Last Rides

[oldironnow]

whatarush wrote

oldironnow wrote

Trackday Sears Point

Another great read oldiron!!!  Thanks for posting

Welcome!

[m143]

That was fantastic.

Thanks for posting.

[Mad4TheCrest]

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[oldironnow]

How was the ride, motorcyclign-wise?
Was the landscape oppressive?

[Mad4TheCrest]

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[oldironnow]

*Edited

ugh...
I've been leery of heading into the back country behind Mt. Hamilton.
Maybe it's time. Your ride awakens me to this. The rains will wash it out.
Make time tomorrow.

I rode this week with the guy from Indiana I met at Sears Point. Joey knows Hwy25 like the back of his hand. Leading the way south, because he and his 2001 R1 are waaaay faster than me, he deftly pointed out the classic issues with the road. That bottomless pothole, the sharp edged drop that makes it feel like a TT course, the tall cut embankment that rains rocks and gravel all day and all night.

We both have the same ethic to chill the hell out on the Aragon-length straights. Instead, we spend our license-risk budget in the corners.

The light is dying near Bitterwater, so we take break, stopping at the split in the older Coalinga Road to talk racing and the past. He used to run CCS all over that core middle of the Midwest and the East - the day's drive radius from Indiana. There's talk of what it would take to run with the AFM, and there's even talk of the financial and technical commitment to race Daytona. Kind of a white whale for all of us.



One the way back north to Hollister, I decide to stretch the Buell on a straight. The sun's mostly gone, so the CHP plane won't be overhead, and headlights will warn of a sheriff's deputy. It's the time of the evening where all the colors are failing to gray, and the framework of the world is peeling back like a dream from 3D grit to 2D smooth. I get down on the airbox, roll the long throttle all the way around the grip and pass Joey cleanly, the Buell shimmying slightly on the wavy country road. The engine a tenor bellow, a nasal roar. The wind, a thousand fists of anger, pummeling.

Joey doesn't respond and lets me lead. Freshly loaded in my head, the road is easier to ride, ledges, potholes and all. At a middle-of-nowhere red light for a detour around a landslide, Joey tips up his visor. "Yeah man!" he yells over the idling machines. "You were goin'! HeyHey - there's feral pigs out here. And deer. They come out, so watch out! Okay?"

Such a good reminder in spirited riding. "That's right!" I shout. "Thanks! You wanna lead again?"

"Nawh. You're doin' good."

So we take off with the last of the sunlight, letting the bots dots shine a line through the trees that crowd the highway. Joey's back aways, with his high beams on, throwing an overview blast on the road. The Buell's pale headlight fills in the shadow in front of me.

Imaginary swine and antlered venison flicker in and out of my vision, as I try to match apex to memory. Then a pickup pulls out in front of us a ways ahead from the driveway of the CalFire station, and I take that as a message from god - Knock it off. Figuring he knows who to call if we pass the truck that's running 10-over anyway, and also figuring the big Chevy makes a helluva wild beast deflector, I just chill out all the way into south Hollister.

Fist bump and wave at the light. Later, Joey.


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[Fatfatboy]

Nice ride report Oldiron.
Chillin out on the straights mucho good idea but with my bloated scooters I can’t follow that rule. The straights are the only place I can break the law.

My arm is finally well enough to handle the Chariot. Wife and I took a little loop Saturday.

Yesterday I played hooky with old cw member Doughboy and friend Nate. Great day with friends.

[Fatfatboy]

[oldironnow]

Those MO roads gotta be fun.

I like how your bikes are pointed towards the edge of that crest. The photo makes me want to join you and disappear into the mystery.

[Fatfatboy]

I’m very fortunate to live where I do. The roads are typically in good shape and once I pull out of my driveway it’s instant twisted and hilly and not a lot of traffic as long as I don’t go east. East takes me towards The Big City with soccer moms and low flying dingbats are zooming around typing and chatting with one hand and sipping an Americana Frabamoca with the other.

My riding partners live in Illinois. Pretty flat, straight and rough roads. Usually when we ride they cross the mighty Mississippi River and we ride the Missouri side.

Much of the time I lead them to the good ones, wave them on and then catch them at the next turn off.
Them young whipper snappers ride much faster than what me and my geezzer bikes do.

I would love to see your Buell in front of me disappearing over the next crest as you dive to the right, leaned over hard as the roadside weeds bend back in complete awe.

[oldironnow]

Frabamocas on me.

[Fatfatboy]

Heck,, you show up in the Show Me state and I’ll make them before we head out.
I got a Coffee machine that makes those fancy coffees. It’s the only way my bride will drink coffee.
I take in just regular ol coffee with some cream to keep the flapper valve from releasing the wrong direction.


We have been getting some above average temps around here. Bride and I took a loop and a stop for some tacos.
Rode it through to sunset.

[oldironnow]

Hella nice pics!

[Fatfatboy]

Took advantage of some sun. Just a short putt with a stop to warm up.




A couple other riders doing the same.



This guy stopped to check on me and stopped long enough for a smoke.


Nice 2006 FXST. Last year of carbed twin cam. Sounded sweet. Carbed bike have such better sound than EFI bikes at idle.

My phone doesn’t take the best shots facing the sun.
It’s an old iphone6. It was built as a phone first. The camera feature was an afterthought I think.

[Fatfatboy]

oldironnow wrote

Hella nice pics!

Thank you.

[oldironnow]

Awesome pics.
Good ride.
I love the Underpass shot. Also, the Chimney pic.
My recent Motorola phone yields the same quality of photos. A narrow range of goodness.

[Mad4TheCrest]

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[oldironnow]

Mad4TheCrest wrote

These great ride photos are making me miss a couple of other CW Forum members known for great ride shots: Suzuki Jo and Kawtippin. Wherever you are guys, I hope you are still riding and taking great pictures.

And while I am on about old CW gents, where the heck is DCProof? I miss that guy, as mysterious and possibly dangerous to know as he was.

Been thinking about him lately.

Didn't he pull the pin and retire?

Wasn't he selling one side of his Atlantic operation?

[oldironnow]

Rode north today, over Hwy 17 and 'up' the peninsula to The City through a wintery mix of fog, rain and sun.
Traffic ran at +10 of what it was in the olden days of last year... which was +10 then, so everything is nicely sketchy on the roads. Really bend your neck to get an idea of the true closing speed of that dude in the whatever car coming up. (Mid-apes with mirrors above must give a solid wink-mirror outlook on what's behind.)

Parked in front of an old motorcycle joint, that still has motorcycle parking slots in front of the current restaurant, and hiked over to the van Gogh event. One which I highly recommend seeing! If it comes to your region or village. I didn't want to go originally, as I learned it would be a 'multimedia performance' instead of a display of paintings. But i needed to DO something! So I forced myself to go, and then I didn't want to leave. The anxiety of leaving the Buell all alone on the street in big, bad San Francisco called me away.

The ride home on the rising wave of a commute was equally smooth. The added challenge of timing which highway to take at what moment of the late afternoon rush made for a zig-zag-ish pattern on the way south. The sun out well now, warming my right shoulder even though drafts of cold air breathed out of the hills in random blasts, emanating from the 'Doc Brown hair' ragged gray banks of fog streaming down to the Bay off the mountain tops.

I didn't want to split aaallll of Santa Cruz's Hwy One traffic to Aptos, so I hopped off of Hwy 17 onto Summit Rd., to Highland Way, then up Ormsby Trail to Mt. Madonna Road to home.

Almost 200 miles. It was a good day.



A City Bike sticker in the doorway of the abandoned m/c shop.











Between the edge and the far ridge line lies the valley that holds the San Andreas Fault.
Here, I am standing on the North American Plate with you all. The far ridge is on the Pacific Plate, along with my house.









More of the valley of the San Andreas Fault.




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[Fatfatboy]

200 miles. I’m envious.