| Author | Message | ||
     FB |
as is usual this time of year, the road up near Alta Sierra (6100+ feet) is pretty dirty, due to near constant sanding ops for snow and ice-speeds are best kept in check on 155 up here so as to prevent the dreaded Low-Side Dismount Manuever :-( near Glenville the going gets good (i.e. fast) again, back and forth, left and right, up and down, rock and roll :-) a right on Jack's Ranch ratchets the velocity up yet another notch, and when this twisty ribbon morphs into Old Stage Road (the COOLEST name, eh?), life as a sportbiker is getting pretty-near orgasmic. wish i already had the digi-cam that Blake is sending, would love to show you some pix from Old Stage. any meager description i could muster up for this largely unknown, world-class road would just cheapen it. just know that the CAL GP will show it to you up close and personal :-) encountered, of all things, a cattle drive in progress along here (again, woulda made great pix). the lead wrangler said, with a smile, "Just stick 'er on in there, they'll get outta your way!" probably seemed less intimidating to him, from the comfort of his horse, than it did for me, from the comfort of the much smaller and closer-to-the-ground VFR. but, true to his word, the 200 or so head of cattle simply parted more or less down the middle (except for the calves--the frisky little rascals went EVERYWHERE! :-) for the next several miles, cow pie avoidance was the order of the day. more... | ||
| FB |
almost hate to move on in the story, as Old Stage truly deserves a couple hundred more words. well, you'll just have to see it for yourselves :-) a right a Fountain Springs sets the stage for yet more m/c bliss, as the road cooks it ways thru Little House on the Prairie country for mile after mile. green and flower-filled are the boulder strewn hills along here, with the occasional high-dollar home tossed in for accent. again, i'll spare you having to read a couple of smarmy, thesaurus-based paragraphs about this little slice of paradise, you'll be seeing it soon enough. i stopped at the town of California Hot Springs (zip code 93207), and checked out their program. neat place, founded in 1882 and built around a natural hot spring that produces an estimated 14,500 gallons/hour of soft, low-sodium, odorless and unusually pure hot water. for a modest fee you can take a dip in one of several outdoor pools, ranging in size from "Pardon me, your foot is touching my hey-hey!" to near Olympic-size. much of the town's buildings have been destroyed in several catastrophic fires, but the Recreation Hall, built in 1926 next to the springs, still stands after having been restored in 1984. this building is huge, and is an absolute treat to wander around in. full of antiques and old country atmosphere, it'd be a great place to have a veddy large (and loud) party :-) more... | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Stop it Ferris, you're killin me! It's 10 deg, just had 4" of blowing snow on top of rain, drizzle and sleet. Winter sucks up her in the frozen north! BRRRRrad | ||
| FB |
oh, before i move on, i checked out some small cabins that are for sale in and around CA Hot Springs. they're not grand, mind you, but toally cute and liveable. one that caught my eye is on the White River, 2 bedrooms, listed at a mere $25k. several others boasted of water rights from the hot spring (natural hot water, how cool is that?) in the $30-$40k range. and there's a 27-acre parcel of country heaven listed for $62k. so it's lunchtime by now, and i could smell a meal calling my name just up the road. in Pine Flats, that is, a litle cluster of cabins scattered about on a pine- and oak-studded knob of land that looks all the world like something right out of the Great Smoky Mountains back east. not much here, altho, like CA Hot Springs, they do have their own post office (tiny), and, more importantly, a restaurant!  actually, it's called the Rabbit Foot Trail Inn and Saloon, and for an extra portion of 'right on' they had the NASCAR race going on the big-screen (congrats to Tony Stewart :-) and, just to add the perfect extra touch of ambiance, there was the obligatory big guy on the end barstool, with the WORST case of plumber's butt i've ever seen. more... | ||
| FB |
you probably coulda climbed in and spent the night in his butt-crack it was that humongous (yuk!), and to make matters worse his lady friend kept reaching over and kneading his right cheek, making his skin look like red cottage cheese :-( it was comical, really. here it was barely in the afternoon, and this lovely little couple was already about three sheets to the wind. they were each doing the Weeble-Walk on their frequent trips to the restroom--not exactly a stagger, but still obvious that their onboard gyros were a little out of whack :-) in spite of my "floor show", i was way hungry, and it was the Chicken Melt--two chicken breasts liteally smothered in cheese and grilled onions, on grilled sourdough bread--that grabbed my eye. the waitress asked if i wanted fries, too. nah, i'm thinkin' that's enough cholesterol for one day :-) neat place, killer food, friendly folks, a well-stocked bar, big-screen TV, a fire going in the woodstove, about three million miles off the beaten path in some of God's own country. pretty tasty :-) so much so, that i think this'd make a great stop on Friday night during the GP. if you guys are in agreement i'll put our name down for a couple of rooms. (FMJ, if you're gonna join us Friday evening you can bunk with me--lemme know, i'll send you directions how to get up here.) the rest of my ride home (retracing my steps as the road further up in the Sierras is still winter-closed) was nothing less than sublime. 225 miles came and went today in total bliss. my apologies to those of you stuck in the frozen north (BRRRRrad :-), but THIS is why i moved here gents, the GP's gonna be a blast! ride to lean, Ferris | ||
| FB |
ps to Brentx1: better not be scoping out the real estate ads while you're out here........ Ferris | ||
| FB |
an interesting sighting on Hwy 178 the other day... ...on a particularly twisty and lightly-traveled section east of Lake Isabella, what do i spot but a Harley-Davidson V-Rod bearing down on me, followed relatively closely by a Yamaha V-Max. a weekday, it was, and neither bike was packing any extra gear. odd, i thought. and odd traveling companions, i thought. hmmmmm, i think (wisely, i think :-), i'm bettin' this is a one-on-one mag comparo of New-V vs. Old-V in progress! a minute later, one more bike hums past, a loaded-down Gold Wing (carrying all the gear for the two V's, with photog Kevin Wing at the helm, perhaps?) my guess is that you'll see this ride report in a very soon-to-hit issue of Motorcyclist if i'm right, you heard it here first. if not, well......never mind. ride to lean, Ferris | ||
| Firemanjim |
Ferris,send me your snail address and I'll send you a copy of the new FUELL mag with an article about Team Elves LSR's done by yours truly.(Takin' after you). | ||
| FB |
comin' at ya, FMJ, thanks (now i guess you'll be wanting a "Writes like Ferris" trophy, too) awful quiet on here the last week and a half (well, except for MY endless blathering...), do you s'pose i scared V2win and Racerboy away?  FB | ||
| V2win |
Ferris, We aint sckeeerd o nuttn! Well, that gal with the hairy armpits I saw the other day scared me a little. Been busy working. No time to chew the fat. Off today. The Pine Flats location sounds fine for Friday. We will trust your judgement on the matter. We have stayed in every kind of place you could think of while on the road. The more out of the way the better for me. Like the unusual stuff. Already seen the "normal" shit at my age. Racerboy and I have an agreement while on the road. We never eat at a "national" food chain. Your butt crack story reminded me of one similar. Racerboy and I were heading out on a ride to West Virginia. As we were making our way thru St. Louis with rush hour traffic, there was this car with a flat on I44. This big ol'boy was bent over with his butt facing the traffic that was going about 5 mph. His pants were about to fall off. I had the urge to drop something down his crack as I rode by, but didnt. I damn near rode out of my lane into a car cause I was laughing so hard. Didnt scare me though. We will need to get in touch with you on Thursday perhaps just to touch base so we all know where and when to meet up. Racerboy keeps a cell phone with him when he rides.(he used to ride a harley ) I have my bike apart now. Primer goes on today. 15 pieces to paint. Candy red,white pearl,black sapphire. Later | ||
| Brentx1 |
Hmmmm.... Real estate in California? Now that sounds promising. Maybe just a little 5-7 acres in the sierra foot hills? | ||
| Anonymous |
http://www.hondavfr.com/rides.html http://www.pashnit.com | ||
| Anonymous |
http://www.pashnit.com/motoroads.htm | ||
| FB |
aw heck, i knew you weren't sckeeered! long before the GP comes to pass i'll have figgered out the rendezvous details and all. my goal is to blow you guys absolutely away during the day and a half or so you're in my possession, and....... .......you have no idea what special motorcycle-related treat i have lined up for Saturday morning (bring lots of film.....or pixels) you'll love the Rabbit Foot Inn and Saloon in Pine Flat--you'd be hard-pressed to get any more outta-the-way than this. i'll snag two rooms (with two beds each) for Friay night (oh, get this: the Rabbit Foot is so small it only has eight rooms :-) anybody else out there in BADWEB land that wants to hook up wih this deal on Friday (or Saturday), give a shout so's i can give you the necessary poop. gotta run, Ferris | ||
| FB |
Brentx1, i'm living proof of what can happen when you ride in to this area a couple times from out-of-state. before you can say, "Lord, give me strength!" you're a brand-new Californicator!!! | ||
| FB |
not sure who posted the hyperlinks, but thanks i've taken a whiff of the VFR site once or twice, but didn't know of the PASHNIT site. will check it out further when i get a chance. | ||
| Al_Lighton |
Woo Hoo! I've made the plans to go on the California ride. Will leave sunday with everyone and ride at least til Tahoe before looping back to SD along the coast while eveyone else goes north on the coast. My wife and I did that stretch from SF to Crescent City (oregon border) about 6 years ago, it is sweet. But the cliffs of Big Sur, coast pines of Monterey, and open views around San Simean are not exactly hideously ugly! Hey, if anyone is coming into town for the start of the ride and needs a place to crash, just let me know. We live about 10 miles from the Oceanside dealer that the breakfast is at on Sunday. If you can afford it, and are into that kinda thing, staying downtown and partying in gaslamp is probably more exciting than my house in Carlsbad, though. But ya'll are welcome here if you're so inclined. Do we have a roll count of Badwebbers that are going? I definitely am (though haven't confirmed with Leslie, and really don't care if it's filled already or not, I'm going!). My bud Tom (2000 S3T) is also planning on going, but he doesn't hang here. Steve H, you gonna at least drive the first day or two? I'll start working on Grozzie. Maybe he'd loopback with you if he's not inclined to do the whole route? Al | ||
| V2win |
A customer at work suggested that Bob and I stop in Pahrump Nevada to see the museum there. Hmmmmm.........  | ||
| Sparky |
The wife & I are riding but our travel plans are not quite firmed up yet. Unless the family situation changes, we'd be starting out from the LA South Bay area to begin the first day's ride at Oceanside. It'd be more fun to start a day (or 2) early though.  Sparky 96S1, 98S3 | ||
| FB |
Pahrump, Pahass, Pahbutt, Pahtush, Pahkeister, Pahpushincushion...... hmmm, wonder exactly what kind of museum they have there?  FB | ||
| FB |
Sparky, the GP's got your name written all over it--lemme know if your "family situation" changes  FB | ||
| Rdrage |
Al, I'm registered but was looking for someone to room with and someone from SoCal to ride back with. | ||
| Al_Lighton |
Juan, I've already got a roommate for the trip, my buddy Tom. As far as riding back to SD, we're not going all the way to Eureka, will break off either at Tahoe or Vallejo, not sure yet. If that suits ya, you're welcome to ride back with us. BUT...Tom and I will both have Chatterboxes GMRS X1 radios. When we went to Colorado, the leader (usually me, cuz I had the radar detector) would make whatever pass needed in the twisties, and then radio when the pass was clear to the others, independent of the yellow line or blind corner status. All four of us on the trip had the radios. I'm sure the cars thought that the guys passing on blind corners were absolutely crazy, but in fact they knew from the radio that the coast was clear. In fact, one of the cages made a cell call to the police and got Grozzie pulled over, but he skated the ticket while we snickered into the radio at him 3/4's of a mile ahead. Nice guys, eh?  I recall Scott saying something on the last HHoH ride about you (could have been someone else) saying something about unwilling to pass on a double yellow.... If true, you may not WANT to ride back with us, because we definitely will. Your call. You might be able to borrow Steve H's radio if he's up for it. Just wanted to be up front about that part. Al | ||
| Sparkypdx |
Juan, I am riding down from Oregon and was planning on staying mostly in youth hostels on the way down Hwy 1/101. As for the BRAG ride I was thinking about staying in youth hostels on about half of the nights. But after a hard days ride I wasn't looking forward to riding another 50 to 70 miles. Plus I might miss out on some of the fun of being at the same hotel with other Buellers. Anyway Juan, I will e-mail you directly to see if we can hook up. Jon J. | ||
| Ebear |
Howdy AL!! Eric Barrows here , and I will be along on the complete ride so at least one more crazy willing to pass on a yellow will be along So what is the plan on getting rooms for this trip?Do we have to shoot from the hip or will Brag pre-reserve rooms as per entry numbers??I will be staying at my Dad's on the last sunday night(Walnut Creek , Bay Area)before the blast back down the 101 to SoCal.If anyone needs a riding partner on Monday!Memorial Day I believe! | ||
| Rdrage |
Don't think it was me Al... My bike broke down at the start of the ride!! Anyway, thanks for the info... I'll figure something out... | ||
| Blake |
BRAG has blocks reserved. Check out the information on the BRAG page at http://buell.com . | ||
| FB |
QUESTION: Know what the double-yellow line means to a sportbiker? ANSWER: NOTHIN'!!!!!!!!!!!!  i once led a small pack of Buells and their drivers on a high-speed pass by several big-rigs over a double-yellow and right thru the heart of a two-way left-turn lane. shouldn't have, but it happened  um, it took the LONGEST time for Heidi to forgive me... Ferris | ||
| FB |
hey Al, as the years have gone by i've thought more and more about getting some sort of bike-to-bike comm device (BBCD)--how do you like the Chatterbox? Racerboy and V2win, do you guys run with BBCD? Ferris | ||
| V2win |
Nope, Racerboy has a helmet with speakers for his cb radio when he rides his BMW. If I had something like that chatterbox I would have to listen to both him and my wife all the time. On a more serious note, I always ride my own ride, even when riding with Bob. I never make a pass because someone else says its ok, that I would not make if riding by myself. It's my life and if I am going to become a hood ornament, it will be because I screwed up. Not because someone else made a mistake. The guys I ride with can tell you that I dont ride slow and I dont ride stupid. John (old guy that has crashed enough to know when to cool it) |
