Scratching an Itch...

The "itch" began like a quiet, subconscious thought in the back of my mind. It began after I returned home from the hospital with my family, including the newest member. When things settled down, and the visitors began to come and go less frequently I started to think about the bike again. By then, it had been about a week since I had even fired it up. That itch was getting stronger.

I knew my opportunity to ride would be very limited, though, as my wife was recovering from a C-Section and would need me at home to take care of her and the kids. So I pushed the itch back into the subconscious and went about the joy of loving my family. I consoled myself with the knowledge that I would at least be able to take the bike on my short commute to work.

When Monday dawned, rain was falling. So I climbed into the cage, the itch beginning to burn again, and drove to work. Rain and hail fought for the chance to ruin my hope of riding to work on Tuesday, too.

When you scratch an itch just a little, it tends to get worse in a hurry. So when Wednesday and Thursday offered blue skies, I rode to work. Two miles round-trip was insufficient and the itch was really burning.

Now today is Sunday, and my wife has recovered sufficiently so I could justify spending a couple of hours away. That burning itch just became nothing more than a distant memory this evening. I needed some place worthy of scratching a serious itch, within a couple of hours round-trip from my home. There was one obvious answer: The Little Dragon.

I recalled reading Gary's write-up about the road. I am familiar with it, and have traversed its twisting length countless times--always in a cage, though. I decided it was high-time I rode the Little Dragon, so I grabbed the camera, donned my gear and set off to do some serious itch scratching.

After filling up my FJ 600 with 89 octane in Oakhurst, I got onto Highway 49 and rode north toward Mariposa and the Little Dragon. The afternoon was bright and relatively cool, with the scent of Lupine heavy in the air.

I wasn't in much of a hurry, so when I fell into formation with four cruisers running 50 to 55 MPH, I just enjoyed the ride, then waved to them as they turned off when we entered the town of Mariposa.

By then the itch had lessened some, but I needed a prime stretch of snaking asphalt to really take care of it. I knew that stretch was just a few miles ahead, so after leaving Mariposa I turned up the speed a bit. I enjoyed a surprising lack of traffic for a Sunday afternoon as I approached the top of the grade that is the Little Dragon.

I feel a road like this speaks for itself, so I will cease the narrative at this point and show you what you all want to see.

I understand flowers are quickly becoming mandatory in these posts, so:

This last one is on a little road called Agua Fria. It probably ranks in at 4 goats on the goat scale, and is a delightful little road that goes from Hwy 49 to Hwy 140. It's a bit of a short-cut around Mariposa. It ties into 140 just south of Yaqui Gulch Road, which is another fantastic twisty country road.

So now the itch has, for a time been satisfied. Looking forward to the next ride though.

Here's a map showing my route. Most of it was on Highway 49, but the red shows where Agua Fria is, and the Blue is Yaqui Gulch. I took Yaqui Gulch to Old Highway, the the Mormon Bar Crossing back up to Highway 49. Round trip was about 90 miles. A perfect little two hour ride.