Range of Light Gypsy Tour 2008

[Tyler]

Well, once again, I took a ton of pics and they’re all posted here if you're interested: http://fancyfeettr.smugmug.com/gallery/ ... 6184_zCSan. I’ll post a few teasers to start and add more as I am able.

We met in Plymouth on a hot, hot afternoon. I checked in at the fairgrounds, said hi to a few folks, and then headed for my mum’s house for a well appreciated shower. On the way, I stopped off at one of my very favorite places, D’Agostini Pond. The clouds that day were amazing to watch and see reflected in the pond’s water… the wisps continually morphing in the day’s gentle breeze and it reminded me of when I was a kid and would lay on my back gazing at the sky and try to figure out what the cloud shapes looked like.


I then headed to dinner with a few gents from AdvRider.com (okay, 19 guys and me is my kinda odds… ).

[Tyler]

We had dinner at Fitzpatrick’s Winery in Fairplay and were treated to great pies (pizza pies), wonderful wine, and an incredible sunset to boot.

[Tyler]

I headed back to my folks place for an evening’s rest before rising early and heading back to the fairgrounds to meet up with the day’s group. Early morning rides are the best!!


Plymouth Fairgrounds




Next up… Day 1 – The Ride to Bridgeport… stay tuned!

[Tyler]

I met up with a gaggle of riders at the fairgrounds on Saturday morning and we headed out for the day’s route. A few views from the road:

Stony Creek Rd.


Even in the dead of summer, yellow wildflowers were abundant


I have no idea where this is but that lake sure looked inviting


O’Byrne Ferry Rd.

[Tyler]

Cherry Lake Rd. – no pics of Cottonwood Rd. cause I was having too damn much fun taking sweeper after sweeper… I’ve added that one to my top 10 list (although the list is probably more than 10 around here!!)




Jeannette on her Mighty Aphrodite 250 – that girl rode that thing everywhere – never thought I’d think of a Ninja 250 as an adventure bike, but she proved it could be!


Some of my partners in crime for the day - Real, Scott, & Henry


Jeanette, Patrick, & Stevie


Steve and Kendall… aw, ain’t they cute?? 

[Tyler]

Then it was up and over Sonora Pass, one of my favorites!






Until finally alighting at Twin Lakes outside of Bridgeport. I had no idea these lakes were nestled into the mountains so close to a place I’d visited many times… it’s one of the wonders of riding… life’s treasures and gifts that are always there and just ready for you to find them.




The Motorcycle Hooligans arrive and set up camp for the night


Meadow at the campgrounds

[Tyler]

We arrived and got situated, played our poker hand (I swear I get the absolute worst draws in those things!!), and filled up our plates with bbq. Couldn’t get a great shot here because of the back lighting but we dined by the lake with an amazing view all the way around.




Then the evening’s REAL festivities started… hmmm, why was this pic so out of focus??


Um, ah, I, well… this might have had something to do with it.


What am I?


Tom/trumper had brought a bunch of glow sticks to share with everyone… Sue fold a suitable holder for hers.


And Scott tried to contact the mother ship


There was much ballyhooing, arrrrgggging, hooting, and frivolity by the surrounding inmates, um, I mean riders until finally one by one we all hit the sack for some shut eye and sobering up for the next day’s ride.

Next up – Day 2 – the SV gets its dirt cherry broke!!!

[Tyler]

After a restless night’s sleep due to the high winds rattling the tent and finding out my contact lens case got knocked over so the solution hadn’t done its thing so I couldn’t wear them (always interesting riding in glasses), we headed out of the campgrounds for some of Nevada’s finest “twisties”. There were really high winds so I kept Jeannette in my view in case she got blown away on the little 250… I was having fun keeping the bike on the road too!




A brief gas stop at Lake Topaz and then onward over Monitor Pass, 89, 88, Mormon Emigrant, and then the new-to-me Silver Fork Rd, aka FR7, a beautiful forest road cutting through the Sierras and over to Hwy. 50.

[Tyler]

We got to the gas station on 50 and found out that there was an accident that was severely limiting passage for the next part of the route (we learned later that this was Tim Johnson’s fatal accident but didn’t know that at the time). We met a couple, Ann and Gary, and invited them to ride with us as I was fairly well versed in the local roads and was confident I could get us back to Plymouth (our resting place for the last night). Little did they know what we had in store for them!!

We got out the maps and saw a road called Iron Mountain Rd., aka FR 53. Well, since FR 7 had been so nice, we thought this must be too, right? And it went right back up to Mormon Emigrant Trail so we could hit some really great back roads back to Plymouth. How bad could it be?? So off we went.

FR 53 is a dusty dirt road… a dusty, dirt, sand, gravel, rocks-sticks-and-stones road… with lots of y-intersections… unmarked intersections… that go up and up and up… and we kept going up and up and up until we came to one intersection and decided to take a break… Real went off to the right to check out that direction as his GPS seemed to indicate that was the correct way… two more gents followed him (one of them Richard, one of the organizers of this year’s adventure)… Steve went straight to check that direction out but it just got worse and worse. So we just turned around and went back to the intersection and waited… and waited… and waited… we kept listening for the rumble of the Beemers but figured they must’ve made it through… but we didn’t want to attempt it on this set of street bikes… so we waited some more and then finally, reluctantly, decided to slowly start heading back down (figured it was gonna take us awhile) and wait for Real and the other two at the bottom on paved ground. Real came roaring up behind us as we reached the bottom.

The first intersection


The good part of the road


Ninja 250 - Adventure Bike!!


Did I mention it was dusty??


Holy crap can you believe what we just did?


For those that think that Harley owners are finicky about their bikes, Gary’s HD Road King was filthy and he never even batted an eyelash… said it was nothing compared to what it looked like after their Alaska trip… I knew I was gonna like them!

[Tyler]

The accident on 50 had cleared so we jetted back to Plymouth via Sly Park Rd., Mt. Aukum, and Shenandoah with plenty of time to take a nice shower and kick back and relax, catching up with friends on our lives off of 2-wheels and the weekend’s adventures. Then it was time for dinner!!


Notice the sign in the background


Patiently waiting our turn


Funny t-shirt


Setting sun, day is done…

[Tyler]

But wait… the day isn’t done… time for the raffle!!




Steve and Scott won matching Buffs… such a cute couple


As the evening wore on (and the adult beverages were consumed), the boys got creative with their buff Buffs (love you to, Steve-o)


Outlaw, renegade


Scott was having some issues


Wonder why


Then someone came up with the brilliant idea of trying to flambé a Fig Newton… I have no idea why but they gave it the old college try – it burnt for about 2 seconds before being sent to that great Fig Newton home in the sky






And with that, one by one, we all retired to our tent homes for a night’s rest after all the frivolity. I actually slept pretty well… the evening was cool, nice cushy grass to sleep on, and no winds rattling the tent.

[Tyler]

As is usual, early to rise and pack up for the ride home.

Clint and Audrey waving a cheery good morning from their homestead across the pond


I wandered about the fairgrounds and found this in the back


Scott found one more creative way to use his Buff


But first we dined at Marlene & Glen’s for a yummy breakfast and the all important COFFEE!! (btw, great place if you’re ever up that way… ask for Karen, the owner… she is a HOOT!)

The place was overrun with bikers but they took us on with style






Jeannette took on the banana pancakes but wasn’t up to the challenge of eating all of that sugar

[Tyler]

After breakfast, everyone kind of scattered into the winds in all directions, some making a beeline for home, others delaying the inevitable and hitting some of the local back roads. I showed Jeannette around on some of my favorites – Fiddletown, Shake Ridge, into Volcano, 26. The morning was cool and it was a brilliant day to ride.




With lots of this




And a little of this


We stopped to celebrate our patriotic side


Then continued on for some more of this




Until finally the time had come to head for home. We journeyed along Hwy 4 across the delta and were treated to high winds the whole way back. I kept looking back and seeing Jeannette and the little 250 at a pretty good lean angle but still managing to ride a straight line!


One final gas stop in Livermore where we said our goodbyes for the weekend’s adventure. I think we were home by 4 p.m. or so… earliest I think I’ve gotten back from a weekend ride in a long time! Many thanks to NorCal BMW for providing another great adventure… it was most appreciated and I know I’m looking forward to seeing what next year will bring!!

FIN