riding around CA and OR

[wookie]

Just finished four days riding around northern california and southern oregon. I'm sitting in SFO waiting for my flight home (yeah redeye flight) so I thought I would do a quick write up of my trip.

For those with short attention spans here is the summary: cold (low 30s to low 40s), lots and lots of rain, great roads, no drama.

I rented a BMW R1200R in San Fran on Thursday from motorcycle rentals dubbelju motorbikes in san francisco. This guy is great. The bikes are well taken care of (meaty brake pads and plenty of wear left on the tires). He also knows his California roads and is helpful with suggested routes. Basically, he looks at the weather, asks how far you want to go, and suggests a route. You are free to do whatever route you want, but he knows some great roads and I used a bunch of his suggestions.

Just a couple of hours of travel on Thursday night. It was neat leaving San Fran over the golden gate bridge and seeing a bunch of other folks on bikes. Only downside was the rain and rush hour traffic.

Friday morning I headed out early and drove up along the california coast. Along the way I hit some silly roads like this

hales grove, ca - Google Maps

and

northspur ca - Google Maps

I simply cannot say how amazing the roads out there are. Beautiful pavement and 20-30 mile stretches of curves (imagine rt 17 going for 20-30 miles and including flat sections). And these types of roads are everywhere in Northern California and they are empty!!!! In some cases I would only see another car every 20 minutes or so. Also, folks in california seem really good about staying on their side of the yellow line. The pavement is often in perfect condition (no bumps mid corner) and sometimes the corners are banked (how cool is that). I only saw cops/speed traps in the towns...when you are out in the country (at least in January) there are no speed traps.

One interesting part of the day was meeting a couple that was traveling around the world on bikes 2ridetheworld.com . Nice folks and I wish them well on their continued travels.

Ended up in Coos Bay Oregon on Friday night. After 14 hours and riding 500+ miles of twisties I was exhausted.

Tomorrow I'll finish the write up and add a bunch of pictures.

[KillBill]

I can't wait to see some pix

[Dangerz0ne]

My home base. Can't wait to be back someday.

[wookie]

here are some pics

[KillBill]

I miss California

[wookie]

Two more. I wish I took more pictures and I think I need to learn more about photography. It rained a lot and there were rarely good places to pull of and take pics in the twisty sections.

[KillBill]

Two more. I wish I took more pictures and I think I need to learn more about photography. It rained a lot and there were rarely good places to pull of and take pics in the twisty sections.

Was that near Monterey?

[wookie]

So Saturday I rode from Coos Bay (Oregon) along rt 42 East. The morning started off with light rain at 43 degrees. By the time I was an hour or two down the road (and into the higher elevation) the temp dropped to 32 degrees...between the cold/rain/fear of ice it was an uncomfortable ride. Luckily the bike stayed planted and the rain didn't freeze on the road. I reached interstated 5, headed south and swung back west along route 199. I was thankful when I finally made in through the highest elevation on rt 199 and returned to the California coast.

BTW - considering the conditions my gear really held up well. The new first gear TPG jacket kept me warm and dry. My joe rocket pants (with lots of layers underneath also did the job). The only dissapointment was my roadgear winter gloves. They soaked through within 3 or so hours in the rain (thankfully I had two back-up pairs of gloves).

[wookie]

Was that near Monterey?

most of those pics are from route 1 between Jenner, CA and Leggett, CA (north of San Fran).

[OreoGaborio]

Sweet, bro. Sorry to hear bout the rain but glad ya got some good riding in.

[butcher bergs]

So sweet!