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California Trip 2002 - Journal
We were in quite a rush to get the maintenance done on the bikes after just returning from the previous trip a week and a half ago. Both bikes needed fresh oil and the GSXR needed a new chain and sprockets as well as new rubber. Mike decided to wait to change tires until we got to the Laguna track. Life was good. Two weeks of riding, Calgary to Laguna Seca and back, 7000km.
We left on Sunday July 07, 2002, the weather was beautiful, and it stayed that way for our entire trip, BIG bonus. We decided again to stay off the main interstates and take as many side roads as possible. The first day we traveled from Calgary, Alberta to Fernie, BC, crossed the border south of Cranbrook, BC into Idaho, USA, passed through Coeur d’Alene into the south east corner of Washington. It was time for us to set up camp, but that was easier said than done. It’s not very populated in that corner of the World so campsites are few and far between. After almost 1000km of riding we finally found an awesome state park. This part of Washington is like a desert and it was 100DegF so stopping for more than just a minute with full leathers on was not really an option. It is incredible how the scenery changes in Washington. The state offers huge mountains, ocean, lakes, canyons, prairie to desert. Washington is one of our favorite states to motorcycle. Lots of twisties to choose from and not a lot of traffic.
July 08, 2002, we rode along the Columbia river between the Washington and Oregon border. The wind was howling down the canyon, my neck was getting sore from fighting the wind and the poor bike was struggling at 140km/hr. During breakfast we were made aware of an upcoming historical site we shouldn’t miss. Just before the crossing of the Columbia River to Biggs on highway 97, a life size replica of Stone Henge stands overlooking the river valley. We wandered around the monument and were glad we made the small detour. We encountered a lot of police during our stay in Oregon, but were always lucky in not getting caught speeding. We stayed in a nice campground, owned by a former Okotoks resident who seemed happy to talk about back home.
July 09, 2002, at breakfast we met up with some Sportbike riders from BC, who were also heading to Laguna Seca. Our first touristy stop of the day was Crater Lake in Oregon. We spent a good 4 hours exploring the East Rim Road and even found a few feet of snow in some parts. From Crater Lake it was west to the Coast. We stopped at the California sign for one of many chain lubes and continued into the Redwood National Park. The road was twisty through the park, trees with a diameter of 2 to 3 meters lined each side of the road. Definitely wouldn’t want to loose control of your bike here. We reached the California coast late afternoon, and decided to do a little detour off into the Redwood Natl. Park. Most tourists had already left for the day, and it was just us weaving through the corners. Mike moved his R1 into the center of a big tree, which made for a great picture. It was getting late and we couldn’t find a campground. We ended up pitching our tent in a dumpy looking trailer park, which was kind of creepy in a Jerry Springer, welfare sort of way.
July 10, 2002, woke up to heavy fog, our camping gear was soaked. We decided to head inland on highway 299, which was an awesome decision. After a good climb up the mountain the fog started to disappear leaving blue sky and dry roads ahead. The road, which spans 140 miles, is in very good condition, and ranges from big sweepers to tight twisties, from high speed to 10-mph corners. We met only one cop, who was hiding in the shadow of a rocky overhang. He didn’t bother to follow us since we were moving at a good speed. As we descended into Redding the temperature was starting to climb. It was time to strip down to the bare minimum under the leathers. From Redding we stayed on interstate 5 for a couple of hours and then headed west to Clear Lake. We were dehydrating fast, no wonder since we hit a record high of +118Deg.F (+47Deg.C). At least the leathers protected us from wind burn. Arriving at Clear Lake, it reminded us of Spain, no grass, sandy ground, and crickets chirping away. We were both totally exhausted and had the shakes from dehydration. I was just glad to stand under a cold shower. The state campground was kind of off the beaten path, but we did manage to find a great Pizza house with air conditioning.
July 11, 2002, from Clear Lake we found this twisty road to Santa Rosa, actually I think we were a bit lost. Some of the corners took us by surprise and luckily we never had any on coming traffic. This was my third time in San Francisco and I have yet to see the Golden Gate Bridge, every time we cross it we are in thick fog. Then we took a wrong turn exiting the Bridge and had to work our way through the middle of the city. Once we left San Francisco we took Highway 9 southwest and as we were fueling up we noticed that across the street was the famous Alice’s Restaurant biker hangout. I had been wondering why we saw a constant stream of motorcycles at the four way intersection. Once we got to Monterey the only task left was to find the hotel and our friend Roy, who had traveled down in his pick-up truck from Calgary the previous week. We made it.
July 12, 2002. Off we were to the pre-qualifying of the AMA and WSB races at Laguna Seca Raceway. We had pre-purchased our 3 day passes, which included access to the pits. So much to see, and so little time, not to mention a lot of area to cover. I couldn’t wait to see the famous corkscrew turn. The first day just flew by, and it was impossible to take everything in. In the evening Roy took us to Cannery Row, where bikes line up on each side of the street for many blocks. We were drooling over many of the bikes. Ducati’s and Aprilia’s were a common sight. Chromed out R1’s and low rider Hyabusas with nitrous bottles, you name it and it was there. We don’t see that kind of stuff in Canada.
July 14, 2002. The big day had arrived, Round 7 & 8 of WSB. We each did one lap of the track on our own bikes, only cost $10! Coming down the corkscrew is totally out there, quite a drop off, it was cool! Back in the stands, we each took bets on the first three places. We were all cheering for Troy Bayliss. The Americans of course wanted the Texas Tornado Colin Edwards to win. First round Troy Bayliss took the win, with Hodgeson in second and Edwards in third. In the second round the battle was on between Colin Edwards and Troy Bayliss. It was the Texas Tornado who took first place, followed by Bayliss and Xaus. Roy ended up buying himself a Troy Bayliss replica Suomy helmet, a full Remus exhaust system for his GSXR1100 and a slip on for his R1. And I made Roy pose with the new GSXR1000. Big thanks to Roy for showing us around.
July 15, 2002. Seven days left to make it home. We decided to zig-zag across the mountain ranges in California. Leaving Monterey we had our first incident with the sheriff. After registration and license etc, he let us of the hook with a firm “Slow down”. I think it helps to have the Canada Flag on both our leathers and luggage. Thank you, Sheriff. We rode straight east from San Francisco on highway 4, which took us to the Nevada border. This highway is a definite must, as you climb through the mountain passes the road turns into single lane with lots of twisties and very little traffic. Near the Nevada border we turned north to Lake Tahoe. Another excellent day of riding had past as we set up camp at the south tip of Lake Tahoe.
July 16, 2002. I had caught one of my wicked colds and had no balance, was I ever mad. All I could manage was 300 km. We stayed on the west side of Lake Tahoe and turned west on highway 89. On this stretch of highway we lost sight of each other. In all our travels this has never happened to us before. One of those freak incidents. We passed several cars and somehow we had passed each other without noticing. He thought I had gone off a cliff and had other motorcyclists looking for me. Meanwhile I was sitting 15km ahead on the side of the road wondering where the hell he was. After an hour of waiting I decided to turn around and go for my own search. Luckily it ended well, but still a heart stopper for both of us. The corners stayed with us until just before Red Bluff. The temperature was rising again and we found a state campground in Red Bluff.
July 17, 2002. After some inquires as to the condition of highway 36, we were off to the best riding we ever had. Highway 36 parallels highway 299 north of it and is 140 miles of elevation changes and twisties. We met maybe 4 cars on the whole trip. The front wheel would come off the ground at times over crests in the road when hard on the throttle, and since it is a secondary road, corner speed signs were rare. Concentration was called for if you didn’t want to end up in the ditch. We came out at Eureka and turned east again on highway 299, which seemed very high speed after all the tight twisties. About 50 km into the mountains we turned north on highway 96. As it was getting late we decided to take a chance on a small logging road into Oregon. I was longing for a just one km of straight road. My wrists were killing me and my concentration slipping. 550 km of hard core cornering…. we will be back on the Ducatis.
July 18, 2002. Woke up to dense smoke. A large forest fire was burning out of control near by. We decided to head up the coast on highway 101. Big mistake in July. The amount of traffic was brutal. It is hard not to piss off car drivers when you constantly have to pass. We made it up the coast to Seaside, and set up camp.
July 19, 2002. As we started to cross over the Columbia River from Oregon to Washington it started to rain. But the rain gods were good to us and after an hour it cleared up. We had done this route the year before and had some good memories. Turning on highway 12, we stopped at a look out point to see Mt. St. Helens, but there was not much to see. By the time we got to Mt. Rainer the clouds started to clear and we actually had a peak at it. From the mountain ranges we entered central Washington and Canyon country. We passed by Grand Coulee Dam and actually made it to Kettle Falls close to the Canadian Border. Kettle Falls was absolutely full of cops, you couldn’t move without seeing a cop. We found a very cheap campground, however what we didn’t realize as we set up our tent was that we were only 5 meters away from the railroad tracks!
July 20, 2003. At 3:30am in the morning a train decided to shuffle train cars right in front of our campsite. Sleep was impossible with the ground shaking and the train hammering along side you. We packed up at 4 am and hit the road. At that time of day there is no traffic and we made good time to the border at Nelway. Actually too early. The border crossing did not open until 8 am and we showed up at 7am. Being the only ones at the border caught the interest of the border guard and an army guy, who, after half an hour of questions were satisfied that we were not smuggling anything illegal. Back in Canada we had a leisurely ride over Creston, Radium and Banff. Another awesome ride. Our next scheduled ride was to Sportbike West in Kelowna BC, three weeks later.
This site was last updated 12/27/05 |