Snow day

The place to share your latest adventure
User avatar
NevadaWolf
Posts: 34
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 12:14 am
Location: Northern Nevada
Contact:

Snow day

Postby NevadaWolf » Sun Nov 22, 2015 4:22 am

Next week a big storm is supposed to roll in so decided today I would go riding. One of my FB friends posted back that he was around too and it didn't take long before we had a plan.

Got home last night from my game night (three games of Pandemic, only one win) and replaced my oil filter and filled up the bike with fresh oil, then got all the luggage back on and was ready to ride. Bundled up nice and poofy for the cold this morning and made the short 60 mile trip to Reno to meet up with my friend S for breakfast. He's one of those with multiple bikes so I always wonder what I'll see him on. Today was the Ténéré.

Nice long enjoyable breakfast as we waited for the day to warm up a bit before taking the back route around the Truckee Meadows and out through the North Valleys to a place called Red Rock just north of Stead. Beautiful road with almost no traffic and clear pavement made for an amazing warm up ride. We crossed the California border and joined up with 395 before turning back towards Hwy 70 at Hallelujah Junction. The goal was to ride either 70, Bucks Lake, or La Porte Rd over to Oroville and return home. S led and I felt good about keeping up with him as he is an excellent rider paired with a more powerful bike. Though we were just cruising today, making keeping up easy.

We stopped briefly for a stretch and I turned on all my heated gear as the chill in the air was getting to me. We made plans for our gas stop since Oroville was a little over 200 miles from where I filled up so a stop in Quincy was necessary. This part of California is mostly farms and ranches, with herds of cows and horses gracing on the grass. Saw several herds of deer, including one chowing down on the green grass of a golf course. Wide valleys surrounded by low mountains with just a trace of snow along the upper rides greet you no matter where you look. Pine trees stood tall and a few deciduous trees held onto their last remaining leaves of gold and red.

Reaching Quincy, we both filled up then opted for the La Porte road as we had already encountered some snow melt on the road and worried about Bucks Lake Rd having ice. But when we reached the hair pin turn that took us off the canyon bottom and up the mountain towards La Porte, I saw S brake and turn around in the middle of the road. A sheet of ice covered the second half of the turn. Nope! Back towards Hwy 70 since it was now late in the day.

image.jpeg


I followed S back towards Portola when he suddenly turned off the main highway and onto a dinky frontage road that twisted and buckled for its short quarter mile length. Whee! He then led us up and onto Gold Lake Road that had nice curves, but also patches of snow and slush that the snow plow had missed. Really cautious riding through there led us to a great vista point that we both snapped some pictures at.

image.jpeg


We continued down towards Hwy 49 and back towards Sierraville and on towards Truckee. This really was a back country road trip as we avoided anything with traffic. I told S I'd follow him down Mt Rose Highway so he led the way up to Lake Tahoe and through Incline Village. I was really happy to find most of our ride down the narrow twisty highway was free of traffic and the two cars we did encounter pulled over to let us pass. I waved farewell to S as we reached the I-580 junction and turned to head south towards Carson. Getting dark by now and I was eager for the spaghetti dinner my Dad had waiting for us.

Map of my ride: https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id ... 13a0ac1382


image.jpeg
Last edited by NevadaWolf on Sun Nov 22, 2015 6:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Image
User avatar
Dualsport Chic
Posts: 45
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2015 12:08 pm
Location: Connecticut

Re: Snow day

Postby Dualsport Chic » Sun Nov 22, 2015 4:37 pm

Beautiful RR NV - your descriptions of your surroundings made me feel as if I was there with you. Nicely done!
Last edited by Dualsport Chic on Mon Nov 23, 2015 2:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
Northeast Dualsport Riders

Carpe Diem
User avatar
VStar
Posts: 144
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 12:50 am
Location: Willoughby, OH

Re: Snow day

Postby VStar » Sun Nov 22, 2015 5:21 pm

Nice report NWolf but if I passed you in my car, I'd just shake my head :) .
I've been there before. Can I get there, again?
User avatar
NevadaWolf
Posts: 34
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 12:14 am
Location: Northern Nevada
Contact:

Re: Snow day

Postby NevadaWolf » Sun Nov 22, 2015 7:09 pm

I'm sure quite a few people were shaking their heads but we did see a handful of other riders out as well. We weren't the only goofy riders!
Image
User avatar
CountryCruzr
Posts: 105
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 9:57 am
Location: Southeastern Ohio

Re: Snow day

Postby CountryCruzr » Mon Nov 23, 2015 2:15 am

Thanks for sharing your adventure! Sounds like you put that heated gear to good use :D Looking at your route was cool too!
Image Image
User avatar
Rogue
Site Admin
Posts: 76
Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2015 2:23 pm
Location: Central Iowa, USA
Contact:

Re: Snow day

Postby Rogue » Tue Nov 24, 2015 8:35 pm

I always enjoy your ride reports and photos! You always have fantastic routes. But that ice... eek!
Rogue
Forum Staff
twitter | blog
2013 Non-ABS Ninja 300

Return to “Ride Reports”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest