Day 2

It was up at 6am or so for day two. We had to ride about an hour and a half to meet out whole group. The forcast wasn't too friendly for motorcyclists though, so on went the rain gear again. We headed out onto southern californias freeways which always seem to be packed with traffic. Luckily for us, the traffic wasn't much of a prablem tahnks to california's lane shareing law (or lack thereof) Lane splitting was fun, I hope the lawmakers in Utah can make this possible here, it may get more people on bikes which would reduce emmisions and traffic congestion.

Dan and Brendan

We first met with Brendan, Joe and Chad. Then we were off to redondo beach to meet the rest of th group riding up to Monterey. Again some more lanesplitting. Once we were riding through Beverly Hills, I could smell the flowers that were planted in the center medians of the street. They were pretty strong, this is one of the great things of riding a motorcycle, you can smell what's around you. (although this wasn't the greatest perk when I was stopped next to a pig truck on I-15 while the road was shut down for a few) We made it to the hotel in Redondo Beach and met the rest of the group, Brad Jim and Gino. These are the guys I would spend the entire week with, a few others came and rode with us for a bit, but myself, Brad, Gino Jim and Dan and DJ made every ride. (well I did miss the ride on Monday, and we met DJ in Monterey)

We started out and began our jouney to the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) The PCH in the southern part of the state is much different from the northern part, some of it like a freeway. A section of the road takes you inland where we rode past some strawberry fields, again, I could smell the strawberries as we rode through, that's not something you always experience in a car.

The hotel in redondo beach, here you see Joe (with Backpack) Chad and Dan in the back

Here you see Chad, Brad is standing behind Chad, Brendan and Dan again (camera hog)

Here's the group as soon as we hit the PCH

Here's a video of us rolling up the PCH

We stopped at a few places along the way, Neptune's Net apparently is a famous seafood place, I wouldn't know.

Neptunes net, Joe, Gino (facing away), Chad, Jim in the background, Brad, Dan and Brendan

Jim at Neptune's Net

The trip to Moneterey from Moreno Valley is somewhere around 300 miles, the bikes have a range of 120-150 miles, so we made a few stops along the way. Although we talk talk to eachother via the net and I felt like I knew these guys, we'd talk and get to know eachother a bit better at the stops.

Brad and Gino with Joe trying to be funny. There was a inside joke about me only coming so that I could document illegal activities like speeding and wheelies and later arrest the offenders, Hence the how fast were you going question.

Jim and Brad Checking out Chad's Triple.Dan, Gino, Brad and Joe.

Brad and Gino

Again we started out for Monterey. After lunch (somewhere past Pismo) we were finally to the more scenic challenging part of the road. The Sights were beautiful, even with a full face helmet on you can everything, there's no roof, or pillars to blck you view, sure you can scoot forward and look up or out the window, but it's not the same, you don't see the whole picture. It's kind of like an I-max movie. And again the smells, this time it was the sea. I don't like seafood, but I love the smell of the ocean.

Finally some proof that I was on this trip.

The View

It was pretty windy that day, I don't know if these quirrels were trying to stay low so they wern't blown away or if they were trying to stay out of view, but I thought they looked funny.

We had a couple of mishaps along the way, first was Bendan's bike, the fuel line cracked and began to leak fuel, this could have been pretty bad had we not stopped when we did.

Dano washing his hands..... There was a hose there.

Luckily the leak was at the end of the fuel line and the line was a little long. Everyone picthed in a bit and the bike was fixed.

Next was Brad's rental bike. It was obvious that this bike had been crashed before (even though it only had 500 or so miles on it) One of the bolts to the shifter mount fell out and Brad lost the ability to shift. The passenger peg was removed and the bolt fit the shitfer mount perfectly, again we were on our way, this time we would make it to the Ramada in Monterey. Dj was there waiting for us when we got there, we checked in and found an Italian restraunt to eat at.

Another member met up with us there at the hotel, Shelby Brendan's brother. I don't think I got any pictures with Shelby in them. I'm also waiting for some of the others to share some pictures, I'll try and edit these posts when I get them.

Day two was a fun ride the road (past Pismo) was really fun, about 50 miles or so of tight twisty technical roads. The only problem was some strong wind gusts. When leaned over in a corner coming around the mountain, you'd get hit with a stong gust of wind that would puch your tires (a motorcycle wheel acts much like a sail at speed) One corner felt like my wheels slid a foot or so in dirt, the road was clean, it was just the wind, but it still scared me. The night up in Pismo was a lot of fun, by the end of the day I felt like I knew these guys a lot better. Most were definetly far ahead of me as far as riding skill goes (or guts, they were fast riders) I diddn't try to keep up, I love to ride fast, there's nothing like speed, but I told myself before giong down there that I wouldn't push myself, I did after all have to ride the bike home. Had I pushed myself and tried to keep up with these crazies, I probably would've had a bad experience. However I had a great time riding my own pace. The road is awesome. I will be back for a PCH ride, only I'll ride the entire way up.

More to come, i'll keep you posted.

Socal Rally Day One 5-21-2008

Day one started at 0530 AM. After planning and packing, the time had finally came. If you remember, Wednesday the 21st was rainy and cold. I borrowed some raingear from

Randy, it ended up saving me. I made it to payson in the pouring rain. It was still pretty warm and the only parts of me that were wet were my hands at this point. However I found the water on the freeway getting pretty deep, I don't know if it was for sure, but my rear tire felt like it would start floating on the water, so I stopped in Payson for a bit to let the rain die down. It didn't slow much and I was on the road again in pouring rain. By now, temperatures had dropped and I gained a little altitude. I stopped again in Scipio, this time out of neccessity to warm up. After another 30 mins or so, I hit the road again. This was the worst stretch of the trip between Scipio and Beaver. Usually when it's cold, I can warm my hands on the engine, but with my gloves being so wet, it didn't help at all. Coming over the mountain pass into Beaver it began to snow and the road signs were iced over.

While planning everything, Ashley really wanted me to drive the Jeep and trailer the bike. While riding in these conditions, I really wish I had listened to her. I stopped in Beaver at a cafe and drank four cups of coffee to warm up. I sat there and shivered with my teeth chattering for about an hour. I called Ashley to let her know I was OK and that she was right, I should've trailered. I called Dan and told him I'd be delayed. I called a few other people trying to make more time to sit in the warm diner. It finally stopped raining and I decided I'd get back on the road. I expected some rain, but not this much and not for it to be that cold. I didn't take long before it started raining again. And again I stopped in Parowan. This was a large truck stop, I began to look for gloves. Although I was cold allover, my hands were what were making me the most uncomfortable. I found some cotton jersey gloves and a pair of the rubber coated chemical gloves. I'm the kind of guy that can handle being cold OR being wet, but not BOTH. I paid $10 for the gloves, it was the best $10 I ever spent. I made it to Cedar City and didn't need to stop, my hands were nice and dry, cold but dry I rolled on and somewhere near St. George, it stopped raining. I made it to the Burninghams (My in-laws for those that don't know) and dried the clothers that I had on (they got a little wet) My mother in-law fed me a bowl of chilie and I took a hot shower. Their House was just finished and I was the first to use the "man shower" the House is beautiful. I'll put pictures of it up on the family blog. After an hour or two I decided to roll on, I was only half way there and needed to hurry since it took me 8 hours to get to St. George. The rest of the ride was pleasant and warm, the only complaint was strong winds through the Mojave Desert. The winds actually blew a Semi over and the road was shut down for about 30 Mins. After that I made it to Barstow, filled up and then met Dan in Riverside. We got a bite to eat at Denny's (and a hot cup of tea, Although it wasn't cold and raining, I still couldn't warm up from the cold ride) Once we got to Dan's place, we parked the bikes in the garage, mine smelled like burning hair, the bike was filthy with mud all over it. These pictures really don't do it justice.

I was nice to have the ride over with and be able to relax. I fell asleep very quickly, unfortunatly morning came very quickly. Here's where I slept for the time down there, with the exception of Day 2 in Monterey.

Socal Rally Day 1

3,011 Miles Later.....

I'm back. It was a great trip. I just got up and am downloading the pictures, I'm trying to work it all out in some kind of order when I write about it. No tickets, one minor crash that diddn't hurt anything (and was kind of fun) A lot of roads and some good food. I'll put more up later.

Sad News

I just read that Robert Dunlop died yesterday while practicing for the North West 200. http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/mcn/2008/may/12-18/may1508robertdunlopdiesatnorthwest200/

Scary deal, having your engine seize at 160MPH. for those that don't know what that will do. It locks up your rear tire so it starts skidding. A bike will only sty up under it's own power if the wheels are turning.
The Northwest 200 is a real road race. meaning they race on a real road that you and I could drive on. The roads are closed down for the event though. The most famous of these races is the Isle of Man.
Here's a video to show ya'll what it's like.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vqzpDRBsqdU


RIP Robert, ride on.

Put a new chain on and getting ready for the big trip

Well, I've been super busy. May was a hectic month. Ashley left for Vegas to visit her sister for a week while I stayed home with the kids. We managed to find baby sitters (Mom rarely says no God bless her) for the two days that I had to work. It started out fun, we gor some ice cream and movies and all watched them together, but soon enough Austin got sick with Rotavirus. So the fun stuff I had planned was spoiled. Austin got better, then worse for the rest of the week.
Ashley came home and I turned 30. Ausitn's illness spoiled our B-day plans, but we'll make up for it. During the chaos, I managed to change the chain on my bike, I replaced the sprockets also. The rear Sprocket is now a 44 tooth instead of the stock 42, which will give it a little better acceleration, but kill the top speed a little.


I got out for a ride on it finally though. The new gearing feels great. The damper I put on is leaking oil, I checked into it and learned that it's normal for them to come overfilled and they will leak till they have the right amount in. I'll give it some time but I don't think it's normal.
Now I'm just getting ready for the trip to California. Randy's going to let me borrow his tank bag, that'll be convienient. I'll keep the camera gun and phone in there.
I'm estimating the trip will be about 3,000 miles total. I may need to get myself a new rear tire while i'm down there. These sport tires don't last much longer than 3,000 and I put this one on last fall, it doesn't have too many miles on it, but most of them were on the track.
In th pic above you can see Randy's tankbag attached to my bike, it fits nice. It's a nice bag, a little smal, i've never liked tank bags, but this one's pretty convienient, not too big, will give me quicker access to the things I need regularly without having to dig through the backpack.
I got a new camera for the trip too, a "Steal" of a deal. I was at walmart, some one had tried to steal the exact camera I wanted and opend the box. They got caught the camera was recovered, but they couldn't restock it, so I got it for %50 off. IT's pretty cool 8.1 megapixels takes video too. I bought a 2 gig card with it, hopefully that'll be enough storage for the trip.