December 3rd 2016. This was a ride organized by Bill from ZRXOA. Akshay (FZ1) and I joined Bill (Ninja 1000), Arash (ZRX1200) and Vijay (R1200RT) for an excellent ride through the Santa Cruz mountains. We met up at the intersection of Skyline and Hwy 92. After a few greetings, the usual “ZRX shop talk” and admiring each others bikes, we rode down at a brisk pace to Alice’s restaurant. I was surprised by how fast Arash and Bill were riding. Bill is 67 years old, with probably over 4 decades of riding experience, but he rides like he is 27. Arash too, as I learnt over the course of the day, is a very skilled rider.

We stopped by the STP area, admired the bike entourage and then continued down Hwy 84, Pescadero, Cloverdale, Gazos Creek to Hwy 1. We had lunch at Whale City Bakery Bar & Grill in Davenport, which serves the typical touristy fare. A quick sandwich and beer later we were on our way. Vijay decided to return to San Ramon and did not continue along with us.

Next up were Boony Doon and Empire Grade – both favorites of mine. We then rode down Jamison Creek Road to Hwy 236, which was my first time. Arash rode this entire stretch of 3 odd miles with the engine off! It was actually quite incredible – with no throttle, no engine braking and just downhill momentum, he was pretty fast through the corners, making it look very easy.

We gassed up in Boulder Creek, rode up Hwy 9 and took a short break at Skyline. From there Akshay and I parted ways with Bill and Arash and took the long freeway ride back home.

It was great meeting new ZRXOA riders and I had an awesome fun day of riding. I hope to ride with these guys again in the new year.

One of my favorite songs of the year has been “Ship to Wreck” by Florence + The Machine. A great track: fun, bubbly, crisp; not too serious, but no-nonsense at the same time. I couldn’t get it out of my head while riding this year, and that sort of summarizes how the ride went this year – a lot of fun, with some serious fast paced riding.

Day – 1

We started Day-1 as usual at Niles. We met at 8:30 in the morning, Bobby and I were there, Akshay and Shobhit rolled in about 15 minutes later. After a few quick pictures we were on our way. Akshay, Shobhit and I had Bluetooth enabled communication (SENA) setup in our helmets so we were constantly chatting, navigating, etc.

We rode through Sunol, over to Livermore and left the Bay Area using Patterson Pass Rd. It was my first time on that road and I enjoyed it. It is a much better alternative to the windy I-580 drone. It was already warming up by 9AM and we could feel the heat as we rode past the many windmills. Patterson Pass hit I580 and then I205. We took the freeway towards the central valley and got off on Hwy 120 towards Yosemite.

The plan was to get onto Hwy 4 towards Copperopolis, so I picked a deserted straight line connector – Van Allen Rd – between Hwy 120 and Hwy 4. Shobhit & Akshay gunned it – I think they topped out over 135 mph. I couldn’t get myself to go above 100, that was fun enough. We rode past strongly smelling cattle farms and by this time the temps were well into the 90s.

We took Hwy 4 towards the Sierras and as it starts getting windy we turned off onto Pole Station Road. This is a nice curvy connector between Hwy 4 and Hwy 49. The pavement is a little rough though and there was a little bit of traffic. I was following Bobby and on one of the blind curves he came fairly close to this wide truck with a metal frame around it. That was probably the only “incident” during this trip, luckily.

We then turned on to Hwy 49, rode through traffic to get to the town of Sutter Creek. Lunch for the day was at Gold Dust Pizza where we wolfed down two pretty good giant pizzas along with some beer. The temps were over a 100 now. We geared up, got back on to Hwy 49 and then turned off on Shenandoah Rd. The next part of our ride was through Amador county wine country – Shenandoah Rd, Mt. Aukum Rd, Bucks Bar Rd, Pleasant Valley Rd and Cedar Ravine Rd. All five of these roads are excellent – the tarmac was great, the traffic was very light and the views were awesome while riding along the various wineries.

We passed through Placerville and our plan was to ride Hwy 193 to Georgetown. Akshay, Shobhit and me were leading with Bobby a minute or so behind. As we turned right on to Hwy 193 we stopped for Bobby a few hundred yards down the hill. He didn’t see us turn right, so he kept going straight on Hwy 49. We back tracked a little to find him, but after searching for a few minutes we could see him anywhere. So continued along Hwy 49, skipping Hwy 193 and eventually found him at the side about 20 miles down the road. It was a relief to re-group with him and from then on we decided to never leave more than a 60 second gap between each other.

From Hwy 49 we turned on to Old Foresthill road where we stopped briefly to take pictures of the Foresthill Bridge. This is the tallest bridge in California – it is incredibly tall and majestic, especially when looking up towards it from the bottom. The temps were well above a 100 at this point.

We rode up to Foresthill and took a break for gas and some well deserved gatorade. As we climbed in elevation is started to cool off, but it was still pretty hot there. We also picked up some beer and converted Shobhit’s top box into a beer cooler full of ice and beer.

From there on we turned on to Mosquito Ridge Rd. I had heard so many good things about this road – and they were pretty much all true. MRR is superb – the curves are plentiful, perfectly banked and most importantly, they come at you at an even pace. So there is work involved in steering the motorcycle, but it’s at such an even pace that it does not tire you out. It’s easy to exit one curve and fall into the next one, while doing a brisk 40-50 mph. The road does it’s fair share of descent and climb, alternating between the two as it dances between a few mountain ridges. There was no traffic at all – I think we must have passed maybe 2-3 vehicles tops. The views along this road are also excellent. The road is mostly tree lined, shaded and cool. It turned out to be an excellent way to end the days ride.

About a mile before the reservoir MRR offers this superb panorama of the entire reservoir and the the  L.L. Anderson Dam which holds it back (across the Middle Fork of the American River). We stopped by the dam for some pictures and then rode to our campsite about 3 miles away.

We were in campsites #49 and #50 – which were very close to the water. After pitching our tents we hiked down to the reservoir and soaked our feet in the cool water. Firewood was available with the campsite host for a small donation of 50c per log. Akshay was able to haul a few logs in Shobhit’s top case. We lit a campfire, and enjoyed some beer & whiskey. Dinner was chana-bhatura and a little bit of mama noodles, both cooked on a small camping stove – we all enjoyed it.

 

Day – 2

Day-2 was probably the most fun riding of any MC Trip so far. We woke up early with the sun, each of us managing a few hours of sleep – the most that camping really allows. We boiled some tea on the stove, but the milk had gone bad, so the tea was pretty awful. We tossed it into the firepit after a few sips. We packed up, geared up and left pretty quickly.

First road of the day was French Meadows Rd. It runs about 10 miles from the dam to 11 Pines Rd. The tarmac is not very great probably because it’s not used very much, but the curves are nice and views are even nicer. It’s one of those roads where there is no center line, no shoulder and no barricade. We passed a total of 0 cars on that 10 mile stretch.

We arrived at the junction of 11 Pines Rd and decided to proceed down instead of riding up to Hell Hole reservoir. 11 Pines is another gem – some very nice twisties, again no traffic whatsoever and the serene Sierras to ride through. As we rode through there we could see the effects of the Foresthill fire – a lot of dead black tree stumps and fresh green vegetation growing at the bottom. It was a superb ride. We stopped at this super high bridge where 11 Pines crosses the Rubicon River. This was a very picturesque spot and the bridge was probably over 200 feet tall. A little bit of searching and I found the name – Ellicott Bridge.

Along 11 Pines there was a short section full of fine saw dust. We had to ride through carefully.

 

11 Pines dead ends into Wentworth Springs Rd which was the best road of the day. WSR is up there with MRR on the list of best roads I have EVER ridden. The tarmac is amazing, not a a single bump or crack in the pavement. The views are excellent and the curves are just right. A true sport bikers dream, this road delivered! We were all grinning ear to ear as we came to the end at Ice House Rd. Bobby also enjoyed it – in fact he pushed his bike much harder and caught up with the rest of us here.

We then worked our way towards Hwy 50 on Ice House Rd. Another good one, but traffic was heavy with a lot of tour buses as we came closer to Hwy 50. We rode south on Hwy 50 for a little bit and exited at Pollock Pines. Our plan was to have lunch at the Burger Barn, but we arrived way before 11AM, so we decided to make do with some coffee at Starbucks and fast food at Taco Bell.

After gassing up the next road of the day was Mormom Emigrant Trail. I was not very impressed here – this is a mostly straight, albeit picturesque, connector between Hwy 50 and Hwy 88. There was a little bit of traffic. This road is mostly suited to high speed riding (think Busa or ZX14), I kept it under 90 for the most part, but Shobhit and Akshay were way ahead of me.

We rode Hwy 88 towards Kirkwood, a very scenic ride, turned on to Hwy 89, rode through Markleeville and then arrived at the junction of Hwy 4 and Hwy 89. Akshay wanted to dip into the river there. So we parked at the side of the road and hiked down to the water (“The Poor Boy Creek” of the Carson River). The water was cool and invigorating, we met up with a few people there trying their hand at fly fishing.

At the top of Carson Pass.

Gearing back up we rode over Monitor Pass and down to Hwy 395. I’ve now done this road so many times, I decided to hang back and ride behind Bobby. He was no slouch in his riding and I appreciated his smooth riding style through the curves. His bike (R1150GS) is large and top heavy, so when he leans it over it appears to be really leaning a lot. At the end of each day, he was probably the most tired of the 4 of us, steering the 600 lb bike through all those curves.

We rode Hwy 395 (the freeway of the Eastern Sierras) to Whoa Nellie Deli and stopped for some beer and fries. After some decent pale ale, we decided to ride around the June Lake Loop (Hwy 158). As approached Grant Lake, we could see a lot of cars and trucks parked right besides the lake. We decided to ride down to the lake to get some pictures, but the path was full of gravel. Shobhit and I made it down all the way, but Akshay got stuck and tipped his bike over partially in the gravel. I helped him up, and we decided to turn around and get back on to the road. Bobby in the meanwhile had already turned around, he did not venture into the deep gravel.

We stopped at June Lake for dinner, at what I’s describe as the worst sandwich shop I’ve ever been to, Alpine Deli and Pizza Co. Initially the deli owner cracked bad jokes “Your sandwich will take 2 hours to make”, and it did take quite long. When it arrived, it was terrible, I’m sure even Anushka or Valmik could put together a better sandwich. Bobby ordered a salad which was equally bad. I think he trashed most of it. We picked up come tequila from the nearby grocery store and were on our way.

We were all tired at this point, so we pressed on to our destination for the day – The Inn Benton Hot Springs. Hwy 120 was superb as always, and the dips in the road kept us entertained. We got to Benton exhausted after a full day of riding. This year we were housed in the Conway House – an ancient three bedroom house that sits to one side of the property. While I had really enjoyed the visit to Benton in 2013, this time it had lost it’s charm. The house had plenty of hot water (even the toilets flushed hot water) but no cold water, none to drink, none to bathe in, none at all. Akshay and Shobhit had to walk over to the main house to fill up some drinking water. The hot tub was a tad dirty and the whole house was underwhelming. As the evening progressed Akshay & I rode two-up on Bobby’s BMW to the store 4 miles down the road at Hwy 6. We bought some beer and chips and consumed much of that through the night.

Day – 3

Our last day was an easy ride back home. We packed and geared up and rode across Hwy 120. We gassed up once again at Whoa Nellie Deli and rode over Tioga pass through Yosemite. The ride up to the pass was fun, but we quickly hit traffic as we crawled into the park. We paid the steep entrance fee ($20 per bike), pun intended, and worked our way through the slow moving traffic in the park. After a short stop for pictures at Olmsted Point, we were on our way.

Lunch was at the Iron Door Saloon, but our bad luck with food continued. The food (garden burgers) was delayed and when it finally came out, it was very ordinary. Bobby’s Caprese salad wasn’t very impressive either. As we left, we chatted a little with a couple of Canadian Harley riders. They were from Alberta riding through the US for a few weeks with their last stop in Sturgis. I’ve thought about visiting Sturgis, maybe that will happen one of these years.

We fought the usual Bay Area traffic (every single year now!) and made it back home by about 3:30PM. I unpacked, took a long shower and then attended Anushka’s End of Season Dinner and Awards at MVSC.

Don’t touch the sleeping pills, they mess with my head
Dredging the Great White Sharks, swimming in the bed
And here comes a Killer Whale, to sing me to sleep
Thrashing the covers off, it has me by it’s teeth

This year was arguably the best 3-day ride I’ve been on so far.

Planning for the 2015 Summer motorcycle trip started early in the year, about January or February. Since we were going to India in July, I decided to plan it out in June, and after much planning we ended up with the last weekend in June. I booked a campsite at the Mono Hot Springs Camground for the night of June 26th. June 27th was also my 11th wedding anniversary.

This year there were 4 riders: Shobhit, Bobby and me – the usual trio, plus Akshay who rides a 2007 Yamaha FZ-1. Shobhit and I had been riding with Akshay for a few months now and Shobhit liked the FZ-1 so much that he sold his CBR and bought a 2008 FZ-1 a couple of months before the trip. Akshay is an advanced rider, with solid skills both riding and wrenching.

Day 1

We met at Niles Cafe on the morning of June 26th at 9AM. It’s been a tradition of sorts – starting out at Niles on Friday morning. There is a small insurance office right there on Niles Blvd and the owner pulled up in a beautiful red 1968 Ford Mustang convertible. I had a good chat with her; the car was a daily driver! Next Bobby rolled in on his GS, complaining of a clunking sound from the front end. Turns out his horn had come off loose, dangling from a single electric wire. We quickly bolted it back on and he was fine for the rest of the trip. Shobhit and Akshay rolled in next and after a couple of quick pics, we were on our way.

We took the freeway (680 and 101) till we reached the end of San Jose and exited at Bailey. We then rode around Uvas reservoir (which surprisingly had some water in it). Uvas Rd is a short fun ride with gentle turns and good views. We then got into Hollister and stopped for our first gas stop.

Akshay was having trouble with his bike. The FZ1 was cutting out intermittently and was getting hard to ride, especially on the corners. We decided to investigate. Akshay pulled out his tools and with Shobhit and me, we took off the plastic panels and the tank. Akshay initial suspected the kickstand switch, but after some googling of the error codes, he started to think that it was his mass air flow sensor (which is also a temperature sensor on the FZ1 apparently). We called around a few dealers, but none of them had the sensor in stock. So buttoned the bike up and decided to press on. We were hoping the problem would resolve itself.

We rode down Hwy 25 (always a favorite) from Hollister and turned left onto Panoche Rd. Panoche Rd is a fun motorcycle road, but there were lots of patches of gravel. The road is clean and easy initially, but gets rough, goaty, narrow and sandy as you ride further on. It was also starting to get hot (noon), and I could feel my feet and legs heat up with the engine heat and the heat coming off the asphalt.

Our lunch stop for the day was at Panoche Inn. I was actually the last in our riding group and pulled into the bar, while Shobhit, Akshay and Bobby rode past. They soon realized that I had stopped, so they turned around and came back. The temps were now close to 100F and it felt really great to step into the air conditioned bar. We each had a cold beer and sandwich. The owner of the place was friendly and told us many stories of his life & the place. His wife also chatted with us briefly. I pulled out a dollar bill, wrote “Desi Riderz 2015” on it and stuck it to the ceiling. Our little contribution to his retirement I guess. Interestingly this guy collects currency from around the world and he showed us his impressive little collection. I got a card from him and I plan to mail him some Indian and Filipino currency.

We pressed on. It was now VERY hot. From Panoche Rd. we turned left onto Little Panoche Rd, and the first couple of miles offers a straight flat road with nobody in sight. Akshay and Shobhit gassed it hard; Akshay actually hit 148mph; I probably let go at 120mph. Little Panoche Rd is actually better than Panoche Rd. As you cross over from San Benito county to Fresno County the road surface improves drastically. It was a fun ride with many nice curves and absolutely no traffic. I think we must have crossed 1 or 2 cars that whole 30 mile stretch.

As we crossed the central valley I could feel the intense heat. I was very uncomfortable, but the ZZR was OK. The temperature gauge barely made it a quarter of the way up – I just think the cooling system on the ZZR is so over designed that it is impossible to overheat that bike while riding. We stopped for gas at the outskirts of Fresno. It was now over a 100F and Bobby got some ice cream from McDonalds.

We gassed up and left, riding through Fresno on Hwy 168. I found Hwy 168 to be a very special road. Right out of Fresno it becomes two-lane and winding with a super smooth surface. The highway then slowly climbs the mountains while still being this super fast 4 lane road with wide sweepers. I was leading the pack up the mountain and enjoying myself taking these curves at 80-90mph. It was a fun ride and it was probably the first time I pushed the ZZR to such an extreme.

Our last gas stop for the day was at Shaver Lake at a gas station & convenience store run by Indians. We chatted with them in Hindi and were on our way. The next stretch of Hwy 168 is a sport bikers dream. It’s almost a race track for the next 20-30 miles. Perfectly banked curves, super smooth surface and not a whole lot of traffic – made for some excellent spirited riding. This was definitely a road I would come back to again. We stopped briefly at the intersection of Kaiser Pass Rd and Hwy 168 and then started our climb towards Kaiser Pass. Kaiser Pass Rd is also a nice fun road. Initially it is smooth and curvy, good for high speeds. But after a few miles in, the road breaks apart, literally. The pavement becomes rough, the road narrows to a single lane and the turns get really tight. We probably ran that last 20 mile section at an average speed of 15mph. Crossing oncoming vehicles was challenging on that road. There is a little sign at the top of Kaiser Pass, but we did not stop. A little further down the road is a ranger station and then the road descends into this thick forest. All along the views were simply … breathtaking.

Right before Mono Hot Springs is a green metal bridge across the South Fork of the San Joaquin river. We stopped for a few pictures and then rolled into our campsite at the Mono Hot Springs Campground.

We quickly pitched our tents and went for a dip in the river. The waters were cool, clear and rejuvenating after a long day of riding. Across the shallow river are a few natural hot springs. We took a short dip in the “Old Pedro” spring which was really at the perfect warm temperature. Dinner was a pretty good buffalo burger at the resort restaurant. We lit a campfire, chatted a little over some scotch and then turned in for the night.

Day 2

We packed up our campsite and left Mono Hot Springs at about 9AM. Akshay had an unexpected guest sitting on his bike. A small frog climbed up his bike, probably hoping to catch a ride out of there.

I always feel the sierras are especially beautiful in the mornings. We enjoyed the slow but scenic ride back across Kaiser pass and hit Hwy 168 (the racetrack) down to Shaver Lake. We stopped briefly on Hwy 168 to get pictures of Huntington Lake. There was some sort of optical illusion there. When looking at the lake stretching to the horizon, it appears as it the lake is curving up or gaining altitude.

We got gas at Shaver Lake and while we were pulling out Bobby dropped his giant GS. The packing lot had a gentle slope and Bobby was trying to back out. He lost control and down went the big GS. I caught it on my action-cam. Luckily both Bobby and the bike were OK. Nothing major and we were on our way.

We peeled off Hwy 168 and took Auberry Rd towards the small town Auberry. Auberry Rd was such a treat! The curves were perfectly banked (downhill even), the tarmac was very smooth and the views were amazing. The traffic was very light and we all had some high speed fun. As we came down to Auberry the temps were rising and we started feeling the heat. Next we took a few backroads in the area – Power House Rd, which runs to the PG&E A.G. Wishon Power plant, built in 1927 (seen in the pic below) – North Fork Rd – Crane Valley Rd and Teaford Saddle Rd, which got us to into Oakhurst. These were fun rural backroads with little traffic (compared to the Bay Area).

We then pulled into the South Gate Brewing Co in Oakhurst. They had a decent selection of beer and the andouille sausage sandwich was pretty good. We were all very hungry and tired from the 100+ temps outside. Akshay’s bike was still not running well and cutting out every now and then. He was clearly frustrated, but we decided to press on.

We rode Hwy 49 from Oakhurst to Mariposa and decided to stop for gas. It was easily over 105F. Akshay was even more frustrated with his poorly running bike, so he decided to take one more shot at troubleshooting the bike. We stripped the bike off it’s plastics, but not before stripping off all our gear. And there at that strange Mariposa gas station, with all of us standing in our riding underwear, Akshay discovered the problem – a loose connection to the mass air flow sensor. Apparently he had not taped it back up 100% when he last worked on it.

The stretch of Hwy 49 between Mariposa and Coulterville is called the “Little Dragon”, named after the famous “Tail of the Dragon” in North Carolina. Yes, this is a great motorcycling road, but no, we did not really enjoy it. With the 110F heat, the tar snakes were really soft and all of us felt the bikes sliding the front when riding through the turns. Akshay’s bike was now running perfectly, but we all slowed down and rode through the hot dragon at a gentle pace. The heat was really overbearing. From Coulterville we rode on to Sonora sticking to Hwy 49. Our original plan was to take some back roads like Priest Grade and Wards Ferry, but we skipped those because we were all quite tired.

After Sonora, we turned right off Hwy 49 on Parrots Ferry Rd towards a small village called Columbia. Parrots Ferry turned out to be another one of those gems. A fun short road that connects Sonora on Hwy 49 to Hwy 4. There is a nice bridge on Parrots Ferry that offers excellent views while approaching it and riding on it.

We then road up Hwy 4 to Dorrington and made it Bobby’s friends cabin where we stayed the night. We had dinner at Arnold Pantry a kitchen, grocery store and restaurant all rolled up into one. Their locally sourced organic veggie burger (made from beets) was pretty good and we enjoyed a short Jazz/Bluegrass concert on the grass behind the restaurant while we ate.

Day 3

We were contemplating where to ride on Day 3. Ebbetts pass was closed due to a forest fire around Markleeville. So no going up Hwy 4. After playing around with Google maps we decided to ride out to Hwy 26 and then head home. We started off with a short detour to the Sourgrass Day Use Picnic Area on the North Fork Stanislaus River. A nice peaceful place for a picnic. There we met this guy (from the Bay Area) that had ridden his Triumph Scrambler off-road up on Rattlesnake Creek Rd. He had just come down the 3-5 mile stretch and parked next to our bikes. As we started chatting with him, we saw oil pouring out of his oil pan. He had probably hit a rock on his way down and now his oil filter and oil pan were leaking. He was bummed about having to truck his bike back to the Bay Area.

We rode south on Hwy 4 till the town of Avery and turned right onto Avery- Sheep Ranch Rd. This turned out to be an excellent choice. Sheep Ranch is a small town hidden deep in the Sierra foothills. The road was curvy, smooth and a lot of fun. We then took Railroad Flat Rd (to the small town of Railroad Flat!) which finally lead us to Hwy 26. I loved these rural county backroads. It’s hard to describe that feeling …riding along a meandering road, with very little traffic to deal with, great scenery all along, in no particular hurry, but still keeping it spirited. I’m happy that we stayed off the main highways and explored some off beat routes like Auberry, Parrots Ferry and Sheep Ranch. That made this trip all the more special.

After a short break, we turned left onto Hwy 26 and started to make our way home. Hwy 26 is a great motorcycling road too. The fun parts (between Hwy 88 and Hwy 49) are not too long, but the pavement is freshly laid and the curves are plentiful. The only downside was the moderate traffic; We passed a lot of cars, campers and Harley riders. We rode Hwy 26 all the way to Stockton. We passed through the farming towns of Valley Springs, Oak Grove and Linden. It was a Sunday and nobody was in town. We tried a couple of Mexican restaurants on the way but they were all closed. We finally ended up eating a late lunch at this awesome Mexican place in Stockton – Mariscos Nuevo Altata. The tacos there were honestly the best tacos I’ve ever eaten. We were the only non-Latino people at that restaurant and with all our biking gear, we got a lot of stares. Nonetheless, it was the best meal of the entire trip, something I will never forget.

We made it home from there, fighting the customary traffic on 580. We lost sight of Bobby while lane splitting, but he texted me when he reached home safely. We made it home in the early evening, exhausted after three days and 800 miles of riding, but it was an awesome experience.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=wNfmGq1tN-k

The ZZR did really well. It has the power and the comfort one needs for long trips. It had no problems with aggressive riding for three days and 800 miles in 100F+ temps. I love this bike.

Padded cycling shorts are great for such trips. They work much better than cotton briefs in keeping comfortable and dry.

I look forward to another ride next summer!