Visalia Relay for Life Bike Rally

I rode with my friend Bob and some of his friends in the Visalia Relay for Life Bike Rally. There was around 200 bikes there that day. We left the Harley dealership on Hwy 99 just north of Visalia and rode through the foothills behind Visalia. We ended up at a Pizza joint in town for lunch. A nice day for a ride, a little hot, but still nice.

Here are some pics. This is from one of the stops at a park on the way back into Visalia. Bob has the Gold Wing, his dentist has the BMW K1200RT and another friend was on the HD Road King.

That "Dam" Ride - Day 1

Hoover Dam or Bust!

I took the Tuesday off after Memorial day to make it a 2-day holiday. I had planned to play in the university's golf tournament, but after our team fell apart, I decided a motorcycle ride was a better idea. I've never been to Hoover Dam, and the weather wasn't too hot, so I decided that's where I was going. So mapped my route, calculated my gas stops, informed my friends (most of whom thought me a little odd), reserved my room (actually, that was my wife's job), and waited till that Monday morning when I would venture on my first real motorcycle ride lasting more than 1 day.

The route I had planned would be a 900 mile ride covering 3 states (that sounds so cool to say you rode through 3 states). And it would be a real test of my long distance riding. I've ridden 300 miles in a day no problem, but this would be back-to-back rides of 400 the first day, followed by 500 days the second. Needless to say, I was a bit apprehensive that I would not be able to make it. But I had to at least give it a try.

The first leg was from Fresno to Laughlin, Nevada where I would be spending the night. I left home on Monday morning at 8 AM. My wife, who was headed to Disneyland for 3 days with her close friend and her family, was up early and had made a run to Starbucks for a couple of cold ones. Everything had been packed and the tank filled the night before so all I had to do was put on my riding clothes and kiss my wife bye. I snapped a few pictures of the bike, checked my gear, and left the house. The morning air was really cold and I was grateful I had decided to wear my full leather jacket an not my mesh jacket. I hardly touched the cold frappachino, wishing I had a hot one instead.

I reached Bakersfield in good time with light traffic due to the early holiday time. Gassing up and grabbing a Dr Pepper, I headed East on 58 toward the Mohave desert. A word of wisdom to bikers who have not learned that open soda bottles and motorcycle riding don't mix, put the lid back on. Not 2 miles down the freeway I hit a good bump in the road and found my bike and myself covered in Dr Pepper. Very stick stuff that soda. It required another unplanned stop to clean the tank, the GPS, my helmet visor, and my jacket before proceeding. From then on all sticky drinks were in cups with lids and straws.

The ride up to Tehachapi is a steep climb. Fortunately, it's a 4 lane freeway. There was a lot of slow traffic on the road. Once I crested the top of the climb I was hit by the worst crosswind that I have ever experienced. I've ridden in some strong crosswinds, but this wind very nearly blew me off the road. It was all I could do to keep my head upright. It felt like someone was pushing my on the side of my head. After a few miles the wind changed and the was more tolerable. I guess that explains why they have about 100 of those giant windmills on the top of the hill looking over the town.



Mojave is only a few miles past Tehachapi, but looks like another world. Tehachapi sits on the edge of the Mojave desert, but is on the rainy side of the mountains and has grass and trees. Once you crest the hills above town with the windmills, the landscape changes to desert with sage and Joshua (cactus) trees. And the temperature between Tehachapi and Mojave is almost as much as the mileage between them.



Entering Mojave you see the famous Mojave airport, where they store airline aircraft not in use. You can see the aircraft lined up on the airfield. They store them here because of the dry temperate climate. This is also the airport where the Starship One aircraft flew into space a few years ago winning the X prize. I stopped at the McDonalds in town to use the restroom. While I was at McDonalds, I met a couple from Germany, Luther and Anna, who had rented a Harley Ultra in San Francisco. They were riding through California on their vacation. They had come out to Mojave to see the airline storage site, hoping to get a tour of the facility.

After topping off my tank, I rode around the airport, taking a few photos. As I started out of town, the bike started running rough, starving for fuel. I had to pull over and was thinking, "This is the end of my trip! Here I am stuck out in this place and someone's going to have to come get me". What an awful feeling it was. I turned the bike around and tried to ride it back into town. I managed to about a 1/4 mile back to the airport offices. As I was pulling into the parking lot the bike roared to life. What a wonderful sound that was. The only thing I could think of was that I somehow got some crud into the tank filling up at the gas station. I was able to turn the bike around and head to Barstow. Thankfully, I had no other problems with it the rest of the trip. Of course, I bought only Premium gas from that point on, so that may have helped.

After a quick lunch in Barstow I headed for Needles. The stretch of road is pretty straight and well maintained. Traffic toward Needles was very light, but the return traffic was loaded with boats coming back from Lake Havasu. I stopped for a quick fillup at Ludlow. The two gas stations there were making the money that day with all the holiday traffic.



If you have never been through the Mohave Desert, it can actually be very beautiful. There is quite a number of lava flows that are visible from the freeway. You can even stop and grab a lava rock along the way. It is a very serene ride, albeit a hot one. Not the place I would want to break down at. Every now and then there is a cool breeze you can feel that must be coming from the ocean through the mountain passes. But for the most part, it's a hot ride.

I made Needles in good time. I learned one thing about the town right away. You may think that name refers to the needle like rock formation that surrounds the town. That might be true. But I believe the name refers to the feeling of the heat on your skin. If you think Mohave is hot, then Needles (and the river basin) is hell! There is no wind at all. And even though you are down by the Colorado River, there is no cool breeze you would normally feel from it. It's just plain HOT! And I was needing some refreshment, so off to the local McD's for some sweet tea.

Laughlin is an interesting place. It was my first time there. Other than the gambling and the water sports in the river, there's not much to do there. Since I don't gamble, and it was too late for water sports, I just ate and went to bed.

(Click on the pictures for a larger view)