2800 miles in 6 days..

[Sasquatch]

Another business trip, another excuess to ride the Tiger rather than flying.... On the companie's tab.



The trip: Business trip to SoCal for work.

The Plan: Ride the Tiger rather than fly, boss agrees.

The Result:



This is the morning I left, 6:30am in southern Idaho.  Planning on avoiding as much superslab and main roads as possible traveling from Meridian, Idaho to Palm Desert, CA.







Wild Horse Dam, between Bruneau, ID and Elko, NV:







Many things get discussed within one's own mind while traveling long distances on a motorcycle.  One thing that really changed within me this trip is my perception on world population.  I used to really feel that the US is overpopulated.  Then you really look at the endless hundreads of miles that you can travel in the western US and see no one.  So now just feel people are too concentrated around large cities.



Random scenery along NV225, north of Elko.







This is NV 376, north of Tonopah NV.  Now guys, the state could not be totally serious about posting the speed limit at 70mph here.  I mean, that must be just for soccer moms in their 4x4 grocery getters.  They obviously have some clause in the law that says on stretches like this, on a modern bike, there is no speed limit, right?







WRONG!







I escaped with my record intact and only my arse chewed on a bit by the relatively nice officer.  I was strongly urged to keep it below 80.  Something I paid attention to the rest of the trip.



Day two:



Into death Valley on NV 267.  Here is a shot of Scotties Castle.  An impressive Oasis in the middle of a baren and very hot desert.  It was 107 on this day...







This is what 200 feet below sea level looks like.  It was rather impressive, despite the photo.  It was just blazing hot.  My FirstGear preforated textile jacket worked incredibly.  Felt like a shaded t-shirt, with all the armor.







Here I am, precicly 80 miles from absolutely nowhere cool, where the one part that is known on the tigers as a weak link (and I had planned on replacing when I returned home) failed.  I am on Kelbaker road, about 90 miles into the Mohave National Preserve (that's "Freaking Hot Desert" to us mountain loving Sasquatches).  











The plastic fuel fitting on the pressure side decided to fail squirting fuel all over me and the bike at 80 errrr I mean 79mph.



Chevron Tow service came through, with a tow.  But even after they paid their part, I was left with a $180 tow bill.  My local Triumph/BMW dealer overnighted all the parts to Palm Desert to await my arrival.  Now I was stuck in Nedles, CA with a broken Triumph.  I visited the local NAPA and hardware store for an assortment of brass fittings.  Luckily, the Triumph took normal pipe thread, non tapered, and was able to get back on my way to Palm Desert.  I opted to leave the brass fittings in place and carry the stock parts as spares untill I got home.



I took no photos in Palm Desert where I was working at an American Coach rally.  Boring stuff, so on to the return home.



I planned on taking a couple of days off on the way home and go up the CA coast.  So, to get from Auanga to the coast, I was forced to take the Ortega Highway. :thumb   And of course, since I was there, I had to have brunch at the Hells Kitchen.











After Brunch I hit the beach, Hunnington Beach.







The plan was to take the PCH all the way to Oregon.  It took me all day to get out of LA. :eek1   I can not believe the traffic you SoCal dudes put up with.  Arrrgh.  So, to speed it up a bit, I took a detour inland a bit and found a historical treasure.







If you are a rider, or sports car fanatic and do not know what this road is, go back to school my friend....



I had fun rounding off the profile of my tires again and getting rid of those pesky hero pegs.







Traffic was backed up on the 101 as well.  More detours.  I found the small town of Ojai, and the 33 and 166 highways.  A sport riders wet dream...











Back to the PCH between Morro Bay and Santa Cruz.  Fun, but lots of wind and traffic.











Looks a little different without 20,000 sportbikes crowding the street:







Headed towards Lake Tahoe from Santa Cruz.  Had an obvious stopping place for lunch:







I am definatly a mountain boy, favoring trees to surf.  Here is a shot at sundown from a spur road off CA 88 south of Tahoe.  It is getting really cold and I used this opportunity to hook up the Gerbing heated clothing once again.



I can not remember the name of this lake, but it was pretty anyway.







I got a room at the Motel 6 and noticed a somewhat familiar bike in the parking lot near mine:







I knew I should recognize it, but didn't untill the owner introduced himself as another ADVrider.  Mister MikeO himself!  What are the odds of running into him here?  Better buy a few lotto tickets...







Unfortunatly, we met as we were both leaving, in opposite directions or we could have hoisted a pint or two the previous night.  I gave him my details and invited him back to Idaho if he had the chance.



Lake Tahoe through the trees







Near Indian Falls, on CA 89.







My plan was to stay on CA 89 through Lassen Volcanic National Park.  But I was greeted with this sign.







Now, would any self respecting ADVrider turn around?  Or would he buck up and see if he can get his beastly dual sport through whatever blocked the road?  I chose to soldier on.  If I could do the white rim trail in Moab, I should be able to get through a little forest road.....



A bad sign of things to come:







I made it this far.  You can see the road I came up accross the valley.  They had not got the pass cleared yet.  The views were worth the trip.











After leaving the beauty of the mountains, it was just the blah of southern Oregon to get back to Boise.  And a day riding in the rain, so I did not shoot any good shots.  It was a good trip.



2815 miles in 6 days of riding.

Averaged 43mpg on a loaded Triumph Tiger.



Had the time of my life.



Sasquatch

[MikeBenzon]

I live just an hour north of Mt Lassen, in Burney. It is usually the end of May at the earliest, the park gets Hwy 89 open.  Sometimes it is as late as July 4th.  I try to ride through two or three times a year.

I've been on that Hwy 33 in SoCal. It was a terrific ride for paved roads.

[BigDave]

BRAVO!!!  :D/



Looks like a great ride Jay. Cali's central coast is the only familar area to me as I love riding there.



Go get those metal fittings will ya?  ](*,)

http://www.rideteamtriumph.com/tiger.htm

[BMWRider]

I knew I should recognize it, but didn't untill the owner introduced himself as another ADVrider.  Mister MikeO himself!  What are the odds of running into him here?  Better buy a few lotto tickets...







Unfortunatly, we met as we were both leaving, in opposite directions or we could have hoisted a pint or two the previous night.  I gave him my details and invited him back to Idaho if he had the chance.





Sasquatch

What are the odds, indeed?   :D/

Amazing coincidences abound in the motorcycle world.  I was in a BMW dealer in Dallas over a year ago and somebody recognized me.  And I've run into a couple of folks on the road as well whom I've recognized from ADVrider or other web sites.  The world is getting smaller ...

Looks like a great trip, by the way!