I'll be honest. I didn't do this tour on my CTX. There...that's done. I meant to do it on my bike, and I really wanted to. But that high pressure area that parked over Northern California for 9 days and brought temps in the 111 degree range was too much for Mister Olderandwiser. And, there was no getting away from it. By 9 o'clock on these mornings it was already in the mid 90's. And besides, my other half was taking our van to the same place I was going...so I decided that air conditioning was good and 111 degrees at 65 mph was not. Is it even possible to drink enough water to keep from being too dehydrated on the moto when it's like that? Can the police pull you over for DWD?
My wife is a phenomenal bicyclist. Now in her mid 60's she continues riding in our Sierra Nevada Mountains here in California and in the steeps of the Italian, Swiss and Austrian Alps each year as we visit our home in the northern region of Trentino, Italy. When she was in her early 40's she hammered all but two of the 20 year olds on the U.S. National Cycling Team, and two professional women's teams during a race up Mount Diablo in the San Francisco Bay Area. She's a member of one of our local cycling clubs and each year they have cycling "camps". These camps are always in scenic places and as a photographer I tag along for days of getting up too early to snag sunrise shots and for evenings filled with my excuses to her about why we can't have dinner until my "golden hour or blue hour" shots are finished. Try explaining to a starving cyclist after she has done a 75 mile bike ride with 9,000 ft. of elevation gain that she just can't eat yet because there's still a little light left. Now you know why I walk funny.
Usually we coordinate the trips like this...she drives the van with her bike, cycling gear and all of the stuff we need to hotel camp. And, she drags along my big bags of photo gear. Then, I ride my CTX to wherever the camp is held. Yes. You may call me the King of Sweet Talk. But, I still walk funny on my way to dinners.
So, please understand as you read that even though this is a fake motorcycle trip...it would be the same on my bike. Only I would most likely be mistaken for a piece of jerkey on the side of the road! The cycling camp was held this year at Mount Shasta City which is located on the lower flanks of the mountain by the same name. Mount Shasta is a 14,180 foot high behemoth and the city is at 3,586 ft. Just enough altitude to drop the temps a bit. This entire region of California which lies in Siskiyou County is so interesting and so diverse with it's high mountains, deep blue lakes and high desert that you would think it to be a natural motorcycling destination. You'd be right...and baggers, sport tourers and moto-trikes are everywhere. Camp gear tied to the full length of high sissy bars, leather sidebags bulging so large as to push against the backs of pillon's legs all being pushed along the Siskiyou County byways makes one wonder if Sturgis isn't very far away.
On the bike I would have ridden from Sacramento to the town of Red Bluff and taken Highway 36 to the west. This is popular with motorcyclists as all of us want to to pose with our bikes under that "Twisty Road...140 miles" roadsign. The road lives up to it's reputation but before it reaches the Pacific Coast it intersects with Highway 3 going north. Hwy. 3 is a gem. It's twisty enough in it's own right as it goes through towns with names that let you know you are "out there". Towns like Peanut and Hayfork. But, after Weaverville you'll be riding beside Trinity Lake on your right and the jagged, pale Trinity Alps Mountains on your left. You'll ride into Yreka, intersect with Interstate 5 and go south to find Mount Shasta City. You would also usually be able to route out of Sacramento and find your way to Highway 89 which goes through the breathtaking Mount Lassen National Park. But, not this year. California has had record amounts of drought breaking snow during the winter of 2016-2017 and CalTrans has been digging snow off of Hwy 89 in the park since April 4th and now at the beginning of July, they aren't quite half finished!
Mount Shasta is big time for "mysticals" who believe in spirits, rituals, the power of crystals and other dimensions. There's also a sizable group of those who believe that beings called Lemurians who are from the lost continent of Lemuria still live inside the mountain. So, as you wheel in on your bike at the park where the headwaters of the Sacramento River flow...be nice. If you have an allergy to pot, be nice from far away. If parks full of people dancing, chanting, practicing tai-chi, playing harps and being in various states of lucidity bother you...well...be patient. I'm going to Nevada soon!
I've had a long relationship with Mt. Shasta. I have climbed it four times. Once, using the southern route I hauled gear to the summit and spent the coldest night of my life. I've also climbed it from the northern Hotlam-Bolam Glacier route which mandates the use of ice hammers.
I found this giant book in on a school playground. My wife says it's an example of "higher education"!
Shot from the Living Sculpture Park on the northern flanks of Mount Shasta. This is a memorial to all veterans who have served our country.
My Three Shastas. The gigantic Shasta Dam in the foreground, Lake Shasta in the midground and Mount Shasta in the background.
My wife is a phenomenal bicyclist. Now in her mid 60's she continues riding in our Sierra Nevada Mountains here in California and in the steeps of the Italian, Swiss and Austrian Alps each year as we visit our home in the northern region of Trentino, Italy. When she was in her early 40's she hammered all but two of the 20 year olds on the U.S. National Cycling Team, and two professional women's teams during a race up Mount Diablo in the San Francisco Bay Area. She's a member of one of our local cycling clubs and each year they have cycling "camps". These camps are always in scenic places and as a photographer I tag along for days of getting up too early to snag sunrise shots and for evenings filled with my excuses to her about why we can't have dinner until my "golden hour or blue hour" shots are finished. Try explaining to a starving cyclist after she has done a 75 mile bike ride with 9,000 ft. of elevation gain that she just can't eat yet because there's still a little light left. Now you know why I walk funny.
Usually we coordinate the trips like this...she drives the van with her bike, cycling gear and all of the stuff we need to hotel camp. And, she drags along my big bags of photo gear. Then, I ride my CTX to wherever the camp is held. Yes. You may call me the King of Sweet Talk. But, I still walk funny on my way to dinners.
So, please understand as you read that even though this is a fake motorcycle trip...it would be the same on my bike. Only I would most likely be mistaken for a piece of jerkey on the side of the road! The cycling camp was held this year at Mount Shasta City which is located on the lower flanks of the mountain by the same name. Mount Shasta is a 14,180 foot high behemoth and the city is at 3,586 ft. Just enough altitude to drop the temps a bit. This entire region of California which lies in Siskiyou County is so interesting and so diverse with it's high mountains, deep blue lakes and high desert that you would think it to be a natural motorcycling destination. You'd be right...and baggers, sport tourers and moto-trikes are everywhere. Camp gear tied to the full length of high sissy bars, leather sidebags bulging so large as to push against the backs of pillon's legs all being pushed along the Siskiyou County byways makes one wonder if Sturgis isn't very far away.
On the bike I would have ridden from Sacramento to the town of Red Bluff and taken Highway 36 to the west. This is popular with motorcyclists as all of us want to to pose with our bikes under that "Twisty Road...140 miles" roadsign. The road lives up to it's reputation but before it reaches the Pacific Coast it intersects with Highway 3 going north. Hwy. 3 is a gem. It's twisty enough in it's own right as it goes through towns with names that let you know you are "out there". Towns like Peanut and Hayfork. But, after Weaverville you'll be riding beside Trinity Lake on your right and the jagged, pale Trinity Alps Mountains on your left. You'll ride into Yreka, intersect with Interstate 5 and go south to find Mount Shasta City. You would also usually be able to route out of Sacramento and find your way to Highway 89 which goes through the breathtaking Mount Lassen National Park. But, not this year. California has had record amounts of drought breaking snow during the winter of 2016-2017 and CalTrans has been digging snow off of Hwy 89 in the park since April 4th and now at the beginning of July, they aren't quite half finished!
Mount Shasta is big time for "mysticals" who believe in spirits, rituals, the power of crystals and other dimensions. There's also a sizable group of those who believe that beings called Lemurians who are from the lost continent of Lemuria still live inside the mountain. So, as you wheel in on your bike at the park where the headwaters of the Sacramento River flow...be nice. If you have an allergy to pot, be nice from far away. If parks full of people dancing, chanting, practicing tai-chi, playing harps and being in various states of lucidity bother you...well...be patient. I'm going to Nevada soon!
I've had a long relationship with Mt. Shasta. I have climbed it four times. Once, using the southern route I hauled gear to the summit and spent the coldest night of my life. I've also climbed it from the northern Hotlam-Bolam Glacier route which mandates the use of ice hammers.
I found this giant book in on a school playground. My wife says it's an example of "higher education"!
Shot from the Living Sculpture Park on the northern flanks of Mount Shasta. This is a memorial to all veterans who have served our country.
My Three Shastas. The gigantic Shasta Dam in the foreground, Lake Shasta in the midground and Mount Shasta in the background.
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