First Ride in 2014

[Mel]

Hey guys,

Due to work, travel, and other duties, I haven't been able to ride this year until today. In fact, I haven't been on the bike period since Oct of last year. We had some plans today but the wife has a bad cold, so I figured why not get the season started and go ride. I got a late start so just decided to buzz over to Foresthill and do Mosquito Ridge to Oxbow Reservoir and dust the cobwebs off. What followed was totally unexpected ! I just started heading down MRR and when I broke out into the open where the smooth pavement ends, I saw a bike coming up fast in my mirror. I moved over and waived him on figuring I would follow him for a bit and see what type of rider he was. He was on an R1 and once he went by I immediately realized this guy was blazing fast and smooth. I was thinking, shit this is not what I had in mind for dusting off the cobwebs, but decided to bump it up to a very serious pace to try and stay with him. On the short straights he used that R1 power and would pull me and I would have to go deep in the corners hard on the brakes, and running the FZ6 up near the redline at all times, which I never really have to do. It didn't take long to figure out that he knew the road well, and a couple times I downshifted coming into what appeared to be a tight corner only to have it open up, while he got in fast and exited hard. I couldn't overcome the power advantage and he also had just a bit more corner speed than I did, so after maybe 3 or 4 miles he started to pull out about a 3 turn advantage, so I backed off and had to let him go as I knew I couldn't close on him without getting real stupid ! After slowing up the pace, I noticed another bike coming up from behind and let him by. I was guessing it was the guy's buddy, which turned out to be correct. He was on a well set up motard and was also blazing fast, but didn't have the power advantage on my FZ6. I could see this guy also knew the road well, so decided to trust him and stick close to his tail. They were both using all the road on the entries to get the fast lines, but safely when they could see no oncoming traffic. I had enough of a power advantage over the motard to probably just get by on one of the short straights, but decided to follow him instead and concentrate on getting my skills back in order. After we went over the bridge and started to climb we came up on his buddy who had slowed down a bit to allow him to catch up. We then had a good run up the hill, but the guy on the R1 started to slowly pull away from us. I had planned on heading down to Oxbow Reservoir to check the water conditions, so waived at the motard guy and turned off. I would have stayed with them but knew I didn't have enough gas to get back if they were going all the way up to French Meadows, but knew I had enough to get back from Oxbow. I should have got gas in Foresthill or Auburn, but it was hot and I didn't feel like stopping.

These were the fastest guys I have ridden with since moving up here to Reno, not meaning any disrespect to any of you guys here on SSA. GM, I know you don't care for MRR and the drop offs, but to tell you the truth, I don't even remember seeing the canyons, drop offs, or anything except for the road. At the pace we were running, you had to concentrate on the turns and the road conditions, and that's all you saw. On some of the relatively short downhill straights between the corners, I was almost redlining in third which is in the 80 to 90mph range, and then hard on the brakes! It was crazy fun, but I didn't have all the cobwebs dusted off in that short time ! I'm hoping to run into these guys again and get to meet them, so I think there is going to be a lot more MRR riding this year! By the way, the road conditions were absolutely clean today.

I do want to close here by pointing something out, especially for the newer riders. You'll notice in my report that I knew where my safe limit was today and didn't go past that. There is a reason I have gotten this old, riding at the pace I like to run. I know where my limits are and will not ride over them. Sure a rock, gravel, deer, or a multitude of other similar things can take me out in a heartbeat, but it most likely won't be from a riding mistake ! So, you newer riders on here, please take this to heart and never ride over your head...ever!!

Mel

[dub]

So, when are we gonna go ride some goat roads now that you are back?

You can go on up ahead and live life one gravel patch away from careening off a cliff. I'll hang back and enjoy the scenery.

[GreenMachine]

I think that's good advice no matter what your skill level. 

I also have a newfound appreciation for the isolated summit roads, like Ebbetts.   Thanks Jimbo!  The scenery rocks, no question.  It's unlikely you're ever able to do more than 55 MPH and if you are, you're probably going too fast.   Mostly you're just tootling along, discovering what's around the next bend.

No disrespect taken.  To each his or her own.  Speed isn't my thing anyway.  Cornering though, I'm all about that.  Just screwing around on Ebbetts, eighteen M.P.H. in a left hand turn.  I bet if I tried hard, I could kiss the left knee slider at ten.  There's my thrill.

[Mel]

Hey Dub,

I'm always up for some goat roads!! MRR is not much of a goat road with that center line ! I do like all roads, but goat roads just happen to be my favorite.

I think the types of roads guys like are just personal preference and depend on what type of enjoyment they are looking for. The same also applies to how they like to ride those roads. I think you can break it down to cruising, touring, sport touring, semi spirited riding more in line with the infamous "Pace", and then the hooligans that prefer a very spirited pace. Some will even mix and match from that list.

I will say that the guys that like to ride the hooligan pace are the biggest adrenalin junkies of the bunch without a doubt. They know the chances they are taking and are willing to take that risk. Speaking for myself, I know that there could be a patch of gravel around the bend, a car over the centerline, a deer darting into the road, a steep drop off, and all those nasty things, but for me and other hooligans that's where the excitement comes from and causes the adrenalin rush we crave! That's why I started dirt track racing where it was handlebar to handlebar action with lots of contact! When I got out of racing and started riding sportbikes on the street, the racing blood was still there and I became a hooligan in the mountains. I volunteered for Vietnam twice, but got out before my second tour. I became a bouncer and head of security for the original Margaritaville for 17 crazy years. I worked as a chokersetter in a logging crew for 6 years and my wife hated it because of the extreme danger. I only bring these things up to show a pattern in my life for always craving risk.

I can mix and match, and have done so on many occasions, especially trying to help new riders. I don't always have to run the hooligan pace, but it is my favorite for sure ! Back when I was younger and thought about getting into road racing, the closed course tracks never appealed to me as much as the Isle of Man and the Northwest 200...true road racing at it's best! Still to this day I am more turned on by watching Isle of Man videos than MotoGp.

That's enough rambling, so let the season begin with everyone able to enjoy the roads and pace they love !

Mel