Raven’s Rides
Raven's Rides Motorcycle Blog

There are microclimates in these here hills!

Today the planets aligned and Don and I were able to go for a ride together. What with work, weather and other commitments that’s been a bit difficult of late, so it was really cool to just go out together, shortly after noon.

It turned out that today was a little cooler than other days. Even though the fog had burned off, there was still frost on the roads, thick enough to form a white haze on several long, curvy stretches. So you can choose to ride on the slippery stuff, or to ride on the median, which is full of brown rock salt.

We took a different route than normal and thus discovered that the other way out of our valley is even colder and more sheltered than the usual one.

Where the sunlight had filtered through, the roads were beautiful and dry. Where it had not, well, Danger Will Robinson! I was careful not to brake rapidly and rather glad of the lack of traffic in this region.

But oh, the views! The Trinity Alps are stunning with their caps of snow and slippers of forest. The sky was a perfect blue, brushed with little white wispy clouds, with not a hint of rain in sight. And then I called in at the rest area to defrost my painfully cold hands under the hot air blower. ;)

We hit the post office, the gas station, the supermarket and even had a burrito at the little taqueria on highway 3. Then, of course, we got to do the ride all over again, this time with the mountains receding into our rear-view mirrors and significantly less ice. A few other bikers were about here and there, everyone with a friendly wave. California bikers are a rare breed when the temperature drops below fifty, so there’s even more camaraderie than usual. ;)

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