
how long it takes road rash to heal. Or that if there's gravel or dirt in
the wound, they often have to scrub it out with a wire brush. Ouch, I
hoped not.
Sweating profusely in the 90° Fahrenheit
(35° Celsius) heat, I reminded myself that until we got our hot weather
gear, I mustn't remove my leathers no matter how hot it got and turned my
attention to Crane Valley Rd. It eventually winds along the western shore
of Bass Lake but it gets awfully tight and slow, not to mention
congested. Another bad sign was that I got behind an STC on it. At one
point I had to stop and change tapes, while he went ahead and, I soon
found out, craftily set up a trap for me. But I'm no fool, I just cruised
along at my Mike-approved-10mph-over-around-STCs-and-in-urban-areas and
sailed through unscathed.
After fiddle-farting around for so long
and only finding one TE, it felt good to head back to the Bass Lake Rd (Rd
222) junction with Hwy 41 and start Bass Lake as a potential DH. Fairly
nondescript until you get to the lake, there are a few curves before the
town of Bass Lake. But the best stuff starts past it along the east side
of the lake. Tight curves, great pavement plus because you're in the
Sierra National Forest, it’s more remote. Once past the lake, the road
straightens out considerably on its way to North Fork. After this town,
the road’s name changes to North Fork Rd (Rd 200). It continues southwest
with mellow curves and sweepers into increasingly dry terrain until its
end at the junction with Hwy 41. I’m guessing this will be a DH, although
not a terribly high-scoring one. And there's a lot less traffic than on
Hwy 41 if you are heading between Oakhurst and the central valley.
I doubled back along North Fork for a
couple miles in order to head south on O’Neal Rd (Rd 211) to Friant. This
was a lot different from North Fork/200. Not particularly well paved but
it's twisty, quite remote, has little traffic and runs through some
pleasant, rolling countryside. A nice TE that will end at the junction
with Rd 145.
From Friant, the Friant Rd south to Fresno
is straight and full of pylons driving between Fresno and Millerton Lake
as well as to the casino on the western section of Millerton Lake Rd. But
Friant did lead me, via Willow and Copper Aves, to Aubery Rd north of the
Fresno suburb of Clovis. Aubery is an excellently paved and engineered TE
(having a well patronized roadhouse at the junction of the west arm of
Millerton Rd) running through some pretty foothill countryside to the
little town of Prather on Hwy 168. And it is sweet (Aubery Rd that is, not
Prather).
From Prather, I headed south on 168 (and
this little stretch of 168 had me eager to ride more of it, as I planned
to do tomorrow) to pick up the eastern part of Millerton Rd which joins
Hwy 168 to the Aubery Rd TE. More remote than Aubery, it’s bordered by
more pretty, rural countryside. Average pavement but it is consistent and
has enough curves to make it interesting. Interestingly, Millerton seems
to be the home of a fair-sized band of extreme sport gophers specializing
in “Dart Across the Road Right in Front of the Motorcycle. And Live!”.
. Hey, I'm certainly happier to play this game with rodents rather than
the deer who sometimes also play it.
The last thing I had to do for the day was
check the western piece of Millerton Rd. It's a waste of time, unless
you're in a gambling mood or heading to the Millerton Lake. My plan now
was to head to Clovis and find a place to stay on the outskirts of
Fresno. But first, I stopped in at the Lake Millerton Inn in Friant for a
well-deserved beer while getting the vocal and guitar stylings of the
proprietors, Cordell Liard and Sharon Joy as a free bonus. Minus the
singin' an’ playin', Cordell reminded me very much of the Penrith publican
in one of the finest films available to humanity, Withnail & I.
I ended up heading towards Clovis on Willow
Ave, passing massive subdivision after massive subdivision being built on
the prime farmland north of Fresno. Never mind, should be easy to find a
place to stay in Clovis then. Yeah, right. I couldn't even find an exit
from the freeway for this burb. And I saw no accommodation signs at all
until I was right at the exit for downtown Fresno. I took it and quickly
grabbed a room at the Motel 8.
At least being downtown I should be able to
find somewhere decent to eat, right? Wrong. Downtown Fresno seems to
consist almost entirely of casinos, bail bond joints, panhandlers and
closed movie palaces. Fresno even makes Redding look like it has a lot of
services. One thing it doesn't appear to have is restaurants. I spent 20
minutes riding around and quickly lowered my expectations concerning a
restaurant from good to any. I swear to God, the only place I could find
was Denny’s. Naturally, being the only “restaurant” in Fresno, it was
quite busy. Let's just say the situation was a little more than the one
loopy waiter could cope with. And you could forget about such niceties as
a napkin or a second cup of coffee. I was surrounded by people who were
not eating, which after the frightening glimpse I got of the kitchen
staffer who briefly escaped into the serving area, was arguably preferable
to eating.
I resolved to fall back on Mike's
tried-and-true Denny’s survival technique; order the chef’s salad with the
dressing on the side and neutralize it with a beer or two. But this
particular outlet had mutated into something called a Denny's Diner, whose
chief difference from a regular Denny’s seems to be a much more limited
but grease-laden, late night menu. Which, unfortunately, also did not
include my safety choice. Resigned to my fate, I ordered the inedible
swill and a beer. Turns out this is also one of those Denny's with no
license, or the license is being changed or the bar’s being rebuilt or the
bar’s temporarily closed etc, etc, etc. Okay, okay, whatever, I
surrender. Just the inedible swill then, please. See what I mean by the
day ending like it began?
Mon May 19/03 Brian
I had a terrible night's sleep. Somewhere nearby and all night long,
trains being shunted about kept waking me up. And then insanely early,
about 8 am or so, construction started on the building that I had failed
to notice was being constructed right beside the motel. I already knew
there was nowhere nearby to eat breakfast (or lunch, or dinner), so I just
got the hell outta Dodge. I left town with a decidedly less than good
impression of Fresno.
I wanted to head to Hwy168 back along the
freeway I'd come into town on last night but immediately and
embarrassingly, I got lost and somehow found myself headed north on Hwy 41
instead. Stopping to consult a map, I decided to turn off 41 onto Friant
Rd and then take Sheppard Ave over to 168. Sheppard repeated the pattern
I had seen the previous day; continuous, massive new subdivisions all
along it, broken up only occasionally by a few of the remaining, forlorn
orchards which used to line this road. These are obviously doomed to
disappear as well, leaving behind only the perverse use of the word
“Orchard” in the names of some of the developments emblazoned on those
longitudinal flags that real estate developers love so much. I'm kind of
surprised that the California bear flag isn't flown the same way.
Once on Hwy 168, I pull over at the Academy
Ave junction to set up for recording. Just as I'm ready to head north and
check 168 for DH status, seven (!?!) CHP motorcycle STCs on beemers go by
in the other direction towards Fresno. As I congratulate myself on my
impeccable timing, three of them pull onto Academy and stop so one can use
his cell phone. Never shy to pass up an opportunity to market our books
to any motorcyclist, I wheel around. Turns out they were out for a
“training run” and none of them ride off-duty (?!?).
One of them remarks, “ Yeah, this is my only bike.”
“ Not a bad one,” I reply, conversationally.
“ Not as fast is yours, I'll bet”
I smile and say only to myself, “Well, you won't find out today.”
They know one guy who does ride off-duty, so I hand over a DH Washington
sample leaflet for him.
Hwy 168 is varied and clearly demarcated
into four distinctive sections. Though there is a fair bit of
development, the first part is an attractive blend of changeable curves on
good pavement through low Sierra Nevada foothill scenery running up to the
junction with Lodge Rd. The second stretch, is a high-speed sweeping four-laner
which climbs up Big Sandy Bluff to the map dot of Pine Ridge. Then for
the third bit, the road gets very tight and twisty, if a little tar-snakey,
as it romps challengingly through the forest to Shaver Lake (fabulous
pancakes at the Village Restaurant, by the way). In a more relaxed
fashion, the fourth and final piece, a light and fluffy, easy-to-digest
batter whipped up from moderate curves, sweepers and good pavement heads
past the lake and town into the more remote and rugged high country south
of the Kaiser Wilderness ending up at Lakeshore on Huntington Lake. A
delectable four-course meal and one that’s sure to be a Destination
Highway.
I wanted to check out the Kaiser Pass Rd
which leads to Florence Lake and Lake Thomas A. Edison but was stopped
after only a mile (1.6 km) or so by a foot and a half (0.5 m) of snow.
The mountains around here are at the 8500 ft level (2610 m) and May is
obviously just a bit early to be exploring the area’s back roads. I'll
have to get Mike to do Kaiser Pass when he's up here later doing the DH.
Meanwhile, I take Lakeshore Rd into lower
country around the north side and west end of the lake through an area of
cottages still closed up from last season. The road then starts to
descend steeply into the deep valley of Big Creek which runs off the steep
gorge that is the San Joaquin River valley. When I got to the junction
with Stump Springs Rd (FSR 5), I take it along the north side of Big Creek
valley and as it swung north along the eastern heights of the San Joaquin
valley.
If you want remoteness combined with decent
pavement and lots of easy-to-manage curves, this is a TE for you. It
occasionally narrows and, this early in the year at least, it was
sometimes littered with sand, pine cones and needles and such but on the
whole it is very predictable and neither climbs nor descends
precipitously. Facing you far across the the western side of the San
Joaquin River valley/gorge are vistas of Whiskey and Chiquito Ridges. All
together, an impressive combination.
And if you're looking for a nice, remote
campground, you also get the West Kaiser BCG just where pavement ends at
about 20 mi (32 km), situated on a large flat area by a burbling creek.
There may be more remote campgrounds in California but I’m sure not many
can be reached as easily by street bike.
Rather than coming back the same way,
maxburners may be tempted to continue on the gravel past the campground
until the road hooks up with the aforementioned Kaiser Pass Rd. This would
let them circumnavigate entirely the heart of the Kaiser Wilderness. At
least after the snow’s gone. (Ah, the mad bastards probably aren't afraid
of a couple of feet of snow either.)
I retraced my steps back to the Huntington
Lake Rd and though it's a bit of a goat path down to Big Creek (no
services), after the village, it's pretty much a stroll through the forest
between Tamarack Mtn and Musick Mtn back to the junction with Hwy 168 just
north of the lake called Shaver. It's always preferable to have a rideable
alternative to coming back entirely the same way.
The Shaver Lake Village Hotel
(559.841.8289) has a renovated bunkhouse-like building with each room
having its own wildlife motif. It looked too good to pass up, especially
situated as it was in the cool, high country away from the heat down in
the big valley. I stayed in Room 3 where the very first entry in the
guest diary was from a guy who first came to Shaver country in 1938 when
he was 19 years old. He worked in the area until 1977 and his diary entry
was from 2001. That would mean he's in his 84th year, God bless ‘im.
Although he doesn't mention whether or not he's a motorcyclist, he's
obviously a guy with good Karma anyway. When he stayed here, he found
something nice, left presumably by accident, in the freezer. He consumed
it and left another treat for the next guest. According to the diary,
this tradition has been intermittently followed ever since, although
unfortunately not by my immediate predecessor (obviously not a
motorcyclist). Wanting to help the tradition continue, I left a DH
Washington leaflet wrapped around a beer in the fridge. Do I know good
Karma, or what?
The good meal provided by the Sierra House
Restaurant (559.841.3576), just across from the hotel, was much
appreciated especially after last night’s “dining” experience. I had just
about finished when the power failed and the restaurant, save for the
table candles, went dark. (This in spite of all the Consolidated Edison
guys you see and hear about in the area.) The restaurant had a backup
generator, which obviously had its own problems. Once it got going, the
lights kept dimming and brightening. Didn't seem to affect the
coffeemaker though. As I headed back to a great night’s sleep in the
bracing mountain air, I was happy to note that the power seemed only to
have failed on the side of the street across from my hotel. I reflected
on the day; some great roads, a couple good meals and a nice place to
stay. Yes, definitely not a Denny’s Day.
Tue May 20 Brian
My morning was taken up with the Dinkey Creek Rd/FSR 40 combo that runs
west straight out of downtown Shaver Lake and should make for a good TE.
Dinkey has fine Pavement and Engineering along with a fair number of
moderate curves and very little traffic. FSR 40 takes you into higher
country with tighter curves along with still-good Pavement and Engineering
to the Wishon and Courtright Reservoirs --typical California fake lakes,
apparently good for fishing. On my way back to Shaver Lake I saw my first
California deer although it wasn't acting in a threatening manner. Other
than by existing near a road, I mean.
I headed back down Hwy 168 towards Fresno
aiming for all the small side roads south and east of 168 down to the
Kings River which we had determined would mark the southern boundary of DH
Northern California. As I busted out of the tight stuff at Pine Ridge, a
CHP STC patrol car went by in the other direction just as the wide-open
sweepy shot down Big Sandy Bluff began. Excellent timing. Should leave
this run wide-open for me. I wicked it up and was just about at the
bottom with my sensors on low when, oh-oh, a second CHP STC went by,
popped on his impressive Christmas tree light display and whipped around.
Unlike my marketing conversation yesterday
with the motorcycle STC's, I guessed this one was going to be a little
more serious. Very friendly-like, he asked me how I was doing. I allowed
as to how I was a little warm. He asked me how many tickets I got riding
down from Canada. None actually, I said. (Which, surprisingly enough,
was true.) Then, the conversation turned to the “what dat on yo’ head?”
variety which sometimes works out in my favor. Well, low and behold, if
this officer didn't turn out to be a Gold Wing rider in his real life. As
I whipped out a DH Washington sample leaflet and handed it over, I pointed
out that Wing nuts are some of the most avid buyers of our first two
books. We chatted amiably over the leaflet for a bit and then he wished
me Godspeed. Nice fellow, I thought.
Back to work. Lodge Rd off 168 was okay,
if a little developed. Burroughs Valley Rd started out nice but then
deteriorated the closer it got to its end at the three-way junction with
the top piece of Watts Valley Rd and Maxson Rd. Neither of the latter are
good motorcycle roads, being both very narrow and having inferior, barely
Pavement.
Maxson did eventually dump me on the road
of the day however, the Trimmer Springs Rd run from Piedra on the Kings
River around the north side of the Pine Flat Reservoir and then back along
Kings River to the end of the good stuff at the Kirch Flat BCG. It is one
tightly wound spring, especially around the lake. You'll get all the
curves you want here --Twistiness should top out, although better Pavement
wouldn't hurt. The mountain and lake Scenery is also good and Remoteness
is high from the Maxson Rd junction. And you get a nice campground on a
river at the end where you can chill out. Should make it as dead-end DH
Piedra – Kirch Flat, without question. If you want more excitement, there
is a white water rafting operation just past the campground.
Back out to freaking-hot Piedra, where,
after downing three bottles of fluids and spending some time in the
air-conditioned store, I set out again and determined that Trimmer Springs
Rd back towards Fresno was nothing. Then, it was north on straight
Riverbend Ave to the bottom piece of Watts Valley Rd. This section of
Watts Valley is good as it parallels Hwy 168 (DH Fresno – Lakeshore) away
from Fresno and up into the foothills connecting to Pittman Hill Rd and
then Toll House Rd. The latter eventually Ys and gives you the option of
taking tamer Lodge Rd back to the Hwy168 DH at the bottom of Big Sandy
Bluff or continuing on the wild northern section of Toll House as it
squiggles its way up Burrough Mtn to the top of Big Sandy Bluff and ends
at Hwy 168 near Pine Ridge.
I think the TE will be (the southern part
of) Watts Valley Rd-Pittman Hill Rd-Tollhouse Rd. Lodge Rd will be an
ALT-TE for those who find the upper part of Toll House a little too
squirrely. Oh, and Humphrey’s Station at the junction of Pittman Hill and
Toll House is an attractive little oasis consisting of a General
Store/Cafe combo which has outside tables set among cool, green trees.
Don't know whether they serve barley sandwiches.
Being in TE land had killed the afternoon
and since I was only about 6 mi (9.7 km) from Shaver Lake, I could hear
the Village Hotel calling my name. This meant I got to do the sweet,
tight stretch of 168 north from Pine Ridge to SL for the second time
today.
After checking back into the hotel, I
walked to Trappers Bar & Grill (559.841.4141). After a decent dinner, I
ordered a double Glenlivet to both celebrate and contemplate another good
day of riding. Bob over-poured both shots into my glass and then topped
that up with a little free pour action so the drink was more like a
triple. Have I mentioned how much I like Shaver Lake?
Wed May 21 Brian
I started the day with some more of those excellent Village Restaurant
griddle cakes. While eating at a window seat, I saw two CHP motorcycle
STCs burble north through town. It appears the gang of them I saw two
days ago wasn't an anomaly --I guess they really like the variety of this
road. What a horrible thought; a DH as an STC training ground. Consider
yourself forewarned.
Today, my task was to
suss out TE possibilities north of the Hwy 168 DH, which forced me yet
again, gosh darn it, to do the great little stretch between Shaver Lake
and Pine Ridge. Then, I turned north on Auberry Rd (opposite the
Tollhouse Rd TE heading south). Although it has the same name, this is not
to be confused with the great TE heading north out of the Clovis suburb of
Fresno to Prather on Hwy168. The Auberry I was on now heads up around the
back side of Big Sandy Bluff and then squiggles down to the little town of
Auberry. Not a bad little road, though and it will be a TE.
Unlike the 40 mi (64 km)
of merde I next punished myself on. North of Aubery, this excretia loops
around Redinger Lake and is made up of José Basin Rd, Italian Bar Rd and
Redinger Lake Rd. It's a multicultural mishmash of too-narrow, too-tight
and too-rough garbage in the middle of nowhere, not even fit for
maxburners, that I never want to see again.
So why did I do it? Not
because it goes right by the geographic center of California, I can tell
you that. For sure, it didn't look on my map as long as it turned out to
be. But really, I guess I did it because it was still early days riding
the state and I was, at this point, optimistic that, although a road may
start out crappy, that doesn't necessarily mean it will be fecal material
the whole way. Northern California has since largely disabused me of this
misconception.
I did discover two
things on this punishing ride though; I definitely had to do something
about raising the bars on the VFR and UPS does deliver anywhere. After
about 30 mi (50 km), with the base of palms having long since gone numb, I
was way over to the right in the middle of a blind righthander. By the
time I saw the UPS pylon coming the other way, taking up more or less the
whole road, I was halfway down his left side trying to cling to the foot
or so of bumpy surface he'd generously left me, happy not to be impaled in
the middle of his radiator.
I thanked God for
remembering my prayer of three days ago and immediately modified my plea
not to be called to join the choir orchestral while on nothing roads, if
it pleased Him, to include being taken out by drivers wearing
unfashionable Brown.
After about another 10
mi (16 km) of pain, I was mercifully excreted onto Powerhouse Rd which
runs between Auberry and North Fork. I headed south to Auberry and then
turned around to videotape the whole road. From Aubery to Kerkhoff Lake,
the Pavement is very good and there is lots of twisty fun. North of the
lake neither the asphalt nor the Twistiness are as good but this road is
still a pretty respectable TE. When I got to North Fork, I noticed the
town's claim that it’s the geographic center of California. Make more
sense I mused, if they called it Center Fork.
From North I headed to
South Fork and then out of it on FSR 81. This eventually takes you up the
west side of the San Joaquin River valley below Whiskey Ridge and Chiquito
Ridge (on the other side of the valley from the FSR 5 TE that run to the
West Kaiser BCG, see the May 19 Diary entry). FSR 81 runs about 50 mi (80
km) to Mammoth Pool Reservoir (offering several BCGs) and though it's not
as nice as its cousin across the valley, if you like remote and
challenging TEs with little traffic, it may appeal. The paved surface
continues past the reservoir but if you're not stopped by snow as I was,
it will eventually turn to gravel. Some maps show paved Grizzly Rd
connecting FSR 81 to FSR 7 (Beasore Rd) as a possible loop route back to
Bass Lake. Be aware though, that single track, rough Grizzly will maul
you pretty badly in the process.
I had to get back to
Turlock tonight for three days of air reconnaissance. After taking a
much-needed break halfway back along FSR 81, I arrived back in North
Fork. I decided the best route was to go back down the Bass Lake Rd DH to
Oakhurst, take (boring) Hwy 49 to Mariposa, drop down on Hwy140 to Catheys
Valley and do half of the Hornitos Rd DH to Merced Falls from whence side
roads would shoot me more or less straight west to Turlock. Some hours
later, of course.
By the time I got to
Snelling on county road J59, it was dark and because I was in the middle
of farmland, my helmet visor was sorely in need of a bug cleaning. The
incredible number of bugs on it reminded me of how amazingly bug free
California had been so far, as long as you’re not near farmland (and
development will increasingly take care of that). Most days, I only
cleaned the visor at the end of the day and often it didn't much need it
then. Try that in most of BC and Washington.
I hit a Snelling bar
called Bud's Place and while there, observed (the 23rd incarnation of) Bud
turn the dance floor into a garage for his Harley-Davidson for the night.
Nice. Wish I was in a position to do that with my bikes.
Sun May 25 Brian
By the end of three continuous days in the air, I had almost completely
lost the queasy feeling I had discovered on the first couple of Cessna
flights. I was eager to get back on my bike to confirm what I'd seen from
the air.
Out Hwy 132 from
Waterford to Coulterville (for what seemed like about the 15th time) I
took Penon Blanco Rd (not recommended) off 132 and over to Hwy 49. Then
it was down 49 to Moccasin (a good stretch of DH Moccasin - Bear Valley)
where I checked out the Old Priest Grade Rd heading east on the other side
of the steep canyon from Hwy 120 (which we expect to get DH status and
will be reconnoitered later). Old Priest is a hell of a twisty road, has
good Pavement and is a great, if short TE. From the top of it I hung a
right on the Priest Coulterville Rd, which unfortunately has half okay and
half bad Pavement.
On the other hand, the
Greeley Hill Rd (J132) between Coulterville and Smith Station on Hwy 120
is a pretty good run through a mix of mostly forest and some farmland in
the Wagner Valley. Unless you're a maxburner, don't get sucked in by Buck
Meadows Rd which you can get to from Greeley Hill and and also goes up to
Hwy 120. Unlike what a lot of maps incorrectly show, air recon showed that
this baby does turn to gravel.
I then checked out
Ferretti Rd which loops off and parallels Hwy 120 (about a mile or so west
of the J132 junction with 120) and runs around Pine Mountain Lake before
coming back to 120 in Groveland. This is much better than I expected to
be. There's more development at the Groveland end but it's still a nice
option if you've done Hwy 120 a lot. Just watch out for the fresh and
juicy cow pies. Not to mention what served them up for you.
From Groveland, I headed
west on 120 to Evergreen Rd, checking out a couple of side roads, which
turned out to be nothing, as I went. (This stretch of 120, by the way,
convinced me that it would almost certainly become a DH, probably running
from Moccasin to the junction with Hwy 140 in Yosemite National Park.)
Evergreen to mapdot Mather wasn't much but it does get you to Hetch Hetchy
Rd, 8.0 mi (12.9 km) of sweetly paved curves from Mather leading to the
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir which has some good views, first overlooking the
Poopenaut Valley and then of Wampama and Rancheria Falls once you get near
the reservoir. Of course, because this TE is in Yosemite you have to pay
$10 to ride it (less than a buck a mile, if you count the return trip on
this dead ender) and the Park Rangers don't take credit cards. Being
Yosemite, traffic will undoubtedly be bad at times and passing can also be
very difficult.
Once back in Mather, I
took Mather Rd (FSR 12) to the junction with Cherry Lake Rd (FSR 17). My
plan was to head north on 17 to Cherry Lake and check out FSR 14 all the
way to Tuolumne. But my numb palms and sore wrists were having none of
that. Also, being the Sunday of a long weekend, I decided it might be
prudent to grab some accommodation before it got too late. So, from the
junction, I headed south rather than north on Cherry Lake back to Hwy
120. Combined with Mather Rd, this is certainly better than the Evergreen
Rd and would be the preferred route to get to the Hetch Hetchy TE if
you're coming up 120 from the west.
I headed back to
Groveland and just east of town, right on 120, found a B&B called the
Berkshire Inn (209.962.6744) which still had a room left. This B&B is
more like a hotel, really. Nice large rooms, all with their own separate
outside entrance off a walkway. And complimentary wine in the afternoon.
Not to mention a much appreciated hot tub, wherein I had a conversation
with a woman who once took a course in drawing blood.
Mon May 26 Brian
I met the chief pilot for BozAir at the Pine Mountain Lake Airport,
located on the Ferretti Rd TE, and aerial surveyed the rugged country
north from 9am until 4pm. Then I hopped on the VFR, took Hwy 120 back to
Cherry Lake Rd (FSR 17) and took this road all the way to Cherry Lake.
FSR 17 is not a very good road but if you get to Cherry Lake from Tuolumne
on FSR 14, it is the only alternative to retracing your steps.
FSR 14 is a long,
interesting, remote road through thickly-forested and rough terrain. Its
elderly (there is vegetation growing in some of the cracks!) but not bad
Pavement hints at its age. It's fairly well Engineered for the most part
and certainly doesn't have much traffic. It’ll get enough points to
become a DH, and will probably top out for Twistiness.
From the tired, vacant
little town of Tuolumne, I took straight County Rd E17 out to Hwy 108 at
Sonora. From there, I headed north on Phoenix Lake Rd, a nicely paved
route through a largely urban area that nevertheless has enough curves to
make it an interesting alternative to the part of 108 which it parallels.
Phoenix Lake butt ends
to Big Hill Rd which heads west through the heavily-treed hills north of
the flattish area making up Greater Sonora. It's pretty curvy, especially
on its least-developed, western section, a steep descent down a big hill
towards the historic, gold-rush town of Columbia. The Pavement is only
fair, as is the Engineering and yet something about this road was charming
while at the same time challenging.
On the other hand, the
deer were only challenging. As I rounded a lefthander early on, I spotted
two of these woodland Al-Queda, waiting just to the left of the road. The
more maniacal of these suckers, instead of moving away from me (as any
legitimately frightened but reasonably intelligent dumb animal would do)
decided to attack. In fact, he chose to make it across the road right in
front of me or become venison trying.
He succeeded in beating
me only because the tightness of the road was keeping my speed down and
because the VFR has such great brakes. Although I have yet to watch the
video, I'm sure he was no more than a foot from my front wheel. Even so,
I didn't tap into the ABS zone. Somehow comforting, no?
Less comforting were the
four more members of his cell I spotted in a field at the junction with
Sawmill Flat Rd. They were all looking at me with malice, obviously
brazenly plotting their next terrorist attack. Hey come on, with all the
guns in the country, doesn’t anyone hunt anymore?
I wasn't going to let
fear rule my life, so I just went on about my daily routine. From
Columbia, I took the wide, sweeping, well paved and marvelously high-speed
Parrotts Ferry Rd down and across the broad Stanislaus River, then up the
other side to Vallecito on Hwy 4. A note of caution was raised by all the
emergency vehicles off to the side right before the bridge over the
river. Judging from the flowers I saw at this spot on a subsequent ride,
some poor soul it seems, failed to navigate this stretch properly. Either
that or the deer got him.
I considered that maybe
Someone was trying to tell me that I'd done enough riding for one day. No
dumb animal me, I took the hint. I decided the closest thing I’d get to
the afterlife again today was going to be nearby Angels Camp.
Tue May 27 Brian
Man, did I spend a lot of time riding crap roads today. I started out by
checking all the small roads east of Hwy 49 between Angels Camp and
Mockelumne Hill. I knew some were garbage from the air recon yesterday
but the rest I had to check out. And most of them turned out to be
ka-ka. Oh sure, some of Railroad Flat Rd, south of Wilseyville was okay
but it doesn't connect to anything decent. At Wilseyville I rode the
excellent, twisty stretch of Hwy 26 up to Hwy 88. We're certainly going
to have to come back and do all of 26 as it will be a DH for sure.
Next, I headed south on
88 to scope out the side roads south of it and north of the North Fork
Mokelumne River. After getting some bad advice from another rider about
the quality of Tabeau Rd, I did manage to find Clinton Rd. Like the
ex-president, it's pretty slick and is a good bypass to 88 from Jackson to
Clinton.
I motored north from
Jackson on Hwy 49 Sutter Creek. I was looking for Sutter-Ione Rd but my
map didn't show the junction with 49 very well and I ended up in Amador
City. (Both of these are old gold rush towns transformed into cute
tourist towns.) Heading back south on Hwy 49, I managed to find Sutter-Ione
(look for the sign for the Henderson Reservoir rather than the road name)
and took it out to Hwy 124.
Sutter-Ione Rd appears
to have quite new pavement but in spite of its looks it's actually quite
rough and bouncy. It feels like they put new pavement over a bad base.
There's already a few sinkholes and there was even a repair crew working
on some of them. Heading back from 124 to 49, I had slowed to about 20
mph (30 kmh) approaching the truck of the work crew’s flag person when the
guy leaped out of his truck, threw up his hands and generally acted as if
I was going about 90 mph (145 kmh) and wasn't going to stop. I guess the
VFR looks fast even when I'm crawling.
From Sutter Creek, I
took the Sutter Creek Rd out to Volcano. Once you pass the Pine Gulch Rd
junction it has increasingly poorer Pavement. (Today's lesson: when
flying air reconnaissance, be sure you fly the entire road. Don't assume
because a road starts out well, it will continue to be good for its whole
length.)
Volcano, which looks
like another ancient mining town, has a nice old hotel which looks like it
has a bar. From Volcano I took the twisty, well paved but very short Rams
Horn Grade Rd up to Shake Ridge Rd. This road will be a TE between Sutter
Creek and Hwy 88 just south of Cooks Station. At the Sutter Creek end it
splits and you can come into town via either Gopher Flat Rd or the ALT-TE
option, Pine Gultch Rd/Sutter Creek Rd.
It was close to 40°C
(100°F) by the time I got back into Sutter Creek, so I took time out to
ingest about 3 gallons of fluids. It was way too hot for leather in this
country at this time of year. We really have to get the hot weather gear
before our next trip. Mike won't be able to take it.
Up Hwy 49 to Plymouth,
where I headed east on Fiddletown Rd. This runs on the north side of the
South Fork Dry Creek valley more or less opposite Shake Ridge Rd until
they connect up in the foothills, a few miles west of Hwy 88. They are
quite similar rides, with the Fiddletown Rd being maybe a little more
placid. (Fiddletown is yet another old gold-rush town, by the way.)
Back down 88 to Jackson
where I picked up the Stoney Creek Rd/Pardee Dam Rd/Campo Seco Rd/Chile
Camp Rd/Buena Vista Rd/Camanche Pkwy N TE out to reconnect with Hwy 88
out in the Central Valley. This is a varied collection of road surface
and scenery that takes in the best riding in the area bounded by Hwys
88/12/26 & 49. If I was heading between Stockton and Hwy 49, it's
probably the way I'd go. Except for riding back to Turlock, that was the
end of my day. And this trip.
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