Rain Riding at its Best!
What you do when your ride plan is covered in snow and ice?
We had planned the perfect ride for a warm long weekend when we started thinking about our 3-day March road trip.
How we avoided the mountain passes…
Oregon is a state with many options and wonderful motorcycle roads. But the thought of a nice sunny ride in Oregon began to slip away as our planned date drew near. In the days before our ride, the weather forecast had turned to heavy rain surrounding our entire state; not to mention all of Washington and most of Idaho as well. What do you do? Change the destination, that’s what, and head on down to Southern California! The sun was our goal as we donned our rain gear and mounted up. The hope of warm sunny beautiful motorcycle roads quickly faded as we filled our tanks and headed out. There are two higher passes we needed to cross that were covered in snow! There also were reports of icy patches. From what I hear, it’s not a good idea to go sliding down an icy mountain road. Never have done it and never really wanted to…
Mt. Shasta in the background with plenty of fresh snow.
We easily made the choice to change our route and head toward the Southern Oregon coast. Flexibility is key on a motorcycle. Point your bike toward better weather, sit back and ride. We avoid the passes by heading down US 101 through the Redwoods to Eureka, CA. Then head east to Redding and south as far as we can before we stop for the night. If we can get far enough, we’ll ride through Death Valley and possibly get a rare treat to see the desert wildflower super blooms. El Nino has been very good for the deserts in California this year and super desert blooms are expected.
Stay in your lane, dummy!
As we head across the pass toward Redding, I made the mistake of riding across a white painted bike lane. My rear tire started sliding a little sideways and my bike was pretty skewed. I felt like I should have been wearing steel soles (said like the closet dirt tracker that I am). Well, this is no Harley XR750! But the Road King did surprisingly well with the rear wheel edging gracefully sideways. Keep a constant throttle…no sudden changes…keep your eyes where you want to go…glide through it. The pouring rain is one of those places where (possibly) you could comfortably slide around a bit…I don’t recommend it. This time, that mountain curve included two oncoming cars! How is it, the only time you see cars on the road is when you don’t want to! My heart would’ve skipped a beat, but I was just having too much fun. I stayed to the inside of my lane – this time. But what does that say about me? I’m too comfortable on a motorcycle for my own good? I promise to be a little more conservative for the rest of the trip. I promise to avoid riding over those painted white lines!
I’ve got to admit that riding in the rain over some fantastic roads was actually a blast! OR 138 to the coast, Hwy 101 into Northern California, CA 299 across to Redding, those are great roads rain or shine. Did I mention the gusty winds? Yup, rain and wind, you just can’t stop us! Riding over the bridges were a little sketchy… especially the tall ones. But we just slowed it down to maintain our lane. Motorcyclists don’t like riding through gusty winds. As you ride over bridges, a gust of wind can blow you right into oncoming traffic. Keep it slow. That’s really the only way to stay safe.
Stuck in Lodi… again!
We made it as far as Lodi, CA. As we woke up the next day and the sun was shining and bright. It was so nice, we decided to just stick around the area. After all, we found the sun! There are miles and miles of amazing motorcycle roads right here in the foothills of the western Sierra Mountains. From Lodi, it’s about 100 miles south and east to Mariposa and Gold Country. CA 49 northbound from Mariposa is a beautiful motorcycle road and it has everything that you could want or ask for. There are multi radius curves, smooth pavement, wide lanes, high speed sweepers, and plenty of notice for those tight curves where you need to slow down. Going north or south the road and the views are just fantastic. If you’ve never ridden CA 49 in California’s Gold County, I heartily recommend it. CA 49 is named for the famous Forty-Niners; those wide eyed gold miners that created the California gold rush of 1849. You’ll be riding through lots of wild west history, great food, sunny weather, rolling hills, and you’re never far from help; just in case you need it.
Homeward bound!
Our last day is the ride home and is about 300 miles or so. The passes were only 28 degrees that morning, so we waited until 11 o’clock to be sure the pavement would be nice and dry. It was sunny and dry that entire day as well.
We spent three days getting a jump start on this riding season. We encountered gusty wind, pouring rain, wonderful sunny open roads, skipped the snow and ice, and arrived home safe. That’s what I call a perfect ride!
While you’re in the area:
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Lodi Best Western
6411 W Banner Rd, Lodi, CA 95242 -
Castle Air Museum, Awater
85 aircraft on display – Trainers to the B-52D Stratofortress
http://www.castleairmuseum.org
2013 #Harley Road King, #Gerbing heated jacket, #Warm&Safe heated gloves, #WarmAndSafe wireless remote heat controls, #Olympia Horizon rain gear in neon yellow, Plastic bags to fix leaking boots, #Dainese neck warmer, Dainese Drake textile riding pants with knee protectors, #Sena 20s helmet communications
#adventurebike #harley #bmw #motorad #roadking #k1000