No I am not lost, the road is still paved. 6/13/15

[NevadaWolf]

So was the theme of this weekend.

Friday got my new Pilot Streets installed so had to go "scrub" them in by finding the twistiest route through the mountains I could. And of course see if my friend wanted to bring his sportbike out again (or he wanted to and so asked if I wanted to go out? I dunno, I think we both had the same thought and one called the other).

Our first restaurant choice fell through (whaddya mean you open at 10?) so again we met at Edelweiss Restaurant in Auburn. The cruiser crowd wasn't out for breakfast this morning, but a really pretty Bonneville was with a friendly rider who I talked to while waiting (my habit of arriving way early leaves me chat time with random strangers).



The rough idea was to head out towards Mosquito Ridge Road, then swing out through Ice House, and maybe wander over to Silver Fork and N South Road, then return via E16 and Georgetown Road. I'd planned this route last time, but our meander then took us elsewhere.

Unfortunately, midway down Mosquito Ridge I found my head just really wasn't in the game. I was approaching corners too hot for my liking (my focus was shot so "too hot" probably meant "normal"), slamming on my brakes every corner, and then gunning it out to make up lost momentum. Rinse repeat blarg. By the time we reached French Meadows Reservoir, I pulled over disgusted with my riding and opted to just hang and stare at the water for awhile. Greg said he was just using today to continue working with his bike and making friends with it so why not make today a lazy tour day? Deal!

I'd never done this route from Foresthill, so further along we reached a pretty major junction that threw off my mental map of the area. A sign read Georgetown and Hell Hole. I knew I didn't want to go towards Georgetown yet, so must be Hell Hole. Greg waited for me to make the decision (think the Fellowship waiting on Gandalf in the Mines of Moria) when I just looked towards Hell Hole and said what the hey! Let's have an adventure.

The road to Hell Hole was rough with pot holes, logging debris, frost heaves, shoddy patch work, and root bulges. Whee, stand on the pegs and go! We wound our way through the forest, eventually making it to the boat launch where we got a good first look at how bad the drought really is. Greg told me of times he came out here and the water was up to the tree level.



Another car came by who were lost and we tried helping them back only to discover the cut through road to the dam now has a rather unfriendly gate on it. Back to the Georgetown turn off! Made the turn, and found myself back in familiar territory. That was, until we crested the ridge and entered the heart of the King Fire. What had been a thick, lush forest, with a winding road cut through towering pines, aspens and manzanita hugging the shoulders, and lit by filtered sunlight that sparkled through the leaves was now a barren mountainside covered in a blanket of dry pine needles and filled with thin, twisted, blackened sticks. Over 97,000 acres just gone. My heart sank.



We left 11 Pines Rd and reached Wentworth Springs Rd, the edge of the burn. Pulling over for a stretch and water, we both sought the shade of the few trees that had escaped the fire and sat to relax a bit. Our short stop turned into a long siesta in the middle of the day and the plan was adjusted to just head to Georgetown now and then go down 193, Georgetown Road, to grab some lunch and ice cream.

Wentworth Springs is an awesome road, clear, wide, clean, open, with huge sweepers, and perfect pavement. But 193! I've said before California has no clue how to make a straight road and I hope no one ever instructs them on the use of a grader! Just past the American River was a section that was so perfectly spaced with curves, at the right speed you simply rock back and forth in a giggle inducing dance.

Stopped for lunch at McD's, and then back to Georgetown (of COURSE!) before heading off toward Auburn and a few more twisty goat roads back to Grass Valley. We again hung out - lazy day - at the fairgrounds talking bikes and watching traffic. I took Hwy 20 back over towards Truckee and home through Reno and Washoe. It was a great day!

But the weekend wasn't over!

My mom invited me to join the group ride over Ice House/Mosquito Ridge on Sunday. The nice thing about getting the long distance bug is doing the road again did not bother me in the least! I met up with everyone at Lakeside Inn where the crew of a Harley, Triumph Tiger 800XC, and Yamaha FJR 1300(?) were waiting. We headed out over 50 to go meet the last fellow on a BMW 1200GS was waiting.

What a difference a day and a couple hours makes! 50 at 7am on Saturday is heaven and Sunday at 9am down right hell. UGH! MOVE!!! Made it, met up with the Beemer, and then up Ice House to the first little Tourist Info place to stretch, cool off, and get layers sorted for the rest of the day.



The cruise back over Ice House, Wentworth Springs, 11 Pines, and Mosquito Ridge went much smoother for me today than yesterday. Maybe it was the first run of the season and I was doing it backwards so I was just unfocused. today back in the groove and settled in second to last for the ride to the deli in Foresthill. We even stopped at a little creek that had a surprising amount of water in it.



It was here I discovered that I was only about 20 miles away from 75,000 miles so while everyone went out to take pictures of the canyon below the Auburn-Foresthill Bridge (731 feet above the riverbed!), I made a quick lap of the road to eat up the last miles. Unfortunately, I misunderstood how long the stop would be and returned to find everyone gone (oops). Luckily, we'd already discussed where the next stop was so off I went down 49 towards Placerville.



Just outside the state park in Coloma, Hwy 49 takes a rather sharp left hand turn, with a second road proceeding straight. I'd always wondered where the straight road went, and today (due to my focus being on the truck in front of me vs the road) I found out where it went when I suddenly realized I missed the turn. Um, er, ok? A 20 mile wander through orchards, vineyards, ranches, and neat manicured lands brought me back into Placerville in a region I'd never been in before. I'm not lost, I'm having an adventure!

Met back up with everyone at the Fresh Pond gas stop (where my mom had been calling and texting me to find out where I was - my headset had died by this point). Then it was back up Hwy 50 and the return of the "You Shall Not Pass" drivers, off towards Tahoe for relaxing, then back to Carson for dinner, and then out to Fallon for home.

I'll call it from 6am Saturday till 8pm Sunday, somewhere around 800-900 miles, two awesome rides with friends and family. Yeah, this has definitely been an epic adventure weekend.

[Snake]

Wow that sounded like an awesome ride! Auburn is just North of Roseville, California where I grew up. Northern California is very beautiful.

[alex.s]

epic!

[ForceofWill]

Wow, looks like an awesome trip!

[NevadaWolf]

It was a great trip. Learned a lot of smaller old roads that helps builds on my map of what's where. So many twisty roads in that region that my friend always says can be an all day of solid curves and never more than 75 miles from where you started.

Course the more I ride around here, the more I want to move back to Carson so I'm closer to jumping over the hill into this playground.

[Motofool]

[EsrTek]

As always with you, nice ride w/ a great report on it....

If I ever get out that way..I soo want to do 1 of these routes w you...

Look forward to the next one!

[LittleRedNinjette]

[Numbersix]

Originally Posted by NevadaWolf

So was the theme of this weekend.

Friday got my new Pilot Streets installed

How'd you manage this? I've been waiting on a rear Michelin Pilot Street for over five weeks; no suppliers are reaching my local dealership nor any online retailer ('zilla, etc.).

[NevadaWolf]

Dennis Kirk had 130's in stock.

Same prob, no local shop could get them, online shops said out of stock. Think Kirk hada note saying "4 left".