SSA Solstice ride to the coast and back Saturday 5:50AM KSU

GreenMachine · June 14, 2019, 11:40:18 AM

Saturday Quest Ride to Fort Bragg

The longest daylight hours of the year will soon be here and won't come again until next year.

Planned meetup at North Route Starbucks 5:30-5:45 AM to go over route and coordinate with everyone, immediate (KSU)* after that ~6:00 AM. Get your coffee down and your breakfeast choked down. LET'S GO!!

It's forecast to be mildly hot here & the central valley and mild on the coast. Perfect conditions for a ride! 77* in Leggett, CA, tomorrow. No chance of rain, other than marine layer once at the coast.

This will be about a minimum 650 mile ride. I'm willing to wing it and see what happens as far as an overnight return to Reno on Sunday, but plan on sticking with the group as of now.. Willits should have rooms available if needed, but not booked at this time.

Traditionally this is a ride to Fort Bragg for lunch, which usually takes the quickest route there and back, highways 80 & 20. However, there's always been a few who, once there want to take in a little more. We do plan on going up to Leggett after lunch for some twisty road excursion fun and photos.

RSVP** if you're planning on going. If you do not RSVP, the ride may be canceled even if you had planned on showing up the day of the ride. We'll depart on the ride as soon as everyone arrives and is ready, meaning, that if there are any newb riders, I will go over some of the key items they'll need to know.

North route ride. This is a minimum C level ride pace route, so all riders welcome. Just be aware of what you're getting yourself into...an adventure ride of enormous proportions.

*** Safety is paramount. ***

As always, see 2019 SSA Ride Schedule for everything that is expected of you and what you can expect.

Hope to see you there.

* KSU dependent on when everybody is ready.
** RSVP - répondez, s'il vous plaît a.k.a. please reply.

crzydog · June 14, 2019, 11:50:26 AM

MAN! I was planning on going but thought it was a Sunday ride and I have to work Saturday. Next ride for sure as I have to get tires soon also.

Tim

GreenMachine · June 14, 2019, 01:37:37 PM

What bad luck.

I think several people were thinking the same thing. Only, the Solstice ride is rather exhausting, so it's better to have Sunday after to recoup and a lot less pressure in case someone has a mechanical. Nothing worse than dragging Sunday issues into work on Monday.

I love these big rides!

See you on the next ride.

PAPASMURF · June 14, 2019, 09:55:26 PM

would love to go, but until i get me a seat that won't kill me, no way could i.
i've got to have the boniest ass in the world.
i will figue it out one way or another.
3-400 miles seems to be about my limit at the moment,
have a good ride.

GreenMachine · June 14, 2019, 10:49:33 PM

We need to get you leaning forward to rest on the tank or something. That'll relieve the pressure focused straight down your back to your seat. That or we need to get you into cycling shorts, like Jerome puts on for these rides. The added padding works for cyclists and it works for us too.

You'd be a welcome addition Ps! Sorry you can't make it.

Tomorrow's route. 680 miles. Another 320 and we'd be over the mark.

Google Maps

GreenMachine · June 16, 2019, 09:10:41 AM

One of our longer SSA Solstice quest rides, accomplished by all!

22Slow, Dragon and I deviated from the original out-n-back plan from the moment we set out. We wanted to do 175 to Navarro, which we did. We stuck together thus far, taking in a lap on Leggett, which was spectacular! But then due to complications our return route through Navarro from Fort Bragg was changed to simply heading back the shortest route possible, except that at Upper Lake (Clear Lake), we'd head around the bottom, around Lower Lake. I recall by then we were at 380 miles down, which was about 60% of the planned miles for the day. So I asked Dragon if I could deviate from their quickest route and return our original route through Navarro and Hopland, so I could take in the twisty roads of highway 1 some more. We were stopped for a caffeine fix anyway and I was still geared up and ready to go. He agreed, probably to get me out of his hair.

It worked out perfectly! We arrived at the Lake Port intersection of 175 within a couple minutes of one another. We then proceeded to Williams, where another plan change was recommended, taking I-5 into Sacramento so we could avoid wildlife dangers on Hwy 20 and maintain a higher average speed. Which we did. We ended up getting separated in N. Sac due to heavy traffic and I lost track of them until I stopped for fuel in Auburn. Low and behold, they took the same exit after having stopped in Sacramento briefly to clean the bug mess off their face shields.

After a not-so lengthy break there, we departed there sometime after 10:30 PM, but again separating due to cooling air temperatures. I was providing pace protection up front, but when they slowed to decrease the windchill, there wasn't anything I could do to help, and with them already traveling slower, they didn't need me for emotional support, so I proceeded on home to Reno at the pace of traffic.

Back home at 12:15 AM for me and about 20 mins later for them and 760+ miles and 740+ miles respectively. I was ready to get off the bike by then, enough fun for one day. 18.5 hours of being out on the bike is about my limit anyway, but it was more for them.

So many favorite parts of the day to remember! The smells! The sights! The ocean! The CURVES! One of the last being the feeling of just riding through the Central Valley at fast lane freeway speeds, at night, bugs raining down in front of the headlights and covering every frontal detail of you and your bike, and thinking, look at the miles on the odometer! We're still going! Doing this with friends is awesome!

Kudos to 22Slow's inaugural SSA Solstice ride!! You've come so far in your riding abilities! CONGRATULATIONS!

GreenMachine · June 16, 2019, 11:29:00 AM

Mostly our route yesterday. <Google maps>

We deviated at dusk from our departure point in Williams, CA. It was much longer going to Sacramento, but a better route to get everyone home safely. It was the right choice.

22SLOW · June 17, 2019, 09:29:57 AM

GM.....thanks for a great day of riding. My favorite part was the 175 road. I would have been happy just doing laps on it & skipping lunch. Maybe the Legget part will become a more favorable section for me as I keep riding it

Thank you Dragon for having my back the entire ride. Could not have done this without your encouragement & SUPPORT. Coffee breaks were what was needed for the night ride over the pass

740 miles.....believe it or not....my butt was not sore. My hands....now that is a different story.
I now know what I will need for my next all day ride. Great learning experience.

Thanks Guys!!

GreenMachine · June 17, 2019, 04:17:03 PM

22, you're right about finding gratification to do more of the twisty stuff. Even though it's tougher technically and slower, riding twisties on a sportbike while doing long distances is refreshing in more ways than one. This is why I tack on as many twisty miles in my long rides as possible, so I have a chance at completing them. I get awful aches from sitting in one position or upright for too long. I don't know how you two managed the miles you did on your two naked bikes. The chances of me doing the same on those would be slim to none.

Dragon will appreciate this: I know we talked and toyed with the idea of just completing the extra miles and getting over the one thousand mile mark, but I did the extension of our pace. I miscalculated Dragon's final TM post. Neither of us would have made it.

Hist text was at 12:58 AM. That would be 19 hours give or take a few minutes, covering 740 miles. The average speed is 38.94 MPH, carried forward to 24 hours is 934.7 miles. I didn't fair much better, completing the last leg 45 minutes ahead of you and adding the miles for the longer return route through Navarro, but still averaging only 41.64 MPH. Carried forward to 24 hours is 999.4 miles.

I'm not staying awake for 24 hours to get a piece of paper and a patch, especially to come up short!

It was a lot of hard earned fun though. I'm glad you had a similar experience to what I try to tell people. After about 300 miles, you don't get much sorer. But that last leg, no matter what distance you're trying to complete is the toughest. Glad you were smart and incentivized yourself to complete those last few miles as a reward. But too, there's never any shame in knowing when to call it quits when your concentration goes.

Now you know what you're capable of with little advance training. Imagine what you could do if you prepared and set your mind to it.

Looking forward to seeing you on more rides in the future, little Ms. Dani Pedrosa.

RichVee4 · June 17, 2019, 06:48:39 PM

Congrats, that is one epic solstice ride.

GreenMachine · June 17, 2019, 09:45:02 PM

Thanks Rich.

Hey, if you need someone to cycle the fluids on your Hondas, give me a ring. I'll do saddle duty.

Not on a Solstice though, just around town.

A DRAGON · June 18, 2019, 03:32:38 PM

What an Epic ride once again with the crew of the SSA. This club is something to cherish. Green Machine is and Excellent President. Always wanting to ride and try new routes. It's so nice to be around someone of his character.

22slow has really turned out to be a very good rider and always willing to push on without a lot of complaining. Thanks for being a rider who really enjoys riding. Best part of all. Your my girlfriend. What a lucky guy to have someone like you. She's always asking me to get out. I just love it.

I have to admit this Solstice ride we've been doing year after year is really something I champion all club members to attend. It's short of an Iron Butt. But with friends is always memorable every year. To me it's a right of passage for any Sportbike rider who wants to challenge themselves. The ride on the way out is really easy. The way home takes focus and determination to complete. To finish and not have a riding Issue. We had 1 close call coming home. Green Machine passed a Semi and 22slow was following and the Semi came over into her lane. She kept her composier and speed up to miss the truck. All l could do was watch. He pulled back to his lane and l had braked then continued on. We both were shocked but was frosty looking for unexpected things to happen. Kudos to you 22slow. That's what I mean by you becoming a very good rider. Always look for and out. Never assume you have the right away. Look for anything you can think of at all times. ALWAYS RIDE LIKE YOUR INVISIBLE. You also rode very well in the twisties. followed you for quite sometime and was very happy with your pace. You always looked calm and very much in control. Track days will do that for your riding skills.

As for our route. It was so wonderful. Getting off of HWY 20 to hit 175 and 253. They are making me come back to do them again this year. 253 is worth the long ride there. So if your interested in doing another long day ride with some of the crew. Keep checking in. I think the miles would only be about 500 for the day. But I'll get that planed out with Green Machine. FYI probably won't be stopping to eat for very long. You'll have to bring some lunch. Riding is more the priority. Happy to say l drug knee in quite a few turns. The road knew we were there.