Oregon or Bust II, Memorial Day Coast Ride 05/23/15 - 05/25/15

GreenMachine · April 16, 2015, 08:25:08 AM

Not at all. If I need to get my burn in, I can also turn around for another lap, but I doubt I'm in shape for that yet.

slmoto · April 16, 2015, 08:41:00 AM

Quote from: GreenMachine on April 16, 2015, 08:25:08 AM
Not at all. If I need to get my burn in, I can also turn around for another lap, but I doubt I'm in shape for that yet.

Sounds good. I'm down to ride both days if you want, Sun. I was going to watch the races in the morning but can ride after. If I can muster up the motivation I'll try and keep a faster pace, I've got a little more in me than last time when I approached it as a more leisurely ride, but not much so don't get your hopes up.

GreenMachine · April 18, 2015, 08:10:13 AM

Your pace was exceptionally good considering you're foregoing pull-power from your legs, relying exclusively on push-power.

After the races tomorrow and anytime after 2 PM works best for me.

dub · May 08, 2015, 08:09:50 PM

It will be great to ride with Jerome. It's like 2010 all over again.

GreenMachine · May 08, 2015, 08:27:57 PM

Okay, we have our eight riders. Everyone who committed early is coming:

GM, TB5, RichVee4 & Mrs., Slmoto, Flamecrow, Dub & A Dragon.

OH MAN, THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT! Bring your camera and your bathing suit, because we're going to be riding the twisties, taking pictures, visiting and riding the coast, riding hwy 36 to AND from, stopping in the redwoods, and partying as much as we can stand.

Some of these roads I will be familiar with and for a brief portion into Oregon, it'll be as new to me as to you. I believe Dub had done the pass north of Happy Camp. If so, he can provide tips on riding it or sites to take in along the way. That goes for any of you who may have insight on some hidden treasures to check out while we're passing through on Day 2.

Along with the coastal views, we'll also be passing through Big Foot country. There are two life sized Sasquatches to get your picture with. One is in Willow Creek. The other is in Happy Camp. Good photo-op.

Our ride plan is to stop for fuel and for a brief rest every 100 miles or so, as that is the lowest common denominator for our bikes. I'd like to go longer, but I think so long as we're not stopping every 50 miles and taking all day at the rest stops or stopping due to someone's lack of fuel or potty planning, we should be able to make reasonable time. Maybe stop for a photo-op here and there, but let's be quick about it. Agreed? We'll have plenty of opportunity on Day 2 to do the fun stuff.

I'll post more as we get closer.

Only thing left to do is think positive thoughts for fair weather.

GreenMachine · May 12, 2015, 04:30:12 PM

Some of you haven't been thinking positively!

GreenMachine · May 12, 2015, 04:33:19 PM

On the brighter side, I have confirmation that everyone has reservations where we're staying. And frankly, showers won't deter our adventure. Full-on rain will, but not a shower or two or three. We can ride around or through stuff like that, as we've done in the past.

RichVee4 · May 12, 2015, 07:07:16 PM

Starting to pay closer attn to the weather too. Hoping its a good sign its crappy this weekend, to early to tell for Memorial day.

Any clues on this "Special Announcement"?

GreenMachine · May 12, 2015, 07:45:10 PM

Ha! Not probably what U were hoping, just a heads-up for our group that the big day is approaching. Plus, this ride is kind of a big deal, so I wouldn't want anyone to overlook it, being that we made up the ride back in February.

I'm getting ants in my pants already in anticipation. Sooo want the forecast to clear up and be great for us. Watching the 2013 replay. It's about to end.

Gets me every time.

dub · May 12, 2015, 10:10:06 PM

Quote from: GreenMachine on May 08, 2015, 08:27:57 PMI believe Dub had done the pass north of Happy Camp. If so, he can provide tips on riding it or sites to take in along the way.

If I remember correctly, I thought it was going to be a very tight, twisty, bumpy forest service road, but it was not. It was standard width, with a double yellow the whole way. Most of it was in dense forest, but every once in a while there is a clearing with a view.
I rode it just after sun up, at like 8am, so my pictures turned out crappy with a bunch of lens flare.
Here are a few shots that aren't very good, which is why I have never posted them before.

GreenMachine · May 13, 2015, 07:52:46 AM

What time of year were you trekking through there? Looks like a playground!

Tahoebrian5 · May 13, 2015, 07:57:23 AM

I like the way your wind screen is lit up on pic1

dub · May 13, 2015, 10:49:23 AM

Quote from: GreenMachine on May 13, 2015, 07:52:46 AM
What time of year were you trekking through there? Looks like a playground!

August 25, 2013.

Tahoebrian5 · May 14, 2015, 12:23:49 PM

According to Accuweather, the weekend in Arcata is cloudy and 60 degrees, 2% chance of precipitation. I can live with that!

dub · May 14, 2015, 11:14:05 PM

I have thoughts on the route...

I like day two. I have never done that section of 299 right out of Arcata, nor that north/south section of 96 to Happy Camp. It's been a long time since I came all the way down from Oregon on 101. So scenic. That's a good loop, I agree we'll probably want to go counterclockwise. I also like that if anyone doesn't want to do the inland section, they can take the 'short/scenic' choice and meander up the coast, meet us somewhere on 101 then we can all come back down together.

As far as day 1 & 3; taking the same route there and back seems like a waste when there are so many amazing roads in NorCal. I definitely want to ride 36, so we should do that one way, but how about something different the other way?

Here's a suggestion for day 1

Day 1

Ok, that may be a bit long. Here's a slightly shorter option for day 1 that skips Berryessa. Keep in mind that it will be day 1 and you will be fresh. Also, if it tires you out too much you can take the short/scenic option on day 2 to recover. Day 1, shorter option.

Still too long? We could also just take hwy 20 all the way to the coast and cut out all the twistys south of Ukiah to get it under 500 miles. Day 1, even shorter.

This route hits a lot of good stuff. We get to take in some more of the coast up hwy 1 in Mendocino County, including one of my all time favorite roads, between Rockport and Leggett. Then we cruise up 101 for a bit and get off onto the Avenue of the Giants. But we only do the Southern half, at Dyerville Bar we hang a left onto Bull Creek Flat rd, which turns into Mattole Rd and the Lost Coast.

Day 2, shorter scenic route.

Day 2, full twistys.

The full route takes 3 more hours to meet back up with 101, so anyone who takes the short/scenic route should have plenty of time for a leisurely sightseeing pace. I'm thinking we meet up in Brookings, get grab-and-go sandwiches from Fred Meyer, and ride a short ways up the road to eat a late lunch at a scenic overlook.

Day 3, 36 to 70.

Day 3, via buck's lake for those who still haven't had enough.