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Tahoe/Reno Saturday's Ride
Saturday Ride
After a good nights sleep, and a good breakfast we met outside of Carpo’s Restaurant. All, that is except for Jerry, who was notable for his absence. Loho, however, showed up driving not just a cage, but a SUV, for Pete’s sake! Seems that his better half had injured her ankle, somehow, and wasn’t up to a bike ride, but he was determined to tag along any way he could. Bummer, Loho, you missed one hell of a ride!
By 9:00 we were all getting the itch for a ride, and decided to go to Jerry’s campsite to see what was keeping him. So here we were, the XS Gang, engines rumbling, women gathering their frightened children, senior citizens shrinking in terror as we pulled up to the check-in booth where we were told where Jerry’s campsite was, where we could and couldn’t park, ride, pee, etc. Jerry was still there. Seems he had miscalculated how many time zones he had traveled through and hadn’t set his clock properly. That’s understandable. I mean when one is traveling over half a continent one can drop a time zone or two, y’know?
With Jerry along now we set about getting down to some real mototouring. DragXS11was our fearless leader. Before long he had led us onto Hwy. 207 heading east away from Lake Tahoe. The next 11 miles was just biker heaven. We climbed from Lake Tahoe, elevation 6,225 feet, to 7,334 feet at Daggett Pass, then down to 4,780 feet at Mottsville. This drop of 2,500 feet was in a distance of only about 7 miles along broad, sweeping 50 – 70 M.P.H. curves looking down upon the flat plain below. I was torn between wanting to get into the rhythm of the ride or slow a little to take in the grandeur of the view, or indulge in my other passion and stop for photography. The latter was pretty well ruled out by the pace set by our lead rider. At last, without having to struggle uphill with a rich running engine, my XS was winding out and emitting that gnarly WW2 P40 Mustang exhaust note that I love! It wasn’t too difficult to imagine swooping down in a WWI biplane dogfight. “Curse you Red Baron!”
It took a little doing to get used to group riding. There is a skill to it, and for those who have never, or seldom done it, there is a learning curve involved. The lead rider has the responsibility of setting a pace that everyone can keep and making sure that all the riders who started out are still along. Our fearless leader, being young (relative to yours truly), and on the most stripped down and sporty XS11 Special, was feeling his oats, and was at times only a tiny, constantly retreating target on the long and winding road ahead. I felt compelled to say something, so when we hit flat land outside of Mottville I finally caught up to him at a stop sign and said “Hey dude, I’m not into this for a race: I wouldn’t mind slowing down just a little bit and enjoying the view!” Since DragXS11, like everyone else but me was wearing a full-face helmet, I couldn’t read his expression, but it must have had some effect, since the rest of the tour was much tighter.
We cruised north through Jacks Valley along Hwy. 206 through Genoa, Stewart, and Carson City where, I believe, we stopped for gas. This section was unremarkable as far as riding goes, but I was surprised at how green the countryside was, since I assumed this area was desert. The view of the Sierras off to the West was also quite nice. From there we went N.E on Hwy. 50 to Hwy 341 / 342 N. through Silver City, Gold Hill, and our lunch stop, Virginia City.
There we parked on the main drag, and had lunch in one of the local colorful eateries whose name I unfortunately didn’t record. I do remember that the price was quite reasonable, and of good quality. We then cruised the aforementioned main drag which was a for real “wild west” covered board walk passing by well preserved late 19th century wooden buildings of the sort that are commonly seen in western movies: Oops, I think I just dated myself. There are no western movies any more. Well there is “Broke Back Mountain…”
This was Labor Day weekend, remember? There were many packs of bikes coming through. Your usual contingent of Harley's, groups of sport bikes, and much to everyone’s delight, parked along the curb, were at least a dozen Enfield Bullets. Some were obviously of the new wave, but some were apparently 20 to 30 years old, and one was equipped with a side car. Also spotted along the curb was a very cherry late 40’s Indian! Virginia City was obviously a very popular destination for Holiday riders. Somewhere in there Loho and company caught up with us, doing a creditable job of keeping up with a pack of “muscle bikes” in an SUV.
After a couple hour lunch break the Road beckoned again, and DragXS11 led us N. on Hwy 341 from Virginia City uphill 580 feet to Geiger Pass. At 6800 my pore ol’ bike was running like crap. As I explained in a previous installment, it was running a tad rich at sea level, but at these elevations, going uphill, every time I got close to that 4500 RPM sweet spot it would start 8 stroking. Fortunately our bikes are imbued with copious amounts of stump pulling low end torque which really came in handy.
Fortunately the rest of the ride into Reno was down hill. We stopped at Geiger Lookout (elevation 5540,) for a quick photo-op. The view was spectacular. It was a panoramic view of Steamboat Valley some 1000 feet below. It was too grand a view to capture with just one shot, so I took several sequential shots that I’m telling myself I’ll eventually turn into a panoramic photo. The rest of the way was more dogfight swoopy curves with gorgeous scenic high desert views. The map sez it is 15 miles from Virginia City, to the beginning of the 4 lane section of Hwys 430/395. From 6220 ft. at Virginia City to 6799 ft. at Geiger Summit back down to 4600 ft. at Steamboat Springs: the nearest elevation marker to the mileage mark on my map. One heck of a ride lads!
The rest of the ride into “The Worlds Biggest Little City” was rather mundane. Our main reason for even going there was to find Jerry a much needed tire for his bike, which we found at the friendly local Polaris dealer I must say I have never seen so many Polari ( Polaris’s? Polarises?) I mean Victories in one place at one time. I have thought that if I was to get a new bike it just might be a Victory. One treat was the spindly Euro Speedway bike they had hung from their ceiling for decoration.
After we got Jerry’s tire mounted we followed DragXS11 back out of town. The tedium of city riding was broken by our fearless leader getting a plastic bag stuck to his nicely chromed 4 into 1 exhaust headers. He struggled through 2 traffic stops to get it all off, but there was plenty of burned plastic stuck on there. We smelled burning plastic all the way home after that.
After a rather mundane, and for me, a sputtering jam down the 4 lane 430, we turned onto Hwy 431, a somewhat more interesting 2 lane blacktop. Actually, it was only “somewhat more interesting” for the next 6 or seven miles until it began to wind its way back uphill toward the Mt. Rose summit at 8900 ft!
Unfortunately there isn’t an elevation given for a pass on the road, but it is probably only 1000 feet or so less. After reaching an elevation of some 7000 feet or so the road seemed to remain at a fairly steady elevations for several miles, affording us more spectacular views. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, I don’t have any photos of this stretch of road. I seem to recall that since we were all on the homeward leg of the tour even the photographers among us were really into the ride. We only stopped once before reaching Lake Tahoe, and that was to add a layer of clothes for warmth.
We did stop at a viewpoint on 431, which offered a spectacular view of the lake. Pictures can be found posted by Jerry and Drag XS11 elsewhere on the Ride Report site. Seems like I use that word “spectacular” a lot in describing the scenery on this ride: it’s hard to find a more appropriate one though!
After dropping another thousand feet or two on swooping curves we eventually reached Hwy 28 and the north shore of Lake Tahoe. This two lane blacktop follows the eastern shore of the lake for several miles before swinging east a bit to intersect Hwy 50, which is a four lane expressway right into Stateline.
By now it was around 7:00 and time to eat. We had been on the road roughly 10 hrs, and had covered perhaps 120 miles or so, with many stops along the way. Not bad for a break in ride. We stopped at a restaurant / casino for a group dinner and a chance to preview the Sunday ride. More riders were to join us, and if today’s ride was any indication, tomorrow’s ride sounded like it was going to be even more memorable.
Next: Sunday’s ride – 300 miles, three passes in 12 hrs!
Happy New Year everyone, and keep the rubber side down!
After a good nights sleep, and a good breakfast we met outside of Carpo’s Restaurant. All, that is except for Jerry, who was notable for his absence. Loho, however, showed up driving not just a cage, but a SUV, for Pete’s sake! Seems that his better half had injured her ankle, somehow, and wasn’t up to a bike ride, but he was determined to tag along any way he could. Bummer, Loho, you missed one hell of a ride!
By 9:00 we were all getting the itch for a ride, and decided to go to Jerry’s campsite to see what was keeping him. So here we were, the XS Gang, engines rumbling, women gathering their frightened children, senior citizens shrinking in terror as we pulled up to the check-in booth where we were told where Jerry’s campsite was, where we could and couldn’t park, ride, pee, etc. Jerry was still there. Seems he had miscalculated how many time zones he had traveled through and hadn’t set his clock properly. That’s understandable. I mean when one is traveling over half a continent one can drop a time zone or two, y’know?
With Jerry along now we set about getting down to some real mototouring. DragXS11was our fearless leader. Before long he had led us onto Hwy. 207 heading east away from Lake Tahoe. The next 11 miles was just biker heaven. We climbed from Lake Tahoe, elevation 6,225 feet, to 7,334 feet at Daggett Pass, then down to 4,780 feet at Mottsville. This drop of 2,500 feet was in a distance of only about 7 miles along broad, sweeping 50 – 70 M.P.H. curves looking down upon the flat plain below. I was torn between wanting to get into the rhythm of the ride or slow a little to take in the grandeur of the view, or indulge in my other passion and stop for photography. The latter was pretty well ruled out by the pace set by our lead rider. At last, without having to struggle uphill with a rich running engine, my XS was winding out and emitting that gnarly WW2 P40 Mustang exhaust note that I love! It wasn’t too difficult to imagine swooping down in a WWI biplane dogfight. “Curse you Red Baron!”
It took a little doing to get used to group riding. There is a skill to it, and for those who have never, or seldom done it, there is a learning curve involved. The lead rider has the responsibility of setting a pace that everyone can keep and making sure that all the riders who started out are still along. Our fearless leader, being young (relative to yours truly), and on the most stripped down and sporty XS11 Special, was feeling his oats, and was at times only a tiny, constantly retreating target on the long and winding road ahead. I felt compelled to say something, so when we hit flat land outside of Mottville I finally caught up to him at a stop sign and said “Hey dude, I’m not into this for a race: I wouldn’t mind slowing down just a little bit and enjoying the view!” Since DragXS11, like everyone else but me was wearing a full-face helmet, I couldn’t read his expression, but it must have had some effect, since the rest of the tour was much tighter.
We cruised north through Jacks Valley along Hwy. 206 through Genoa, Stewart, and Carson City where, I believe, we stopped for gas. This section was unremarkable as far as riding goes, but I was surprised at how green the countryside was, since I assumed this area was desert. The view of the Sierras off to the West was also quite nice. From there we went N.E on Hwy. 50 to Hwy 341 / 342 N. through Silver City, Gold Hill, and our lunch stop, Virginia City.
There we parked on the main drag, and had lunch in one of the local colorful eateries whose name I unfortunately didn’t record. I do remember that the price was quite reasonable, and of good quality. We then cruised the aforementioned main drag which was a for real “wild west” covered board walk passing by well preserved late 19th century wooden buildings of the sort that are commonly seen in western movies: Oops, I think I just dated myself. There are no western movies any more. Well there is “Broke Back Mountain…”
This was Labor Day weekend, remember? There were many packs of bikes coming through. Your usual contingent of Harley's, groups of sport bikes, and much to everyone’s delight, parked along the curb, were at least a dozen Enfield Bullets. Some were obviously of the new wave, but some were apparently 20 to 30 years old, and one was equipped with a side car. Also spotted along the curb was a very cherry late 40’s Indian! Virginia City was obviously a very popular destination for Holiday riders. Somewhere in there Loho and company caught up with us, doing a creditable job of keeping up with a pack of “muscle bikes” in an SUV.
After a couple hour lunch break the Road beckoned again, and DragXS11 led us N. on Hwy 341 from Virginia City uphill 580 feet to Geiger Pass. At 6800 my pore ol’ bike was running like crap. As I explained in a previous installment, it was running a tad rich at sea level, but at these elevations, going uphill, every time I got close to that 4500 RPM sweet spot it would start 8 stroking. Fortunately our bikes are imbued with copious amounts of stump pulling low end torque which really came in handy.
Fortunately the rest of the ride into Reno was down hill. We stopped at Geiger Lookout (elevation 5540,) for a quick photo-op. The view was spectacular. It was a panoramic view of Steamboat Valley some 1000 feet below. It was too grand a view to capture with just one shot, so I took several sequential shots that I’m telling myself I’ll eventually turn into a panoramic photo. The rest of the way was more dogfight swoopy curves with gorgeous scenic high desert views. The map sez it is 15 miles from Virginia City, to the beginning of the 4 lane section of Hwys 430/395. From 6220 ft. at Virginia City to 6799 ft. at Geiger Summit back down to 4600 ft. at Steamboat Springs: the nearest elevation marker to the mileage mark on my map. One heck of a ride lads!
The rest of the ride into “The Worlds Biggest Little City” was rather mundane. Our main reason for even going there was to find Jerry a much needed tire for his bike, which we found at the friendly local Polaris dealer I must say I have never seen so many Polari ( Polaris’s? Polarises?) I mean Victories in one place at one time. I have thought that if I was to get a new bike it just might be a Victory. One treat was the spindly Euro Speedway bike they had hung from their ceiling for decoration.
After we got Jerry’s tire mounted we followed DragXS11 back out of town. The tedium of city riding was broken by our fearless leader getting a plastic bag stuck to his nicely chromed 4 into 1 exhaust headers. He struggled through 2 traffic stops to get it all off, but there was plenty of burned plastic stuck on there. We smelled burning plastic all the way home after that.
After a rather mundane, and for me, a sputtering jam down the 4 lane 430, we turned onto Hwy 431, a somewhat more interesting 2 lane blacktop. Actually, it was only “somewhat more interesting” for the next 6 or seven miles until it began to wind its way back uphill toward the Mt. Rose summit at 8900 ft!
Unfortunately there isn’t an elevation given for a pass on the road, but it is probably only 1000 feet or so less. After reaching an elevation of some 7000 feet or so the road seemed to remain at a fairly steady elevations for several miles, affording us more spectacular views. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, I don’t have any photos of this stretch of road. I seem to recall that since we were all on the homeward leg of the tour even the photographers among us were really into the ride. We only stopped once before reaching Lake Tahoe, and that was to add a layer of clothes for warmth.
We did stop at a viewpoint on 431, which offered a spectacular view of the lake. Pictures can be found posted by Jerry and Drag XS11 elsewhere on the Ride Report site. Seems like I use that word “spectacular” a lot in describing the scenery on this ride: it’s hard to find a more appropriate one though!
After dropping another thousand feet or two on swooping curves we eventually reached Hwy 28 and the north shore of Lake Tahoe. This two lane blacktop follows the eastern shore of the lake for several miles before swinging east a bit to intersect Hwy 50, which is a four lane expressway right into Stateline.
By now it was around 7:00 and time to eat. We had been on the road roughly 10 hrs, and had covered perhaps 120 miles or so, with many stops along the way. Not bad for a break in ride. We stopped at a restaurant / casino for a group dinner and a chance to preview the Sunday ride. More riders were to join us, and if today’s ride was any indication, tomorrow’s ride sounded like it was going to be even more memorable.
Next: Sunday’s ride – 300 miles, three passes in 12 hrs!
Happy New Year everyone, and keep the rubber side down!
Just bought a 1980 Special that has been non oped for 9 years. My Skoot will rise from the ashes and be re named "The Phoenix!"
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