Tom Bowman on his 2003 Honda Interceptor in Barstow, CA. ...on the return leg of a 7500 mile trip across America, to compete in the Fray in Ferndale.
To look for the roads I wanted to ride in California, California Motorcycle Roads was invaluable and inspiring. My actual list was guided by California's 5 Best Roads. So you see, it was almost pre-ordained that a motorcycle trip to the Fray was in the cards for 2008.
The bike needed a lot of work to get it ready, oil change with Mobil 1 5w-50, new chain and rear sprocket, new Dunlop Qualifiers, and most important: Oxford heated grips!
I headed out, into the wind at 2:30pm. It was a hard slog going up 58 into 40-50 mph headwinds, and thirty degree temps. Finally I picked up I95 at Emporia and headed South to warmth. The wind was now to my right, and would blow me sideways whenever a gap in the trees appeared. I had the Oxford grips on MAX heat, and when I stopped for a fillup in North Carolina...the bike wouldn't start! I bumped started it in the parking lot, and turned off the grip heaters. I rode for awhile, keeping the heaters off...until my hands couldn't stand it anymore. I stopped in a MicroTel in Aiken, South Carolina for the night.
Sunday, March 9: (Aiken, SC - Weatherford, TX - 1011 miles) OK, finally some warm riding and I vowed to make the best of it and get down the road. Stopping at a BK in Shreveport, LA, a black man approached with a story that his car ran out of gas at the plant outside of town and he needed a gallon of gas to get home. He said he had a $1.25...so I gave him two bucks. At the Texas border the rain started, and kept with me through the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro area. I made it to a truck stop on the other side of the city, around 3 am. I decided in the rain, to try out sleeping in the "Iron Butt Motel". I found a spot in the back, put the bike on the center stand. The bike cover went over it, and I crawled into the saddle with the tank bag as a pillow. I was so tired, the idling diesels couldn't keep sleep away.
Monday, March 10: (Weatherford, TX - Lordsburg, NM - 737 miles) A great day of warm weather riding, the rain was banished for the rest of the trip! The highlight of the day was visiting the Petroleum Museum in Midland, Texas...the home of all of Jim Hall's legendary Chaparrals.
Back in the saddle and heading West on I20, I planned to do a gas stop in Pecos...but somehow missed the exit and kept going. The next town looked promising for some gas until I drove up to the truck stop and found it closed. No problem, I saw a Texaco sign on the other side of the freeway. Unfortunately, when I rode over there, it was completely gutted by fire. I went back to the former truck stop, where a couple Mexican-Americans were working on their big rigs. I asked one guy to point me to the town's gas station. He told me, go back to Pecos...30 miles back the way I had come. Or head West 42 miles and there's gas after the joining of I20 with I10. I'm looking at my gas guage flashing red, and telling him neither option is very inviting. He talks Spanish with the other trucker, who offered up a gas can with a couple gallons in it. I took half and offered him $20...which he refused to take. Sometimes, you do a good turn and it comes back to you in other ways. The bike was getting some 40 MPG, so I managed to get to the next station going West, by doing my best "Balloon Foot Bodine" impression. Late in the evening, and climbing in the New Mexico hills the cold had returned. I found the grip heaters were working fine, but I just kept them on the lower two settings. I stopped for the night in Lordsburg, NM at the I10 Motel. I guess I was more fatigued than usual as I dropped the bike on the left side in the gravel parking lot. Even taking all the luggage off, I couldn't get it up without the help of the old codger, who managed the motel. Broken clutch lever and left mirror were the damage.
Tuesday, March 11: (Lordsburg, NM - Willows, CA - 1106 miles) I wandered the streets of Lordsburg, looking for something to help repair the bike. I finally found a Napa store, and bought some epoxy and duct tape. I was pretty confident the glue would not work, but combined with the duct tape, the clutch lever went back together and the mirror taped into somewhat the same position. I carefully only pressed on the clutch lever at the base, because it only appeared to be whole. This was a very long hard day of riding, going through the Arizona/California deserts and then the huge LA sprawl. Despite my best efforts, heavy traffic was the Interstate experience through Los Angeles, until going up the Grapevine to Gorman. It was very cold here, and again the grip heaters allowed me to keep on going North. I5 was a 90 MPH blast with the trucks clogging the slow lane, as I worked my way up the Central Valley. Brad Morgan had called me in LA, wondering if I would get to Ferndale that day...but realistically it would take another day. The team was all in place practicing on the Fray tracks. I really felt left out, because of the delays in getting started was preventing me from joining them. So I kept at it on I5 until I could no longer go on...time for another stop in the "Iron Butt Motel" in a Willows truck stop.
Wednesday, March 12: (Willows, CA - Ferndale, CA - 234 miles) Every other time I've gone to the Fray, it involved taking 101 from the Bay area through the redwoods to Ferndale. There is one other way, and it just happens to be number one on the list of five greatest California roads. That would be CA 36, which is 140 miles of turns from Red Bluff to Fortuna. That was my destination, and the reason for taking I5 through the heart of California. This road alone, is worth the trip across the country to ride it...it is like Deals Gap times 12! Words just do not do justice to this roller coaster of sweeping corners that climb over the coastal ranges to over 4000 feet and then descend to the Pacific at Fortuna, which is where the Fray motels are located. I was on a total motorcycling high, when arriving at the Ferndale Fairgrounds. There I met the five other members of Team East Coast, dutifully practicing on the eight Fray tracks.
Thursday through Saturday were spent racing ten to twelve hours a day at the greatest T-Jet race in the world!
Sunday, March 16: (Fortuna, Ca - Salinas, Ca - 356 miles) The day didn't start well, and neither did the bike. I hadn't even started the bike, since arriving on Wednesday. Got the thing loaded with the two boxes of race stuff that needed to be mailed. I was planning on going to Fortuna post office, but couldn't start it, even with a bump attempt and the pushing help from teammate, Bill Kurtz. Fortunately, my Honda Riders Club membership features road service...so a call and a short time later a tow truck came to give me a jump. Must have some leakage from the alarm system, that drained the battery flat. Anyway, time to say goodbye to the team, load up and head South in the first sunny weather since Wednesday. More problems near San Rafael, I stopped on the shoulder to check on my load. I put down the kickstand, but lost my balance and toppled to the right. Again, the bike was too heavy to lift without help. Fortunately, a good samaritan stopped to give a hand. Shortly after that, the Chips and a fire truck showed up. They quickly lost interest, when I told them I was fine and there was no accident. This did cost me my other mirror however.
My plans were very much adhoc, with no planning other than the need to head south to avoid the next Pacific front coming into Northern California. So it was 101 south, and crossing the Golden Gate to San Francisco. I picked up 1, which hugs the coast down the length of the "Golden State". Highway 1 is another of the five best motorcycing roads, but has considerably more traffic than CA 36. Fortunately, it's quite easy passing cars, just a twist of the wrist dispatches them all. As the day turned to night, I started to think that I should find a motorcycle shop and a place to stay the night. Of course this part of California is crazy expensive, so I went to Salinas, which is a working community known as the author John Steinbeck's home town. I just rode around until I found the Honda shop and the post office. They were closed however, so I decided to spend the night in the Honda shop's parking lot. I've gotten used to this and spent a comfortable night.
Monday, March 17: (Salinas, Ca - Barstow, Ca - 337 miles) The cold woke me up, around 5:30 am...3 hours to kill until the bike shop opened. I walked down to a Denny's and the lone Mexican-American waitress had me to practice English with, since I was the only there for quite awhile. The Mexican-American cook did some great eggs, hashbrowns and pancakes that warmed me up. Eventually the Honda shop opened, but no luck for VFR mirrors or clutch cable. I bought a cheap clamp on mirror, and spent quite some time rigging the mirror on the bike. The left mirror was useless anyway, but now I at least had some view behind me. Riding the freeways was pretty hairy, as I rely on my mirrors to pass safely. Stopped by the post office and mailed the two priority mail boxes that held all my racing stuff. Getting rid of that made packing alot easier! So on the road again, and heading back to 1 South, going around Monterey and Big Sur. Along this stretch is the most expensive gas in the country, $5.20 a gallon at Gorda. I had filled up in Monterey, so no worries!
I picked up CA 58 at Santa Margarita, another of the five best best, an amazing road, turns of all speeds and absolutely no traffic. They even have jumps like the "Flugplatz" at the Nurburgring. It's too easy to get carried away with too much speed. I just tried to remember how remote this road is, and if you get it wrong, help is a long way away. A perfect day of apexing strafing, on a sunny California day. As night fell in the desert, a rest area gave me the opportunity of seeing a "Joshua Tree", which flowers at night. My son is named Joshua, so I felt a connection to the cactus. I stayed to the perimeter of the LA "Megapolis" and finished up the day at the Route 66 Motel in Barstow. This is the oldest motel in town, and dates to the original Route 66 right in front of the motel. They had all kinds of old cars and memorabilia around, celebrating America's original highway to the West.
Tuesday, March 18: (Barstow, Ca - Willcox, Az - 487 miles) I worked the LA freeway system around to Hemet, to pick up the last of the special California roads on my list, CA 74, the Pines to Palms highway. Temps were approaching 100 degrees crawling through Hemet traffic, heading for the edge of town and freedom. Climbing to a high plateau of over 4000 feet, the road was little travelled, although on the piney flat bit at the top, a Sheriff's car came out of nowhere and flew by. Very high speeds could be maintained in this section, but I was looking for corners. Eventually the road came to an overlook, and you could see the road sweeping thorough switchbacks as it wound down the mountain to the town of Palm Desert.
It was a funny feeling rolling through the green luxury of Palm Desert, after riding the switchbacks hard in the hills above. Back on I10 and heading home. In Casa Grande, Arizona, went in the BK and the walls are covered in posters from the golden age of Porsche road racing, the 917. Plus Formula One from the Sixties and early 70's. They did need a T-jet lock & joiner track, to really finish the decor. Pressed on until early in the morning, and then checked into the "Iron Butt Motel" in a Wilcox, AZ truck stop.
Wednesday, March 19: (Wilcox, Az - Beaumont, Tx - 1068 miles) After passing through the surprisingly large city of El Paso, I stayed on I10 for a different path then going out. I10 runs through San Antonio and Houston. I kept at it and made the miles fly by, and it was again early in the morning before checking into "Iron Butt Motel" at a truck stop in Beaumont.
Thursday, March 20: (Beaumont, Tx- Birmingham, Al - 581 miles) Continued East on I10 into Louisiana. At Baton Rouge, picked the famous US61 North. This old road follows the Mississippi River to my home state of Minnesota. This is the deep South, and I saw some reminders that it's a different world.
In Natchez, Mississippi, I picked up the Natchez Trace Parkway, which is like the Blue Ridge Parkway, in that it's a controlled speed parkway at 50 MPH ...unfortunately it's kind of boring at that speed and lacks the ridge top turns of the Blue Ridge. I trolled along until picked up I20 near Jackson. I stopped for the night and stayed in a motel at the exit for Barber Motorsports Park on the East side of Birmingham, Al.
Friday, March 21: (Birmingham, Al - Winston-Salem, NC - 615 miles) On the way out, I went through Birmingham in the middle of the night...I promised myself that stopping to see the Barber museum would be a priority on the return trip. I was there a half hour early and the curator came out to tell me that they would be able to open a few minutes early, but it was difficult to motivate his staff on a Friday! This is a beautiful raceway, and the museum dominates one end of the track, with a stunning view of the first sweeping turn after the pits. George Barber made a fortune in the dairy business and flogging ice cream in the city of Birmingham. He has built the largest collection of motorcycles in North America. He also has a large collection of Lotus cars. He has John Surtees 1964 Formula 1 Championship Ferrari and his 500cc Championship MV motorcycle, the first and only world champion on 2 and 4 wheels.
Just down the road from Barber is the monster oval of Talladega, the home to the "International Motorsports Hall of Fame". An impressive title, and many European and American road racers are members, not just the NASCAR crowd. Their collection is a mixed bag, but at least they are not protected by tons of security, like other museums.
My objective next was Deal's Gap, but going around Atlanta anytime near rush hour is no fun. The heavy traffic on 19 going toward Dahlonega, was a surprise. It's been some ten years since I came this way to the Gap, and the sprawl from Atlanta was most unwelcome! All this delay, mean't it was twilight by the time I got to Deal's Gap. This is perhaps the best known bit of asphalt to bikers and sports car enthusiasts on the East Coast. What it is: 318 turns in 11 miles, on US 129 on the border with NC and TN.
This is the "Tree of Shame" at the Deal's Gap MC Resort. The tree is filled with bike parts, that were sacrificed to the "Dragon". My poor bike has sacrificed enough this trip, and will not contribute to the tree, on this trip to the Gap.
I've run the Gap previously with my '84 Honda VF-500F Interceptor a few times, but it's been eight or nine years. So first time through to the lookout with the big VFR, I took it pretty easy. Slow in and fast out, is my motto! On the way back it was dark, and I get to see how much my brights, light up the night. So it's back down 129 to 19 North, working toward Asheville and picking up I40 East. It gets cold in the mountains at night, I'm glad again to have the heated grips on this ride! I wanted to get down in altitude to the warmer bottomlands...stopped at a rest area, and setup the "Iron Butt Motel" for the last time this trip.
Saturday, March 22: (Winston-Salem, NC - Virginia Beach, VA - 280 miles) Piece of cake today, as I ran to I95 North to US 58 East. The closer I get to home, the faster I go...have to watch that! It was a great feeling to pull into the garage, I had my moments, when I wondered if this trip would work. In the end, I got through it and had a good time. A little adventure, with little cars. ...TOM
