Cyclerides.com Weekly Update
8/1/12

Greetings Riders,

For those of you going to Sturgis, have fun and RIDE SAFE! We would have been right there with you this year, but it just wasn’t in the cards. So take pictures and post on Facebook for all to see. We are still on daily grandbaby watch as our daughter is now 8 days past her due date. Should be any day now. I’m already planning a nice little 5-6 day ride through North Rim, Zion, Cedar Breaks and into Colorado for as soon as we can get out of town again. Probably around Labor Day or hopefully before. There is a car museum in Gateway, Colorado that I really want to see. It is off the beaten path for your normal Colorado ride, but looks like it is worth the ride. Check it out. Gateway Auto Museum.

Last week I started the review of our Road Trip 2012 with the first 2 days of riding featuring the Sonora Pass and Ebbetts Pass in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Absolutely awesome place to ride in central California. To read the story of this route and to see the beautiful photos of this area, Click Here to Read.

This week I will be covering Day 3 that will take us 418 miles along the East side of Lake Tahoe to Quincy, CA, Buck Lakes Rd., Oroville Lake, Feather River Scenic Byway and Lassen Volcanic National Park. As we awoke to a beautiful sunshine and blue sky morning on the shores of Lake Tahoe it was a balmy 48 degrees. We were on the road by 7:15 AM and headed directly to our favorite breakfast stop in South Lake Tahoe, the Red Hut. This place has been there over 50 years and makes an epic waffle. We headed North and followed the Lake toward Hwy. 267 where we crossed I-80 and picked up Hwy. 89 to Quincy, CA.

For those of you that have not done any riding in Northern California, you are missing out. There are many excellent riding areas from the coast to the Nevada border as you meander your way around the Northern part of the State and then down through the Sierra Nevada passes that I discussed last week. The beauty of the mountains, streams, forests, varying terrain and historical interests make this entire area a dream land for a cross country motorcycle rider who enjoys putting on miles and smiles. It is definitely a part of the country that you should put on your list the next time you are planning a trip.

Our first road of interest on Day 3 was one that I had heard about called Bucks Lake Rd. aka, Oroville Quincy Hwy. One of my favorite things about these road trips is taking roads that I have heard very little about and being surprised around every corner. Looking at this road on the map you probably wouldn’t give it a second thought as a route to take, but I can tell you that it is an excellent motorcycle road that takes you on a fabulous ride as it meanders through the Plumas National Forest on great asphalt through twisties and long sweeper curves making your way from almost 6000 feet in elevation to 1000 feet during the 66 mile ride to Lake Oroville. This is a very enjoyable road that I would highly recommend especially if you want to take the Feather River Byway and continue North.

Once in Oroville you will pick up Hwy. 70 and head North back to Hwy. 89 on the Feather River Scenic Byway. We have been on many miles of beautiful roads throughout the Western United States and Canada over the last few years and as you all know, some roads are better than others. You remember them for your own particular reasons, good or bad. For some reason, the Feather River Byway made a lasting impression on me.

I think it is because this particular road combines a lot of the things that a rider enjoys when taking a scenic ride. It combines a road that meanders through the wide canyons of a mountainous forest following the Feather River and railroad tracks through a historic mining area for approximately 60 miles on the section of it that we took. This well maintained stretch of asphalt leaves you enthralled with all of the engineering feats of the 1930's with bridges, hydroelectric power plants and many railroad tunnels and trestles along the way. The Byway is a total of 130 miles with 70 miles of it being on the East side of Hwy. 89. We did the West side of 89.

If you don't look at any other beautiful pictures that are in this gallery, be sure and take a look at these 2 pictures that will give you and idea of what I have just described above about how all of the things I described above come together in stunning beauty and engineering imagination. Picture 1 and Picture 2. This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip, the bridge to Belden Town. There is also a famous railroad trestle on this road just 3 miles East of Hwy 89 that railroad fans from all over the world come to see. It is called the Keddie Wye. This is a beautiful masterpiece of railroad technology from back in the early 1900’s that transitions the trains from West to East. See how these two railroad tracks come together to enter into one tunnel that went under the road that we were on. Definitely worth the stop to see this.

From here we continued on North to a really nice little town of Chester, CA. Chester is a great place to stop at the Best Western if you are looking to bed down for the night. When we reached Chester it was only 5:30 PM, we had only done 300 miles and were not quite ready to stop for the day, so we decided to head for Lassen Volcanic National Park. Knowing that it would be 6 PM before we got there, and at least 8 PM before we could make it to the nearest town of Burney, we decided to go ahead and tack on another 100 miles and we were glad we did.

On the surface I thought Lassen Volcanic was going to just be a bunch of volcanic rock to look at, but it was anything but that. This road was probably the surprise of the entire trip for getting much more than we had expected. Not only is in not a bunch of volcanic rock, it is full of beautiful pine trees, clear mountain lakes, colorful mountainsides that include numerous volcanoes with smoking fumaroles (steam and volcanic gas vents), thumping mud pots, boiling pools and steaming ground that continues to mold the land.

The road through the park meanders around Lassen Peak through the mountains and forest at around 8500 feet. There was still plenty of snow on the ground and the lake was still frozen as we went through there on July 2nd. One of the locals told us that they get over 32 feet of snow there and they have a GPS of the road just to be able to plow the snow. So if you are wanting to take this ride outside of the summer months, you should call to make sure that the road is open. This road is part of the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway and was an absolute joy. This is a fabulous motorcycle ride that we will definitely be doing again and one that I highly recommend.

Leaving the park we got our photo ops by the sign and then headed North on 89 approximately 38 miles to the small town of Burney in hopes that we could get a room for the night. As it turns out, we got a great little room at a little motor inn called the Shasta Pines Motel and had pizza for dinner at a local pizza place to cap off 418 miles of a great riding day.

I have included a map of the day as well as over 130 photo’s for you to view.

Click Here for Photos. Click on Slideshow in upper right for full screen viewing.

Click Here for Map of Day.

Tidbits and Updates:

Update:

The Cyclerides.com Westgate Bike Night will be starting the Fall season on Thursday, September 13th and will run for 10 consecutive Thursday nights through November 16th.

Archives:

The archives on Cyclerides.com have been updated. If you want to review a past newsletter you can go to the Archives to review. If you don’t remember when it was, type in a keyword to use the Google search of the site. This will give you all the possibilities available with that word. Click Here to view.

Cyclerides.com Photographs and Video:

Need something to do while staying out of the heat? See recent photos that I have taken from rides and events on the Cyclerides.com Smug Mug photo gallery. Plenty of Riding, Flying and Event photo’s and Video. Click Here to View.

Bike Nights

Every Tuesday Night

Mad Dog Saloon Tuesday Bike Night in Mesa. I am really excited about Mad Dog Saloon as it is a perfect stand alone bike night location with a huge patio. For those of you that live in the area you will recognize it as the former Salty Senorita’s. The patio is huge with an outdoor bar, the inside is huge as well with garage doors that open to the outside and TV’s everywhere you look. And plenty of motorcycle parking. There will be food and drink specials including $1.00 tacos on Tuesday’s. Mad Dog Saloon is located at 1860 S. Stapley, just 3/10 of a mile South of U.S. 60 on Stapley. Stop by and check it out. See you there for opening night on Tuesday, May 8th. Click Here for Details, Map and Photos of the Mad Dog Saloon.

This Week

Thursday, August 2nd

Arrowhead Harley-Davidson is keeping Thursday Bike Night alive on the West side with a rotating bike night. This week, August 2nd is at the Tilted Kilt, 6:30 – 9 PM, located at 16840 N. 83rd Ave. in Peoria, just North of the dealership. These bike nights have been very well attended. Ride by and join the crowd.

* VIP Motorcycle Parking

* Arrowhead Harley Girls

* Door Prizes

* Food Specials

See flyer for details. Click Here.

Harley-Davidson of Scottsdale Financing Special.

For the month of August, Harley-Davidson of Scottsdale is offering a special financing rate as low as 2.74% with approved credit. This rate is only at Harley-Davidson of Scottsdale. Call 480-905-1903 for details. Also, celebrate the Dog Days of Summer with all Sirius/XM Radio’s as well as Garmin/GPS on Sale. See flyer for details.

Enjoy a FREE Pancake Breakfast this Saturday, August 4th from 9-11 AM.

For the Ladies, El’s Angels Biker Chicks Breakfast Ride on Sunday, August 5th. Leaves the dealership at 7 AM for a ride to Black Canyon City. Riders get a free HDOS wrist band. Harley-Davidson of Scottsdale is located at 15600 N. Hayden Rd. in Scottsdale, AZ. 480-905-1903.

Extras

Mid Week Updates will be made on the Cyclerides.com Facebook. New Easy to remember Facebook address. Go to Cyclerides.com Facebook. Over 3900 FANS! Take a look at all the new photos posted on the wall. If you are not on Facebook, you can still view the page, but you will not be able to post. There will be a link there for you to sign up for Facebook if you are inclined. Click the LIKE button!

What do you do when bear cubs are stuck in a dumpster? Give them a ladder to get out. Click Here to View

Here is a little “candid church humor”. Click Here to View.

Video of the Week: Wow! Check out this redneck race truck. This would be called a sleeper on the streets. Click Here to View. Click on the Video of the Week graphic on the page.

If you would like to sign up for the Cyclerides.com Weekly Update Click Here.

Until Next Week,
Blessings and Safe Riding To All,

Barry Caraway
"The Road Is Yours - Take The Ride"
www.cyclerides.com