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The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again

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Post  SVDon Tue 31 Mar 2015, 1:47 am

Had a great ride Sunday with buddies Corey, LT, and Wade.  Route was US395, Monitor Pass CA89,  CA88 to Omo Ranch Road / Mt Aukum Rd / Shenandoah Road.  Stopped at Villa Toscano winery bistro for a sandwich, fought our way through the tasting room crowd to the restroom.  Then back on the bikes to Plymouth CA.  Right turn on CA 49 then north to the abandoned hamlet of Nashville,  and a right turn onto Sand Ridge Road,  a road which I had never ridden before but looked fully paved and interesting on the map program.

Upon checking, MS maps still says it's paved all the way, but about 6 miles into it, we came upon the end of the pavement.  Of course, I received a ration of shit from Corey for taking him down yet another dirt road.   Checking the GPS, it looked like about 2-3 miles of dirt and then pavement again, so we forged on.  Wade, on his 1200GS was happy. Larry was good on my Vee.  I tolerated it on the 1250 FA,  Corey on the ST1300 was not a happy camper.

After the several miles of good dirt, interspersed with a few sections of scary narrow twisty steep dirt bits, we were back out onto the pavement and wonderful pavement it was indeed.

Made our way back to a different section of Mt Aukum Road and from there To Sly Park road.  Stopping by the Sly Park reservoir, we decided to take US50 back as it is a bit faster and we were all getting a bit tired from all the fun.  Gas in Pollock Pines, then a fast run up 50, then 89 over Luther Pass and into Markleeville.  We attempted to stop there for coffee, but the town closes at 4 p.m. and it was 5 minutes after, so we pressed on back through Monitor Pass.  Coffee and tire-kicking ensued at the Topaz Lodge on the Nevada state line, then back to the valley and the splitup for home.

A great day with mostly great weather.  Sunny and warm most of the day after the initial morning cold over Monitor and Carson passes,  with a few light sprinkles of rain on the return over Monitor.  All in all, a great ride with good friends!

Top of Monitor Pass
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again Normal_IMG_08065B15D

Toward Carson Pass Highway
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again 1_IMG_08095B15D

Pit stop at the top of Carson Pass
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again IMG_08105B15D

Caples Lake
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again IMG_08125B15D

Lunch at Villa Toscano near Plymouth
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again IMG_08135B15D

View of the winery before the bus arrived
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again IMG_08145B15D

Corey, Wade and LT discuss life after sandwiches
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again IMG_08165B15D

The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again IMG_08185B15D

I was there too!
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again IMG_08205B15D

Back toward Tahoe on US50 - Sunday afternoon traffic was so-so heading toward the Lake, totally awful going west.
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again IMG_08215B15D

Apres coffee at Topaz Lodge - getting ready to head home.
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again IMG_08245B15D
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Post  Re-Cycled Tue 31 Mar 2015, 7:52 am

It's great to see how your rides look, the terrain is so different there.
Thanks for sharing with us, I find your reports very interesting.

Most of you photo links were broken on my computer, I took a liberty with the reply. Embarassed


SVDon wrote:Had a great ride Sunday with buddies Corey, LT, and Wade.  Route was US395, Monitor Pass CA89,  CA88 to Omo Ranch Road / Mt Aukum Rd / Shenandoah Road.  Stopped at Villa Toscano winery bistro for a sandwich, fought our way through the tasting room crowd to the restroom.  Then back on the bikes to Plymouth CA.  Right turn on CA 49 then north to the abandoned hamlet of Nashville,  and a right turn onto Sand Ridge Road,  a road which I had never ridden before but looked fully paved and interesting on the map program.

Upon checking, MS maps still says it's paved all the way, but about 6 miles into it, we came upon the end of the pavement.  Of course, I received a ration of shit from Corey for taking him down yet another dirt road.   Checking the GPS, it looked like about 2-3 miles of dirt and then pavement again, so we forged on.  Wade, on his 1200GS was happy. Larry was good on my Vee.  I tolerated it on the 1250 FA,  Corey on the ST1300 was not a happy camper.

After the several miles of good dirt, interspersed with a few sections of scary narrow twisty steep dirt bits, we were back out onto the pavement and wonderful pavement it was indeed.

Made our way back to a different section of Mt Aukum Road and from there To Sly Park road.  Stopping by the Sly Park reservoir, we decided to take US50 back as it is a bit faster and we were all getting a bit tired from all the fun.  Gas in Pollock Pines, then a fast run up 50, then 89 over Luther Pass and into Markleeville.  We attempted to stop there for coffee, but the town closes at 4 p.m. and it was 5 minutes after, so we pressed on back through Monitor Pass.  Coffee and tire-kicking ensued at the Topaz Lodge on the Nevada state line, then back to the valley and the splitup for home.

A great day with mostly great weather.  Sunny and warm most of the day after the initial morning cold over Monitor and Carson passes,  with a few light sprinkles of rain on the return over Monitor.  All in all, a great ride with good friends!

Top of Monitor Pass
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again Normal_IMG_08065B15D

Toward Carson Pass Highway
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again Normal_IMG_08095B15D

Pit stop at the top of Carson Pass
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again Normal_IMG_08105B15D

Caples Lake
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again Normal_IMG_08125B15D

Lunch at Villa Toscano near Plymouth
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again Normal_IMG_08135B15D

View of the winery before the bus arrived
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again Normal_IMG_08145B15D

Corey, Wade and LT discuss life after sandwiches
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again Normal_IMG_08165B15D

The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again Normal_IMG_08185B15D

I was there too!
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again Normal_IMG_08205B15D

Back toward Tahoe on US50 - Sunday afternoon traffic was so-so heading toward the Lake, totally awful going west.
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again Normal_IMG_08215B15D

Apres coffee at Topaz Lodge - getting ready to head home.
The Smith Valley Motorcycle Gang Rides Again Normal_IMG_08245B15D

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Post  Hammy Tue 31 Mar 2015, 8:13 am

Beautiful.  Thanks for sharing.

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Post  SVDon Tue 31 Mar 2015, 8:20 am

Thanks for fixing my links.  What specifically was missing or incorrect?
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Post  Chook Tue 31 Mar 2015, 9:49 am

Careful Don, you'll have a headon riding on the wrong side of the road Wink
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Post  Ewok1958 Tue 31 Mar 2015, 11:26 am

Good one SVDon. I'm with you on your 'tolerating' of the dirt bits - the Bandit is not an ideal dirt tourer! Cheers.
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Post  Chook Tue 31 Mar 2015, 11:30 am

Ewok1958 wrote:Good one SVDon. I'm with you on your 'tolerating' of the dirt bits - the Bandit is not an ideal dirt tourer!  Cheers.
SuzySuzuki and I will both agree with that, we had a long stretch of watered down unsealed roadworks the Monday after Parkes
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Post  madmax Tue 31 Mar 2015, 11:56 am

Some great scenery there SVDon.

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Post  SuzySuzuki Tue 31 Mar 2015, 1:07 pm

Chook wrote:
Ewok1958 wrote:Good one SVDon. I'm with you on your 'tolerating' of the dirt bits - the Bandit is not an ideal dirt tourer!  Cheers.
SuzySuzuki and I will both agree with that, we had a long stretch of watered down unsealed roadworks the Monday after Parkes
AND I didn't fall off!
These are a nice set of photos, Don, a lot nicer than our recent trip across flat country...

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Post  Re-Cycled Tue 31 Mar 2015, 4:27 pm

SVDon wrote:Thanks for fixing my links.  What specifically was missing or incorrect?

Top of Monitor Pass
Code:
[img]http://www.st-riders.net/coppermine/albums/userpics/10001/normal_IMG_08065B15D.JPG[/img]

Toward Carson Pass Highway
Code:
[img]http://www.st-riders.net/coppermine/albums/edit/1_IMG_08095B15D.JPG[/img]

The upper link is the one that works, so I just edited the other links, that look like the lower one, to be like the top one.

I'm happy to help. Smile

If you decide to fix your links I'll edit my post so they aren't duplicated.

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Post  paul Tue 31 Mar 2015, 8:32 pm

Great shots SV ..................you'd be hanging out for a bend after that long straight  Laughing  Fantastic scenery .

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Post  SVDon Wed 01 Apr 2015, 12:23 am

paul wrote:Great shots SV ..................you'd be hanging out for a bend after that long straight  Laughing  Fantastic scenery .
Ya, on that one shot, the first one,  you've just come up from 5000 ft amsl to 8800 ft amsl via a great series of curves and switchbacks.  Then you go across the meadow shown, then down another series to ~6600 amsl.  So it's kind of a resting spot on the run over Monitor Pass.  

If you look Here  it's looking west on the straight stretch about in the middle of the run, just past the Monitor Pass summit between US395 and the intersection of CA4.   

CA4 going west from that intersection is still closed for the winter but that's an awesome run as well, one I do often, but my buddy Corey refuses to do anymore on his ST1300.  He got spooked real bad last time going up there and then dropped his bike in a gravel parking lot at a restaurant across from Alpine Lake. It's a challenging run - two-way traffic on a narrow road with lots of steep drop-offs, blind corners, and the occasional pickup truck coming around said blind corners taking up the entire road.  No center line for ~25 miles.  Two 8000+ ft summits, hairpins that'll have you looking at your own ass as you go around them.  Good pavement though, and tons of fun, but I stay off it on weekends - too many assclowns out there trying to hold on to their Harleys while they run wide in the corners...   What a Face
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Post  paul Wed 01 Apr 2015, 8:46 am

SVDon wrote:
paul wrote:Great shots SV ..................you'd be hanging out for a bend after that long straight  Laughing  Fantastic scenery .
Ya, on that one shot, the first one,  you've just come up from 5000 ft amsl to 8800 ft amsl via a great series of curves and switchbacks.  Then you go across the meadow shown, then down another series to ~6600 amsl.  So it's kind of a resting spot on the run over Monitor Pass.  

If you look Here  it's looking west on the straight stretch about in the middle of the run, just past the Monitor Pass summit between US395 and the intersection of CA4.   

CA4 going west from that intersection is still closed for the winter but that's an awesome run as well, one I do often, but my buddy Corey refuses to do anymore on his ST1300.  He got spooked real bad last time going up there and then dropped his bike in a gravel parking lot at a restaurant across from Alpine Lake. It's a challenging run - two-way traffic on a narrow road with lots of steep drop-offs, blind corners, and the occasional pickup truck coming around said blind corners taking up the entire road.  No center line for ~25 miles.  Two 8000+ ft summits, hairpins that'll have you looking at your own ass as you go around them.  Good pavement though, and tons of fun, but I stay off it on weekends - too many assclowns out there trying to hold on to their Harleys while they run wide in the corners...   What a Face
That looks more like it ............ Very Happy

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