Wish I'd known you were going earlier so I could rework this weekend's schedule. Looks like Sunday is free for riding now, maybe I'll go up to the Lake. (If I don't do the mechanical work I keep putting off -- now that I have 3 bikes to maintain.)
Monitor was my personal track when I lived in South Lake Tahoe and Gardnerville ('04-'06), but I first rode it in '79 when I lived in Tahoe City. It's a big reason the Blackbird has the Traxxion and Penske setup.
I have stories about Monitor. I think it's one of the finest 20 miles of sweepers anywhere. If you ride it enough to know every corner, the places where the sweepers twitch into sharper corners that you can molest if you're ready for them, it's magical. I think it's the road I'll ride if I die and go north (yeah, I know -- lawyers and Satan and all). I'm not sure it's my favorite pass, but it's certainly the one that has some kind of hold over me.
And that view behind you -- to this day, I don't know the name of that valley (and I've looked at maps that don't show a name), but since '79 on my GS1000, I've had many days where I stopped and contemplated THAT valley from THAT turn-out, and something mystical and desolate and powerful takes hold of you there. How many times have you ridden by that turn-out and NOT stopped? And is there any turn-out anywhere that has grabbed you a higher percentage of the time?
I sat there during the Illinois time funeral of a fellow XX rider I'd ridden it with only 11 weeks earlier. Mountain peaks are where I feel the presence of God. Did you know that the mining town of Monitor (after which the pass is named, but long since disappeared) was actually named after the Monitor ship (of the battle with the Merrimac at Hampton Roads)? It had originally been called Loope, IIRC. Glad you could show it to your daughter from the back of the FJR -- I'm told that's a memorable perspective on a thrilling road.
I'll probably remember Monitor as a replay of a crisp sunny day (on XX or FJR); a deep blue sky softened with cotton-puff clouds. No traffic, as usual, and nothing better to do than run it over and back before heading home.
I pray I get to ride Monitor Pass when I get to the other side.
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