OK... So... Maybe There ARE... Great Motorcycle Roads! :o)

We've been rolling south through California for a couple weeks now...

I'll say it right up front, I love that coastal country... and I truly want to run the Raider down Hwy 101 someday... a long way down it... or up for that matter...

How-some-ever... I do not believe, I could ever live there. That weather would beat me down in short order. Guess I just need more sun than we saw over there...

Now... for a Biker... this more "Inland" country is a freaking "Bikers Heaven!" I gotta tell anyone rolling two wheel anywhere else in the country... these fellas in California... are more lucky than any one person should have the right to be!

I've rolled over more awesome freakin' Motorcycle roads in the last couple weeks of bein' in California than I've maybe covered in the last two years!

*In Whiskeytown Recreation area along Hwy 299*

 If it's not Hwy 299 from Arcata to Redding, or Hwy 49 from Auburn to Yosemite, Hwy 120, or 140 or 41 in Yosemite... it'll be the Dry Creek Road from hwy 216, to 180 to the Generals Hwy in Sequoia.

... and those roads are maybe a half of a 1/4% of the likely prospects here in the Great Bear State...

*Sport Bikes - Passing my Ol' Raider on Hwy 49*

I swear... it's like the California Road Engineers, laid out their roads, explicitly for big two wheelers!... To test a rider and his machine... or just let him cruise along with a huge stupid grin on his face...

Is that possible? a whole dang state road system... built for the explicit purpose of maximizing the miles of Great Motorcycle Roads? :o) ... OK... but it is a nice fantasy... ain't it? :o)

If it weren't for the fact that I exist at pretty much the opposite, political, extreme... of what folks out here are known for... and that costs seem to be, whoooooeeee! several notches higher than what I'm used to... California would be Bikers Heaven! :o)

*Leaning the Raider through the California Twisties!*

* It'll lean the other way... too! :o) *

Maybe, like I said before... ANY... road you're riding... is the best one for That day... but... this Sunny (as long as you're inland!) California... seems to have more than its' fair share of especially Sweet Motorcycle roads for a fella needing to roll two wheels.

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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What's the Real Deal with Cagers?

You  hear it all the time... "I didn't see him."... and you know what? I've decided that MOST of that is lying Bull Shit.

In the last six months, too many times... I've made freakin' EYE CONTACT with the dumb sob's as they came at me... crowdin' into MY lane... pushin' me onto the shoulder...

Comin' at me Head on... pushin' me onto the shoulder... Didn't SEE ME? Who in the hell do they think they're kidding? I could nearly see the color of their lyin' freakin' eyes! as they, obviously, deliberately, tried to bully me out of their precious damn way! AAAAAARRRRRRRGHHHHH!

What really sets my teeth on edge is that look they give... a kind of a... "You're in my way... you have no right to be in my way... MOVE!... or I'll run you down!"...

Sound kind of pissy... don't I?

The thing is... they get away with it... they run Bikers down every damn day... and then shrugging their shoulders to the cop... "I never saw the motorcycle."... they walk... when... in truth... the bastards committed Manslaughter.

How... on a bright, sunny day in Wyoming... on a straight road... with no wind, no dust, no rain... do you pull out from behind a semi... hesitate... then continue on out... coming head on at me, for several hundred feet... with my headlight on Bright... and just keep coming? Shoving me off onto the shoulder... with your middle freaking finger extended...

You've NO RIGHT to operate ANY motor vehicle on ANY Highway... ANYWHERE... EVER....
You damn near... don't have the right to... aw hell... let's not go there...

The other day... a bozo comes across the median between the on ramp we were coming down... and the traffic lane he was in... hauling his horse trailer...

He saw us... You could SEE HIM SEE US... did he move back into his lane that he never should have left? Hell no... the bastard just kept on coming... like... "I'm bigger...and your life don't mean nuthin'... and I'll just tell the Cop "I never saw the motorcycle."

That should be an instant admission of Manslaughter.... AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!

Whew! It don't change nuthin'... likely never will... But I feel better after venting a mite. :o)

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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Share your stories and opinions;
*Tell us Which you think is the... The Best Touring Motorcycle
*Share...  Your Personal Motorcycle Philosophy with us!
*Tell us about your...  Great Motorcycle Roads

The Best Motorcycle Roads...

Have you ever heard guys talkin' about where the "Best Motorcycle Road" is? ... yeah... I've done it too... and to tell you the truth... The whole idea of that is wrong.

That's right... There are no "Best" Motorcycle Roads! Because... they're ALL the Best.

Listen... here's my thinkin' on this... and other guys have said this to me... They kind of got me thinkin' this way, so it's not something I came up with all by my Lonesome...

The absolute BEST Motorcycle Road... is the one you put your bike on... TODAY. The whole thing, for me... is the Bike, the wind in my face... or, uh... OK... On my Faceshield :o) ... but my Knees are In The Wind! :o) and the inexplicable feeling I get... from the Freedom of the Open Road..

I think, if you just relax, and let that percolate into that thing between your ears... let the smile grow on your face... and let the miles melt away under your wheels... you might get to agreeing with me...

Now... that's not to say that there aren't a few roads that make that smile a lil' wider... the Freedom a lil' sweeter... and the joy you get from the Open Road settin' you to gigglin' 'bout how lucky your Old bones are... to be straddling that machine... on this Glorious Day!

The travels of the last few months have shown me that I don't need to go too far to find good rides... 'cause every bit of this trip... there's been one good road after another...

Up over Cumbres Pass in Colorado... The San Juan Skyway past Silverton and Ouray... Arches National Park in Utah... Oregon 244 from La Grande over to Ukia is Beeeee-U-tiful country...

 Roll down the North Side of the Columbia River, and of Course... Hwy 101. The Grand Pacific Coast Highway... 'course, for me this year... the rain has talked me out of ridin' that just now! :o) but down at the south end, in Oregon... turn east at Reedsport and run on over to I-5... you can't complain! If you do... you're not gettin' the message!

South of there, rolling into California, are the Redwoods parks... catch California 299 and run clean to Redding... now there, is a road, with some tight twisties that'll make you giggle, and test your abilities, if you want to test 'em! Ha ha ha... you'll be a gigglin' happy biker!

The thing is... I've been on the road... except for a few weeks when I got back from Alaska (Great roads all the way there and back!) since the last of July... and in all that time, in all those miles... I can't say that I've found a handful of Bad roads to put a bike over...

If you've got the time, the money for gas... and the Motorcycle, whatever your style of bike is... to split the wind, for a mile or a thousand... the Road You Are ON... is the absolute Best Motorcycle Road... for That day!

Just My Maybe not so humble Opinion!

So Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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