Quincy for lunch, Ride May 17th

:yahoo: 247 miles, driveway to driveway! :yahoo:

AND it looks like "some" of the old MM2 is beginning to resurface. :clapping:

What a fun time on some great roads with terrific FJR Forum riders. I'll get my pictures downloaded and onto PhotoBucket...as will Old Michael, Hycle and others who were busily documenting the entire event.

One Bad Bit of News: Most of us saw the big rock in the middle of Hwy 70 at the end of the second tunnel.....MOST of us.

Jrew brushed it and bounced it up against the lower right part of his lower fairing. That will be a relatively easy to mark remedy or hide.

Sacramento Mike evidently hit the rock square and bent his front wheel. I say evidently because Ric-in-Sac called us at lunch to say he and Karen had stopped and were waiting with Mike for a tow truck. They were about 8-10 miles from the planned lunch place. Everyone is okay, but the bike will be headed to Roseville Yamaha (because Zac is otherwise bored, and all. )

Pictures and other's posts to follow!

Oh yeah, did I mention.... :clapping: :yahoo: :clapping: :yahoo: :clapping: :yahoo:

We know all about the OLD part but are you finding your puppy brain.

madmike2 said:

:yahoo: 247 miles, driveway to driveway! :yahoo: AND it looks like "some" of the old MM2 is beginning to resurface. :clapping:

What a fun time on some great roads with terrific FJR Forum riders. I'll get my pictures downloaded and onto PhotoBucket...as will Old Michael, Hycle and others who were busily documenting the entire event.

One Bad Bit of News: Most of us saw the big rock in the middle of Hwy 70 at the end of the second tunnel.....MOST of us.

Jrew brushed it and bounced it up against the lower right part of his lower fairing. That will be a relatively easy to mark remedy or hide.

Sacramento Mike evidently hit the rock square and bent his front wheel. I say evidently because Ric-in-Sac called us at lunch to say he and Karen had stopped and were waiting with Mike for a tow truck. They were about 8-10 miles from the planned lunch place. Everyone is okay, but the bike will be headed to Roseville Yamaha (because Zac is otherwise bored, and all. )

Pictures and other's posts to follow!

Oh yeah, did I mention.... :clapping: :yahoo: :clapping: :yahoo: :clapping: :yahoo:

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Nice report... Sorry to hear about the bent wheel but better a wheel than the entire bike. Glad you all had a great time. Rich

I didn't ride with the old MM2, but today I got some school'n.

I felt like I should split the check with MM2 and that Street Master gang. I was trying to follow his line and watch how he setup for the next corner. Soon I found myself going faster and smoother than before.

Thanks MM2 for the lesson and the great company.

I think I found another Hooligan to play "go fast" with.

Bokerfork must mean "go faster" in some other language, because he had that effect on me. Or maybe it means "you can't leave me".

I swear he will be in the jail cell with me saying "that was dumb but it sure was fun". :yahoo:

Thanks Bluestreak, aka DAD. :lol:

FJRay said:

We know all about the OLD part but are you finding your puppy brain.

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Let's just say there were many smiling faces when I led one particular leg.....

But Bluestreek was setting a really good pace....I just got impatient (imagine that) at the rest stop and decided to take off......

I don't know whatever happened to Old Michael. Last I saw him he was at the Donner Lake overlook. Next thing he is gone and just his name was written in the snow. :blink:

Uploading pics. I'm anxious to hear the details of Sacramento Mike's encounter.

So glad to hear that the damage was only to the bike.

Damn, but isn't Highway 70 on the way to Quincy just a really fun road to zoom zoom on?

Thanks Bluestreek for doing the planning and putting this together.

I had a blast!

What a hell of a day it was developing into. . . It was HOT but getting cooler as we climbed and wound through the Feather River Gorge, with the alternating bright sunlight and then the darkness in the tunnels, gosh I was enjoying myself. That was about the time some damn fool put a football-sized (but square) rock right in front of me. There was a very solid CLANK! kind of noise as I hit that puppy square. The air was gone in no time and I was lucky to bring it to a stop at a gravel turn-out just ahead of me. So no damage except for the ruined rim, and of course to a lovely day of riding, for both me and for Rick (in Sac) and Karen, who were right behind me and stopped to see me through the mess. They took my insurance card and rode ahead to find a phone, spent a long time trying to be understood by the agent, or whatever she was, and finally arranged for a tow truck all the way back to Roseville Yamaha. I asked the guy what it would have cost without the towing insurance: $55 to load the bike on the truck, $5.50 per MILE! (Up to a maximum allowable distance of 150 miles.) So happens, the distance from mile marker whatever on highway 70 to Roseville Yama by the tow truck odometer is 147 miles! (Comes to $863.50.) You might say I was damn lucky.

Anyway, new rim, maybe new tire, no other visible damage, pending closer inspection. We got back to the dealer about a half hour before closing, another lucky break. As was having Rick and Karen behind me. Not only did they give up their ride, and lunch, but when Rick came back to give me the update, he had a cold can of Minute Maid Lemonade and a bag of cashews! Perfect. Thank you both SO much, and to Gary (Gfran) who came back with his daughter Emily to check on us. What a great group to ride with. And next time, I'll have a nice new front tire, too.

Here's My Poor Baby



Here's the beginning, meeting in Marysville, 12 bikes in all I think



And here's the end, for me anyway

Okay. Here are a bunch of the photos I took. And I'd better see some of the other participants

posting photos and narratives!

None of these pics really capture the natural beauty of the area we rode through.

Actually, this wasn't one of my better picture taking days - but I sure enjoyed myself.

Once into the mountains, the temps were comfortable. The roads were in great shape.

What a crowd.





Marysville





First stop.





The "Madmike has an itchy!" stop :blink: .





Posers! Overlooking Donner Lake.







The "Ride Maestro." Bluestreek.



That snow will be gone very soon. It was in the 80's here.







CHP Surveillance Photos. Identify yourselves. The dash home on 80.







It would be really nice if someone could provide additional captions (including names) for these

photos. Yes. That would be nice.

Okay. Let's have everyone else's stuff.

Old Michael said:

[CHP Surveillance Photos. Identify yourselves. The dash home on 80.

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This would be HYCLE, Bokerfork and then MM2.

We took turns leading, following, and getting out of the way.

Old Michael said:

The "Madmike has an itchy!" stop :blink: .

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I wish it was an "itchy"! It felt like something was inside my jacket biting me and I couldn't "crush" it while riding. I also couldn't find anything but some undiscernable parts and pieces, but there was no more stinging going on after that.

The "Ride Maestro." Bluestreek.

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That'd be the "Ride Captain", El Jeffe, etc.

CHP Surveillance Photos. Identify yourselves. The dash home on 80.

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That would be...1-2-3: Hycle, Bokerfork and MM2, riding safely and sedately @ the posted speed limit of 65 mph.

Old Michael said:

Marysville

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gfrn (Gary), Rocknfjr (Gary) and Phyllis (in the red top), Bluestreek (Steve) in the yellow Yamaha t-shirt, Hycle's (Mike's) head, gfran's daughter Emily, Ric-in-sac, Highlander (Dave), Mrs. Bluestreek (Cindy), the inimitable MM2 in the blue ball cap, Sacramento Mike in the Streetmaster's t-shirt

Posers! Overlooking Donner Lake.

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1st picture: Rocknfjrs (Gary & Phyllis), LastChance (Loren), Bluestreek's (Steve & Cindy), MM2's head, Bokerfork (Mark) and Hycle (Mike)

2nd picture: subtract LastChance and add the distinguished Old Michael (between Bluestreek and Bokerfork).

Thank you Mike. You're a good man for doing that caption work.

AND, you did indeed set an excellent pace on that section of 70. Plenty fast enough to make it challenging and invigorating, but not recklessly fast.

It fit the "spirited" category methinks.

I'd agree that you're fully recovered.

But don't get a big head.

Quick HIJACK, if I may.

Tomorrow.............Sonora Pass east.........Monitor west. I'll be leaving Sacramento at 5:30am as I'd like to be in the mountains before the heat hits.

Gonna go down 49 to Sonora, then take 108 up over Sonora Pass (a fantastic ride), down to 395, then north before heading back up over Monitor Pass, Carson Pass, Carson Spur, and back down 88 into the beautiful Sacramento Valley.

If any local forum members were able to join me, that would be great. It'll be 300+ miles of amazing scenery. And I'll buy lunch and gas.

Finally, Hycle and I can understand what took the pack so long to catch up.(MM2's itchy) I mean, sure we were going a tad bit fast, but not warp speed.

The true meaning of Bokerfork remains to be discovered but many fear it translates roughly to "Afraid to really open it up". Thanks for the run to Sierraville. Thank God the Leos only monitor traffic leaving town, not arriving.

Great time, great group. Thanks all. Thanks to Bluestreak. Great route.

Old Michael said:

Okay. Let's have everyone else's stuff.

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Per the direct order from "Der Photo-meister"...........

At the rest area along the Feather River, from the opposite end of the parking lot than Old Michael's photos (Yes, its on the other side of those trees to the left....).



Some riders following "Slow Mike" up Hwy 70 on the way to Quincy



At the lunch table: LastChance, Hycle and Bokerfork's better side



Hwy 70 East of Quincy



At the "rip off my jacket" stop, after screaming to Bluestreek into my radio...."Something is biting my back!" Thanks Highlander for the back-rub. I shook out whatever "pieces" were left and turned to see this old barn. Sooooo, for Andrew...here's the picture.



Donner Lake, looking Southwest, as seen from Donner Road.



Climbing up Old Donner Grade on "Historic Hwy 40"





At the "overlook". Mr. Bluestreek, our Ride Planner, Ride Captain, El Jeffe and Dad-for-the-Day"



The rock climbers use this mountain (just West Donner Lake Overlook). Just above that patch of icy snow in the lower center of the pic, you can see some white "dots". Those are people climbing up that cleft in the mountain. There were also 2 or 3 on that flat, angled plateau to the left center of the photo.



Looking back toward Truckee, Donner Lake is on the right. You can see part of the Old Donner Grade just below and again about 2/3 of the way up from the bottom of the picture (Just at the "triple-telephone poles). The "straight" lines running across the picture in the distance is I-80 going downhill from the summit to Truckee(West bound lanes are above the Eastbound lanes).



Just uphill from the View Point is this WPA bridge



This is a picture taken as we rode down Historic Hwy 40, which parallels I-80, but corrses over and under it and travels along the Yuba River. The "barren" tree trunks give an idea of how high the snow pack is at this altitude (about 6,000 ft.)



This is the CalTrans station @ Kingvale. The picture shows less than half of the sizeof this facility. During the severe Winter storms the workers live in the barracks and work around the clock in shifts to keep I-80 open.



Conspicuous by their absence in any photographs:

RogDebs [SIZE=8pt]I really missed Debs. (Okay...and Roger)[/SIZE]

WeekendRider [SIZE=8pt]C'mon, Bob, get better already![/SIZE]

SilveradoSlick [SIZE=8pt]Charles? Couldn't you at least send Catherine?[/SIZE]

Just checking in !! Over 650 miles and 15 hours of travel time ! :yahoo:

Great roads, great people, great pics, great day !! :clapping:

HIGHLANDER said:

Just checking in !! Over 650 miles and 15 hours of travel time ! :yahoo: Great roads, great people, great pics, great day !! :clapping:

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It was great to see you and ride along with you. I think that's the first time we've done that since my "adventure" last year.

Talk about the long way home: Truckee to Santa Cruz....via Reno!

Does this mean your "set-up" was successful and will work for the Alaska-to-NAFO-Santa Cruz trip?

madmike2 said:

HIGHLANDER said:

Just checking in !! Over 650 miles and 15 hours of travel time ! :yahoo: Great roads, great people, great pics, great day !! :clapping:

Click to expand...

It was great to see you and ride along with you. I think that's the first time we've done that since my "adventure" last year.

Talk about the long way home: Truckee to Santa Cruz....via Reno!

Does this mean your "set-up" was successful and will work for the Alaska-to-NAFO-Santa Cruz trip?

Click to expand...

Good rollin' with ya again mate ! You do anything to get another male to give ya a back rub !

A couple minor things to work out...I replaced the stock footpegs with IMS toothed off road pegs, this creates a little buzz in the feet after a "few " long hours. I'm going to see about retrofitting the stock rubber pads to the IMS. That way I can switch the rubber on and off, for road / off road days. Also need to adapt hiway pegs for some leg streches....and better wicking undies !!

And I want to publicly thank RENOJOHN for GIVING me the Strom skid plate..that wierdo won't accept any money for it !! Thanks RJ !! :clapping:

I'll pay you back somehow when your not looking !!

OK then -- color me jealous ............. Glad you all had fun on what looked like a great ride.

Sac Mike -- sorry man -- that just sucks, glad you're ok

Jrew -- 'nother sorry