New Years Day Ride

[madmike2]

I just popped in to join the group for coffee before they departed on their rain ride. But, I did RIDE there.The gfrans, the HYCLEs, the Flying Juniors, MadMikes,

and feeger (Al, - who had to hurry home to finish his cross-country photostory/ride report that we're waiting to see), were in attendance.

The ladies came for breakfast, but only Terri (Ms. HYCLE) actually went on the ride.

Snapped a couple of photos as they lurched off.

(L to R)-

Flying Junior (Walt), gfran (Gary), and MadMike (Stumpy).

Their good side. (...as if they had one. )

And of course, Master HYCLE and his lovely, talented, always-cheerful sweetheart, Terri.

Be safe, kids.

Truncated ride and I'm the first one back.
First, the Starbucks on Auburn Folsom Rd. is CLOSED and GONE!! I wonder when that happened (it's about 1/2 mile from my condo). But we met in the parking lot outside the abandoned space with a "for lease" sign on it.

From there, we rode the first part of the ride I'd charted -- through the lower elevations' rural scenic back roads and twisties. Mostly only scattered raindrops and some light rain, started getting a bit heavier as we split up, Flying Junior and gfran taking 80 west, and madmike2 (with dolls in tow) and the Hycles heading south and west on Auburn Folsom Road through Folsom to 50 west.

Good to see everyone who made it (i.e., didn't wuss out, like OM), and it's time to start a fire and get a few things done here.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

:bye: :bye:

We are home from a great time riding with friends.

Fantantastic roads, thanks Rich.

Not enough rain to wipe the visor off.

No body parts wet and I was wearing Olympia mesh pants with no liner.

Never plugged in the heated vest and had to take it off when we got to Auburn's nonexistant Starbucks.

Looking forward to Death Valley Daze.

\

Life Wife is great. :yahoo: :yahoo:

 

[madmike2]

:yahoo: What a great way to start the New Year! :yahoo:

:clapping: Great people at breakfast and on the ride!. :clapping:

The Guests: Old Michael, feeger (Al), Mrs. gfran (Cyndi) and Flying Junior's gilrfriend (Judy) joined us for the Vital FJR Pre-ride Breakfast.

The riders: gfran (Gary), Flying Junior (Walt), Hycles (Mike & Terri) and yours truly.

The Report:

I was up early and posting on the forum to see WHO was going to show up for the fun. I left my place around 0830 and headed for the highway.

Beautiful downtown Elk Grove:

I got on Hwy 99 North, enjoying scattered sprinkles:

Hwy 99 turns into Business 80, passes Cal Expo and heads East where it merges with I-80 about 1 mile from the restaurant off-ramp:

After breakfast (photos to be posted in another report), outside the restaurant.

Old Michael, feeger, Terri, gfran, Flying Junior

Old "Yellow Dome" doing what he does (and very well, I might add):

East on I-80 toward Auburn:

We got off at Newcastle and took Indian Springs Rd. to Auburn Folsom Rd. looking for the Starbucks. This is a picture looking West toward Sacramento:

 

[madmike2]

After passing the supposed Starbucks, riding farther up the road and still not seeing it, then touring beautiful Historic Auburn we turned back down Auburn Folsom Rd. thinking we simply "missed" the store. We finally decided to drive into a new complex and there was exskibum (Rich), parked in front of the vacant structure that USED to be Starbuck's.

Well, we found the meet place....and also found that Rich was the ONLY one there. That was excellent fortune for us as he KNOWS the back roads up there and was able to modify our original route plan because of the inclement weather.

Leaving "NOT"-Starbucks. Rich, Walt, Gary, Mike & Terri:

Riding down Auburn Folsom Rd. enjoying the sweepers:

Through the rolling hills and farms:

One-lane tunnel under the railroad on Hwy 193:

"Fuzzy" twisty back roads:

My cockpit while under way:

A barn for our beloved friend, Andrew (OrangevaleFJR):

 

[madmike2]

Okay....whew....more typing and pictures.

This is the point where we varied from the original plan. We were going to turn left on Hwy 49, but that would have been turning into the storm and the idea was to shorten the ride. We turned right and headed South to Auburn and a gas stop.

Stop sign @ Hwy 49:

Pit stop conversation @ Arco.

Walt, Rich, Gary, Mike & Terri

We're riding in the rain...we're riding in the rain...what a glorious feeling we're hap-py again:

We split up when we reached I-80. Walt and Gary headed sown to Sacramento, Rich, Hycles and I went through Auburn. Rich turned off for his condo while Mike & Terri and I rode down Auburn Folsom Rd to Hwy 50.

Hycles:

The remaining two adventurous FJRs stopped @ Starbuck's in Rancho Cordova.

Yes, this one WAS open for business. We enjoyed some conversation and Hot Chocolate with 2 pumps of Raspberry. Yummo! Then we headed homeward. Hycles to Dixon, me to Elk Grove.

Following the Hycles on Hwy 50:

I split off at Hwy 99 South and headed to Elk Grove:

Beautiful downtown Elk Grove about 1 mile from my home:

There you have it, gang. We had an interesting and fun day on the bikes. My trip was just at 140 miles.

I'm sorry for those of you who are snowed and iced in. I hope you can vicariously enjoy "riding in the New Year" with us.

Here's to another great FJR riding year. Let's keep it safe and have fun! :yahoo:

 

[madmike2]

One last thought.

It isn't often, as we ride and travel with other owners, that we experience the joy of safe spacing and a conscious regard for the road and the other riders. Today I was privileged to ride sweep and observe 4 riders doing exactly that.

Rich set a good pace (one that kept us interested and focused) and every rider, no matter what order they were in (and it changed) kept good spacing and consistent speeds uphill and down, curves and corners, sweepers and twisties, on unfamiliar roads in inclement weather.

Kudos to those who were riding today. The above simply increased the enjoyment for me. You guys were GREAT!

:clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

 

[James Burleigh]

Thanks for the ride report, Mad. Sorry I missed seeing you guys today, but it was, you know, wet 'n' all, and we Californicanos don't do wet, much. Well, not this Californicano. See you soon, hopefully. JB (3 yrs old today)

 

[dcarver]

A barn for our beloved friend, Andrew (OrangevaleFJR):

Nice, very nice. Thanks for remembering our fallen buds.
I sure look forward to spending time up north this year and riding with the NorCal bunch...

and viceee versa too!

What a good group of riders and peeps, what a great way to jump into 2010.

You guyz and galz rule!

 

[exskibum]

A barn for our beloved friend, Andrew (OrangevaleFJR):

Thanks for shooting that barn, Mike. That one always reminds me of Andrew, and I do go by it with some frequency (regularly taking some of those same back roads from my Mom's to her doctors' appointments these last 6 months). Truth be told, it's that stretch, that barn and knowing you'd probably take a pic of it that caused me to plot the route west on Wise to Mount Vernon, rather than east on Wise to cut across Baxter Grade to a point on Mount Vernon that is further east.

Always great to ride with this group, and it was good to see you guys (and Terri) to start the new year. I'm hoping that this one will be a better year than '09, so starting it on FJRs navigating deserted rural roads is a good sign.

 

[madmike2]

A barn for our beloved friend, Andrew (OrangevaleFJR):

Thanks for shooting that barn, Mike. That one always reminds me of Andrew, and I do go by it with some frequency (regularly taking some of those same back roads from my Mom's to her doctors' appointments these last 6 months). Truth be told, it's that stretch, that barn and knowing you'd probably take a pic of it that caused me to plot the route west on Wise to Mount Vernon......

Well, that's one of the reasons I wanted to ride "sweep". I knew I'd be stopping along the route and snapping some pictures. You KNOW I'm always on the lookout for an old barn. Like you and Don, I always hear Andrew's voice in my head saying, "I like old barns....."

Andrew and Tim are always with me when I ride the back roads and fun roads (Like Hwy 36).

Here's looking forward to a great year while remembering those who've touched us and remain forever in us.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Great reports. Thanks for pulling it all into one report MM. Considering the weather it was a good turnout and the pictures (again for the weather) were really great.

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

darn double posting...

 

[escapefjrtist]

Thanks for taking us on the ride MM2. Nice photos too!

--G

 

[exskibum]

Hey, mm2: where's the pics of the twins in the pink convertible, anyway?

 

[madmike2]

Hey, mm2: where's the pics of the twins in the pink convertible, anyway?

Those are for a separate thread that will be posted tomorrow after I complete another part of their journey.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Thanks for the report. :clapping:

Sounds like a great time in spite of the rain. I didn't realize that Californians were so rain averse. In that case, I have to give you California guys kudos then for going to CFR with all the threats of rain on the way.

-born in Santa Barbara 1959

Enjoy the winter out there in Kali...Great Report.

 

[MEM]

Hey, mm2: where's the pics of the twins in the pink convertible, anyway?

Those are for a separate thread that will be posted tomorrow after I complete another part of their journey.

Aw geez. Not more twins

 

[exskibum]

Thanks for the report. :clapping:
Sounds like a great time in spite of the rain. I didn't realize that Californians were so rain averse. In that case, I have to give you California guys kudos then for going to CFR with all the threats of rain on the way.

-born in Santa Barbara 1959

Enjoy the winter out there in Kali...Great Report.

Threats of rain on the way to CFR?!?

HA!!!! For Bluestreek, madmike2 and me, rain was the rule, rather than the exception on our way there. In southeastern Oregon on the first day, we hit a wall of rain that could have competed nicely with Hanalei, Kauai in January. Not wearing my rain pants over perforated leather when we hit it, I went from dry to soaked and water running into my boots in seconds.

 

[madmike2]

Thanks for the report. :clapping:
Sounds like a great time in spite of the rain. I didn't realize that SOME Californians were so rain averse. In that case, I have to give you California guys kudos then for going to CFR with all the threats of rain on the way.

Threats of rain? As Rich already alluded, Los Tres Amigos rode through rain for 5 days to get there. Didn't you see our pictures? Riding through Banff, our 4th day on the road, was the first day without rain.

Actually, it didn't rain much yesterday, more drizzle and sprinkles. It started to rain after our "pit stop" as we were finishing our ride and most of the way home.

Rain gear...it's a good thing!

Riding with friends on New Years Day...it's a better thing! :yahoo:

Posting the ride pictures for our snowbound friends...it's a great thing! :clapping:

 

[MEM]

Posting the ride pictures for our snowbound friends...it's a great thing! :clapping:

Would you guys please cut us some slack?! At this rate, it's going to be a long an even longer phucking winter. <_<