Category: Sierra Nevada
-
Memorial Day Mingle – Day 3
Ibuprofen is a God send. Michael suggested I take some to help reduce the inflammation from the bug bite. It worked like none other! While I wasn’t quite normal, things were looking a lot better. We were originally slated to take US-50 down to Ice House Road to Wentworth Springs Road. A number of us…
-
2014 Memorial Day Mingle – Day 2
I was tired last night. I was surprised how hard I had slept. I knew something was not right the moment my face moved. The insect bite really had swollen up overnight. We iced it again which helped, but there was going to be a little extra fluff in my helmet on the ride today. …
-
2014 Memorial Day Mingle – Day 1
The Memorial Day Mingle is our “season opener” as most of the Sierra passes are open and it’s time to brush off the winter coat and go have some curve carving fun up in the hills. Sure, it’s California and we ride all year, but there’s something really special about being deep in the mountains. …
-
Donovan: 43 miles hitchhiking through California
Up to the mountain This weekend is Homoto’s annual board retreat. One of the members has access to an awesome cabin up in Lake Tahoe. When starting my term as president, I felt it was important to gather the full board to have a time of connection and bonding as well as planning out the…
-
Kings Canyon through HDR Photography
I came over the pass at Grant Grove at about 4 o’clock. Why is that significant? I’m well within “crappy afternoon light” part of the day. What is “crappy afternoon light?” By no means is this a standard industry term, I just find photos taken in the late afternoon before the golden hour surrounding sunset…
-
The Southern Sierras
Saying goodbye to everyone on the third day of the Death Valley trip is always hard. Many of us see each other only once a year as the group comes from the far corners of California and even places beyond. I slept in as many of us were out late last night and the ride…
-
Off to Death Valley
Photography takes a fair amount of time and money to really make photos look great. If you like my work, I’m asking for $5 to be donated for each image to Homoto to help better motorcycling. I’ll then send the full resolution for your use (print, social networks, etc). Use the contact me page to…
-
Flat Stanley Comes to California!
Background A few weeks ago I got a special package in the mail from my niece. I had been selected for a Flat Stanley project. Flat Stanley is a children’s tale where Stanley gets a new bulletin board for his room. One night as Stanley is asleep the bulletin board falls on top of him…
-
2013 Memorial Day Mingle
Steve and I talked about doing a ride in Lake Tahoe back in October during the Death Valley ride. It sounded cool since it was far out there and one of those rides that would come together “in time.” In about March the “wow we have a lot to do” came up and it was…
-
Ebbetts is Redeemed!
The Hope Valley usually turns a bit later than areas further south. I’m guessing that’s due to the lower elevation of the area. We lagged a bit getting out of the hotel as the breakfast was slammed with people and they were short staffed. Ah well, the outsides were warming up anyway. US-395 is a…
-
Did we just meet, Sonora?
Sometimes you make plans on paper months before that sound great. I was going to be four days in Death Valley, three days at home, and then back on the road for this fall colors ride. Simple, right? What I didn’t realize is how full the weekend at Death Valley was going to be and…
-
Finally: Fall Color
Today was the last day on the road. Doug was headed up to Quincy for an extra day of riding. I was thinking of doing the same but rain was forecasted and if I was honest, the office was calling me back. Riding with people is fun, but it’s hard to take your time exploring…
-
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot to that High Lonesome Sound
Just about everybody hit the road by 10 AM. The plan last year on day two was to hit the bristlecone pine forest as well as cross Sherman Pass. I wasn’t on top of my game and forgot water so I missed the bristlecone pine forest. Also reports of Sherman Pass led me to believe…
-
Over to Bishop
I didn’t want to have to drive all the way back to San Jose to get my tire fixed. I knew of a few places in the city which I hadn’t been to nor did I’d know if they would be open on Saturday. KC Engineering came to mind and City Cycle came to me…
-
The King’s Return
Morning called for me about 7:30 and everyone was up at 8:15. Steve was ready to go well before the rest of us! But as 8:30 rolled around we were ready to rock! Since dinner was a bit harder to prepare that I thought and the store had less food than I thought we just…
-
The Canyon Fit for a King!
Riding for me falls in one of three camps: solo adventures, random wanderings with a few people, or full on organized trips. This time it was the latter. I was fortunate to have a great group. Rather than ride from motel to motel this time we went camping! I learned a lot through the process…
-
Juniper Springs Resort: Great in the off season, good in season
Some buddies and I usually take a motorcycle trip all over the Sierras around Memorial Day weekend. Usually we stay on the west side of the Sierras near Yosemite, but prices this year seemed way out of line for what you get. Crappy motels were starting in the 150 range. Since the passes opened very…
-
Deep into Yosemite National Park!
It’s hard to believe a year has passed since the last trip. The ride is an interesting mix of people from both Northern and Southern California. It seems that the Northern California group is much smaller than last year. It’s just ZZ and I. Usually we stay on the west side of the Sierras like…
-
Daffodil Hill, Sorta
I’d had the Daffodil Hill run on the calendar since March 17th, then the 24th, then the 31st. Finally April 1st was showing some promise. The skies were supposed to be clear, even though some rain was coming through the day before. Sunday morning came and it was COLD (for April). The weather at Daffodil…
-
Day 4: A New Way Home (285 Miles)
The rain and snow never really materialized over the Kings Canyon area so I was in luck. The weather was good and the loud as all get out stream was still rolling in the morning! Normally I just take 180 out to 99 to 152 to 101. CA-180 is a nice ride down to Sanger…