Saturday, 27th of June – Day 11

First, if people are wondering why the blog isn't updated every day, it is because I have often camped "off the grid" at locations where there is no WiFi or cell phone service.  I still write the blog each night, but I have to find a location where I can get some sort of service to do the upload.

I left the campground this morning and headed south along the Pacific Coast.    The next image is to make all the motorcycle riders reading this blog jealous!  This was the first road I got to ride this morning.  Just one of many like it again today!  I liked it so much I turned around and did it again!  Unfortunately the second time wasn’t as much as the first time.  The first time, the other drivers were courteous and when you came up behind them, they pulled over as they are supposed to do.  It is posted all along the roads.  The second time, I guess people didn’t feel this was important so I got stuck in a row of 7 vehicles at one time.  Oh well, at least the first time was a blast! 

Once back on the coast I again headed south.  This time when I turned left (east) it was time to put the Pacific Ocean in my mirrors for the last time on this trip.  It was time to head east to the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  Along the way, I passed through several valleys where fruit and vegetables are grown.  Peaches, grapes, tomatoes, and sunflowers were popular crops.  There were others I did not recognize.  It is good thing I am a  connoisseur of good roads and not wines.  With all the wine tasting that was available, I would not have made it very far today!

Once again it got a little warm this afternoon but I was better prepared this time. For 2 – 3 hours, the temperature was between 95 and 98 degrees.  Today I had my Heat-Out shirt on.  I bought this shirt last year in Phoenix AFTER driving 1.5 hours in 107 degree temperatures.  I remembered to put it on this morning as my first layer.  I then had my long sleeve t-shirt on and then my jack liner which was covered by my mesh jacket.  Yes, 4 layers.  It was a cool 55 degrees by the ocean this morning.  As the temperatures went up, the layers came off.  I must say I was pretty impressed with the Heat-Out shirt.  It is a tight fitting, stretch, moisture wicking shirt.  It helps keep you dry and also provided good cooling under my mesh jacket.  Yes, even in these temperatures I keep all my safety gear on: helmet, gloves, jacket, boots, riding pants.  My experience is these all keep the beating sun off your skin and thus help keep you cool; at least while you are moving.  Everyone needs to determine which gear is best for them, but rule number 1 is, "if you don't wear it, it doesn't do any good!"

I am spending the night at a National Forest campground near (40 miles away from) Nevada City California (confusing right!)

Sometime during my blog I usually talk about “equipment” so I will do that tonight.  The most obvious piece of new “equipment” I have on this trip is the new motorcycle.  It is a 2014 Candy Apple Red Yamaha FJR 1300 ES.

This is the same model of bike I had before, just much newer.  The previous one was a 2006 and had almost 94,000 miles on it when I sold it this spring.  Some of the big differences with this bike are all the electronics that have been added.  Here is a partial list: cruise control, heated grips, traction control, 2 drive modes (touring and sport – I like sport!), and electronic suspension.  I have not had to use the heated grips on this trip thankfully.   The cruise control is really nice to have on a trip like this.  I had it when I had my previous 2 Goldwings but did not have on the previous FJR.  I really like having the electronic suspension as well.  I am changing the settings more than I thought I would.  You can set the suspension for the number of people riding as well as how hard or soft you want the ride to be.  For example, when I went to ZARS (advanced riding school) at the beginning of June, I set the suspension to 1 up riding and hard.  When I commute to work, I use 1 person plus luggage and a soft setting.  For this trip, I have it set for 2 people (because of the weight of my luggage) and when I am cruising along, I have it for a soft ride, when I am in the twisties, I set it to Standard ride.  It all seems to be working very well. To me, the FJR is the perfect bike that provides the combination of Sport and Touring that I enjoy.

Another very simple piece of “equipment” I brought with this time is a USB charger.  I can charge it during the day while riding by using a charging socket with a USB insert in the small compartment on the bike.  At night, I use it to charge my blue tooth device on my helmet (for GPS directions and music) along with my phone and/or tablet.  I can charge 2 devices at the same time.  It has really made keeping all the electronics charged much easier.

I have also changed from a large, old laptop to a small windows tablet.  It is so much faster, lighter, and takes a lot less space.  I have a blue tooth keyboard and mouse that I use with the tablet as well. The tablet has all my GPS mapping software (BaseCamp) on it plus I can access the internet to update the blog etc. 

Everything else I have brought with me on previous trips and is working fine.  I have it down to a system, (I know this will surprise many of you!), but it works well for me.

Tomorrow, I will start working my way south through the Sierra Mountains.  I have several loops over the mountains planned.