The Return Trip - California and Lake Tahoe

I got up early on Sunday morning (July 18), about 5:30 am, and it was about 42 degrees outside (!). I packed up all my stuff, took down the tent, loaded up the bike, and put on my Gerbing heated liner and gloves and took off.  I got a good start and beat most everyone else out of the rally site. I knew it would be a zoo with 6,100 motorcycles departing that day so I wanted to get a good start. It was a long cold ride for several hours before I would stop again.

I traveled south for a long ways before stopping. I wanted to make some time before getting some breakfast so I could get a good days travel in.  It was a long straight ride down thru central Oregon on highway 97.  I rode for about 3 hours with no stops about 160 miles down to Klamath Falls, OR. 

Here is my route for the day:

I stopped in Klamath Falls for gas and got directions to a great local family restaurant. I had a big breakfast of eggs, sausage, and pancakes - my favorites! I actually got Sprint service there so checked some emails on my phone.

As I left a few guys were standing by their car and commented about my bike. I told them about my trip and they asked me all kinds of questions for about 15 minutes until I saw I just had to get going. I enjoy sharing my adventure with people along the way. I hope it motivates some to do something similar and it makes me appreciate the fact that I am out there actually doing it. It took a lot of planning and effort to get going but the reality sinks in every once in a while that I was on a huge adventure and enjoying every minute of it. I knew it would be over too soon...

After I left Klamath Falls I knew I had to make another stop in a short while. For one thing I wanted to get a picture of entering California and I stopped as another bike was there also getting a picture in front of the sign, so we took pictures of each other. 

Then I had to make another stop about 5 miles down the road. Fortunately there was little traffic and a wide shoulder for me to stop.  But it was an important milestone and I just had to get a picture!

That's right - 50,000 miles!  I bought my bike a little over 2 years ago with 19,000 miles on it, so 31,000 miles in 2 years is not too bad!

In California I continued down highway 139 to Susanville. Here is a random pic just to capture the kind of terrain I was traveling through. It was warm then, in the mid-90s by noon or so. 

As I was coming down to Susanville I drove by Eagle Lake. Strange lake as it seemed pretty big but was a very light green. I saw a few people wading out into it pretty far so it was shallow for quite a ways. I also saw a few people wind surfing (it was very windy).  It was strange because it was a huge lake but I saw no commercial activity of any kind, no houses, and very few people. I guess it was because it is fairly remote just by looking at the map.

Here is a photo of the highway winding down into Susanville. I got gas and took a break for a while there. It was very hot then (upper 90s) and I had to stay in the shade. I drank a Gatoraid and ate a powerbar and refilled my camelback. Saw some other BMWs there coming down from the rally. 

As I left and headed down highway 395 I passed a couple of unusual motorcycles. I got my camera out and took a picture over my shoulder as I passed them.

They were a couple of Spyders. You can read more about them here.

 I rode the 90 miles from Susanville down to Reno and stopped again for a butt break and drink. It was pretty hot but I found some shade under a tree in a parking lot. I had to decide where I was going to stay for the night so I had to click on a few routes on the GPS to see the distances and estimate times of arrival. It was about 3 or 4 pm I think and I decided I had enough time to go down to Lake Tahoe and from there east to Fallon. I knew the next day's ride would be long and hard across Nevada on the "lonelinest highway in the US" so I wanted to position myself for a good start.  So after a little break and some map recon by GPS I was off.

I knew I would be going over the mountain south of Reno so I took a picture of where I knew I would be going. 

A while later and about 20 miles south I took another picture looking north down into Reno where I had come from. 

I desended down the other side of the mountain into Lake Tahoe. There was TONS of traffic! Lots of big slow RVs and hikers and bikers. Lake Tahoe is a MAJOR tourist attraction this time of year. I'm glad I didn't decide to ride around the west side of the lake as I was considering - it would have taken HOURS.  As it was I got a few good pics, stopped at a scenic overlook once, then took highway 50 east to head to Carson City and on to Fallon. 

Here are a few of the pics I took.

Here is a scenic shot from an overlook.

Once I got on 50 and headed east it was a nice ride downhill on a fast 4 lane into Carson City. I stopped for a break and debated staying there for the night but it was only 60 miles or so to Fallon. I called the RV park to ensure they were open and had space, then motored on. It was hot and I was tired but it was an easy ride.

One interesting aspect about this part of the ride was that I noticed the bike was running hotter than usual after I left Carson City. I worried about that for 30 or 40 miles until I stopped somewhere for something. It wasn't until I stopped that I realized there was quite a strong wind 20 to 25 mph coming out of the west.  It was a tailwind for me!  So when I was riding along at 60 to 65 mph the bike felt only 35 to 40 mph, and it usually gets a little warmer until I get above those speeds.

So I got into Fallon, ate dinner at a neat sports bar, and went to the RV site and made my camp. The shower felt good and as soon as I got into my tent about 9 pm or so I went right to sleep. It was about 510 miles for the day.