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Altamont Pass > Grant Line Road > Byron Road > 205 > 5 > 120 > 99 > Jack Tone Road > East River Road > Henry Road > River Road > Rodden Road > 28 Mile Road > Rodden Road > Orange Blossom Road > Sonora Road > Kennedy Road > Hwy 108 > Jamestown Road > Shaws Flat Road > Hwy 49 > Parrotts Ferry Road > Sawmill Flat Road > Big Hill Road > Longway Road > MiddleCamp Road > Sugar Pine Road > 108 > Old Strawberry Rd. > 108 > 395 into Bridgeport Sue is our honorary cage member until she's up for riding the 2-wheeled variety again... she's deemed herself the "butt" of the rides (we really gotta find a better nickname for her!). Our first gas stop found the group in the first of many huddles for any shade we could find! Patrick was a task master and trying to keep the group on track so we didn't have the opportunity to stop and take many pics but Stevie got some good ones from the back of his bike. We came out to 108 eventually and stopped for some well received lunch at Cafe 108... good food and nice folks! Then we rode thru Sonora Pass... beautiful road!! Was amazed that there was snow still on the mountains and couldn't understand how come we were still roasting! We finally arrived at the settlement. Some chose to call it a day and kicked back with a well earned brewski while others headed to the Bodie ghost town for a tour. John and Kendall also found a nearby hot springs where they took a dip. There were some nasty looking grey clouds looming - they made for a spectacular thunder and lightning display later on in the day/evening. The proprietors of the Virginia Creek Settlement obviously have a sense of humor given the barrel on the rooftop of the main building, the man on the crapper, and the Freddy Krueger character in the other little box! Also, there was a family there with a bunch of puppies that were out frolicking on the lawn... Lily, Maggie, and Dude. they were adorable so we sat on the lawn and frolicked with them. The river out back lent a coolness to the day that we were grateful for. Finally, dinner time!! Great food. steaks, potatoes, salad, dessert. yummy!! The proprietors there, Jimmy and his family, are really great people and you can't beat the price, imo, for a room and two really good meals! We found out the hard way about how you need to balance the weight on each side of the picnic tables. or it will tip over. and you'll fall on your a**. and wear your food and some wine for the evening. urgh! The settlement's mascot, Daffy, was close by in case any food was dropped so she helped clean up the mess. Good dog! We watched the sunset and retired eventually around the campfire for jokes and story telling. Some of the boys broke out a glow in the dark frisbee and engaged in a game of fetch... um, I mean, catch! Slowly one by one, everyone retired to their room for some well earned shut eye. The next morning, John's military background came in handy as he made the morning wake up call... yes, SIR!! While we were packing up, Rick tried to look under Sue's hood (so to speak) and ended up pulling off a piece of her car! Sue kept saying "Rick broke my car!!"... anything that got broken was blamed on him from there on out. Off we went down 395. Since there were no photo stop ops planned, I thought I'd give the taking pics while riding a shot... I think I need some more practice (see the photo of the road at an angle!) but I did manage to get a few decent ones along the way - 395 has a river that runs alongside it for most of the way and it is just beautiful to see. Up and over Monitor Pass we went and then to 88 where we stopped a vista point for a view of the lake below, lounge on the wall like lizards soaking up the sun, and watching Henry climb on top of a big rock and do his King of the World impression. We descended into the pits of hell it seemed... it was so fricking hot I can't even begin to explain it... we stopped for lunch at Incahoots BBQ in Plymouth... I wasn't sure if the flames around the door were painted or real! How many bikes can you fit in the shade of one tree... on a day like this one where it hit 115 degrees at one point, a whole lot... Frank blessed us all with a bag of ice which we dropped into anything we could find... pants, shirts, shoes... and then had a big water fight... while it was scorching, everyone maintained a positive attitude! We continued along 4 to Vasco where we were reminded of the recent fires by the charred hills that remained. Finally made it home to the Bay Area where the temps were in the 90's but after triple digits, we weren't complaining. Great trip, thanks to Patrick for organizing it, and looking forward to it again next year in hopefully cooler conditions! Peace,
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We gathered early Saturday morning in Livermore for some breakfast. The temp at
7 a.m. was already hot so we knew we were in for it... there's an article that
talks about there being cold and being cold on a motorcycle... the author needs
to write another version about being hot on a motorcycle! I got to break in my
trusty cooling vest and was very pleased with the results for the most part...
once it gets over 110 degrees, I don't think anything is going help cool you
off! Our route for the day: