I have 3 rides left over from 2024, thet are past the expiration date, but since not very many are riding, I am going to post them with a few pictures for you snow bound guys. I hope they hold you guys over until spring, so far Terry is the only one posting in the 25 thread. With a little luck I can do that tomorrow.
So here we go.........
Ride # 38 for me.
This was my Thanksgiving ride, i like to ride out to where the Barstow to Vegas motorcycle race used to start and reminisce about my old Desert racing days. Plus I wanted to do a higher milage ride too. I also wanted to travel just a bit of Route 66, just because. So rather than taking the 15 frwy all the way into Barstow, I got off in Victorville to go to Oro Grande. I got lost pretty quickly and had to back track a couple of times. I did find Norma Jean's restaurant, which is supposed to be pretty good, but they were closed. I whizzed past the bottle tree ranch and with no good place to make a turn around I just kept going. As I went through Oro Grande it looked like the 2 main businesses were either a cement plant or a liquor store. There were 2 more small towns that were much more vibrant in days gone by, Helendade and Stoddard Wells. All those old towns have connections to either early railroad times or mining.
I got through Barstow heading to my imaginary destination and remembered seeing a place called Eddie World, it is kind of a modern version of most old time side stops along desert hiways, so I decided to check it out. The first thing you see is a giant ice cream cone for their sign. As it turns out it is the water tank/tower the fire department made them put in as a requirement to build the place, there isn't much water for firefighting in Yermo. There is something like 26 gas pumps plus 5 different restaurants and a giant store inside. I walked around a bit and saw that they were extremely proud of the products, judging by the prices. I couldn't bring myself to pay $15 for a bag of nuts. It was getting late and I was and I still had a bunch of miles to go.
The last time I was out that way the traffic comming down Cajon Pass was nasty, and still is. So my plan was Barstow road into Lucern Valley, then Old Woman Springs road into Yucca Valley, down to Whitewater and back home through San Bernardino. That is alot of miles and I was starting to loose daylight. Old Woman Springs road is a nice ride during the day, not so much in the dark. The glare from oncoming traffic was so blinding that I couldn't see the lines on the road. I had to follow behind cars going my way you be able to stay on the road! Made it into Yucca Valley and that nightmare was over. As I approached the 10 frwy I saw it was bumper to bumper as far as the eye could see, I dog paddled the 3 or 4 miles to the rest area to have the last of my coffee before making the final leg of the trip. Lane splitting was in order almost all the way to Beaumont, about 15 miles, after that it was pretty clear.
It sounds like it wasn't much fun, but I enjoyed being on the bike for a 300 miler.