thebaldgeek

I just had to share this with my fellow geeks (Sue, you may skip over this one)…..

This is the profile from the ‘night’ ride (AWR to BA). The exciting thing is the huge hill that is Mt Palomar. Check it out, we go from 420 feet at the bottom to 5323 at the top, and we do it in exactly 1/2 hour and 35kms (22 miles). Thats pretty neat!

It all adds up to a whole bunch of curves!

Well, it was all that I hoped it would be, and then some…….

The ride up to Mt Palomar was the usual, since I have done it a few times, it was all about the bike and how it handled the twisties.
With ease is the answer. Where ever you point the bike it goes. The linked braking takes some getting used to, but I see the point of it, when coupled with such a precise handling bike, you can hit what ever brake you like and it will just stop….. at any stage of the corner!
Yes, its totally different to ride than the my last one, there is no comparison. The old one you could relax into. It took care of the riding. The margins for error on it where so large that you could just about forget about the road and just kick back. This one is so finely tuned and set up that you have to stay on top of it at all times. It means you now ride to ride, where as the old girl, you rode to escape.
Is it just about speed? No, I still ride like an old bald guy, I dont know if I am going any faster or not on this one, I dont care for speed, its about smooth and not scaring yourself spitless on every second corner.
Ok, so Mt Palomar summit comes and goes, down the other side onto new roads that I have never been on.
Beautiful. It was just beautiful.

Then you spy Lake Henshaw, no photos, I want to take Freddy back over the same route some time soon, so we might get some then, but it was fantastic, seeing the lake as you wind through the downhill curves.
Before you know it, you are in Julian, an amazing tiny town that looks like what it is, a small American town in the back woods.

Then, the route leaves the mountains and heads into the desert.

It was magnificent. The bike just loves the miles. Its a little more noisy than the old one (sorry about all the comparisons, but there is no escaping them for the moment). It could really use some wind management, perhaps micro swirl, but I have some other ideas.

The route then winds it way back to Temecula.

Taking the trip in the evening was fantastic, it was not too hot and the color was fantastic.

It was a little on the short side, 150 miles (241km), 3.5 hours, we used about 1/2 tank of fuel, so it would have cost about 14 bucks.
It was a great start. I would like to take at least Freddy on the same trip, and I think Amy would like it as well. Its probably a bit long and boring for Terry (he likes the destination more than the journey).

Please have a look at the photos from the trip when you get a chance, there are some real nice ones in there. They are at the bottom of the album. (Hint, use the ‘slideshow’ button, its nice to see them large on the screen). Its great to be back using the camera again.

The only downer of the whole trip was the next morning when I went to start the bike it made a loud cracking noise and then pretty much went dead. I have checked the fuses, and they are ok. Thats all I had time for this morning, I am back in the car and will be looking more tonight. I’m pretty down about it because if its major, then the trip to Phoenix with Freddy might be off totaly, or at the very least in the car.

I have been really missing my roster days off. I have also been missing my rides on those days.
To this end, Freddy said that, since I come home for lunch, and am home by 4:45 every day, she would not be against me taking 4-5 hours in the evening once a monthish to go for a ride.
So, today is the first time I am going to give it a try.

Here is a link to a Google map of my proposed route……

I’m very excited!
Amy hummed and haawed at joining me, but in the end she wants to try the local loop that I have been doing first. I don’t mind. I like riding on my own now and then, its great think time.
I plan to get the GPS bracket mounted over lunch, and then go home after work at usual, get changed, take on some food, water and the camera then head off by 5pm. I should be home by 9 (ie just on sundown / twilight). Just a shortish one for a start.
It should be a great ride, there are a lot of different road types and country in this loop. I hope to give a report in tomorrows blog as to how it went.
I’m very, very excited.

Rang Gary on the weekend. We don’t get many chances to catch up, so its usually a long chat with lots of things covered.
As we were finishing up he was saying that he was going to look at the Google street view of the loop.
I told him about how much I am looking forward to getting the 1 hour video and how much I am not looking forward to trying to edit it down to about 10 min to fit on YouTube, and like the true biker he has become he said ‘Just burn the hour on to a DVD and send it to me, I would like to watch the whole thing’…… You know when you have the bug bad when you are prepared to watch an hour of home video motor bike riding.
(I guess its a little sad when I returned the ‘favor’ and asked if he could send his hour + of unedited video to me).

Anyway, I guess the reason it was so touching is because its my old bike that has made the change. Its great to know its loved. I sure do miss it.