Adventures By Guy

Woke up and packed up, ate at the restaurant next to the hotel then gassed up and filled my 2 gallon gas can as Northern California can be far between fill ups. Went south on US 101 and peeled off to go exploring on a coastal drive. Went down a nice road a few miles then it went to a small gravel road right on the edge but I couldn’t see anything due to the coastal fog. So 5 miles of going north then heading east to pick up 101 then South again … that slowed me down for a while. Saw another sign for a scenic byway and took it. Nice road with redwoods along it. Putted along at 40 to 50 mph. Cool along the coast. About 65 to 69F. Stopped at the visitor center and got something for my two oldest Grandchildren. Back on the road and a little ways down turned on Bald Hills Road. I was following a route a friend gave me so I could get to his house in Redding. It wasn’t the quickest way for sure. But it did go by the Lady Bird Grove so I stopped and hiked to it following the path. This time I stayed on the main path and didn’t get lost on a side path like I did yesterday in the Stout Grove! Pulled into a full parking lot and found a place for the bike. That is one nice thing about a bike… you almost always find a place to park. Took full Gopro video of both groves. Will post when I am home. Left the Grove and I was following the route up on to the spine of this mountain so both sides fell away. Some places were clear cut but they always left Several rows of trees along the road. The road was a bit bumpy but I mosied along at 35 to 45 with no problems. Then the woods fell away and it was just long dried out grass covering the hills with forests in the distance. Then orange signs stating road work ahead… then a sign… pavement ends. Ok, it’s sunny, I have the perfect bike for pavement ending roads so I keep putting along at 35. Some lady was flying along towards me raising clouds of dust and she comes wide around the curve that I am on and sloughs the truck almost sideways and gets it over so she doesn’t run me over and missed me by 10 feet and keeps going. I hold my breath and ride to get out of the cloud. Maybe 5 cars on that stretch of gravel and going slower so minimal dust and one actually stopped as I approached. The road was following the ridge top and the views were great and you could see a long way. Mountains and valleys with open spaces and also trees covering other mountains. I thought that the gravel was going to be for miles but the pavement came back after maybe 4 or 5 miles and then the real fun began. Very twisty for the rest of the day and steep inclines and declines along with those curves and switchbacks. I had to use my gears a lot more than normal as I haven’t changed out my front brake pads and they are still oil covered from my fork seals leaking. I got to having so much fun that a couple of hours later I had two uh oh moments to remind me to slow down and use gears more.
My MotoZ Tractionator tires continue to amaze me as I have the very dirt oriented one on up front and it did a wonderful job all day and so did the 50/50 tire on the rear. In the corners I was using all the tire all the way to the edge except for maybe an 1/8”. The bike did fantastic too. Fully loaded and it still was very responsive handling and cornering well. It could have used a bit more power for regaining speed coming out of a corner and while climbing up the pass but to be perfectly honest I was flogging it pretty hard so no complaints. Most of the riding was under trees until I got to a sign that said… one lane road starts ahead. Soon I was on a one lane road that was on a cliff or cut out of a cliff face… as in, you go off the pavement you fall 300 or more feet into a river with rapids and on my right the mountaincontinuedto go up. Calling it one lane was being generous. The guys who paved it had to be very brave! I was going 25 to 35 mph and that’s it. The river gorge was beautiful. I had left the coast behind and it was now 100 to 104°F. The video should prove interesting. I’m going forward but there were plenty of blind corners and I came up to one hugging the inside and a small car pops aroundthe corner less than 10 feet away and I instinctively react and squeeze closer to the rock wall to my right. He goes a little towards the edge and he gets by. If I had been a car it would have been a collision and he most likely could have gone over the edge. This road went on for miles. I was getting used to having space on my left and going a bit faster but not much faster. Just more comfortable with it. It finally became two lane again at Cecilville. I had a half tank of gas left plus my spare two gallons but I saw a gas pump and pulled in. I could use a break anyway. I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and it was around 3 pm.
A cardboard sign on the modern pp read. Cash or debit card only. No credit cards. A lady and a kid are running around in a side by side and they come over and she stops and says. I’ll have my husband turn on the pump and then states what’s on the cardboard sign. Sure, no problem. I hear the pump turn on and I start to pump… but very little is coming out and then none. I put the nozzle back and start to walk over to the building which is “The Salmon River Saloon” the door is locked. The lady appears from around the building (which looked new and nothing looks new in upper CA back country) oh, it’s locked just come to the back door when you’re done and pay my husband. Ok, nothing is coming out of the pump. Oh, it does that sometimes. I’ll fix it for you. As I walk back the husband unlocks the front door and props it open. She does some rain dance with the hose by putting it on the ground then holding it over her head… I state… so the pump gets air bound once in a while? I guess so but this usually fixes it. Ok, and the pump worked! I go to pay and I meet the husband AKA Monk. Now I am in the middle of nowhere. Haven’t seen anything for miles and just got off that one lane road less than a mile away. The lady AKA Allegra suggests I go swimming in the river. It is clear and I saw some kids jumping off some rocks 15 miles back… I reply… I’d have to change into my suit and it’s in the bottom of my pannier. Oh, don’t worry. There’s nobody around here. That’s how far back I am in the woods. I ask if they are the owners. Yep. We built this place 10 years ago. Allegra has grown up here and I came in 25 yrs ago. We have 27 people in this town. Most are above 55 yrs old. Nobody under 35. The closest electricity is over 30 miles away and the closest gas a bit over 50 miles. We are solar with a diesel generator for back up.
This place is very nice and even though it was 98 out he had a breeze going through and I was comfortable. He was retired and bored so he said this was really just a large community project. He said this property was full of junk and had a bunch of tweakers on it. What’s a Tweaker? Oh, a really hard core Meth head. Ok… He goes on… I decided we needed to take our town back So I bought the property and I kicked them out. Got rid of the junk and built this place. We have RV camping spots out back and I am expanding those plus tent sites.. I have slowly been buying Property as it comes up for sale. We are surroundedby 100sof square miles of park. You’re going to be bored in retirement. I was bored so I started this. He said some of his neighbors have crank phones to call each other. He had a crank phone displayed on the bar. I had never seen anything like it before. There was a glass door fridge on the front porch with drinks in it. He said it’s on the honor system. Take what you want and make change from the box in the fridge. Ok. So for lunch I had two sodas and two cliff bars. Hey, Monk (he was outside power washing some door mats) do you have a bottle opener? Yeah, it’s that bullet on the bar. You mean that .50 caliber Browning machine gun bullet? Yep. I went in and looked at it. Sure enough it was a bottle opener and the most unique one I have ever seen let alone used. Monk comes back in and he tells me going east that the road is two lanes and the 2nd best MC road in CA. Really? Yep, everybody comes up here. He starts dropping name after name of famous rock stars, movie stars and other well known people. I say bye and I head on down the road. I don’t know if it is the #2 MC road in CA but it was 50 miles of smooth sweeping turns with some tight turns as it went up and over a 6,000’ pass. I’d come back for it!
Got off that road at Clanahan (?) And headed South towards Trinity Center on the shores of Trinity Lake. Trinity mountains can be big. Snow/glacier on one of them. Getting to be dusk and a couple of deer with fawns came close to getting acquainted with me. They blend in perfectly with the brown red soil where the road cuts through a hill. Saw one up top against the grass. Slowed down because where there is one there are more. Good thing I did. I don’t have that on video but I do have a fawn leaping away down the road when I was only doing 30 and saw it a long ways off. At 9 pm it was getting dark and by the time I pulled up in Redding it was dark. Saw my friend (for the first time) and we talked about 45 minutes then I found a hotel. Going over to his house for dinner tomorrow. He joined the CBRXX.COM forum and we seemed to hit it off. I came through Redding with Wyatt 5 years ago and we tried to meet up then but were unsuccessful. This time I wanted to go to some custom seat makers in Redding and also made it a point for us to meet up. He sent me his address after I got through his adventurous route. I pulled up and he walks out of his garage. Are you Bill? Yep, and you must be Guy. Yep! He states … So finally we meet! We both laugh. Then I look for a hotel after chatting and pick one… didn’t seem to far away… turns out it’s 15 miles down I-5. 17 minutes later I’m checking in.
A good day. I still can’ get over that one lane road. Bill goes… you wanted an adventure didn’t you! I got one.