Bugnatr
Well-known member
As some of you may have seen Gramps has been in Southern Ca for the month of January. Haven't seen him since CFO in 09 so it was a good reason to jump on the hippo and ride south for a couple days. With the unseasonably warm dry weather I took advantage of the dry mountain roads and rode to Palm Springs via Lake Tahoe and Hwy 395 on the eastern side of the Sierra's. A longer but much better option than riding over crowded freeways south.
It was a bit nippley in Truckee at 7 am but with barn door front end and heated grips/seat all was just fine.
Some overnight irrigation made for some cool ice sculptures in a Nevada field.
I just love riding the eastern Sierra's and the winter desert beauty. Temps were in the mid 40'd by the time I was south of Tahoe. Nice day.
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Another real benefit of riding in the winter is no motorhomes, cars or even bikes. Damn I love to have to road to myself! 600 miles later I made it to Palm Springs. Meeting Gramps and others from the FZ6 forum in the morning.
Saturday had high wind warnings for much of Southern California and on my way to Warner Springs to meet the peeps I had quite the dust storm to ride through. It was a day of dodge the tumble weed and this picture does not due justice to this wall of dust for a half mile. It was like riding through blowing snow except it was dirt.
Here's gramps and I along with our FZ friends sharing the winter sun and fun at one of our stops after blasting Montezuma Valley Road. Thanks for riding with us Marc!
I mentioned the FZ6 but like me none of the forum members we rode with ride the 6 anymore but we had Triumphs, Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda's all playing together quite well. The others in our group are all from SoCal and knew the local roads well. I have ridden with a few before but it was fun to meet some more FZ6forum peeps. We had a blast and it was great to see a fellow Minnesotan. We had a great day riding and before we knew it time said we need to split up.
I rode the long way back via Idyllwild and the fun grade to Banning. Seems the sun made for fun selfies.
My son who lives in LA drove over to see his pops. I brought riding gear for him and we rode Joshua Tree National Park Sunday. Notice my new to me Harley Davidson Zumo I bought last month, it will most likely be as close as I ever get to owning a Harley.
Here's the kid with the Hippo, we both enjoyed JT Park as it's a great place to visit.
The natural Cholla cactus garden in the middle of the park, didn't mean to do a bw picture but I like it. We had a great father/son day which also included a ride up the mountain in the Palm Springs Tram. A must visit for anytime in that area. Sunday evening my son hit the road for LA and I needed to get ready for the 600 mile ride home Monday.
Here's some pictures from the ride north enjoying Hwy 395. Most of my pictures are taken on the fly so don't expect too much quality from my old point and shoot.
Last picture is Lake Tahoe on the northeast side. It was a great four day ride to see good friends and my son. Not often we are riding in the high country in January. Lets hope for winter to come back in February to California-we need the moisture.
It was a bit nippley in Truckee at 7 am but with barn door front end and heated grips/seat all was just fine.
Some overnight irrigation made for some cool ice sculptures in a Nevada field.
I just love riding the eastern Sierra's and the winter desert beauty. Temps were in the mid 40'd by the time I was south of Tahoe. Nice day.
Another real benefit of riding in the winter is no motorhomes, cars or even bikes. Damn I love to have to road to myself! 600 miles later I made it to Palm Springs. Meeting Gramps and others from the FZ6 forum in the morning.
Saturday had high wind warnings for much of Southern California and on my way to Warner Springs to meet the peeps I had quite the dust storm to ride through. It was a day of dodge the tumble weed and this picture does not due justice to this wall of dust for a half mile. It was like riding through blowing snow except it was dirt.
Here's gramps and I along with our FZ friends sharing the winter sun and fun at one of our stops after blasting Montezuma Valley Road. Thanks for riding with us Marc!
I mentioned the FZ6 but like me none of the forum members we rode with ride the 6 anymore but we had Triumphs, Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda's all playing together quite well. The others in our group are all from SoCal and knew the local roads well. I have ridden with a few before but it was fun to meet some more FZ6forum peeps. We had a blast and it was great to see a fellow Minnesotan. We had a great day riding and before we knew it time said we need to split up.
I rode the long way back via Idyllwild and the fun grade to Banning. Seems the sun made for fun selfies.
My son who lives in LA drove over to see his pops. I brought riding gear for him and we rode Joshua Tree National Park Sunday. Notice my new to me Harley Davidson Zumo I bought last month, it will most likely be as close as I ever get to owning a Harley.
Here's the kid with the Hippo, we both enjoyed JT Park as it's a great place to visit.
The natural Cholla cactus garden in the middle of the park, didn't mean to do a bw picture but I like it. We had a great father/son day which also included a ride up the mountain in the Palm Springs Tram. A must visit for anytime in that area. Sunday evening my son hit the road for LA and I needed to get ready for the 600 mile ride home Monday.
Here's some pictures from the ride north enjoying Hwy 395. Most of my pictures are taken on the fly so don't expect too much quality from my old point and shoot.
Last picture is Lake Tahoe on the northeast side. It was a great four day ride to see good friends and my son. Not often we are riding in the high country in January. Lets hope for winter to come back in February to California-we need the moisture.
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