Ride to Salton Sea on VFR800 - Pt. 1

[metallyguitarded_imp]

(As posted on the VFRW forum)

My alarm went off at 6am Saturday morning. A late Friday night made 6am come way too fast. A minute of lying in bed with my eyes closed would allow me to ease my way into consciousness. Don't want to rush this sort of thing. I counted, 1, 2, 3, 4 ... zzzzzzz. At 6:40 my eyes flew open. Crap. Oh well, I didn't have to be to the second meeting spot until 8:15/8:30 and it would take me about an hour to get there. A quick shower, half a cup of coffee, bike check then I hit the road.

I arrived in Temecula right on time. Clinton and his beautiful 8th Gen was there waiting. I fueled up and we chatted as we waited for the others. It wasn't long before OOTV and OCLandspeeder (from the VFRD forum) arrived. OOTV on his black 6th Gen and OCLandspeeder on his RWB 6th Gen. What great taste he has! We were then joined by David and CJ on their Buell's. I don't know much about Buell's but believe they were both 1125's. CJ's was white and David's was black. And loud. I mean, really loud.

From Temecula we made our way over the hills along Highway 74. The road was fantastic. Relatively light traffic with perfect weather. Sunny and warm (after what began as a rather chilly morning). It was my first time on this road and I experienced a number of butt puckering turns. I touched down on one of them, scraping my left peg feeler, resulting in the tightest pucker of the day. This portion of the ride was challenging for me and made me realize just how much work I need on cornering. OCLandspeeder, CJ and Clinton were smooth and fast. I was nervous and hesitant and did a whole lot of talking to myself. Telling myself to relax, loosen up, look through the turns, trust the bike, fight the urge to let off the throttle...it was running dialogue that eventually got me to the scenic viewpoint that overlooked the desert below. I felt bad for David and OOTV who patiently took up positions behind me. In particular OOTV who faithfully acted as sweeper the entire ride and whose pace must have felt rather pedestrian while for me, it was blistering.

[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0243.jpg.html]
The view from on top of Highway 74. You can make out the road snaking below. To be honest, I can't tell you if that's the road we came up or the road we were about to descend. It was my first time either way and it was exhilarating and a heck of a lot of fun. Most importantly, all of us made it through unscathed and in one piece.

[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0239.jpg.html]
OCLandspeeder, CJ and David (seated on the wall).

[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0242.jpg.html]
OCLandspeeder and David admiring the view. A storm trooper patrolling the viewpoint. Oh no, wait, that's OOTV.

[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0241.jpg.html]
CJ laughing at how slow I was. As I told the group, I'm much faster in my mind.

By this point in the ride, the sun had risen along with the temperature. We removed a layer or two, mounted up and made the descent. The ride down felt better for me. Still, this ride really brought home how much more cornering work I need. Something I'm looking forward to putting in. We made our way into Palm Desert where we stopped for brunch at Randy's Café.

[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0249.jpg.html]
Our bikes outside Randy's Café. I still can't figure out why the area is called "Palm Desert."

[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0246.jpg.html]
Legend has it that a crazy Canadian descended from the great white north on a white VFR, setting the asphalt of Highway 74 on fire at speeds rivaling those seen at the Isle of Man TT and that the café was established in his honor. I didn't believe it. Until, that is, I used the restroom and saw this sign.

[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0247.jpg.html]
Then I knew the legend was true. Our very own Randy has a café named after him in the desert southwest!

From Palm Desert we made our way to the Salton Sea. I had no idea it was as large as it is! It looked like we were riding along the ocean. Someone later said it was 35 miles wide and 15 miles across. We rode to Bombay Beach where we stopped and admired the scenery.

[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0263.jpg.html]
Some of our friendly greeters who lined the shore.

[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0252.jpg.html]
I think CJ named this one "Socket."

We weren't the only ones taking photos. A couple of models were posing on and among the interesting rock/mineral deposits that lined the shore.

[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0259.jpg.html]
One of the models being given direction by the photographer. I heard him say, "Picture metallyguitarded out at sea. You long for him. Reach out your arms to him. Beckon for him to come to you."

[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0262.jpg.html]
The other model responding to the photographer's question of, "What are the chances you'd ever go out with someone who looks like metallyguitarded." I thought her zero was overly exaggerated and not well formed. I turned my attention elsewhere.

(To be continued...)
Ride to Salton Sea on VFR800 (Pt. 2)

With little prompting, I convinced OOTV to match the models pose for pose. But before he could strip out of his leathers, revealing his bikini, the photo shoot wrapped.

[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0254.jpg.html]
An Imperial Storm, uh, I mean, OOTV looking like a badass. You would never know that underneath all of that he wore an itsy bitsy, teeny weeny, yellow polka dot bikini. That he wore for the first time that day.

[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0257.jpg.html]
David and Clinton reacting to OOTV's bikini. Trust me, it brought smiles to everyone's faces!

[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0255.jpg.html]
[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0256.jpg.html]
Paparazzi were out in full force. Word must have leaked that members of VFRW would be at Bombay Beach.

[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0251.jpg.html]
An obligatory shot of the bikes at Bombay Beach. As our VFRs waited comfortably with half-full tanks, the two Buells were running dangerously low on gas. In particular, CJ was worried that she might not make it to the next gas station, the location of which was initially a mystery to us. Luckily, a local was at the beach and told us that just 17 miles up the road in Niland, there was a gas station we could use to fuel up. This news made CJ incredibly happy and she jumped up on the pillars and ran from one to the other in a feat that would have seemed impossible if I hadn't seen it myself and captured it on camera!

[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/Watch%20CJ%20Run.gif.html]

When we were finally able to get CJ to stop, we suited up and made our way to Niland.

[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0273.jpg.html]
[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0274.jpg.html]
[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0275.jpg.html]
[url=http://s51.photobucket.com/user/jamesfontaine/media/IMG_0276.jpg.html]

I'm happy to report that we made it to the gas station without anyone running out of gas. On the way we were passed by emergency vehicle after emergency vehicle going the opposite direction. I have no idea what was going on (no sign of smoke in the distance) but whatever it was, it must have been big. We considered stopping at Salvation Mountain but by the time we made it to Niland, it was already after 2pm. OCLandspeeder and OOTV had ridden from Orange County and had quite a bit of riding to do before they'd make it home. The chance of them making it home before dark was slim. We decided to skip Salvation Mtn and forego the original plan of taking Highway 79 through the mountains, Julian and into Ramona on the way home. Instead, we made our way to the interstate for a long super slab ride west. Our ride was at a spirited pace and I actually enjoyed much of the scenery. We passed a group of windmills that were truly surreal - giants with enormous blades turning slowly in the breeze. I immediately appreciated the delusions of Don Quixote as we rode among those towering beasts.

One last stop in Alpine for fuel during which I realized my turn signals had stopped working. We said our goodbyes in the fading light then made the last push for home. OOTV, OCLandspeeder and Clinton peeled off first and headed north. I continued west briefly with David and CJ until it was my turn to pull away. I made it home just as darkness set in. What a day. What a great ride and a great group of people. All in all, I had spent over 9 hours on the bike. I checked in with OOTV later that night. Coming from his home in Orange County, he had spent much more time in the saddle. I was exhausted. I can only imagine how he and the others felt.

I'm looking forward to the next ride. Thanks to OOTV and OCLandspeeder for making this happen! Thanks for the rest of the group for coming along. You guys (and gal) were great!

[redbirds_imp]

Good ride report MG. Those VFR's are beautiful bikes especially in red, white and blue.

[metallyguitarded_imp]

Good ride report MG. Those VFR's are beautiful bikes especially in red, white and blue.

Thanks redbirds! I am partial to the red, white and blue myself. Haha.

[Rick Froscheiser_imp]

Thanks for sharing your ride with us. Great pictures.

[nhawk7504_imp]

Thanks. Living vicariously gets me through the long winter. It's very strange to have four months of no riding weather. A reminder that we live in a planet and are smaller than our egos sometimes suggest as human beings. You guys can ride year round. We have to stop and ponder non motorcycle life. Snow. Leaves falling off trees. Much shorter days up in the Northeast USA.

[the Ferret]

Looks like it was a fun outing. Great pics. Don't know how you did the moving one.

Storm Trooper was my first thought. What is the black bag on his hip?

[Cormanus]

Looks like it was a fun outing. Great pics. Don't know how you did the moving one.

Storm Trooper was my first thought. What is the black bag on his hip?

Storage pouch for phaser batteries.

Thanks MG. Great report: well written with excellent pictures. Sounds like a great day.

[Capo]

MG, what a nice ride and great report. Especially compared to my 45 degree blast yesterday. I have a Speed Triple stashed out in Montrose, perhaps we can connect and ride on one of my visits out there.

[emptysea]

Great write up. Looks like a very fun group visiting cool places on neat bikes. Fun. Cool. Neat. Yep, that about sums it up.

Dang it's cold here today. Only about 120 days until the real riding season starts again here. Posts like this make the time until then go faster. Thanks.

[Rocky_imp]

Great report and interesting narrative