| Author | Message | ||
     Jerry_haughton |
 looking down onto Round Valley near Bishop, on the road to Paradise. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on February 28, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 we're about 3000 feet higher than the valley floor below, and the road down is one of the best around. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on February 28, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 on Hwy 168 above Big Pine. fortunately we didn't start running into the marbles until we got near the top. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on February 28, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 Dino will remember this location from the first day of the "Out of Words" ride.  (Message edited by jerry_haughton on February 28, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 Hwy 168 has been called "The best sportbike road on the planet." high praise, and hard to prove, but it'll sure make ya giggle. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on February 28, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 Unibear is a great riding partner for many reasons, one of which being he doesn't mind constantly stopping while i sniff out photo ops. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on February 28, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 and we're off again, looking for the bump known as "Big Air"!!! (Message edited by jerry_haughton on February 28, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 near Big Pine, just about to lose our daylight, and still 170 miles from the 'Dome - time to roll. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on February 28, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 it was a great day on the road, about 520 miles for me, about 620 for the Bear, and about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on. props to UniBear for accepting a last minute invite to go riding (and for getting up at three in the morning to do so). (Message edited by jerry_haughton on February 28, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
ps to UniBear: it's a good thing we went YESTERDAY - it's a mighty cold rain that's falling here this morning. | ||
| Pdxs3t |
I am very happy to hear that you and bear kept your clothes on! Looks like the two of you had an awesome day, love the One Lane Road shot. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
Jim, it was WAY too cold to get anywhere CLOSE to au naturel (not to mention that UniBear, well, it's an image i don't even want to consider...) Hwy 168 actually scared me yesterday. it's a veritable roller coaster at times, but most of the whoops you can see in advance and set up for. ONE of them, however, it quite deceiving, with an extra "kick" at the leading edge which compresses the suspension, only to unload all that energy JUST as you crest the whoop and launch into low earth orbit. my butt was off the seat, my feet were off the pegs, my only contact with the bike was a death grip on the bars, and my only thought was, "I really hope this doesn't hurt." then, right after "Big Air" is ANOTHER whoop, equally as diabolical, which punts you into space as the road quite suddenly makes a blind hard right and you land on the wrong side of the road. it was, at this point, that i decided that i needed to cool my jets a little bit. when we stopped at the one-lane cut pictured above me 'n the Bear had similar tales of terror to tell, in between giggles and war whoops. on the way back down the hill i did Big Air several more times, scaring myself yet again. UB asked if i wanted him to grab a few pix as i sailed over, but the thought of someone with a camera and another someone (me) shouting "Watch this!" put the fear of pain (and expense) into my dark little heart and we wisely vacated the premises. albeit post haste. | ||
| Pdxs3t |
Big Air Ferris! One could take that in a copule of different ways. | ||
| Dino |
Cool pix! Think you better send me a full res of the "looking down into Round Valley" pic. Yep I do remember the "one lane" location quite well. And I agree with Jim about that pic. I also have all too clear a memory of that whoop that leaves you with both tires in the air just as you enter the blind hard right. | ||
| Unibear12r |
Psssst.. Don't tell nobody but I'm not wearing anything under my clothes!  | ||
| Unibear12r |
A few weeks ago I rode up to Bishop with a couple of cruiser friends. It's a nice view but a boring road for a motorcycle. A waist of the center of a sport bike's tires kinda. But when Jerry asked me to ride up that way again I didn't hesitate. If he says he can show you some interesting side roads you can bet the bank on some "adventure" and sights. There were quite a few. My favorite was the road to Paradise, just a sweet fast curvey road with a great view anywhere you look. For some reason "Big Air" looked like a gentile up & down slope to me, not something with a near vertical drop off the back. So I was hauling butt when I went over the top. Had just enough time to think a single four letter word and pull on the bars and then was airborne. I remember thinking " damn thats a long way down"! Yoo Hoo fun, I actually made a nice landing but a short ways up the road I hit some of those flat red rock chips you see in some of the pictures. Like riding on ice. I slowed way down for the second whoop but the back side was covered with this stuff and I slid all the way to the left edge of the road. That was it for me as I could see tons of this stuff ahead so I slowed waaaaay down. I was surprised to see Jerry parked on the side a short ways on. First thing he said was "I think I scared myself". Me too buddy! That and every tree in snow country wanting to have snow fights with me. They didn't pick on Jerry that much. I had a grand time. Btw Denise cooks a fantastic breakfast! Thank you D&FB. (Message edited by unibear12r on March 01, 2005) | ||
| Pdxs3t |
Psssst.. Don't tell nobody but I'm not wearing anything under my clothes! Would that be what they call going commando? | ||
| Unibear12r |
Naw just an old joke. The ultra conservative blue eagle on the Muppets being shocked because people were naked under their clothes, and the shocked look on Jerry's face when I misspoke myself back at Woody  | ||
| Unibear12r |
Could it be possible that the reason that I have absolutely NO chicken strips on the S3's rear tire is due my totally futile attempts at keeping up with Jerry? Or that I will soon need a new rear tire? | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
glad to be of service. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
it's rare to get a day off these days. even rarer for me 'n D to get one off together. rarer yet if both of those events combine and the weather decides to cooperate. it's been, weather-wise, a little grumpy around here lately. yesterday the stars and planets aligned, and by 9 a.m. we were outta here on the bikes for the day, into glorious sunshine. earlier, standing on the deck with a cuppa joe while i waited for the sun to climb a little higher, i could hardly hear the bells from the Catholic church down the street over all the delightful racket the neighborhood birds were making. delicate wisps of fog drifted slowly along the the river, and blazing white pelicans circled majestically over a mirror-calm lake. it was, it seemed, going to be one of those days.  at the summit of Walker Pass, about 45 minutes east of Lake Isabella, on our way to Randsburg. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on March 07, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 D at Walker Pass (5000 feet and some change, and still a little brisk at this hour), enjoying the heat from her Widder vest, deciding that electric gloves, arm chaps and leg chaps are the next investment. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on March 07, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 the Pacific Crest Trail crosses Hwy 178 at Walker Pass. behind me, Mexico. ahead, Canada. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on March 07, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 after Starbucks in Ridgecrest we carried on towards Randsburg (the "long" way, natch), thru the desert on our horse with no name. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on March 07, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 the "back" way outta Johannesburg, CA. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on March 07, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 copious late season rains have brought the desert to life. this is a small sample. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on March 07, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 Johannesburg, Randsburg, and Red Mountain, CA all owe their meager existence to mining, much of it for gold. this area is littered with old mines. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on March 07, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 downtown Randsburg, population about 50, a few more on a sunny weekend. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on March 07, 2005) | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
 an abandoned mine at the intersection of Burma and Butt in Randsburg. (Message edited by jerry_haughton on March 07, 2005) |
