The WCGT Part II - Day 3: Map

View Larger Map

Forgot to post the route...

Return of the WCGT Part II - Northbound: Day 3

Thought I'd give it another shot... My photos have been recovered, so it seemed fit to start up again before I forget the trip entirely.  It is now a bit outdated, but it should still make for a good read.

Above is a view from a mountain that Highway 139 in Northern California

In the parking lot where the former pic was taken. Jack does what he does, and finds my spark plug to be loose...

The day ended at Crater Lake National Park.  It was mostly flat terrain until reaching the Park, so not much to report for this day, just had to get past the flat.  More to come.

Update -- 16 May 2011

So... For the few that may have been following this blog, I hit an unexpected snag soon after the introduction.  My computer, on which resides my camera software, died a few months back.  I have been limited to a small netbook without a disc reader, keeping me from installing my camera software.  I have yet to discover a way to transfer the pictures from my camera's card, but I am sure there is a way, and I intend to find a solution soon.

The end of the school semester is next week, so my available time will increase drastically, possibly allowing my to get this thing rolling once again.  It was an interesting trip and I'd like to document it, to preserve the memory, if nothing else.  I know that there is a tremendous gap between this post and my last, but don't give up hope.  I have good intentions, it is finding the time that remains difficult.  And to be honest, I have a ridiculously poor memory, so bear with me.

Cheers.


Abel.

The WCGT Part II - North Bound: Day 2

View Larger Map

Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, CA to Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA; approximately 200 miles.. After packing up our first camp, we head up the west side of the lake towards Tahoe city, where we plan to get breakfast at a restaurant Geoff knows, called Rosie's.

     First Camp site.  Here I stand looking like I'm doing something.

     Here is the restaurant, called Rosie's.  The interior is decorated with antique bicycles, dozens of them.

     We rode into Truckee, CA, resupplied  and continued north on Hwy 89.  The entire length of 89 is a fairly decent ride and very scenic.  Geoff spotted some train infrastructure, so we dismounted and hiked around to get a view.  Some pretty cool stuff in this area.  Some dates found in the concrete work indicated that much of this was built back in the 20's.

    A lake.

     

     A lot of wide open spaces, so not the best road for my bike, but the view of Lassen distracts you enough to forget that I'm going 60 mph on a two wheeled riding lawn mower.

     So now it gets fun again.  National parks seem to mandate that all roads be very twisty and never over 45 mph.  So... they are perfect for the TW, and I get to thoroughly enjoy the end of this day.  Here is what you see from the south entrance.

     Both bikes, midway up the park.

     Due to us wanting to take a certain road from end to end on the way back home, we ended up taking this same road.  After a couple of weeks, this frozen lake you see below had paddle boats on it... I am not sure if I have an "after" photo, so I thought I'd mention it now.  Rather odd.  Another change that occurred while traveling was about 8 miles of unfinished road; on the way up, it was slick oiled gravel, on the way down it was all smooth tarmac.

     Our campsite for the night.  At the north end of the park. Photo taken the next morning...

     P.S. I added a bit more to the introduction section, concerning the idea for the trip...

The WCGT Part II - North Bound: Day 1

View Larger Map

     Day One arrives.  The plan is to take a certain windy one lane road that begins a ways past Coulterville.  It was hot. Very.  And I was not yet immune to the harmonic frequency one experiences while straddling a 200cc engine completely wound out...  But the road was worth it, and the lower speeds were appreciated.  Below I am captured taking my background photo.

    Bridge on Ward's Ferry Rd.  [The certain windy one, mentioned prior]

     Stopped in Sonora for lunch at an old soda fountain set-up, and then headed for Hwy 4, which would lead over Ebbets Pass and on to Lake Tahoe.  Hwy 4 is one of many routes that crosses the Sierras; they are all good roads to ride, but this one happens to be the least traveled and the most narrow and twisty.  The top, just shy of 9K.

     So, for any of you wondering what a smaller displacement bike is like on this sort of trip, I would say that its passable, not exactly desirable, but capable.  The tires have endless traction, however, on a good day, thousands of miles below the pass, this thumper puts out around 12 hp...  Yet it does surprisingly well, until you start gaining elevation....
     Here we have the end of day one.  The camp site is a short walk away; behind me sits Emerald Bay.

     Unfortunately, on this first day of travel, I was focused on my riding, and less on taking photos. However, there is much more to come.  This was a fairly brief first post, with the sole purpose of establishing the blog.  The rest will come in a semi-timely manner...

     To those on a certain forum, I do apologize for the long delay, from the time I announced my intentions of creating this ride report...

The WCGT Part I -- Preparation

     Now begins the tale of the West Coast Grand Tour, as I call it.  In the few days before departure, I was busy packing for this adventure.  The three days of prep work basically included installing some last minute accessories to the bike, and figuring out what to take along, and learning how to strap everything onto the bike.  This was the first time I would be bike camping, but I had been backpacking for years, so I had the equipment, and a general idea of what to expect.
     The plan was to head north.  We knew our first days destination would be somewhere around Lake Tahoe, and we had a map of California, so you can say we were adequately prepared.  We had four weeks to travel and the destination was unclear, besides the plan to go up [north].  This direction was chosen for the weather.  In the late summer, even at 3000' in elevation, it can get very hot in these parts.  So spending a month in the northern mountains, where cooler weather could be expected, sounded like the best idea for a trip taking place in the hottest part of the year.
     Here are the bikes, on the eve of departure:

     Not the greatest photo...

Introduction.

I have intended to create this blog for some time now. Since my first long distance trip on my bike last summer, I have been meaning to sit down and document my travels. I do believe the time has come; I will be posting a ride review of my West Coast Grand Tour as well as any other trips that I take. After the initial ride review, things may get slow, but that is the nature of this blog. I am not a full-time traveler, but I do frequently have the opportunity to log in quite a few miles on some of the most spectacular roads in Central California.
     So, I should give some description of this trip I am referring to.  It began as a plan to possibly travel to Alaska, then it changed to touring the West, including the inland states, such as Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Utah, excluding those further south.  However, we finally decided to thoroughly explore the West Coast, taking only back roads up to the Canadian border and back.  Having finished the trip, I can say that we did do just this.  Up and back taking nothing but two lane secondary roads, sticking to the east side of the mountains going up, and the coast on the way back down.  I have not worked out the final mileage, due to the fact that I don't really care, but it is somewhere between 3500 and 4000, I believe.  Perhaps after I finish telling this story, I will have a better idea.  Besides this, I do hope you enjoy the trip report, as well as any others that will inevitably come later.

     And here I am performing some tests before the launch date. On the side of the Grizzly Road, not far from my residence, a few days before the trip.

My primary mode of two wheeled transportation is my 1990 Yamaha TW200. It has seen quite a lot in its life, so far. Before taking me on a loop through the states of the west coast, it was thoroughly beaten by it previous owner and friends. The bike was not in running order when I came across it. Somehow mixed fuel had made its way into the tank, gumming up the carburetor. Once cleaned out, it ran like a champ, and has ever since, with a few exceptions... However, I imagine the 2000 miles it came with were much more grueling than the 8000 miles I have ridden in the last six months. Here we see the TW in its former glory...

When acquired, nothing that was not firmly attached to the frame was missing; but luckily many of the missing pieces were later discovered, and the rest was easily replaced. The bike did not undergo any major changes for months, until this last summer. I didn't think it right to take it so many places with such a terrible color scheme. So in preparation for the then task at hand, I made some slight modifications...

Here is the bike after modifications (and a few days on the road). Still rough and weathered, but slightly more pleasing on the eye. The few modification made were as follows: fabrication and installation of luggage rack, installation of Jimbo Cafe Windscreen (much obliged, Jimbo, if you happen to read this), hand guards, new tires, recovered seat, repainted tank and new decals, new black fork gators, and a piece of duct tape over the hole blown out of the crankcase (the part covering the front sprocket)... I also changed the gearing, to give me slightly higher gearing for the high speed work I would inevitably encounter. So there it is...

There is one other important introduction, my wing-man/mechanic/auxiliary fuel tank, who will be known simply as Jack. Below we have him wielding his nuclear turbine powered adventure touring machine and helmet hair somewhere in Eastern Washington.

With his extensive knowledge of all things mechanical, and hundreds of thousands of miles under his belt, I was lucky he had the time to join this expedition. He has been rambling on two wheels across the U.S. since he was my age (in the 1970's). He is an ardent BMW fan, and probably for good reason; as his 5 gallon fuel capacity saved me more than once along this trip...