1400 miles... No Tickets and No Trouble...

External Since: Sep 22, 2003 Posts: 248

Mr.RC45 and I join the bavfr (Bay Area VFR) on their annual Bad Gas 4
ride... a 1400 mile round trip to LA and back... in short there was no
tickets and no trouble...

Izmate... the bavfr leader... sent a daily report each night... these
are his words...

DAY 1
............................................................
No crashes. No cops. One flat tire. Two out of three is great! We
had the flat tire before we left the Motel in the morning. A gas
station was close by so it was a breeze. Thanks to TimO for the plug kit.

We covered 390 miles today. About 2/3 twisties and 1/3 slab. Had to
use the slab to get to the twisties. We were supposed to cover 470
miles today but we were running out of daylight. Good thing too because
I was tired!

We split into two groups. TimO led the first group and Hans led the
second group. Both leaders are doing fantastic jobs! Thanks!!

The roads were awesome! The morning section was pure twisties. Some
goat trail but mostly smooth blacktop. Hwy 190 heading up to 7,000 ft
was super tight and smooth turns. I became mentally exhausted and had
to back off. After 120 miles of this stuff in three hours, I was ready
to call it a day! Smile

The back side of 190 was great! It opened up into fast downhill
sweepers. Stopped in Kernville for gas. Then out to 14 via 178. There
were some nice sweepers in that section. We went up to the Big Bear
Lake area. Traffic got a little heavy in some sections.

There was this lady in front of us driving a Subaru Baja. She wanted to
show us she could drive fast so she went hard into a right hand sweeper
and drifted all the way onto the shoulder of the oncoming lane! She
missed hitting the cliff wall by inches. Luckily she caught a gap by
mere seconds in oncoming traffic and nothing happened. Idiot!!

After checking in to the motel, we walked a few blocks to dinner at a
good upscale (for Hemet) Mexican restaurant. Great food and beer!

Jumped into the hot tub back at the motel and continued drinking. Then
a few moved over to my room to continue the drinking and chatting. Rod,
Graham, Hans and I chipped in and bought a bottle of Patrone Reposado
tequila. We still have half left for the end of Day 2! Hoowee! Karl,
you should be here!!

DAY 2
......................................................................
No Crashes. No Cops. No flat tires. Hoowee!

Today was more of a play day. We rode from Hemet to Mt. Palomar via
some great roads! 74, 371, and 79. The road up to the parking lot (S7)
is a must do for anyone in this area.

Hans' friend Michael joined us for the day on his Bandit 1200. Very
good rider and a great guy. Kinda unusual that he's Hans' friend. Razz

There is a restaurant at the top called "Mothers" which is like the
Alice's of this area. Lots of bikers gather up there. We saw a group
of old Moto Guzzi bikes from the 1950's in immaculate shape. The group
rides these bikes around for the pure enjoyment of it.
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/Pics11-24-03/imagepages/BadGas25.html

After playing there for a bit we went on to Borrego Springs. It's in
the desert at the bottom of this huge elevation drop that we rode down.
It's called the Glass Elevator because that's what it feels like as
you descend the switchbacks onto the valley floor. It got a little warm
so we didn't stay long.
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/pics11-3-03/imagepages/BavfrHorde.html

We moved on to Julian for a late lunch taking this straight road where
we did a high speed run. For added excitement, the road had small
undulations. Hoowee! Hans got air!

Julian is a quaint little town that is hugely popular. I don't see the
attraction. It's crowded with visitors who come out to the country to
escape the crowds in the city...wierd. Parking was a bitch! Cars
everywhere.

We spent way too much time in Julian. The town is known for great apple
pies. We had some after lunch. Yummy! We headed out on 76 to San
Clemente. Mostly fast sweepers. Lots of cops in the area. Didn't see
any but we took it fairly slow (75 in a 55) just in case.

The hotel in San Clemente has a bar & restaurant, and SpeedVision. I
had prime rib, a couple of shooters of Patrone, and a bottle of red
wine. Yes, a bottle. We were waiting for the F1 race at 10pm so I
drank it slowly. Smile

This is a fun crew. Wish you all could be here.

DAY 3
....................................................................
Another great day! Today was the best by far. We covered more miles in
the same amount of time because we spent less time off the bikes. Our
biggest time saver was eating lunch at Subway instead of a hot meal.
Half of us went to get gas while the other half ordered lunch and vice
versa.

We amended our route plan for today. The original plan called for 475
miles. Sadly, we had to eliminate Hwy 2 (Angeles Crest Hwy) and
replaced it with an hour of slab to get from San Clemente to Hwy 1. It
was painful but it saved us a bunch of time. We did 390 miles today
including 70 miles of that slab.

At a gas station we ran into a 50 RC51 riders on their first Club
outing... Mr.RC45 is scrutinized...
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/pics11-3-03/imagepages/RC51ClubMrRC45.html

The twisties today were incredible! If you ever get down here you have
to do these roads. Our first stop was The Rock Store. It's the Alice's
of LA.
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/pics11-3-03/imagepages/MrRC45RockStore.html
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/pics11-3-03/imagepages/MrRC45RockSto...arkingL
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/pics11-3-03/imagepages/RockStoreOwnerEd.html
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/pics11-3-03/imagepages/RockStoreMelee.html

This life size rolling sculpture showed up...
http://sergiofurnari.com/
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/pics11-3-03/imagepages/RollingSculpture.html

The local Ferrari club was racing in the opposite direction. Oh man!
Modenas, 550 Maranellos, etc. There were a few Porches in the mix and
one Lambo Murcielago. Wow!

We had lunch in Ojai and continued on Hwy 33 inland. Nice twisties
after getting out of town. Tim hooked us up with this road called
Lockwood Valley Road. Oh my gawd!! Another must do. It ends at
Frazier Park, close to the I-5 near Lebec. 27 miles of racetrack-smooth
pavement. Sweeping, banked turns mixed with elevation changes. Tim
called this "Izzy's Road". I loved it! I gave him a big hug
afterwards. God bless the Engineer that did that one.

We headed on to SLO on 166 after that. Checked in at 6:15 pm and went
to Tahoe Joe's Steakhouse for dinner. We had a lot of fun! Drank a few
beers and some wine. No shooters tonight. I really enjoy the company
of the group members. I am truly blessed.
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/Pics11-24-03/imagepages/PartyBAVFRHorde.html
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/Pics11-24-03/imagepages/BadGas03.html

DAY 4
.........................................................................
San Luis Obispo to Sacramento...

Larry L
94 RC45 #2
Have a wheelie NICE day...
Lean & Mean it... the extended warranty in every corner of your life...
If it wasn't for us the fast lane would rust...
V4'S are music to the seat of my pants...
1952 De Havilland Chipmunk...
Yank and bank your brains loose...
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/-xlax-/
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/

External Since: Sep 23, 2003 Posts: 779

Thanx for the post, Larry. Sounds like it was fun...and exhausting!

It was nice to see you while you were down here.

P.