3 days of riding Sierra to the Beach Day 1

[OrangevaleFJR]

Friday the 21st of April. We had some distance to ride before we met all the other riders that our friend had assembled for our ride. We could have got there in just over 206 miles, but we went the 289 mile route instead!

Leaving from Orangevale, we took route 16 to Hwy 49. For all you non historian types, this is named 49 because of the gold rush 49ers. It traverses the lower altitude mountains of the Sierra from North to Central California. Simply put, this road rocks and if you want a great motorcycle vacation, you could plan it around 4 days on 49 and an extra day with OrangevaleFJR's BBQ and some special gems I can show you around these parts. Yup, that is a limited invite (meaning if we have guests every week I'll be in trouble!).

That said, to get to 16 you have to take Latrobe Road off of US 50. Here are some shots of Latrobe. Here is the one where you leave the developed areas, climb this hill, then drop into a beautiful valley. The feeling of climbing this hill is of leaving urban living behind and it's a good feeling.



You are in the foothills of the Sierra and in the Spring, these hills are green and the trees have new leaves. Even the old oak trees.



Upon descending into this valley, there is a creek. Deer Creek. The railroad bridge reminding us of busier days in these parts when gold ore was chugging along behind smoke billowing steam engines.



To understand the love of this green, perhaps you should look at shots of this area in July when all the grass is brown from lack of rain and 90+ heat. Now, the grass is green, flowers are in bloom and the creeks and rivers are either full, or flooding. Some areas such as Colorado where I grew up are brown in the winter and green in the summer. The opposite is true of this region of California.



Latrobe does offer some high speed sweepers that are very fun.




more to come :-)

[OrangevaleFJR]

Those blooming flowers...you'll see more about 500 miles Shouthwest of these later:



To support mining, there was ranching and the ranching is still here.



I was going so fast I bent this tree over!



On this route, we were only on 16 for a very short while then we were on Hwy 49 Southbound. Along this route, here is one view that always surprises me. There just don't seem to be signs advertising this lake and all the sudden, it's there!

[

This is the road between Plymouth and Sutter Creek.





vroom.



More to come

[OrangevaleFJR]

Hwy 49 has it's twisty spots, and it has it's long straights too. Even the straights are fun when things are looking so nice and you see people living in places you like to think about.



Hills in front tell of roads to come



The sky started losing it's cloud cover around Angels Camp.



Hey...there's another tree. Cows and horses hide from the sun in their shade. It sure wasn't hot. I guess they're worried about sunburn!



there's some too. and rocks. yup, them er rocks.

[OrangevaleFJR]

These water pipelines coming over the mountains always amaze me. So little of our water infrastructure is visible to us. Thinking merely of all the pipes that deliver water and how far they go always amazes me. Seeing infrastructure close to the source is always interesting to me.





That was cool...then there's 49...and it's about to get really interesting!



This section is a beginning of ever tightening turns and ever higher altitudes. If you like the twisties, this is a section that will get your heart pumping. If you follow the rise in the road to the next hill, you can see the road cutting through up there. Get ready for some fun!



and it just keeps getting better



and better...more to come

[OrangevaleFJR]

I love this road. Hwy 49!



49



4? 9


How far into the turn are you supposed to look? Sometimes, just as far as you can and use some good guessing too.



Look what's coming!



more to come

[OrangevaleFJR]

road



where we came from



From one set of flora to another can be just one hill apart





nice place



49 is done for now...more of our ride to come

[OrangevaleFJR]

From the end of Hwy 49 at Hwy 41, we turned left and went to get more gas, then to find Bass Lake Road so we could take it further south. We could have taken 41 to our destination, but there was more fun to be had in the hills.

Bass Lake Road turned into Power House Road and Auberry Road on its way into turning into Hwy 168. Sometimes you follow road names, sometimes you follow names of places. Bass Lake Road has no such sign, but there is a sign telling you how to get to Bass Lake. Auberry Road isn't the nameof the road at the North end. It has a number (Rd 222), but there is a sign directing you to Auberry.

California can be like that. In some states, everything is driven by numbers and names of roads and even the number on an exit. In California, they won't tell you South I-5, they'll tell you "Los Angeles" and you better know your geography. Well, how many of you know where Auberry is?

However, I am glad I figured right in this case becuase Bass Lake and Auberry roads were gems and Hwy 168 down from the hills into the valley was just stunning. Rides like this make you glad to be in California.

Yellow, purple, now white flowers in fields



Auberry is a really nice country lane


That open range sign was telling the truth. "Hi cow!"



"Hi bull...twist throttle...glad I bought the blue jacket and not the red!"


Auberry has a hydroelectric plant



You need water for that



Some fun turns too!

[OrangevaleFJR]

On 168 into the Central Valley of California, the scenery was stunning. I wish we got more pictures in this region. I think Toecutter should go out and take about 50 pics along this route and post them. Here are a few of our shots.







we then dropped into Fresno to visit Toecutter at his firestation. This is another area where we need help as we didn't take pics! OMG!

From there we went to our rendevous point: Harris Ranch at 198 and I-5. We were lucky and bisected two storms while on Hwy 33 heading Southwest. When we got to Harris Ranch, the sun was going down.



So I covered the FJR and retired in our room.



Harris Ranch is a nice place. I recommend it.



In the morning, I unveil Blue Belle and am glad that I cleaned the bugs off her the previous night.



The Ranch did a nice job with their gardens



Then we went to meet the group! Wow...we haven't even started the ride yet?!?!?! Look for Day 2 thread.
http://www.pashnit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5777