Friday–Monday, 8–11 Oct 2004
Ride pictures from Ramon, Dennis, Ernesto, Jill and Carl are on this page
Ramon’s Story
Murphy joins the fall ride to Death Valley
I set my sights on this D.V. fall ride since mid-May when Dave charmed Laura, the manager of the Bishop Ramada into giving the SMBC discount corporate rates. This is to be my fourth time to participate in the group’s bi-annual event.
My very first SMBC DV ride was under the ride leadership of “Houston” Mac in the fall of 2001. Riding with Mac made me come to realize that there was, and IS good reason why the SMBC has been in business since 1949. He made us newbies in the group feel welcome. Each leg of the trip was clearly laid out for us including the “as fast as you wanna ride” stage. Why Scotty’s Castle is a must-see. He even explained the purpose of the COTTONTAIL RANCH’s existence……
…………. As a rest stop and photo-ops, DUH!
My second DV ride (Spring 2002) found me “tagging” onto Marco’s trip route. Thru the fearless ride leadership of Mr. Hyman I learned that he is absolutely fearless when it comes to leaving anyone who shows up a second later than the appointed take off time (Were David G. and Marco twins in a former lifetime?). On this ride I’ve also come to realize that our fearless leader is a stickler when it comes to speed limits. He will maintain the safe and proper speed of 65 mph. Be it in boring straight stretches of freeways, mountain twisties, extended curves or hairpins… Mr. Hyman will steadfastly maintain the speed of 65 MPH.
The third DV ride (Fall 2003) was a “ride-with-who-showed-up-in-Orchard”. Hey! I’m starting to get the hang of this!
Now here I sit trying to put together a report to go with the pictures I’ve taken on this fall of 2004 ride. To begin, I’ve envisioned this ride to be like no other I’ve taken to DV. Adding the interesting Sequoia/Kings Canyon annual ride reports of the group to that, I’ve decided to incorporate the two. What first turned out to be a ride with Mandy later turned into a group ride with Jill, Thom, Ernesto and Dennis.
Five bikes, six riders. Jill alternating as passenger of Thom or Dennis. Road condition dependent. Thom on an Ultra Classic (?), Dennis on a ‘wing. On which road condition will she ride on what bike? Go figure…. Add the spirit of adventure, Murphy’s Law and plain old fun… We’ve got ourselves a road trip!!
DAY 1 Oct. 8, 2004: Scheduled meet up with Dennis, Ernesto and Mandy 5:45 am. Proceed to Orchard at Tracy to meet up with Thom & Jill. Dennis & I arrive on time. Mandy almost gets left behind thinking meet time is an hour later (hmmm…. yup …. uh-huh). The value of cell phones! Ernesto???? No show! We arrived at Tracy 7-ish. Thom & Jill already waiting, and the 5 am Broadway group about to depart. And a few minutes later, the 6 am Broadway group arrives. I was happy to see Reg in that group. We hug and eyebrows start to raise among the group. I have to make a quick explanation that we’ve been thru the Baja run together earlier. Inquiring minds were hopefully pacified with the explanation.
Murphy’s Law started to add up when we find out via recorded message on Dennis’ cell phone that Ernesto groggily packs the bike to meet us at 5:45 am ….leaves his wallet on top of the bike & loses it. From Jill we learn that Thom picks her up at her house, backs the bike from her drive way, drops the bike, and proceeds with Jill to Orchard. Not necessarily in that order. We wait for Ernesto to show up late at Orchard after attempting to find his wallet somewhere in the road, IN THE DARK. Can anyone guess the outcome? No license, no registration, no insurance papers, no ID, no plastic, no cash … What the heck. LET’S GO!
Ernesto’s logistics were worked out between Jill & I. There’s a little haggling as to percentage points but it all boils down to the bottom line … USURY.
From Tracy we worked our way to Three Rivers where we spent the first night. Via points were Hetch-Hetchy Junction, Coulterville, Mariposa, Oakhurst, Bass Lake, Auberry, Sanger, Kings Canyon NP, Sequoia NP. Trip totals from Tracy is 300 miles. This turned out to be a great route! New or rediscovered roads, lots of twists and turns, magnificent views. There are only two noticeable delays. First one was in Bonds Flat Road by the Don Pedro reservoir. A huge houseboat was being hauled from one marina to a storage place. The second was at the west entry of Kings Canyon NP. While waiting for my turn thru the ranger gate, my bike starts to spill coolant. We all pull over after gaining entry. As I check my bike I start seeing the “You ride with us, You ride alone” looks from the group. Luckily, it’s just a boil-over after traversing the steep road towards the park, a spirited ride and a sudden stop & long idle. Made a mental note to check radiator cap and to flush the cooling system when I get back. That incident delayed the trip some 40 minutes (Sorry guys).
The upside to ANY delay was that it meant giving time for Jill to stretch her healing knee. Arrived at Three Rivers 6:15 pm. Had dinner & called it a day.
DAY 2 Oct. 9, 2004: Rode out of Three Rivers 8:20 am. Route promising to have as much, if not more, interesting roads as Day 1. The route takes us to Lindcove, Yokohl, Milo, Springville, Camp Nelson, Johnsondale, Sherman Pass, Kennedy Meadows, Ridgecrest, Trona, and DV NP with Beatty to end our second day. It was twisties of all road conditions from Three Rivers to Nine Mile Canyon Road / US 395. Then it’s “fast as you want to” from Trona all the way to the Panamint Valley Rd. / 190 intersection. I believe that it was at the Hwy 395 stretch to Ridgecrest where Ernesto experienced a higher plane of orgasmic experience. He did 126 mph with the bike. I can almost see him rolling his eyes……
Murphy’s Law caught up with the group in a sand/dirt turn off along the Yokohl Dr. It was my fault. I should have picked a safer place to regroup. I realized that the moment I applied my brakes and almost ate it. Mandy followed & came to a tentative stop. Dennis, with Jill as a passenger, followed with the “what the heck are you doing?” look. And as I was trying to explain the regrouping, Thom & Ernesto came in. From my left side mirror I saw the Harley lose its traction and had Thom spilling to the ground. Everyone came rushing to help right the heavy beast. All relieved that both rider & bike escaped with barely a scratch. I’m not certain but I thought I heard Jill mutter “Thank god I was riding with Dennis”……. Or maybe it was just my imagination.
For a few minutes we were each reflecting on the incident. Each to our own thoughts and prayer of thanks when suddenly I hear “Oh!-Oh!-Oh!-Oh!” from Mandy who was parked to my right and looked in time to see his helmeted head miss crashing into my right side fairing by a hair! Was it selfish of me to react by thinking, “Great! His head is going scratch my bike!”? As luck would have it, the only damage done was a few minor scratches on Mandy’s left saddle bag. Mandy explained that after what happened to Thom it wouldn’t hurt to double check his own bike & pack. He then started to dismount to check with one minor oversight …. He forgot to set the side stand.
We had brunch at the Pierpoint Springs Resort located in the Camp Nelson area. There we were greeted by the receptionist, our orders taken by the waitress, coffee served by the bus girl and food cooked by the resort chef. The problem was that all these characters were incorporated into one person! So, to amuse ourselves while waiting for the lady to fetch the eggs from the hen house and catch up with the steer for some hamburgers, we vented our frustration by hitting on Betty Boop. Want to take a guess on who cashiered our bills?
The last Murphy incident that day happened to me. First I missed a turn towards Sherman Pass and had to back track the group some seven miles to get back to the missed turn. And after some miles I missed another turn (Mandy close to my heels) by foolishly relying on the truck I was chasing rather than the GPS. I took the narrowing road & sudden absence of pavement as a sign that I AM lost. Dennis simply followed the road signs and they were ok. Mandy & I caught up with them a little after the peak.
One of the highlights of Day 2 was the view offered to us along 374 towards Beatty as the sun was setting. Until then I’ve never seen mountains made of gold back dropped by deep purple sky. We reached the Stage Coach Inn around 7-ish. Said a quick “Hello!” to the other SMBC riders, a delicious roast beef dinner …. And off to sleep we go. Miles traveled…314.
DAY 3 Oct. 10, 2004: This day was planned to be an easy & uneventful ride. At 197 miles, it was the shortest leg of the trip. The route will take us through Daylight Pass, Panamint Springs, 136, Lone Pine, Mt. Whitney Portal, Manzanar National Historic Sight, ending in Bishop Ramada for the night.
As soon as we left Beatty (10-ish) we came across a heavily loaded pick up that missed the curb at high speed which was currently being investigated by a bunch of CHP, Sheriff, and Park Rangers…….. We picked up the pace after passing the scene of the accident only to be waved to slow down by two oncoming riders (turned out to be Carl & Dan). There was a CHP ahead who had just finished ticketing a truck. Whew! And some 60 miles later, after passing the Darwin Mines junction and almost right on the “Welcome To Death Valley” sign we ran into another accident.
This time it was an Aprilia Tuono that ran off the road. Fortunately the rider survived. And as one witness who I had a chat with had stated that the rider in question & another biker had passed his group (Triumph Riders), when from a distance he saw the Aprilia do the wiggle and high sided the rider. In his own words “it’s highly possible (wink-wink) that the front tire (wink-wink) blew”. Never did get around to asking him what “wink-wink” meant.
Then, another new experience …. SAND STORM!!!!! Ahhhh…. Nature’s exfoliant. The wind was gusting, the sand was blowing across the road for miles, and the bikes were almost running sideways. Sand trickling down the back of your neck, working it’s way up your nose, clogging your bike’s air filter, smell of dust…. Refreshing! We all hunkered down behind the shields our bikes and made the best of it. For some reason, my mind kept wandering back to the movie classic “Lawrence of Arabia”. Go figure…..
My bike stressed me out again with another boil over as we reached the Mt. Whitney Portal. Flush the cooling system, REALLY! We managed to ham for a few nice pictures at the portal and the gravel-based vista point on Mount Whitney. No untoward incident there. If you haven’t been to the Mt. Whitney Portal, check it out. It’s well worth the trip.
The last stop if this leg brings the group to the Manzanar National Historic Sight. This is representative of the camps that housed our citizens of Japanese ancestry during the Second World War. I think everyone was affected after going through the exhibit. Some even took in a documentary movie. For me I just can’t help but think that conflicts are created by a few but are suffered by so many…How fear & ignorance readily brings out the inhumanity of men towards fellowmen. Maybe the lessons will be learned … Someday.
Reaching Bishop Ramada, we were welcomed with cold brew from the SMBCers that arrived earlier. At 6:30 pm off to La Casita with the whole group for a Mexican dinner. Good food, delicious margaritas, sharing tales, lies & stories with friends. I can’t ask for a more pleasant way to end the night.
Ernesto has worked his way up to a variety of nicknames given to him since the start of the various friendships. First started a.k.a., “Cannonball”, which according to Dennis has got something to do with the “in the saddle” technique. Then it was replaced by R2D2. Something to do with his new ride and aggressive riding skills? It was all topped off this night however. His new recognized nickname by the group is “Hornitos”. I guess it has something to do with his affinity for margaritas … Dennis …. Feel free to step in at any time for further explanation.
What an end to an uneventful day.
DAY 4 Oct 11, 2004: Finally, the last leg of the trip. The route took us from Bishop, Mammoth Lake Ski resort, June Lake Loop, 120 Yosemite, and HOME! This was a very COLD day. We were able to suit accordingly upon reaching the Mammoth Lakes ski resort. Layering of clothes and electronic gizmos for those who brought them were hurriedly added on.
Though it was the last day of the ride, Murphy’s Law still wouldn’t let go. Thom lost the bike keys somewhere in between the Mammoth Lake loop & the Mobil Station prior to entering 120 to Yosemite. Overheard in the discussions are that Harleys can be started even without their keys, gas caps can be picked, Harley riders can get really pissed, a million & one reasons why one should always carry a spare key, a million and one reasons not to even go there if the spare key wasn’t brought to begin with, BUT you’ll need a Torx driver to get at the saddle & top compartments of a Harley which contains Jill & Thom’s wallets & ID, money, etc. Hey Ernesto … DE JA VU!!!!!
The group decided to split up at the 120/ Big Oaks Flats junction. Dennis, Ernesto, Jill & Thom voted on doing a straight shot for home via 120/108 while Mandy & I voted on going out the south entrance of Yosemite. A ride that both of us have never done. Our via points were Oakhurst, Raymond (you have to see THAT road!), Minturn, Los Banos, Gilroy, HOME!
I was to find out two things. Firstly, Murphy’s Law had the last say. Mandy’s right saddle bag flew off as he went airborne across a railroad crossing in a side road approaching Minturn. He was able to retrieve it with no loss except for a few scratches. And in his typical logic: “No problem. Scratches balances out the scratches made to the left saddle bag a few days ago.”
And on Dennis’ neck of the woods, Murphy finally caught up to the remaining survivor (him) at a gas station after Oakdale. That was after leaving Jill & Thom at Jill’s folks’ place (tongue twister?) According to Dennis, they pulled over to a station so Ernesto can take off his sunglasses as it was getting dark fast. And as Dennis completed a full stop, his ‘Wing (aka Beluga) decides to go on its’ side for a while. Unfortunately Dennis strained his back while righting Beluga up. Hopefully it’s something that a few Tylenols, chiropractic visits, mucho tequila and super Stella rubdowns can fix. I arrived home at 7:45. Mileage on this leg … 422 miles.
Was the trip good? IT WAS FANTASTIC!
Would I ride with the same group? IN A HEARTBEAT!
Would I do that route again? BET ON IT!
That being said, I can hardly wait for 2005!