Done it a number of times both ways (don't start), and I must agree with John of Reno. From the coast heading east, inland, is just more fun. Maybe it's the light or something, but that's the direction I prefer.
[SIZE=8pt]...So there's that.[/SIZE]
Be patient OM, not everyone is a quick learner like you and I
Done both ways too many times and once you get past holding hands during sunset on the beach -and you decide you are out to RIDE then you'll then start routing your loops to do 36 west-->east.
A few reasons:
- the sun, as mentioned.
-going west->east you have descents(elevation loss) in the more technical areas for the most part. The FJR is a fat heavy bike and nice to have gravity on your side when you're blasting out of technical turns, aiming east this works more to your advantage in the more technical sections.
- the smart rider will time their riding of this road for minimal traffic ...and guess who else does the same? -Yep, logging trucks ..and the vast majority will be loaded headed toward the west so nice to be going opposite direction.
Also the road is just more fun going west-->east. From some mild turns through the redwoods(
clicky) then gaining some elevation and winding through the coastal hills ...eventually down into Bridgeville. Then things start to get a bit more technical and you've got a mix of stuff to Plantina and then it changes up entirely yet again.
To me 36 is special not just because of some of the tight technical stuff (my favorite) but because of the change-ups. You leave the coast and are on narrow shaded roads as you ride through huge majestic redwoods ...you then drop into some nice turns, coastal hills and wind through some nice areas. Just as you think you've got the road figured out, it changes up on you yet again (this road just plain ***** with your head) ...and it does this no less than a dozen times with different style and different personality. This is what makes this road so very very special. Even the road surface changes quite a bit (yet not as much as in years past)
...and as your body and mind tire from challenging this road for the last 100miles and you think you've got it licked as you near Red Bluff you come into some mild rolling hills combined with turns and it is impossible to keep the rubber on the road and make your turns ....heading east this is a treat. Not so much heading west. BUT those who've done the road recently know that (UNFORTUNATELY) cal-trans has straightened out much of this on the east end(
clicky here of them scraping things flat). It is much different now. My fears that they'll eventually tackle more and more sections of this great road, and that will be a shame.
Sidenote: I was talking to an old retired highway engineer a few years back and 36 came up in conversation. He scolded me for my positive comments on the road -(when I told him how it was a real treat on a motorcycle) ..and he went into a rant about how F-up'd that road is ("the worst engineered road in the world" he went on-and-on)
...then it "hit" him and he says: "Now I understand, it would be fun for those on motorcycles I suppose." To him the road is a montrosity because it is so poorly engineered with poor banking, no consistency, varying radius turns, varying road surfaces etc etc. It was a fun conversation. When this road was built, it basically just went over existing simple logging roads. No denying it is a treat on moto-bike.
I've done the road dozens of times each way and the last trips in that area I have not even gone the full route -instead just use 36 as a main artery to great goat trails that I really love. Alderpoint and Blockburg(
clicky) being one of my favorites for example. Or this one(
clicky) ..that rides up above 36, you can see the path of 36 below(
clicky). Or to the south ...here(
clicky) riding toward 36 (here north of Kettenpom USA) ..no one on these great little roads and IMO all the fun of 36, just less people and more technical.
Whichever way you do it, it is good fun ....but I think most will find that after logging it multiple times, they'll remember the west-->east adventures more fondly.
But, I do agree that ending up in the god-forsaken Sacramento Valley (Red Bluff) at the end of a great ride sucks. Remember there are spurs south north-east of Plantina that you can take to get to other stuff -whiich I'd highly suggest.
