escapefjrtist
Searching for Dry Roads
It always starts out innocently enough…
Beginning with one of our generous LD Admins and an SS1K a few years ago, you’re satisfied for a time but then the bug begins to fester. Sometimes it’s a life changing wakeup call that tells you time is limited, and you damn well better begin checking off those bucket list items that you haven’t made time for.
Last November I got (another) wild hair and decided to attend the Pink's Bite the Weenie RTE in North Hollywood. Now mind you, this was the third week in November - in the PNW - crossing numerous mountain passes while heading south. The weather was absolute crap in the days leading up to that weekend, but nevertheless I was determined to dash south if weather permitted. At 2 AM that Saturday, the radar was clear and the weather forecast looked decent with a slight warming trend predicted - no worries about white slippery stuff in the passes. Long story short, left Seattle-ish at 3 AM and was in the LA Basin at 8:30 PM, another SS1K accomplished! After downing a famous Pink’s hot-dog at midnight, rubbing elbows with the LD crowd and grabbing a few ZZZ’s, head back north to easily bag a BB1500.
Two for the price of one!!
BTW, the reason I "had" to make the Pinks RTE is because I "had" to have one of those very cool IBA Mile-Eater tee shirts – and the only way to get one is with two certified rides. Yep, it’s a sickness!
Fast-forward to the dreary winter months…you know, those months where big windshields, water-proof heated gear, heated grips and hippo hands are the norm if you want to ride.
I pass the time, off to the IBA web site to see what other mischief interests me. Hmmm, Border to Border and I can pick my flavor; with or without insanity. I know I can make the LA Basin in good time… a plan is hatched.
Since I’m an Engineer in real life, I need to plan. I manage projects -build things, sometimes big things from $5K to $35MM in investment. There are a couple principles that are always rattling around in my head: “plan the work - work the plan”, and the 5 P’s, “poor planning promotes poor performance” (BTW- I left off the first “p”).
In this case it’s slightly modified – “plan the ride, ride the plan”.
With the distance involved and unknown time(s) at border crossings I knew a BBG or better pace would be necessary to make the insanity happen… and I wanted insanity! Which border crossing to use in Canada? Which border crossing to use in Mexico? What time to leave? What time do I want to clear the LA Basin? What road construction? Holy smokes, lots of planning needed here…Reaching out to forum friends helped immensely!
One thing I knew for damn sure, I had the right tool to make this happen – a FJR1300, modestly farkled but hindered with only 5-speeds! Gasp, how would I ever maintain a BBG pace??
Alright then. Enough foreplay, time to get going. As I was on a schedule, didn’t take a lot of pics. My old rickety Nikon camera is NOT glove friendly and takes forever and a day to wake up from a slumber.
Starting receipt in Abbotsford BC at 5:11 AM.
Total time from gas station to clearing US Customs was under 20 minutes. I’m a whopping 10 miles into the ride and things are looking great already. Success! Road construction in Washington was non-existent. Fuel just before Oregon, fight my way through Portland and finally begin to make time. Thankfully, Saturday morning traffic was moving (for Oregon) at 10 over or better which allowed me to settle in at slightly less and pick up rabbits as needed. One more fuel stop in Oregon and two states are down, one left. Right on schedule!
More construction and single lanes meet me in Northern California. Fortunately traffic moved pretty well and construction wasn’t too lengthy, average still looking good.
Ride – fuel – eat / drink – repeat.
I didn’t plan exact fuel stops as stations are plentiful on the I-5 corridor. Stops typically happened at 190 – 210 miles with 5ish gallons of fuel each time. Stops kill the average, so my goal was 10 minutes - max. It’s amazing how quickly 10 minutes goes by. At one fuel stop the pump wouldn’t take a card, before I know it it’s been 15 minutes – overall average plummets, gotta work it back up.
Doing pretty well at the almost SS1K mark.
With the 5 AM leaving time, my goal was making the LA Basin, specifically Santa Clarita at midnight. If I make that happen the schedule was intact and the insanity is mine.
I passed Coasters of Magic Mountain at 11:50 PM.
More construction and freeway closures on I-5 and I-405 mean I need to skirt the Basin. Although it added about 40 miles, I ran over the top on the 210 Fwy and then linked up with I-15 for the final dash to San Diego.
Believe it or not, the most difficult part of the ride was that stretch on the 210 Fwy. Traffic moves fast…really fast in the LA area. Now its 1 AM, running in fairly heavy traffic at 75 MPH and you’ve been on the road for 20 hours. Yeah, kinda sucked. It took all the mental concentration I had to watch for freeway splits and make sure I was in the correct lane to insure I didn't end up in BFE on an unscheduled detour.
Made it, no problems!
Just before crossing the border, 3:04 AM
I had studied Google maps and picked out a 7-11 / PEMEX station within a mile or so of the border. Lo and behold it was right where it was supposed to be and the clerk even spoke limited English. Score! Buying a candy bar for a receipt and a little energy served both purposes well.
Ending receipt in Tijuana at 3:26 AM.
The PEMEX pic is about how I felt at the time...
Traffic is already heavy at the border by 4 AM. I split lanes to the front but it still took the better part of 30 minutes to make it back across. On the way in I had spotted a hotel right at the border and planned to catch a few ZZZ’s there before gathering my ending witnesses. As I’m entering the lobby, geared up, helmet in hand, the night-shift clerk asks me a question…
“24 or 36?” I knew I’d made it!
How can I top this you ask? Catch the second half of THIS and ride the canyons (and goat trails) making the trek back north, of course!
Thanks to the PNW crew for their advice, support and encouragement and special thanks to beemerdons, irishPhil, SkooterG and Johnny80’s for answering my Mexico questions and witnessing the ride!
FIN
--G
Beginning with one of our generous LD Admins and an SS1K a few years ago, you’re satisfied for a time but then the bug begins to fester. Sometimes it’s a life changing wakeup call that tells you time is limited, and you damn well better begin checking off those bucket list items that you haven’t made time for.
Last November I got (another) wild hair and decided to attend the Pink's Bite the Weenie RTE in North Hollywood. Now mind you, this was the third week in November - in the PNW - crossing numerous mountain passes while heading south. The weather was absolute crap in the days leading up to that weekend, but nevertheless I was determined to dash south if weather permitted. At 2 AM that Saturday, the radar was clear and the weather forecast looked decent with a slight warming trend predicted - no worries about white slippery stuff in the passes. Long story short, left Seattle-ish at 3 AM and was in the LA Basin at 8:30 PM, another SS1K accomplished! After downing a famous Pink’s hot-dog at midnight, rubbing elbows with the LD crowd and grabbing a few ZZZ’s, head back north to easily bag a BB1500.
Two for the price of one!!
BTW, the reason I "had" to make the Pinks RTE is because I "had" to have one of those very cool IBA Mile-Eater tee shirts – and the only way to get one is with two certified rides. Yep, it’s a sickness!
Fast-forward to the dreary winter months…you know, those months where big windshields, water-proof heated gear, heated grips and hippo hands are the norm if you want to ride.
Since I’m an Engineer in real life, I need to plan. I manage projects -build things, sometimes big things from $5K to $35MM in investment. There are a couple principles that are always rattling around in my head: “plan the work - work the plan”, and the 5 P’s, “poor planning promotes poor performance” (BTW- I left off the first “p”).
In this case it’s slightly modified – “plan the ride, ride the plan”.
With the distance involved and unknown time(s) at border crossings I knew a BBG or better pace would be necessary to make the insanity happen… and I wanted insanity! Which border crossing to use in Canada? Which border crossing to use in Mexico? What time to leave? What time do I want to clear the LA Basin? What road construction? Holy smokes, lots of planning needed here…Reaching out to forum friends helped immensely!
One thing I knew for damn sure, I had the right tool to make this happen – a FJR1300, modestly farkled but hindered with only 5-speeds! Gasp, how would I ever maintain a BBG pace??
Alright then. Enough foreplay, time to get going. As I was on a schedule, didn’t take a lot of pics. My old rickety Nikon camera is NOT glove friendly and takes forever and a day to wake up from a slumber.
Starting receipt in Abbotsford BC at 5:11 AM.
Total time from gas station to clearing US Customs was under 20 minutes. I’m a whopping 10 miles into the ride and things are looking great already. Success! Road construction in Washington was non-existent. Fuel just before Oregon, fight my way through Portland and finally begin to make time. Thankfully, Saturday morning traffic was moving (for Oregon) at 10 over or better which allowed me to settle in at slightly less and pick up rabbits as needed. One more fuel stop in Oregon and two states are down, one left. Right on schedule!
More construction and single lanes meet me in Northern California. Fortunately traffic moved pretty well and construction wasn’t too lengthy, average still looking good.
Ride – fuel – eat / drink – repeat.
I didn’t plan exact fuel stops as stations are plentiful on the I-5 corridor. Stops typically happened at 190 – 210 miles with 5ish gallons of fuel each time. Stops kill the average, so my goal was 10 minutes - max. It’s amazing how quickly 10 minutes goes by. At one fuel stop the pump wouldn’t take a card, before I know it it’s been 15 minutes – overall average plummets, gotta work it back up.
Doing pretty well at the almost SS1K mark.
With the 5 AM leaving time, my goal was making the LA Basin, specifically Santa Clarita at midnight. If I make that happen the schedule was intact and the insanity is mine.
I passed Coasters of Magic Mountain at 11:50 PM.
More construction and freeway closures on I-5 and I-405 mean I need to skirt the Basin. Although it added about 40 miles, I ran over the top on the 210 Fwy and then linked up with I-15 for the final dash to San Diego.
Believe it or not, the most difficult part of the ride was that stretch on the 210 Fwy. Traffic moves fast…really fast in the LA area. Now its 1 AM, running in fairly heavy traffic at 75 MPH and you’ve been on the road for 20 hours. Yeah, kinda sucked. It took all the mental concentration I had to watch for freeway splits and make sure I was in the correct lane to insure I didn't end up in BFE on an unscheduled detour.
Made it, no problems!
Just before crossing the border, 3:04 AM
I had studied Google maps and picked out a 7-11 / PEMEX station within a mile or so of the border. Lo and behold it was right where it was supposed to be and the clerk even spoke limited English. Score! Buying a candy bar for a receipt and a little energy served both purposes well.
Ending receipt in Tijuana at 3:26 AM.
The PEMEX pic is about how I felt at the time...
Traffic is already heavy at the border by 4 AM. I split lanes to the front but it still took the better part of 30 minutes to make it back across. On the way in I had spotted a hotel right at the border and planned to catch a few ZZZ’s there before gathering my ending witnesses. As I’m entering the lobby, geared up, helmet in hand, the night-shift clerk asks me a question…
“24 or 36?” I knew I’d made it!
How can I top this you ask? Catch the second half of THIS and ride the canyons (and goat trails) making the trek back north, of course!
Thanks to the PNW crew for their advice, support and encouragement and special thanks to beemerdons, irishPhil, SkooterG and Johnny80’s for answering my Mexico questions and witnessing the ride!
FIN
--G
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