California's Mighty 190

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twowheelnut

R.I.P. Our Motorcycling Friend
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California Hwy 190 runs from just west of Porterville, CA to the western border of Nevada, near the town of Beatty. It's a glorious road in that it traverses a diverse terrain ranging from the Great Central California Valley, to the rugged southern Sierras, onto the Western Divide Highway, over Sherman's Pass and all the way down into the great basin of Death Valley. Hell, so Mighty is 190, that it even has it's own website! And here's a Google Earth shot of the road in question, showing about half of the route filmed:

190.jpg


The focus of the following videos is the Sierra section running east from Springville, CA and concluding at about 7,000' elevation near the mining & trading outpost of Ponderosa, CA. What you are viewing is approximately 26 miles of moderately paced riding condensed into about 13 minutes of video. In reality, the filming took about 45 minutes. Forty-five glorious, blissful, soul calming minutes, at that.

Anyway, I'd been intending to do this ride for a while with O'vale, so these are dedicated to his spirit. And yeah, Part II is at double speed only to capture as much of 190 as possible. An unintended benny of double speed: The FJR with Leo Vinces, sounds awfully similar to an F1 V-10. B)

Enjoy these as much I enjoyed the ride.

The Mighty 190, Part I

The Mighty 190, Part II

 
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:clapping: Very nice, as usual. :clapping:

What a fun road but it looks like a "rider's" road rather than a viewer's road. I'm thinkin' looking into the corners, cutting a good apex and setting up for the next turn, enjoying the gentle rises and falls as the road climbs over the mountains, being totally focused on the roadway.....

It seems like a very good way to prioritize your mind. Yep, Andrew would have loved it. I'm going to put that Hwy. on my list.

 
Missed the comment in your post about the second video being double time.

I was thinking, "DAMN!!!! This guy is freeking crazy!!!!!"

Looks like a hell of a road. My next trip to Cali, that road is a must!

 
Thanks, I needed that. Its snow and ice for awhile so I need to ride through other peoples eyes. :clapping:

 
Great post of a great road! I have ridden the eastern portion on my CBX, but the temperature (early May) was killer!

Will have to explore the western portion since it's virtually in my backyard. Thanks for the tip! Now that I have a fresh set of tires and next week I'm doing a ride-in to Bill Mayer Saddles, I'm ready for some new roads.

The 2nd video was righteous, especially the audio!

 
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My eyes!!! What in the name of all that is holy is that bright shiny thing in the sky?! MAKE IT STOP!

 
Sweet. I've got to take a bike to the birthland (mine) one day.

 
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Damn you TWN

You've got me excited, confused, bewildered and eager for an adventure

......been on every inch of the east side of 190 bizzillions of times. I've been on much of the west side ...well, I think. I'm kinda confused as I view maps as to where I've been and haven't. Certainly some roads there that I haven't been on. You've put that area at the top of my list to explore ......

So, places like Ponderosa (where it seems 190 ends):

-- 7000ft elevation ....winter weather -can it be done this time of year? .....they mention folks use "various" roads to get across. I've been on sherman, but even at the time I was confused ...and this "Western Divide Highway" I'm embarassed to say I'm not sure where that runs .

I have tentative plans to be in death valley next weekend, I'd like to come over and explore this area ...can anyone coach me on if my idea is feasable and how to best tackle a day or so to explore this area. (coming from the east side) Looking at 3 to 4 day road trip next weekend.

Damn you TWN, this looks yummy, ...better yet, a spot on the map that renojohn has yet to violate, molest, and abuse.

 
Clan gather?
Maybe... Between 190, 155, 178, Caliente Bodfish, Kern River Highway, Sherman's Pass and great base camp near Lake Isabella, that could make for a memorable weekend. New tires only need apply!

Paging Barabus, Mr. Barabus... Please pick-up the nearest, white courtesy phone.

 
So, places like Ponderosa (where it seems 190 ends):-- 7000ft elevation ....winter weather -can it be done this time of year? .....they mention folks use "various" roads to get across. I've been on sherman, but even at the time I was confused ...and this "Western Divide Highway" I'm embarassed to say I'm not sure where that runs .
If you wanna run this road, do it before the next rain fall. They'll shut it down above Camp Nelson and Quaking Aspen. It was brisk when I hit the peak last week. Maybe 40ish.

190 Becomes the Western Divide Hwy just north of Ponderosa and ends at Mountain Rd 50. My route was 190E to WDH, to Mountain Rd 50, to Mountain Rd 99, to Sherman's Pass Rd, to Kennedy Meadow Rd and then, dropped onto 395N to catch 190 as it goes into DV. :good: Take a deep breath and a full tank. Yer gonna need it! WHAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo!

 
So, places like Ponderosa (where it seems 190 ends):-- 7000ft elevation ....winter weather -can it be done this time of year? .....they mention folks use "various" roads to get across. I've been on sherman, but even at the time I was confused ...and this "Western Divide Highway" I'm embarassed to say I'm not sure where that runs .
If you wanna run this road, do it before the next rain fall. They'll shut it down above Camp Nelson and Quaking Aspen. It was brisk when I hit the peak last week. Maybe 40ish.

190 Becomes the Western Divide Hwy just north of Ponderosa and ends at Mountain Rd 50. My route was 190E to WDH, to Mountain Rd 50, to Mountain Rd 99, to Sherman's Pass Rd, to Kennedy Meadow Rd and then, dropped onto 395N to catch 190 as it goes into DV. :good: Take a deep breath and a full tank. Yer gonna need it! WHAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo!
This sounds awesome, I'll likely do it reverse order ........thanks for the advice on roads. I'll start plotting the course
 
Excellent! I love the way your shadow runs in and out of the video. Can you tell us what type of equipment you are using and how you have it mounted on the bike? I really like the perspective that it is shot from and how little vibration there was on the video.

 
Excellent! I love the way your shadow runs in and out of the video. Can you tell us what type of equipment you are using and how you have it mounted on the bike? I really like the perspective that it is shot from and how little vibration there was on the video.
Sure...

I have a Canon Elura 80 digi tape camera in my tank bag. That is hooked up to a bullet cam that I have strapped to the Moko slider. Simple. I'll place the bullet cam there, on the other side, on the brake and clutch fluid reservoirs, or facing back on the rack.

 
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