Topic: Team West - CA, AZ, NV

[ofreen]

Getting a little ahead of schedule would be preferable to being behind. That buys an extra day or 2 for issues or a layover. Please do NOT wait any longer than necessary to develop your route. We can always plug the days into that.

Weather delays are possible, too.  These two pix were taken on Mother's Day a few years ago.  The spot is Garden Pass a few miles north of Eureka, Nevada.  The road there is at about 6600 ft.  Highway 50 goes over 7000 ft in  several places.  A couple of days before these pix were taken, temps had been in the high 70's.  A cold low pressure system moving in is all it takes.  The weather in the northern half of Nevada in May can do about anything.  Something anyone living in the Great Basin is very familiar with.  I'm sure you Colorado guys are well aware of how interesting springtime in the Rockies can be, too.

[geminimotors]

I can ride down to meet up at Santa Cruz from Oakland, and I'm in for as far as Reno or Eureka. I've got a big place in Oakland with crash space and shop. We definitely should have some sort of bbq or get together.
 Matt, my cb500 chopper should be finished in time for the Santa Clara shindig...

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Sounds like Gemini and Matt have the plan! 

Now, who is joining them?

And, who will ride up the coast to Santa Cruz?

[OneWheelDrive]

I'm going to be riding as far north as time (work) permits from San Diego, probably only as far as San Lois Obispo where my sister is at school.  I'm basically dreading passing through the gauntlet of HelL.A.  I lived there for 5 years and never felt safe on the freeways even in my cage.  Anyone have any bright ideas to avoid the 405N?  I would say stick to the 1, but that would be hooouuuurs of stoplights through OC and LA.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

One Wheel,

Great news! Now we gotta find out who will be riding along with you.

We needs guys to bridge San Luis Obispo with Santa Cruz. OK guys, who's up for that?

Do we have a plan to get "IT" to you in San Diego?

[scottly]

I'm going to be riding as far north as time (work) permits from San Diego, probably only as far as San Lois Obispo where my sister is at school.  I'm basically dreading passing through the gauntlet of HelL.A.  I lived there for 5 years and never felt safe on the freeways even in my cage.  Anyone have any bright ideas to avoid the 405N?  I would say stick to the 1, but that would be hooouuuurs of stoplights through OC and LA.

If you head inland and go up through the High Desert, you can get to SLO with hardly any freeway time at all. AZ could hand off to you at Joshua Tree?

[OneWheelDrive]

I'm going to be riding as far north as time (work) permits from San Diego, probably only as far as San Lois Obispo where my sister is at school.  I'm basically dreading passing through the gauntlet of HelL.A.  I lived there for 5 years and never felt safe on the freeways even in my cage.  Anyone have any bright ideas to avoid the 405N?  I would say stick to the 1, but that would be hooouuuurs of stoplights through OC and LA.

If you head inland and go up through the High Desert, you can get to SLO with hardly any freeway time at all. AZ could hand off to you at Joshua Tree?

Hmm, that's an interesting idea, but I would still have to contend with some Westbound freeways to get to Santa Monica to head north on the coast.  I guess that's doable.  CLICKY THE GOOGLE MAP LINK  I could hook up with the AZ riders and "IT" in Riverside. 

I have two buddies that are in the market for SOHC4s, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.  Hopefully by then they'll have some wheels.  I would really prefer not to do any distance riding solo.  C'mon guys, let's find some more SoCal Riders!!   

[mrbreeze]

I'm going to be riding as far north as time (work) permits from San Diego, probably only as far as San Lois Obispo where my sister is at school.  I'm basically dreading passing through the gauntlet of HelL.A.  I lived there for 5 years and never felt safe on the freeways even in my cage.  Anyone have any bright ideas to avoid the 405N?  I would say stick to the 1, but that would be hooouuuurs of stoplights through OC and LA.

If you head inland and go up through the High Desert, you can get to SLO with hardly any freeway time at all. AZ could hand off to you at Joshua Tree?

Hmm, that's an interesting idea, but I would still have to contend with some Westbound freeways to get to Santa Monica to head north on the coast.  I guess that's doable.  CLICKY THE GOOGLE MAP LINK  I could hook up with the AZ riders and "IT" in Riverside. 

I have two buddies that are in the market for SOHC4s, but haven't pulled the trigger yet.  Hopefully by then they'll have some wheels.  I would really prefer not to do any distance riding solo.  C'mon guys, let's find some more SoCal Riders!!   

Just found one for ya dude!!! Odiwan outa San Diego. Try to get him on board!!!!!

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Hey Myles, Who all is riding from the San Diego area? How far will you ride? Do you want to bring "IT" into San Diego or meet up north of you guys?

OneWheel, do you want to bring "IT" into San Diego and head north or perhaps meet up north of San Diego and proceed on from your meeting point?

Scottly, Joshua Tree is a great idea if you guys can get that far! Aren't you guys headed towards Vegas and hooking up with the Denver's Chopper riders first somewhere near Laughlin? I can see where you'd head to Joshua Tree from there. From there you could head into San Diego, LA or bypass both and head for the coast north of LA? You guys may have other ideas too but I got those from a quick peek at the map.

[odiewan]

Hi Guys,
Just started hearing about this. I am pretty sure I would be down with this.


I feel for OneWheels aversion to LA. Not fun on a Moto. Especially if you are riding though it in it's entirety.

But here's an idea: what if you guys bring "IT" (not sure what that means exactly) to Borrego Springs and we make our way up though Temecula, then in Riverside head to the coast, get on the 101 through Thousand Oaks and then to points north?

Borrego Springs is huge with motos. It'll be #$%*in if a boat load of SOHCs come through there.

How would "IT" get there? SW from Vegas?

OneWheel, would this be a weekend thing?

Hey Myles, Who all is riding from the San Diego area? How far will you ride? Do you want to bring "IT" into San Diego or meet up north of you guys?

OneWheel, do you want to bring "IT" into San Diego and head north or perhaps meet up north of San Diego and proceed on from your meeting point?

Scottly, Joshua Tree is a great idea if you guys can get that far! Aren't you guys headed towards Vegas and hooking up with the Denver's Chopper riders first somewhere near Laughlin? I can see where you'd head to Joshua Tree from there. From there you could head into San Diego, LA or bypass both and head for the coast north of LA? You guys may have other ideas too but I got those from a quick peek at the map.

[OneWheelDrive]

That's kinda the trouble, with a month of travel time before the rally hits SoCal it's going to be really tough to nail down the exact date.  My wishful thinking would like it to hit Borrego on a Friday so I could reach the Central coast that night, hang with my sister over the weekend, and cruise back Sunday.  Realistically it could be any day, we'll just have to be "on call" as the rally approacheth...

[odiewan]

Understood.

How are you going to prep your bike? Panniers?

That's kinda the trouble, with a month of travel time before the rally hits SoCal it's going to be really tough to nail down the exact date.  My wishful thinking would like it to hit Borrego on a Friday so I could reach the Central coast that night, hang with my sister over the weekend, and cruise back Sunday.  Realistically it could be any day, we'll just have to be "on call" as the rally approacheth...

[fatmatt650]

If no one else wants to come further north, I'm down for riding down to SLO and camping out for the night and picking up Godzilla for the ride to SF. I could meet up w/ folks in SC around noon for the ride up to Alices.
Gemini - Sweet! Sounds like we're gonna have an official presence at the show. I still haven't heard back from the promoters but I'll keep ya posted.

[OneWheelDrive]

Understood.

How are you going to prep your bike? Panniers?

I have a rear luggage rack that I can rig for the trip.  I'm not planning on bringing much (NOT BRINGING camping gear etc.) as I'll have somewhere to stay in SLO with friends I know there.  Probably just a backpack, tools, and a small duffel.

[odiewan]

Sorry, so you aren't bringing camping gear, right?

If this is in April/May, the weather should be pretty nice. Though, I need to work on a better seat. Two or three hours into Sunday's ride and my arse was an unhappy camper.

We should plan on some sort of bike-to-bike comms. I have a Cardo bluetooth set up. Anyone else here have that business?

Understood.

How are you going to prep your bike? Panniers?

I have a rear luggage rack that I can rig for the trip.  I'm not planning on bringing much (camping gear etc.) as I'll have somewhere to stay in SLO with friends I know there.  Probably just a backpack, tools, and a small duffel.

[OneWheelDrive]

Haha, that wasn't very clear. Yes, NOT bringing camping gear. 

Upon looking at the tentative schedule, it looks like Sunday, April 24th would be the hand off.  Unfortunately, my day job will not allow me more than a couple days off, so I'll likely just rip straight up to SLO, stay the night, and come back. 

Bike to bike comm would be sweet.  I don't have any, so we should work on that.

[fatmatt650]

So I'd be meeting you guys in SLO on the night of the 26th or the following morning?

[odiewan]

That sounds about what I would have to do, too.

This is the system I got...http://www.cardosystems.com/scala-rider/scala-rider-q2
It has a build in FM radio which I use all the time.

Haha, that wasn't very clear. Yes, NOT bringing camping gear. 

Upon looking at the tentative schedule, it looks like Sunday, April 24th would be the hand off.  Unfortunately, my day job will not allow me more than a couple days off, so I'll likely just rip straight up to SLO, stay the night, and come back. 

Bike to bike comm would be sweet.  I don't have any, so we should work on that.

[odiewan]

Something like that.

So I'd be meeting you guys in SLO on the night of the 26th or the following morning?

[scottly]

Upon looking at the tentative schedule, it looks like Sunday, April 24th would be the hand off. 

Whoa!! 4-24 is the tentative date for the hand-off from team SW to TEAM CA, in south-east AZ, at the AZ/NM border..  

[fatmatt650]

Oops. Scratch that then. Tentative guessing here, please correct me where wrong.
4/24 - handoff to Team CA in AZ
4/25 - Vegas
4/26 - O.C. ish?
4/27 - SLO
4/28 - SF

Most likely that's a pretty ambitious schedule. A couple days fudging puts IT in the Bay Area for the weekend of 4/30 - 5/1.

[mrbreeze]

I would expect there to be 1-2 days here and there through the whole rally where things got backed up. Breakdowns (not likely but possible), weather (very possible), etc. Even a change of route for some people to make the trip doable. I think the best thing to do this early is keep making the plans and keeping in mind what works for everyone. I got laid off at work a few weeks back so I'm not sure what my situation will be come rally time. I'm damn sure going though....I just won't commit to anything in stone until its right around the corner. If I'm back to work by then....I may tell my boss a few weeks ahead of time what is going on and see if he is flexible.......or I could just play hooky!!!!! (not the way to be but hey!!!!!!....I wanna do this ride!!!).

[scottly]

Who in AZ is up to ride as far as Kingman, or at least Prescott? Who is up for heading west from Kingman into CA?

[scottly]

For you So-Cal guys: how far east are you guys willing to ride to pick IT up from AZ?

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

All I gotta say is YOU GUYS ARE DOING SOME SERIOUS ASS KICKIN NOW!!  And this is what we need