Cello II
Well-known member
I wanted to see how many mountain passes or summits I could achieve in 24 hours here in Northern California. Most of us are delighted with getting to ride two or three passes in a day. I looked over the maps and concluded that I could do many more. The more I thought about it the greater the number became. For this one-time only event I picked mid-June for maximum daylight, good moonlight, comfortable temperatures and freedom from late season forest fires (an increasing problem here). Unfortunately, an unseasonable lightning storm arrived two days ago and started several hundred fires. My trip was half spent in haze, smoke-filtered light, and a few moments of I-can't-breathe:-I-want-out-of-here. I loved it all anyway!
I live outside Sacramento, so I left home Sunday night at 10:00 for I-5 and (1)Donner Summit, Truckee and (2)Brockway Summit, Lake Tahoe, Incline Village and up to (3)Mt.Rose Summit. I then returned to the east side of the lake for (4)Spooner Summit, Stateline and (5)Daggett Summit to Gardnerville NV. Going south I added (6) Jack Wright near Wellington and (7)Sweetwater Summit on the way to Bridgeport, (8)Conway Summit and (9)Tioga Pass(Yosemite). Continuing south on 395 I crossed (10)Deadman Summit on the way to (11)Minaret Summit at Mammoth Lakes, (12)Sherwin Summit. Bishop and Big Pine. At 5:30 am I turned east on 168 for a "must ride" over (13)Westgard Pass and (14) Gilbert Summit. This was super spectacular!
I promised myself that I would not exceed posted limits by more than 2mph, but after three hours of riding I had noticed I was already 45 minutes behind my projected schedule. So what would I do? Abandon my reserve and ride with abandon! :yahoo:
I quit taking pictures, gave up the plans to eat at restaurants (fortunately I had brought lots of nibbles) and abandoned the possibility of having any rest stops. Brutal but necessary.
I continued north on 264 to 6 for (15) Montgomery Pass and Benton for a glorious rollercoaster of a ride on 120 where one can easily get "air time". Back on 395 I went north past Bridgeport to (16) Devil's Gate and the fabulous (17) Sonora Pass. Again north on 395 to a cluster of my favorite passes: (18)Monitor, (19)Ebbetts Pass, (20) Pacific Grade Summit, and back to (21) Carson Pass,(22) Luther Pass and finally (23)Echo Pass on 50. Now it is mid-day and time for a leisurely ride up the west side of Lake Tahoe to Tahoe City, Truckee and north on 89.
The first of the passes north of Tahoe for me was (24) Little Truckee Summit, followed by(25) Yuba Pass on 49 and (26) Gold Lakes Summit north of Bassetts. Then over the hardly noticable (27)Lee Summit to Quincy where I headed west to (28)Bucks Lake Summit, a great twisty road for a few miles. I returned to Quincy for a boring smokey ride toward 36 and (29) Fredonyer Pass, before Susanville. I picked up 44 for a spirited ride to Old Station and (30)Eskimo Pass. After 20 continuous hours of riding one would expect to be indifferent to roads, but not so this time! The ride over (31)Lassen was spectacular in every way! It was marvelous.
When I arrived at 36 I turned left for 200 yards and laughed! I was on (32) Morgan Summit. I made a U-turn and went 5 miles to Mineral where I turned left on 172 to (33) Mineral Summit. This road had better be a secret! It is short and sweet and one of the best I've ridden. My "Pass-Bagging" was over for the day, but in order to make it home before the 24 hours were up, I turned down 32 to Chico and flew through endless twisties. I arrive at my home at 9:25 P.M. I haven't cleaned the bike yet!!!
The Specs: 23 hours 25 minutes... 33 mountain passes/summits... 1263 miles .... averaged 42.5 miles per gallon :clapping:
And this is the work of a young guy who turns 73 in a few days!! :yahoo:
Special Thanks for Farkles:
GP Suspensions for their fabulous forks valves, springs and Penske Shock. WOW!! 100% improvement.
Bill Mayer seat (I hadn't ridden for more than a month. No complaints here! )
Cal-Sci tall windsreen: allowed me protection to flip up my helmet and eat and drink while moving.
Throttlemeister and Camelback (I carried 4 liters of water)
Do you think I'm ready for NAFO? Just think of all those passes!!!
I apologize for the absence of pictures. I was preocuppied! Lots of others have posted pictures of these places. I debated posting this since it was an individual ride and might not be of interest to others. If you are still reading, thank you. It really was a big blast to do, and although I arrived home very tired, I never once felt that the hours threatened my concentration or safety. Somehow I remained alert!
I live outside Sacramento, so I left home Sunday night at 10:00 for I-5 and (1)Donner Summit, Truckee and (2)Brockway Summit, Lake Tahoe, Incline Village and up to (3)Mt.Rose Summit. I then returned to the east side of the lake for (4)Spooner Summit, Stateline and (5)Daggett Summit to Gardnerville NV. Going south I added (6) Jack Wright near Wellington and (7)Sweetwater Summit on the way to Bridgeport, (8)Conway Summit and (9)Tioga Pass(Yosemite). Continuing south on 395 I crossed (10)Deadman Summit on the way to (11)Minaret Summit at Mammoth Lakes, (12)Sherwin Summit. Bishop and Big Pine. At 5:30 am I turned east on 168 for a "must ride" over (13)Westgard Pass and (14) Gilbert Summit. This was super spectacular!
I promised myself that I would not exceed posted limits by more than 2mph, but after three hours of riding I had noticed I was already 45 minutes behind my projected schedule. So what would I do? Abandon my reserve and ride with abandon! :yahoo:
I quit taking pictures, gave up the plans to eat at restaurants (fortunately I had brought lots of nibbles) and abandoned the possibility of having any rest stops. Brutal but necessary.
I continued north on 264 to 6 for (15) Montgomery Pass and Benton for a glorious rollercoaster of a ride on 120 where one can easily get "air time". Back on 395 I went north past Bridgeport to (16) Devil's Gate and the fabulous (17) Sonora Pass. Again north on 395 to a cluster of my favorite passes: (18)Monitor, (19)Ebbetts Pass, (20) Pacific Grade Summit, and back to (21) Carson Pass,(22) Luther Pass and finally (23)Echo Pass on 50. Now it is mid-day and time for a leisurely ride up the west side of Lake Tahoe to Tahoe City, Truckee and north on 89.
The first of the passes north of Tahoe for me was (24) Little Truckee Summit, followed by(25) Yuba Pass on 49 and (26) Gold Lakes Summit north of Bassetts. Then over the hardly noticable (27)Lee Summit to Quincy where I headed west to (28)Bucks Lake Summit, a great twisty road for a few miles. I returned to Quincy for a boring smokey ride toward 36 and (29) Fredonyer Pass, before Susanville. I picked up 44 for a spirited ride to Old Station and (30)Eskimo Pass. After 20 continuous hours of riding one would expect to be indifferent to roads, but not so this time! The ride over (31)Lassen was spectacular in every way! It was marvelous.
When I arrived at 36 I turned left for 200 yards and laughed! I was on (32) Morgan Summit. I made a U-turn and went 5 miles to Mineral where I turned left on 172 to (33) Mineral Summit. This road had better be a secret! It is short and sweet and one of the best I've ridden. My "Pass-Bagging" was over for the day, but in order to make it home before the 24 hours were up, I turned down 32 to Chico and flew through endless twisties. I arrive at my home at 9:25 P.M. I haven't cleaned the bike yet!!!
The Specs: 23 hours 25 minutes... 33 mountain passes/summits... 1263 miles .... averaged 42.5 miles per gallon :clapping:
And this is the work of a young guy who turns 73 in a few days!! :yahoo:
Special Thanks for Farkles:
GP Suspensions for their fabulous forks valves, springs and Penske Shock. WOW!! 100% improvement.
Bill Mayer seat (I hadn't ridden for more than a month. No complaints here! )
Cal-Sci tall windsreen: allowed me protection to flip up my helmet and eat and drink while moving.
Throttlemeister and Camelback (I carried 4 liters of water)
Do you think I'm ready for NAFO? Just think of all those passes!!!
I apologize for the absence of pictures. I was preocuppied! Lots of others have posted pictures of these places. I debated posting this since it was an individual ride and might not be of interest to others. If you are still reading, thank you. It really was a big blast to do, and although I arrived home very tired, I never once felt that the hours threatened my concentration or safety. Somehow I remained alert!
