Yeah… I know I live in motorcycling nirvana. California has tons of mountain roads next to the ocean, desert, forest and twisty roads that cover just about all of it. To top it off, the weather is just about perfect year round somewhere in this state and it’s often accessible from San Jose. I had taken off on the bike to Lake Tahoe this past weekend and for the most part Cali did not disappoint.
A former roommate of mine was having an “I’m visiting” party and the weather in Tahoe was going to be in the 40’s for arrival if I left Friday night. I decided to go to the party and leave the next AM. I hit the road at 8AM Saturday morning with a call to get up there by 12. That means I-80. Being the engineer, I knew I was going to make two stops, 10 minutes each, to make the arrival. Often times I tend to take pics, stop here, stop there, so actual travel time is 50-100% over estimate. This time I mostly stuck to plan. I got there just about on time. I was pleasantly surprised how far you can get when you stick to plan :).
It was great to see Jeff and Joyce’s new cabin up on the lake. The house was cool and had a nice view of the lake, plus garage parking for the bike! We spent the afternoon hiking and had a great dinner that evening! The next day Joyce wanted to take a little stroll on the bike. For a new passenger, she was great!
Headed home I spun around the back side of the lake down to South Lake Tahoe. I was planning on taking 88 back down to Mormon Emigrant Trail but I could see black clouds on that horizon. Given that there were black clouds on all horizons, I went for it. Thunder was in the air, but no lightning and no rain. Coming over the passes the ground was wet and I got a few sprinkles, but nothing to worry about. All bark on this one.
I did happen to run into another yellow V-Strom owner. We both must be in the Secret Society of Yellow Strom Owners. It’s rare you see another V-Strom, much less a yellow one. Yellow was only made in 2003. We waved hello and headed our different directions. Coming back to the bay along 680 there was wind. I mean wind. We had to pull off the freeway to a side road as I needed to shed speed (65->40). With the rain and wind coming… you know one thing is next: Cold. This is one of the great times of the year to ride though! You find that nice spot between hot and cold that’s just perfect.
Wow…
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