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Because this report covers so much territory, you’ll be getting it over the course of the next few days… a motorcycle soap opera of sorts!! Webmaster's Note: The Range of Light Gypsy Tour is an annual event put on by the BMW Club of Northern California. You camp in a different location each night, and you don't find out the destination or route for the next day until you show up at the campsite that evening. DAY ONE After weeks of preparation and figuring out how the hell we were gonna get all the gear on our bikes (this whole camping thing was new to many of us!), the day arrived. When I got off my bike and looked back at it, it was a wonder that I actually fit on it given the tent, sleeping bag, camping chair, sleeping pad, and T-bag! I felt a little like a motorcycle version of a Winnebago! Our little band – Wendy, CC, Audrey, and Tyler started out in our favorite Starbucks in Santa Clara. As we sat sipping our coffee, a nice guy came over and started chatting us up about riding. His opening comment: “Oh, you’re all women.” Thanks for noticing! He saw all the bikes and assumed we were guys. He then told us a story of a buddy of his riding his Harley too hard and scraping off the oil cap. They were all on the side of the road hemming and hawing and trying to figure out what to do when a lady rider came up and asked what the problem was. They told her, she went to her bike and came back with a tampon, jammed it in (so to speak) thus fully filling the hole (again, so to speak), whipped out some oil, filled the guy up (one last so to speak), and went along her merry way. The guy said only a woman could have done that! Todd pulled up shortly thereafter and power drank his coffee and then we ventured forth, moseying down 101 to 25, past rolling hills of amber dried grass and the twinkling of tinsel tied in the winery vines - to Los Gatos/Coalinga Rd. (if you haven’t been on this one check it out – but be forewarned that it’s 52 miles of nuthin’ so make sure you’re gassed up!) – Tyler had a near zen moment with a young deer who gratefully made the right decision to jump back into the trees instead of directly out in front of her! We also passed several areas where brushfires had done a huge amount of damage – there were the charred remnants of a home – bathtub, appliances, etc. – in one spot… very sobering. We stopped along the road for a butt break and nature stop (men’s room is the tree to the left, women’s to the right). Once we reached Coalinga, we followed backroads and came to an intersection where off to the right was what looked like a huge dust storm. Thankfully we had to turn left… but our joy was short lived as we had to pass a cow ranch. Most of the time, the smells of the road are a joy but this particular scent was enough to knock you off your bike. So we all did our best to weather the smells and get the hell past it as quickly as possible! Finally, we pulled into the campsite in Kingsburg and found our favorite smiling faces – Patrick and Stevie – at the registration desk. We busied ourselves with setting up tents and such, endeavoring not to trip over the strings on CC’s tent that always seemed to get underfoot. CC’s tent was also decorated for her with a flashing red light and her tent was deemed the Red Light District (during a previous conversation earlier that week, she had asked how do you know who’s available to which we all came up with different ideas – Audrey managed to pilfer a light from Pamela and hang it on the outside of her tent so she could advertise!). Patrick had been kind enough to transport some grape-based beverages for us (okay, we did have to bribe him with a nice bottle of whiskey) and once we were all set up it was time to kick back and relax as the sun set over the pond next to our campground. We ordered pizzas delivered from a nearby restaurant (who says camping is roughing it?!?) and found other friendly faces from the SMC (Singles Motorcycle Club) among the throngs of tents - Patrick A, Leah, Bart, Kate, Pamela, Paula, Jim Mc, Henry, Vic, Debra, Mike Peck, Mike Lyman & Julie. Aussie Rob, one of our DC road crew members, showed up on his newly acquired toy, a cherry KTM on-off road bike ad we caught up with some of our other BMW friends, Bob the Brit and his buddy Mik who had ridden up together. We sipped wine and caught up on the latest developments in each other’s lives and finally everyone drifted off to their respective homes-away-from-homes for a good night’s rest. Peace,
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