Monitor Pass, Ca

[OrangevaleFJR]

My daughter leaves on Wednesday for college. Today, she and I rode the FJR to Monitor Pass, had lunch at the Kirkwood Lodge and had a great day.

Here we are on Monitor

 

[Toecutter]

Good times! I've got an appointment with Monitor Pass in about six weeks. Barring a close encounter of the Bear kind, that ***** is mine!

 

[rangerk9]

Orange,

Nice! Thanks for sharing that. I hope that in 13-14 yrs I can share the same story as you with my 5 yr old daughter (hopefully, she is going to College under full scholarship )

It is so awesome that you can share your love of the bike with your daughter.

Again, thanks for your posting.

Rex

RLTW!!

 

[twowheelnut]

I see you brought Granny and Gramps, too! :lol:

Very nice, Andrew. Your kid's a real sweetheart - you're lucky! Wish her well for me in college and the Big Apple, too.

 

[exskibum]

Wish I'd known you were going earlier so I could rework this weekend's schedule. Looks like Sunday is free for riding now, maybe I'll go up to the Lake. (If I don't do the mechanical work I keep putting off -- now that I have 3 bikes to maintain.)

Monitor was my personal track when I lived in South Lake Tahoe and Gardnerville ('04-'06), but I first rode it in '79 when I lived in Tahoe City. It's a big reason the Blackbird has the Traxxion and Penske setup.

I have stories about Monitor. I think it's one of the finest 20 miles of sweepers anywhere. If you ride it enough to know every corner, the places where the sweepers twitch into sharper corners that you can molest if you're ready for them, it's magical. I think it's the road I'll ride if I die and go north (yeah, I know -- lawyers and Satan and all). I'm not sure it's my favorite pass, but it's certainly the one that has some kind of hold over me.

And that view behind you -- to this day, I don't know the name of that valley (and I've looked at maps that don't show a name), but since '79 on my GS1000, I've had many days where I stopped and contemplated THAT valley from THAT turn-out, and something mystical and desolate and powerful takes hold of you there. How many times have you ridden by that turn-out and NOT stopped? And is there any turn-out anywhere that has grabbed you a higher percentage of the time?

I sat there during the Illinois time funeral of a fellow XX rider I'd ridden it with only 11 weeks earlier. Mountain peaks are where I feel the presence of God. Did you know that the mining town of Monitor (after which the pass is named, but long since disappeared) was actually named after the Monitor ship (of the battle with the Merrimac at Hampton Roads)? It had originally been called Loope, IIRC. Glad you could show it to your daughter from the back of the FJR -- I'm told that's a memorable perspective on a thrilling road.

I'll probably remember Monitor as a replay of a crisp sunny day (on XX or FJR); a deep blue sky softened with cotton-puff clouds. No traffic, as usual, and nothing better to do than run it over and back before heading home.

I pray I get to ride Monitor Pass when I get to the other side.

 

[skyway]

Monitor Pass is great road, my favorite direction is to run it from Hwy4 heading East toward Hwy395. I've had the pleasure of seeing off many a squid on that road, with my overweight grandpa style ST bike.

 

[Leartech]

That is some kind of cool. My 12 year old daughter prefers the bike to other modes of transport. I can only hope that when she is the same age as your daughter, she will still enjoy a day riding around with her old man. Good times.

Bryan

 

[Cdogman]

Niiice I missed this thread cuz i have been curing my bike in the garage.... Monitor pass huh..... I gotta go ride it soon!!

Thanks for sharing bro

 

[wheatonFJR]

Looks like it was a good time...

...my oldest heads out-of-town next year.

He's no mcy rider though. It's my youngest (daughter) that is more into - that if momma would let her.

 

[BobbyBlue]

Thanks so much Orange...I have a 20 year old daughter who hasnt spoken to me in 3.5 years...messy divorce/heart attacks/loss of career etc...anyway i keep trying...she used to ride with me alot around plano /dallas back in the late 90's, very inspiring to see y'all..i just watched my son graduate from college last weekend, and its all good. Blessings on ya DAD ! the most important title there is !!!!

Bobby

 

[painman]

That's a great looking crew Andrew. Enjoy your daughter while she's still young as pretty soon she will be all grown up and on her own. My daughter graduated nursing school this year and is now working as a RN. She plans to marry this coming April and will move out of the house then. She is 25 and a great gal. So can you tell I'm the dad? I am truly blessed as I can tell you are as well. PM. <><