2006 Mar 19 Top Dawg Ride

Sierra Foothills Ride - text by Top Dawg editting by VSP
{Click on photos for full size images}





We assembled the crew at Wendy's on Hwy 120 in Manteca.
Most of us were there at 9:30 drinking coffee at the gas
station adjacent to Wendy's parking lot. There were initially 12 bikes
that began the ride and we picked up a couple more
at Angels Camp. Then lost one at the lunch stop.


Top Dawg
The morning began a little chilly (44° when I left Atwater at 0830) but
quickly warmed as the sun got higher in the sky. Don
VSP took the lead until we got past Knight's Ferry since he knew a back
road that was replete with twisties and very little traffic.
It stayed relatively warm until we began climbing the
hills approaching Jamestown when the cloud cover
started approaching 100% and the temperature began to nosedive.
We took a short latrine break at the gas station opposite the
HD dealership on Hwy 108 and then continued on Rawhide Road which
bypasses Sonora - a move decided on to avoid as much of the
weekend touristas as possible.





Other than the inevitable slow cages we encountered, the ride was smooth
and uneventful all the way into Jackson. Then trouble struck!
It seems we had picked the one weekend a year when "Dandelion
Days" an outdoor peddlers faire was being held. Traffic came
to a standstill in a couple of places (traffic jams in Jackson??!?) and
we discovered that our planned lunch stop (Mel and Fayes Restaraunt) was
jammed packed with nary a spot in the parking lot to stick
a dozen or so hungry bikes and their riders.


Rawhide Road near Jamestown

Entering Old Angels Camp from the south

Mel and Faye's parking lot
Don suggested we head out to Ione which was on our way anyway and we
wound up at Rides and Rods Café in beautiful downtown Ione.
{I took a long-cut, opposite of short-cut. We headed north east on Hwy 88, as Lorin and Bob - the locals - thought I was lost - to Climax Road to Ridge Road and back to Hwy 49. We continued through Sutter Creek to the Sutter Creek - Ione Road. That is a nice twisty piece of road with little traffic. In fact, near the end was a car parked in the road talking to an older couple standing in the street. - VSP}

The food was ok although a little slow in coming and it seemed we were being fed in shifts since the first ones served had almost finished their meals by the time the last order was placed on the table.


Lorin and Deputy Bob

VSP and Tiny


After lunch, it was decided that most of us would head back down Hwy 88 to disperse as our needs dictated. Phil and Dan were heading to Sacramento so tok Hwy 104 instead. Most of us made it to within a mile of Hwy 99 where VSP and the rest took a left hand turn, and then I was left alone to contemplate the day's ride as I wandered south on the big road to go home.
{I took local streets to Hwy 4 to avoid getting on Hwy 99 - VSP}


Don Bonnett


Cranky
{I logged 345 miles by getting home time at 5:30, left at 8. Only slow up for Eric, Don B and I was I-205, it was backed up, guess PGE dropped a power line on it and had it shut down for 2 hours both waze, sigh, but it was just a bit of slo, then off we went!!!!
Bill (Cranky) Snodgrass - San Jose, Ca 95136}

The Riders and their Bikes:
Top Dawg    '05 VN2000    Atwater
Don VSP    '93 VN500    Stockton
Tiny          '03 VN1600 Classic    Pinole
Garry Adams    VN800 Classic   Stockton
Eric Dunipace    1998 HD Soft Tail    Castro Valley
Don Bonnett    '01 1500 Nomad    Saratoga
Cranky         '01 1500 Nomad    San Jose
Sky               '04 1500 Nomad    Stockton
Marlys         '02 HD Road King   Stockton
Scott Souder    '02 Honda Blackbird      Stockton
Phil Terry     '06 1600 Nomad    Citrus Heights
Dan Albertson   '03 Aprilia Caponord    Sacramento
Lorin Annala    '99 1500 Drifter   Jackson
Deputy Bob    '00 1500 Nomad    Jackson