On this last Sunday, I went on a day-long ride with my dear younger brother Sean.
Seany fell off his dirt bike late last year, landing on his head and shoulder.
His head, being incredibly hard, suffered no damage, but his shoulder crumbled and
required surgery a few weeks later. After weeks in a sling, and months of rehab,
he’s only been able to get back to riding in the last month or so. He owns a number of bikes,
has been riding daily for 30+ years, and rides very fast. He brought his ZRX for this one.
It was great to chase him down the road again.
Oh, and I just passed the 1 year anniversary of my relationship with my FJR.
It’s been 26,000 joyful miles. To celebrate, I had a new pair of Pilot Road 2’s put on Saturday.
Wow! What a difference! Huge improvement over the “old” PR’s.
We met just after sun-up at his place in Grass Valley, and he led me on back roads all over hell,
until I had no idea where I was.
We passed a few familiar spots, and after a couple of hours, we turned onto “the road.”
Just out of La Porte, we turned right at a sign that said - Quincy 33 miles.
I can’t tell you anything else about it. I’m sure many of the local FJR guys must be
familiar with this piece of happiness, but we’re not at liberty to divulge.
(Another comment on this at the end of this little report.)
Now I understand that different folks have different preferences, but this stretch
was for me, just about perfect.
Clean, beautifully smooth asphalt for most of it.
A few first gear tight corners.
Very few really blind corners.
Almost no traffic. (We never came up behind anyone during the whole stretch,
and only encountered a couple of oncoming vehicles.)
And mostly just fantastic, predictable, sweeping curves that were a blast to power through.
Some at 30. Some at 80. Reminded me of my formative years, racing on the Horse Thief Mile. Ha ha.
Probably not “technical” enough for many, but given my skills, it was perfect.
I was able to go really fast, but never scared myself.
Oh, and of course I took some pictures!
New Michelin skins!
Seany. My little brother.
The bikes. Mine's bigger!
A famous bridge. The River Kwai runs under it.
Let's get on with it!
Sean lying on the road.
Clowning.
"Hey brother. Take my picture while I come around this corner!"
Yes, I know. Too early on the apex.
This is fun.
He hates stopping so I can take pictures. Screw his ass. He can wait.
Lunchy in Quincy.
Old farts love this place I reckon.
Ooooh yeah! HAD to include this shot.
And then back the same way. It was like a different road, up and over the mountain.
Thanks for coming along.
I'm thinkin' that in the next couple of weeks, I'd like to organize my first ever group ride thing,
and hopefully have some of my forum brothers join Sean and I over this same route, at a semi-spirited pace.
Spirited for me. Perhaps tedium for some of ya'll.
7 am in Auburn? And off to the hills! Any interest? I'll work it out and post accordingly.
Thanks again.
Seany fell off his dirt bike late last year, landing on his head and shoulder.
His head, being incredibly hard, suffered no damage, but his shoulder crumbled and
required surgery a few weeks later. After weeks in a sling, and months of rehab,
he’s only been able to get back to riding in the last month or so. He owns a number of bikes,
has been riding daily for 30+ years, and rides very fast. He brought his ZRX for this one.
It was great to chase him down the road again.
Oh, and I just passed the 1 year anniversary of my relationship with my FJR.
It’s been 26,000 joyful miles. To celebrate, I had a new pair of Pilot Road 2’s put on Saturday.
Wow! What a difference! Huge improvement over the “old” PR’s.
We met just after sun-up at his place in Grass Valley, and he led me on back roads all over hell,
until I had no idea where I was.
We passed a few familiar spots, and after a couple of hours, we turned onto “the road.”
Just out of La Porte, we turned right at a sign that said - Quincy 33 miles.
I can’t tell you anything else about it. I’m sure many of the local FJR guys must be
familiar with this piece of happiness, but we’re not at liberty to divulge.
(Another comment on this at the end of this little report.)
Now I understand that different folks have different preferences, but this stretch
was for me, just about perfect.
Clean, beautifully smooth asphalt for most of it.
A few first gear tight corners.
Very few really blind corners.
Almost no traffic. (We never came up behind anyone during the whole stretch,
and only encountered a couple of oncoming vehicles.)
And mostly just fantastic, predictable, sweeping curves that were a blast to power through.
Some at 30. Some at 80. Reminded me of my formative years, racing on the Horse Thief Mile. Ha ha.
Probably not “technical” enough for many, but given my skills, it was perfect.
I was able to go really fast, but never scared myself.
Oh, and of course I took some pictures!
New Michelin skins!
Seany. My little brother.
The bikes. Mine's bigger!
A famous bridge. The River Kwai runs under it.
Let's get on with it!
Sean lying on the road.
Clowning.
"Hey brother. Take my picture while I come around this corner!"
Yes, I know. Too early on the apex.
This is fun.
He hates stopping so I can take pictures. Screw his ass. He can wait.
Lunchy in Quincy.
Old farts love this place I reckon.
Ooooh yeah! HAD to include this shot.
And then back the same way. It was like a different road, up and over the mountain.
Thanks for coming along.
I'm thinkin' that in the next couple of weeks, I'd like to organize my first ever group ride thing,
and hopefully have some of my forum brothers join Sean and I over this same route, at a semi-spirited pace.
Spirited for me. Perhaps tedium for some of ya'll.
7 am in Auburn? And off to the hills! Any interest? I'll work it out and post accordingly.
Thanks again.
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