To add to that trip journal, but who knows when I’ll have time (or frankly, where I even left off). So maybe the thing to do is work backwards.
Saturday, 7/30/11
Not much this day. Went in the morning as scheduled to salem Honda/bmw to get new rear pads installed, pick up an oil filter. Really nice guys, reasonable prices, in and out in no time so good. Their theory is that the rapid wear is due to the bad scoring of the rear rotor, which is probably correct. Will have to replace it when I get home.
Picked up an oil filter while I was there, and back at the house did an oil change. Only around 2k miles since the last, but figured this would be the last chance for a DIY change till I get home, so might as well.
Friday, 7/29. A short riding day, mostly family.
Started the day where I’d ended the previous, with Sam at the Stove Camp, in Cottage Grove, OR.
Not really relevant to the ride, but this is a really cool place. Sam is my nephew, out of college a couple of years now (aerospace engineering degree) who somehow got hooked up with these folks who are working on developing efficient and clean burning and inexpensive and simple stoves that could be used in developing nations, saving fuel, economical for the users, and better for their health and the overall environment. The week I arrived coincidentally they were doing a ‘stove camp’ where people from all over who are interested in the work can develop their own ideas, share insights, etc. Friday was the end, so they were all presenting their results, observations, where they’re going next, and it was a really interesting morning. From solar to use of different fuels to different designs. Like I said to someone, they could be growing dope there, it was that kind of feel to the place, but instead they’re doing real science. They were carefully monitoring CO outputs, Particulate Matter outputs, heat production, etc. and presenting to each other with all sorts of charts and data sets. You could tell these were serious folks.
Ok. After that sam wanted to go surfing to I went up to salem. Rode a bit on the 99 which parallels the interstate, then sam had suggested I do the rest of the 80 or so mile trip on the interstate so I did.
Something or other county between Cottage Grove and Salem is the Grass Seed capital of America. Who’d have known. But what you see then in farmland is just these huge fields of grass. Not long like for hay, just grass.
Got to salem, found the LA’s place, and just hung out.
Thursday, 7/28 From north of SF to Oregon
This was a day to just wander the northern California wine country and the redwood forests and get my way somewhere towards LA. Since the campground to LA’s house was 600 miles I knew it very unlikely I’d get all the way there, not if I wanted to do anything but ride nonstop, so I’d crash someplace along the way.
Route for starters was the 101, which runs some inland and then picks up the coast. I’d driven the PCH and didn’t really want a long slow ride, so I opted to skip that.
It was cold in the am, so instead of riding and then stopping for coffee/breakfast, I decided to start that way. Skipped the denny’s and went to a local joint, which seemed a pretty good idea. Prices were absurd, it made me miss Norm’s in LA, but oh well. It was such a local hangout. Everyone was coming in, chatting, moving table to table, various generations. Some interesting comments on the bike, travelling, but not much. Only got bad when the guys in the booth beind me, and a couple of their friends who’d stopped to chat, started in with the jewish jokes. I can’t remember how it started, some comment, and then one joke to another as they were competing for the ‘funniest?’ made me want to just pack in and go, so I did.
The riding was easy and very nice. You can get off the 101 at countless places and ride through vineyards, which was cool. Too bad I couldn’t buy or taste, so I skipped the tours, still pretty and a change from other stuff I’d ridden thru.
Then thru the redwoods, which of course was spectacular. Have to keep remembering them when I say I have big trees on my property. Yeah right.
As I emerged from the forest and to the coast, it got much cooler. Glad again I’ve got that liner for the jacket, I needed it. Nice to get a last stretch of coastal riding though. At one point when the road cut in a bit, as we were crossing a river (kalimah? Something like that, right around Humboldt bay) there were all these cars stopped right on the bridge, others stopped before and after and people were walking over, etc. I was pretty wiped by that time, my midafternoon fade, so I thought I’d park and walk down and see what’s up. Well the view was really nice, but that’s not why the commotion. There was a whale in the river. Well, I couldn’t get its picture, but that was certainly cool. I’ll have to try and see if the news crew I saw there got a good pic and I can steal their image. Photo of the CHP car is because of the poor officer inside on his loudspeaker pleading for people to move their cars, not stand in the middle of the bridge etc. I felt sorry for him.
Oh, speaking of CHP, I got stopped for speeding for the first time on the trip today. He only gave me a warning, no souvenir ticket. Probably a good thing.
From the northern end of 101 in California over-rode the garmin and decided to take 199 to Grant’s Pass to I-5 up towards Salem. I was getting tired and wanted to get my twisties out of the way earlier, and finish the day on easy slab. Good choice. The 199 was a really nice ride. Starts through some amazing redwood sections, then winds thru and over what ever mountains for the next 25/30 miles or so, then through the valleys and out towards the interstate. About 80 miles in all., in the middle of which you cross into Oregon. Bye-bye California.
When I stopped for gas just before the interstate my rear wheel locked on exiting, made me check and sure enough no material left on my back pad. Hope to find a shop in salem where I can get it fixed.
Ok, so I went through that 199, and decided day’s end would be at Sam’s, a bit south of LA. Maybe 500 miles or so in the day, plenty given my little side visits and stops. Jumped on the interstate and ran up pretty quickly to his town. I was tired by this point, no doubt, so not as fast as I might have, rather caution given the many construction zones along the way etc.
Got to sam’s town ok, got lost despite getting directions from three folks along the way, but eventually made it. A miniature couch in a (fill in the blank, he’s just a young man, after all) trailer never felt so good. There were people camping there but I just didn’t feel like setting up the tent. Couch will do.
Wednesday, July 27, leaving LA, heading north
So much as I was enjoying hanging out in LA, it is finally time to get back on the road. Plan for the day is to head north, hopefully ending someplace above San Francisco, so the trip to the Bentsons in Oregon would be a manageable two days. My college room mate had said he’s about halfway between LA and SF so I thought I might take a break and visit him, if we could work it out.
I decided not to travel the PCH, which I’ve done already and knew would just take a whole lot longer, and instead take the 101 all the way north. Looking at the map it looked like a good route to go all the way up California. Mike said he lives just off the 101, which means he’s on the way.
It was a nice ride, nothing major along the way, went a few times on what they called 101 business so I could check out towns along the route for a change of pace. Burned lots of time stopping, trying to connect with Mike, which in fact never worked out. Turns out he was on the golf course, as is his daily routine.
That put me behind schedule, and a major traffic jam before SF just made it worse. I was hoping to get through SF before dark, and be able to find a campsite above the city and get settled. Well, that traffic jam made that impossible, so I asked Garmin for the nearest KOA. The location they gave seemed odd, but I followed, and it turns out was totally wrong. Was right in the middle of SF, not a KOA but rather some senior housing facility. That wasted lots of time. After realizing that I asked for the next which was about 30 miles north of the city. Got totally turned around trying to find the Golden Gate which would continue my route on the 101 to where the campsite is. It was really cold too, and foggy. And dark by this time. Ok, I’ll just push on. Garmin was working, but I was afraid it might die, being at the end of a long day and the limit of the battery life. But eventually it got me there, I got checked in to the site in Petaluma, and it was fine.
First real test of the Motofizz bag, getting unloaded and camp set up. Millions of times easier than what I’d been using, already proving its value. So glad I got it.
Something like $45 for the KOA was steepest I’d paid, but a lot cheaper than motels around there, so worth it. Actually it’s a really nice one. Paved roads, not gravel, for the first time. Yay. A real pool (not that I used it, it was cold, remember.) They have organized bus tours of the city, wine country in the area, but I didn’t take advantage. I’ve been to SF before, so didn’t want to spend the day there.
Thurs 21 July – Wed 27 July, Los Angeles.
After pushing across the country, spending days wandering national parks and other open spaces, it was nice to be in the city. I quickly decided to alter the plan to recharge there for a brief couple of days and go to Yosemite, I’ll have to do that another trip. I got the oil changed at BMW Hollywood, mostly just hung out, exploring the various beaches; once in Venice, once to Santa Monica, once to Malibu.
The riding highlight of the visit was when we rode to something called the Rock Store. It’s a popular destination, check the web. No celebs there despite the advertised possibility, but to get there we went up the PCH to Malibu, then out one canyon road, and back another to the city. So it was nice riding, and a nice destination. Lots of bikes there, of all types, mostly local folks but clearly a comfortable friendly place.
Not much else to report on the LA visit here.
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