George and Eric's Motorcycle Adventures: Safe and sound on the shores of Lake Tahoe

6 a.m., a clear, brisk, invigorating 30 degrees here in S. Lake Tahoe. All the makings off a beautiful day ahead.

Eric is still in bed, so I am hanging out, sitting by the window overlooking The lake, having my free continental breakfast in the restaurant at the Best Western Timber Lodge. Lots of people here with me. They are getting ready for the Lake Takoe marathon and bike race; some last minute carb loading. A hearty bunch. (I love these homemade waffle makers. So does everyone else. The line is already five deep. Good thing I got here early.)

Sorry we didn't post last night. Couldn't keep our eyes open after a long eventful day. We left Walnut Creek in the dark and 240 miles and 14 hours later we arrived in Lake Tahoe in the dark. In between there was plenty of light, highlights and lowlights that is.

The first couple of hours was made up of peaceful back road riding. We mapped out a root to Ripon and Eric placed our notes in the map holder on his gas tank. Unfortunately, an hour into the ride, the notes went flying out, multiple pages blowing into the wind. That slowed us up as Eric went chasing pieces of paper through the California countryside.

We arrived in Ripon in time to watch 30 minutes of a u19 girls soccer game. I needed to see if these California players lived up to their billing. I wasn't disappointed. We watched a team called the Cougars. Very impressive. My guess is that most of the roster will be Div. 1 college bound. These girls can play...

From their we jumped on 120 towards Yosemite; we and the rest of the world. In first gear with hands on the clutch much of the way, we finally pulled over in Jamestown and readjusted our plans. We decided to head to Tahoe for a couple of days and then head south to the park once the weekend crowds clear. So we grabbed the Rawhide bypass, catching Route 4, heading into the Sierra Nevada's, through Stanislaus National Park and Ebbetts Pass. I am so glad we did.
This route was amazing. We climbed to nearly 9,000 feet. As we ascended, the tree types and vegetation seemed to change along with the altitude. Different pines at the beginning, changing to fir and then sequoias. There is nothing like these narrow roads, surrounded by tall trees, weaving through a quiet mountain pass... a motorcycle ride to heaven.

The decent on the eastern side of Ebbetts Pass was much more challenging. The road was narrow, very steep with very tight switchbacks. Occasional cars coming the other way were constant reminders not to stray towards the middle of the road.
For the most part I like these bikes; 106 horsepower, 990cc with lots of thrust.
What I don't like is the fact that they are tall, very tall. In my opinion one should be at least six feet to ride them. Eric and i both fall short of that forcing us to be on our tip toes when at a stop. At over 530 lbs, the bikes are difficult to keep upright. Today, while on a sideways incline, I tilted the bike to put up the kickstand, I tilted a little too far and the bike came toppling over. I was able go cushion the fall but I ended up slightly damaging the luggage rack. I wonder how much that is going to cost me.

I don't have as much range of motion in my hip as I used to have. Eric has to help me mount and unmount the bike. I make sure no one is watching when we go through this routine. I have a reputation to keep up.

We arrived in Tahoe around 7p.m. and pulled into a MacDonalds so that Eric could get a snack and I could consult my iPhone for a hotel room. When about to leave, Eric declared that he couldn't find his keys. Panic ensued. He ran back into the MacDonalds; no dice. He accused the two homeless people nearby of stealing them. He actually referred to them as druggie thieves when describing them to the store manager. It was not a fun way to spend the evening, especially after a 14 hour day. We locked up the bike with my lock, decided to get Eric a taxi and looked for the phone number to call the bike dealer to get replacement keys. Then, when the store manager stepped into the parking lot to determine whether the surveillance cameras might have picked up the thieves, she spotted the keys hanging from Eric's saddle bags. Unbelievable. Eric had been ready to press charges against these guys. So much for presumed innocence.

We had an expensive sub-par dinner last night. Eric had chicken. I had fillet mignon. Neither was memorable.

Thankfully, Eric did much less snoring than the night before. He is using his Blackberry much more than last year's trip. I'm not sure what's up with that.

We are off for a four mile hike above the Lake and then getting on the bikes for a few hours heading back towards Yosemite. Not sure where we will spend tonight.

I'm a little bummed that I can't watch the Patriots. Go get em boys.

If I am lucky, I will get a moment to log into the web stream to watch the NU Womens soccer team take on league foe James Madison. It's a big game. I will be cheering for you behind my helmut shield. Go Huskies!

Later...
George
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Another great day. George wanted to see a high school soccer game necessitating a 40 mile diversion. Then a long ride into the sierras up to two great passes at almost nine thousand feet. Picture a road with lanes of say the taconic parkway and then cut them in half, add 270 degree switchbacks and a 24 percent grade and there you have it. Fabulous.

These bikes, KTM 990s, are ok but because they are also off road, you have to be 6' 6'' to have your feet touch the ground. Not a problem for me but a problem for George. I have to essentially lift him onto the bike and pull him off. A little mishap in the parking lot when he tried to get on himself but once on riding is good and safe. George keeps up with the traffic now; no more 15 mph and flashers on the interstate.

You forget how different things are here. Huge distances, great forest smells, nicer people and daunting peaks. A very different feel.

I would say George and I are getting along well. He has been critical of my sleeping habits and asked "what I was sucking last night" (a water bottle) but given some of the early challenges of the trip, things are good.

I will defer to george on the incident at mcdonalds. Because I only have the smaller keyboard of the iphone (he has the iPad), my entries will be shorter. Thanks for reading.

-eric