This is the way to go to a conference

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Joined
May 24, 2006
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Location
Roseburg, OR
So I need some continuing education to keep my Nurse Practitioner License. Several months ago I found a conference in Las Vegas and decided to ride instead of fly. I have accrued a lot of time off from over-work: time to use some.

The plan: Leave Roseburg, Oregon Saturday, April 17th, see one or two guys in California if possible, then go on to Las Vegas. I need to be in Las Vegas by Tues. the 20th. The conference ends Saturday.

But wait! The wife says she'll fly down for a few days on Thursday!! Looks like a second honeymoon -- we were married in Vegas 4 5 a few years ago on April 1st. Cool, we haven't been on a real vacation together in years.

The plot thickens -- we decide to catch the Lion King after reading about it here on our favorite forum. Then, I couldn't resist and got two tickets to The Phantom of the Opera for Saturday night -- Second row, center section. Bucks, but she's worth it!

Then Sunday the plan is for the wife and I to go on a day ride, then she flies back to Oregon and I ride back, having to be in Oregon by Thursday afternoon, the 28th.

Saturday I finally get packed and get out the door late. Immediately I have some electronic farkle gremlins -- the Mix-it2 doesn't seem to like the CD player or Radar detector. I get the Radar detector to transmit the signal through my earphones, and I'm off. I brought the wife's NUVI for insurance, but the plan is to old-school the trip with paper maps. I have no real plan or agenda; I do want to see parts of California I have missed in the past. I've been lucky to ride some of Northern California, and ridden the Pacific Coast Highway by bike or car several times. There must be more to Kali than yellow-helmeted motorcycle cupcakes, and I plan to see the heart of California...

A boring slab ride to Redding and I meet up with Gregory of this forum. We kick tires for an hour or more and he poses with his new-to-him 2003 steed, with free mouse nest in the air box at no extra charge! One proud papa:

IMG_2719.jpg


I left late in the afternoon and put in some miles and then hit a cheap Motel in Williams.

Sunday morning I wake up and I'm on the road about 6:30. But where to go? I saw a likely road on the map Saturday in my motel room while trying to ignore the free mildew and stale cigar smoke in my smoke-free room. Route 49 looks promising. I set out on route 20 to get to 49, and this view met me on that pleasant country road heading East from I-5:

IMG_2720.jpg


At this point my electronic gremlins continued. I got tunes to work with the radar detector, but my rechargeable batteries for the camera died. No more pictures for a while.

Some very quaint and pretty towns on Rte. 20. My favorite was Auburn: Bohemian with a classic feel. I sensed I was onto something good when I saw four sport bikes, a BMW and a Ural hack heading in my intended direction. I hooked up the video camera shortly after leaving town to catch a few minutes of very tight twisties... fun!

Video and more reports to come. Tease: I made it the entire length of 49 that day with some of the most difficult and technical canyon riding I have ever experienced. In my mind I was Fairlaner, but then reality hit, and I have video to prove it.

 
Good on you, Michael. Laurie and I took the kids to see the Lion King when it was in L.A. It's really cool! We saw the Phantom of the Opera as well. That was the one that hooked me on the theatre!

Hope the gremlins settle out. Have a great time!

 
Michael,

Sounds like your enjoying the trip! Enjoy the second honeymoon and take lots of pics, enquiring minds want to know!!

Let me know when you come back through, I may be able to ride some of 36, 3 and or 299 with you if the timing works out. I am going to DMV today, the mice are looking forward to a ride!

Shiny parts up bro!

Greg

 
Greg used to be my neighbor here in Tucson.

Glad to see you met up with him. Did he get

another FJR? He had an '08 when his was here.

Did something happen to it?

Have a great time in Vegas and enjoy the rest of

your ride.

Joe

 
My favorite was Auburn: Bohemian with a classic feel. I sensed I was onto something good when I saw four sport bikes, a BMW and a Ural hack heading in my intended direction. I hooked up the video camera shortly after leaving town to catch a few minutes of very tight twisties... fun!
Hey, I know that place!!

Not sure I'd call it "bohemian" though. This is one of the most "conservative" counties in the state, if not the most. We do have a few art galleries, but in the area, I'd say that Nevada City is a lot more bohemian than Auburn. We've got great location at about 1,200 feet (below the snow and above the fog) between Sacramento and Reno/Lake Tahoe and a fascinating history, though -- Auburn was the heart of the Gold Rush.

Sounds like you enjoyed some of the twisties between Auburn and Placerville. We gots lots more of that just off that route, and a LOT more all over -- riding mecca for the NorCal bunch. Too bad some of the best passes weren't open for you (esp., Ebbetts (4), Monitor (89) and Sonora (108) passes), but you had to love that stretch of 49 just south of Sonora. Mmmmmm!!

Sounds like a good trip -- lookin' forward to reading the rest of the report.

 
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Dude, you came within 200 miles of my patch and didn't stop in to say hi? I'm devastated. :angry: You're on the list to humiliate in my WFO speech, if I ever come up with it. But at least now I have an anchor into it. :D

 
Shiney,

I reallly like the way you think. I've got some CE time coming up in early October in Lost Wages. And flying is such a PITA anymore. Putting the gears in motion now.

 
I leave Saturday 5/1 to attend a conference in Tampa. Last year the conference was in Denver (another nice ride). Next year I'm hoping that it's on the left coast. :rolleyes:

 
I'm devastated. :angry: You're on the list to humiliate.... :D

take a number ;) :D

Skibum: I never actually talked to anybody in the town, just looked around as I tried to hydrate. Compared to Douglas County in Oregon, everything seems liberal. I digged the clock in the square!

Well, I'm a cheap bastage and haven't paid 10-15 dollars a night for internet access. But I splurged today. Next day outside Auburn, I turned South onto Rte. 49. Immediately out of town is tight twisties as I mentioned -- challenging. But of course by the time I had a chance to pull over and turn on the camera they were over. However, there were plenty of sweepers and "ordinary" curves for many miles. I boiled down that part of the ride to a few minutes, but imagine an hour or more of tree lined lanes similar to these. The second clip I'll post when you-tube says I can, is a part in the middle of that section, when I followed a Boxer twin for 10 minutes, but got bored and took off (again boiled down a bit to save your sanity).

And the mis-spelling of California in the first video was inadvertent. But it was too much of a hassle to fix.

Riding the sweepers just south of Auburn on 49:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUG3L6v2oKc

 
Shiney,I reallly like the way you think. I've got some CE time coming up in early October in Lost Wages. And flying is such a PITA anymore. Putting the gears in motion now.
Last year I picked a conference in San Diego and road 101 all the way down from Bandon Oregon. Much nicer than flying. Go for it!

Cota95: You too? Way to go...

EDIT: Rte. 101 in Oregon, but Route 1 in california all the way to San Diego.

 
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I'm devastated. :angry: You're on the list to humiliate.... :D

take a number ;) :D

Skibum: I never actually talked to anybody in the town, just looked around as I tried to hydrate. Compared to Douglas County in Oregon, everything seems liberal. I digged the clock in the square!

Well, I'm a cheap bastage and haven't paid 10-15 dollars a night for internet access. But I splurged today. Next day outside Auburn, I turned South onto Rte. 49. Immediately out of town is tight twisties as I mentioned -- challenging. But of course by the time I had a chance to pull over and turn on the camera they were over. However, there were plenty of sweepers and "ordinary" curves for many miles. I boiled down that part of the ride to a few minutes, but imagine an hour or more of tree lined lanes similar to these. The second clip I'll post when you-tube says I can, is a part in the middle of that section, when I followed a Boxer twin for 10 minutes, but got bored and took off (again boiled down a bit to save your sanity).

And the mis-spelling of California in the first video was inadvertent. But it was too much of a hassle to fix.

Riding the sweepers just south of Auburn on 49:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUG3L6v2oKc
And here is the Boxer clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y71hGZf4Q1A

 
Thanks for the report. :clapping:

I too once thought I was fairlaner...then reality hit, the ditch bit my shoulder and then I lost my accent.

 

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