Raven’s Rides
Raven's Rides Motorcycle Blog

February 2009: We’re on highway 1, somewhat north of Malibu, and they’re having more fun than we are.

February 2009: This dual sport was parked in our old street when we went to see what had been done with our old mobile home park (nothing).

It just started to rain again. Around here, if the weather forecast predicts more than a 50% chance of rain, it automatically becomes 100%. Needing to get into town, I kept an eye on the radar and saw what I thought might be a gap. The sun came out and seemed happy. So I quickly threw on my rain gear and set out into Weaverville.

I hit 299 and on the very first curve it started to rain. And you know, I was nice and cosy in my top-to-toe rain gear, and the rain bounced off my helmet like a protective tin roof. Besides, once you’re in it you get this sort of kudos for being such a hardcore rider and being out in the blech. ;)

Even so, it was a very bedraggled me who arrived at the post office remarking to a little old lady that wow, it was supposed to stop for an hour. ;)

By the time I’d done my post office stuff it had stopped again, and by the time I reached the store the sun was limping out once again from under the clouds. The parking lot was half dry after my shopping trip, though the sky looked ominous as I tapped my feet waiting for a pilot car to take us through a patch of construction work. It held off, I arrived home to sunlight and white puffy clouds…and then, thirty minutes later, the storm resumed. So I guess I really did have my 50% chance of rain. :)

02 February 2009: This sleek black thing was opposite us as we headed through Folsom to get to the campground.

02 February 2009: We’re in Roseville, a suburb of Sacramento, looking for a laundromat. Bikes overtake us, as usual.

01 February 2009: This motorcycle passes us by as we walk up one of the streets in Old Town Sacramento.

01 February 2009: This full-dressed cruiser is one of the many bikes parked up in Old Sacramento.

I forgot to take a picture on the 1st of April. I guess I was too busy turning Markeroni upside-down.

Miles in March and April: 1,210.0
Miles in 2009: 1418.7

I had an interesting first last week. I rode in snow. For various reasons my start down to the Bay Area was a bit late, and timed perfectly so that as I hit the highway the first lazy snowflakes started to come out of the sky. Admittedly they were wet and did not settle, and it was hardly a blizzard, but it really made me pretty nervous. I concentrated on getting over the county line (3223 feet as I recall) and heading down the switchbacks, with the snow falling on and off until I got to Shasta, where it finally stopped.

I then subjected myself to around three hundred miles of strong winds, making this altogether one of the most annoying, challenging and tiring rides I’ve ever done. I also note that I dealt with it; there seems to be a kind of energy that goes with such long rides, when you know you have to get to where you’re going, there’s a deadline, and there’s nothing for it but to buckle down and deal. It didn’t stop me from hitting Sacramento at rush hour, but luckily I missed the worst of it. Then the arm of my glasses broke clean in half, so I asked the clerk at Shell for some duct tape and spent the rest of the ride with the things precariously stuck together and looking like a 70s geek (as opposed to a cool 21st century one).

I eventually hobbled into San Jose around nine o’clock at night. My friends were quite surprised to see me as they’d been expecting to meet me in Oakland. ;)

Two days later I returned…and what a difference! The sun was shining, the wind barely even challenging, the views pretty. I rode 505 for its full length, cutting off a big chunk of road. I had lunch/dinner at Granzella’s in Williams, a cool little place much populated by riders, before making it home before dark. I forgot to note the mileage on April 1st, as I was too busy turning Markeroni upside-down, but I do know I’ve bucked my average to the tune of 600 miles over the two rides which were as different as night and day.