Raven's Roads
Living an interesting life: the travels and musings
of motorcycling author Linda R. Moore

Apr 4, 2005

Day 1 - Sunnyvale, CA to Bakersfield, CA

I didn’t get away until noon. Part of that was because after I’d got everything on the bike, and went to kiss Don farewell, he asked if I’d like some company. I was a bit reluctant at first, feeling I needed to go, but he made disappointed type noises and promised to be quick, and he was.

He didn’t do a great deal of changing around of my packing arrangements, which gives me somewhat high hopes that I got it right. My luggage looks like an exercise in rainbows, with differently coloured bungees tying everything together.

I was pretty nervous setting out, to be honest, and didn’t settle into the ride for quite some time. We took 101 south to Gilroy, where we stopped for fuel and a break just before taking 152. I messed up a turn and got very flustered, and worried, and my confidence took a plummet. At that point I was very close to just jacking the whole thing in, but as it turned out, after taking the break I rode much better, to the extent where Don commented on it and made impressed noises.

Highway 152 was lovely. Its speed limit varies from 45 mph to 65 mph, but it has broad sweeping curves and at this time of year everything is still green and fresh. You climb and climb before finally crossing Pacheco Pass at 1382 feet. Then you go past the San Luis (?) reservoir, which is a vast reservoir, like a small sea. This is all seen from way up high, and travelling rather fast, and it’s wonderful. I passed this way a couple of years ago, and wanted to ride it, and now I have.

Rather than taking I-5, which as it turned out might have been a lot quicker, I opted to continue on 152 until it hit US-99. I made this decision because from the map it looked a bit more direct, but also because it would be more part of the countryside and not separated from it like most superslabs. But first we took a break in Los Baños - nothing special, just a sandwich and a sit-down in a generic shopping centre. Don commented that I was ironbutt material, he would have stopped long before me, but I didn’t know that I was doing anything other than just riding. I was feeling pretty sleepy by then but the break did me a lot of good.

We arranged then that Don would go back once we hit US-99, so when we did I took the first service station, a Pilot truck stop. We had a drink and then headed out, I went south and Don went north. Apparently he got a good soaking, which I did not.

A word about the motorcycle. It is really, really stable and wonderful at the freeway speeds, and now that we have the right tyre pressure, it does much better at low speeds too. It had no problem with the luggage, I noticed no significant change in handling, and it coped without effort with every road I threw at it today.

I took a break in Madera, getting my gears all muddled up because my throttle hand seemed to have frozen solid and I was in a tizz. The break did the trick. I now know that I have an effective range of 70-100 miles before needing a break, and that a break will buy me a good hour of energy and concentration. A man came up and chatted to me, seeing all the luggage, and a couple asked if it was cold out there, but really it wasn’t. It was quite gusty on Pacheco Pass, but nothing terrible.

I was somewhat hoping that my turnoff would be before we got to Bakersfield, so that I would not have quite as far to ride. ;-) And it was. The road spat me out into the middle of nowhere, and as I rode towards the huge, blood red sun, I realised that I was going west. I pulled to the roadside and there as if by magic appeared a man on a Honda Goldwing, who offered to lead me back to where I was going, which he then did. I was pretty done with riding for the day by that stage, so having a guide was really cool. I had to park my bike and look around for the house, but beyond that, The Beast is now cooling down in the garage and I have spent a rather nice evening eating, chatting and laughing with Sylvia and Trudy, who share this house. They are two cool ladies who do a *lot* of long distance riding, so they had a lot of ideas and tips for me. Sylvia runs a warehouse and Trudy does house and garden maintenance, getting rentals into shape for rental, and is going to come riding at least part of the way with me tomorrow. :-)

And right now, as midnight approaches, I am sitting on a nice comfy bed typing, and getting ready to fall asleep. I have about five hours of riding to do tomorrow, and will probably spend the night in the KOA in Needles, California. I am tired, but not nearly as tired as I thought I would be. Life is good.