April Does It Again - A Scenic SPORT-tour of California & Oregon

LEAN into the next corner...





and follow along...





to a few...






stunning places...





and the most exciting roads anywhere.





California & Oregon

I'm Dave






and this is April.






April is an aging 2002 aprilia RST1000 Futura one-owner SPORT-touring machine.
I'm hoping she has at least one long ride left in her.






The last couple times I've ridden the insanely curvy roads of California was 2up.
With 10 days off for riding I'm looking to have some fun.
I've always wanted to see Crater Lake and ride Sonora Pass. These were my primary goals of this trip.






Day 1 was June 14th. I took all day loading up the bike. It was 4 PM before we headed out into the heat.




I take the nearly empty 2 lane highways west.










It was getting late in the day as I cross the Colorado River...





into California.












I like my new gloves.






The Mojave Desert is...






a nice place to witness a sunset.

I welcomed the cooler air...





as the light faded away. I had a pleasant night ride for another couple hundred miles.





Dark nights in the desert bring out the stars.





I found a spot next to a lonely highway to sleep.





Day 1 was 364 miles.

You, again, Dave, made one more subscribed thread in my list. .

Oh maaaan, I looove your photography (and post-processing!!)
Whoohoo

Can't wait to see another version of that "stunning places" pic..

Your pictures have been my desktop many times..Thanks.

YEA, Dave's on the road again with more great pics. I see you left in the heat of the day again? You were oh so close when you crossed the river in Parker.
Phillip

After 4-5 hours of sleep I load up before dawn...





and head down the hill towards Barstow.






I enjoyed the sunrise.






I would like to make it to the mountains before the desert warms up.












North of Barstow I feel the chain skip a few teeth.:eek1 Uh oh! I've never had a chain do this. That thing was loose!
This was my first indication this chain was stretching. I get it tightened up.






The rest of the day I worry about the chain, but it is feeling okay.





Up Walker Pass!















I've made it to the SIerras.





I turn north on one of my favorite roads of all time...

If you would love to string together hundreds of tight turns...





this is the road you want to ride.






I put together a short video to attempt to show why I LOVE riding this road.

<IFRAME height=360 src="https://api.smugmug.com/services/embed/2655824570_RWMDvBg?width=640&height=360&albumId=22698538&albumKey=d5xrB7" frameBorder=0 width=640 scrolling=no></IFRAME>

I'm happy to have you along again!

Thanks Pete!

I'm sorry, but all of my pics from Crater Lake are in black & white because I found there was to much blue there...



Just Kidding! There will be color.

Hi Phillip! I should do better at avoiding the hot desert riding. Maybe I will on the way back.

Hiya Dave, thanks for easing us into another adventure.

Have you already ridden hwy 36 from Red Bluff to 101 or vice versa? I recommend it if you have not.

Not my pic but you get the idea.

You may have noticed the fuel light on in the video. I barely made it into Springville running on fumes.
After gassing up I turned onto another favorite road I've ridden a few times before.
I see a GS rider stopped near the turnoff to Yokohl Valley Road. I wave and continue.

The road is a twisty and rustic country road that serves as a sweet short-cut over to Sequoia National Park.

I see that big GS behind me...





I sped up, but could not shake that big GS rider, so I pulled over and snapped him passing.




As he disappeared around the corner I stowed the camera and the chase was ON!






It took forever and some insane riding before I finally had him in sight again. He pulled over to snap pics and I got out in front.





I couldn't shake that GS no matter what.






We had a ton of fun...





on Yokohl Valley Road.










I had worked up an appetite. When we got to Three Rivers I pulled into the parking lot for the Pizza Factory.
The GS rider pulled up alongside, stuck out his hand and asked, "Eat pasta"? I looked at the restaurant and said, "Sure, let's do it".

It took a couple more tries until I understood he was introducing himself. He goes by eatpasta here and I had seen some of his posts before. Doh!







After chatting with eatpasta he carried on and I went inside to fill up on pizza. The pizza was pretty average.






eatpasta did a Day Trippin' report here: 2-Day 800 Mile Epic California Ride


I find it amazing that ride reporters from different places can cross paths like this.
Here are a few photos he got of me. Nice riding with you, eatpasta! That was a blast.

Bob is here! Start the party! Thanks for following another one.

Noooooo!! I seriously considered it this trip, but didn't include it. Now I am regretting it. I've done that 299 several times, which isn't all that great. Now I have a reason to return. Thanks!

I fought the slow traffic on what should be a fantastic motorcycle road, The General's Highway through Sequoia National Park.





I only stopped to admire the trees close to the road.





Find April





King's Canyon!





Because the highway into King's Canyon is a long dead end, I've always found it hard to include in a motorcycle trip,
but this trip, I made time for it. It was awesome!





The riding was sublime!





It was like Yosemite, without the crowds. Stunning scenery!





There is a raging river running below the road...






so I stopped for a quick look.





I rode all the way in to the Cedar Grove area and found a campsite. It was under $20 and half of the place was empty.
Try finding a campsite near Yosemite.

Lovin' your pics and RR!



Thanks,

JM.

After setting up camp I had a little daylight left...






So I climbed down to the river behind the tent...






to waste time...






watching the water race by.












After dark, the stars filled the sky.





I couldn't see much sky in the deep canyon.






Day 2 was a full day of fantastic riding. 360 miles.

The road down into Kings Canyon is my old stomping ground... wonderful. (did you ride through Hume Lake Conference grounds - busy but beautiful!) The road flows just like the river in places... great riding.

In August there are some real interesting places to explore near Boyden's Caverns.

very nice, more please!