C2C It's over

[Will]

We?re back in Western New York. The damn weather has followed us. It?s supposed to get into the high 80s later today. It hasn?t rained in weeks. Where is my cool summer with plenty of rain to help the tomatoes get fat and juicy?



We?ve traveled across the country and back. What do we have to show for it? A bumper sticker on the truck that says, "I traveled America?s loneliest highway. US Highway 50." A tee shirt from Lake Tahoe with a bunch of bare assed bears. Immense lumps in my MasterCard and American Express bills. An extra 5 pounds on my middle. A bag of "personal size" bath soaps. (Why can?t this size soap be bought at the store?) And a new cancellations on my National Parks Passport.



Memories? Only a million or so. Not a bad one in the bunch. Well maybe Washington, DC. And a couple others.



There was some "pavement testing" outside Carlyle, Illinois. These are sick people. Mile after mile of different distances between the concrete expansion joints. Some of these would compress your spine and drive your kidneys up through clavicles. Most of the guys complained. Mike Hahne drove right down the middle of the 2 lane to avoid it. If I do it again, I?ll drive on the shoulder. It has to be better.



Heat. Did I mention there was heat. In some places it was record heat. I?ve been trying to think of what it was like. Turn on your imagination. Imagine your at a trade show and they have the worlds largest hair dryer. Imagine it blows air at 60 miles an hour at 105 degrees. Now stand in front of it. How does it feel? Think about it. Hot? Well that?s what it was like. How do you deal with it? Dress correctly, which means cover all your body to protect it from the heat. Drink lots of water. And think positive. Being from Buffalo, that isn?t hard. Remember the blizzard of ?77? How about the blizzard of ?81? Just think about these events, while your body deals with the heat. At least your mind is on a completely different subject.



Now, when I?m up to my butt in snow, the thermometer needle has headed into the basement and the wind is blowing at Force 4 or so, I have memories of warmth. Warmth that can be imagined at the right time as needed. Memories of warmth that can?t be shared, but can be hoarded like good whiskey.



California is a hoax. Why people would life there is beyond me. Well, maybe money. For the first time, I drove through most of the state. There are some nice pockets, where normal people could live. But, most is irrigated desert. The grass is brown. The roads are nasty. "Merge" is not in the California driver?s lexicon. Because I was hauling a trailer, California law regulated me to 55 mph. So I drove in the right lane with the speed control set at 60 mph. People would enter the merge lane and expect me to alter my path so they could enter. It was beyond their comprehension that they should either speed up or slow down to merge. More than a few would match my speed and come to a stop at the end of the merge lane because they couldn?t figure it out. Then they would speed up and pass me. Why they just couldn?t accelerate to that speed in the merge lane is beyond me.



Good memories.



Sitting around the motel pool in Parkersburg, WV., drinking beers, thinking life can?t get better than this, when somebody says: "Let?s call out for pizza." See, just when you think life can?t get any better?



Riding the motorcycle friendly roads of West Virginia, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California all on the same trip. The rest of the states have nice roads, but not like these 5 states. At least not on Route 50.



Side trips: too may, to few, too short and too long. We saw 2 wooden bridges. One in Medora, Indiana that is the longest in America and hidden. There are no signs, not even at the bridge. It?s on a side road off a side road. It?s over 450 feet long. The other is in Felton, California. It?s the highest in the country. It?s built out of native redwood and was built that high to accommodate lumber wagons.



If you not aware of it, the National Park system has a passport system. It doesn?t get you any discount. It does bring lasting memories. It is also a reason to turn off the main drag and see something worth preserving. I got a few cancellations on this trip.



And some more trivial geographic knowledge. If you drive the country, you?ve seen the signs that say "Continental Divide". It is also a hoax. Many of the waters heading west don?t make it to the Pacific. They go into the "Great Basin." There are plenty of rivers in the Great Basin" but no outlet. Great Salt Lake is probably the biggest, but we drove past a bunch of salt and alkali lakes and flats that are where these waters go.



Enough.





Now I have to figure out how to upload pictures.

[tchrones]

Bill, glad to hear you made it home. You're right about a lot of California drivers and their lack of merging ability. My wife is a native Californian and she thinks passing a merging test should be a requirement for passing the drivers test. I had a great time on my portion of the c2c (Pueblo, Co to Brookdale, Ca). I'll try to get some pictures posted soon also. Tom (or Bob)

[Mike Barone #123]

Bill



Thanks so much for your updates on what has to have been the greatest CBX ride ever.



I was on the C2C for three days with with everyone and will regret the rest of my life doing the entire event.



The combination of great bikes and wonderful friends combined with adventure of this trip was what we all need every so often to put things into perspective.



Spending quality time with everyone on the C2C rides, eating stops and during the evenings was a certianly a welcome change for me compared ICOAs big rallies where I never seemed to have enough time to spend with everyone.



Thank all of you for doing this for us.





Mike

[Rick Pope]

I finally got home too. Rolled in last night (Weds.) around 11:00p, after leaving the Brookdale Lodge last Thursday morning.

After everyone deserted us in CA, we spent another day riding down to Big Sur. After riding through the heat for two weeks, I got pretty cool along the coast. We had all our vents closed and extra layers to keep out the chill. The coast is beautiful, once you get away from the traffic. We also got to experience "lane splitting" as we returnrd through Carmel/Monterey/Santa Cruz. Not my idea of fun......

On Thursday, Susan and I went up through San Francisco, via the coast and Golden Gate Bridge, then followed the notrh side of the bay to I-80 until it connected w/ US 50, got a photo of the sign that says "Ocean City 3073 mi". We visited w/ Pete and Ann Ruff, drove US 50 into Carson City, and retraced some of the steps we'd missed on the westward journey.

We also spent a couple of days in southern Utah, collecting stamps in the Parks Passport, did the tour at the Great Basin National Park through Lehman Caves, and drove until our butts feel like jello.

Susan has kept a journal, listing all the sights and people we've encountered, so she'll submit it to our editor for the CBXPress.

I think the only comment I need make in closing is, " When do we do it again?"

[Will]

I've been home since Tuesday night. We went to San Diego to see family and then headed home. I was greeted by a stack of mail up to my knees. I think I'm through it now.



I need to sort my pictures and add captions. Then I'll put it on a CD and mail it to Mike Barone so he can pick and choose what to put in the Xpress.



As you know, I also have a collection of pictures of the license plates of the C 2 C. That'll make one page, maybe 2 of the Xpress.



In retrospect, I sure wish I'd taken pictures of animal crossing signs. We easterners have all seen deer crossing signs, but how many have seen crossing signs for prong horn antelopes or mountain goats. The best was he bear crossing sign near Lake Tahoe, Maybe next time.



- Will -

[Terry]

Well, if no one else is going to say it, I thoroughly enjoyed riding the C2C from NV to the Pacific. It was hot coming off the mountain from Carson City into the valley south of Sacramento but the roads were good as was the scenery. The cruise down the interstate was necessary to get to where we were going and it was boring and hot but what else could we do? We avoided the bay area commute by taking this route. I also enjoyed riding my backyard two lanes around the Santa Cruz mountains. We got into Brookdale late on Monday afternoon. Pitchers of tea and ice water were waiting for us as was a free buffet. The manager let us sit in an area all to ourselves while we ate and relaxed after the day's ride. As darkness approached, some took advantage of the pool and others stayed in the bar or returned to the rooms.



After breakfast the next morning, no one could decide whether to go to the Golden Gate or Big Sur after the ceremonial toe dip in the Pacific. Turns out that our lack of a fast decision worked to our advantage. Bob (the head lister) showed up from Davis on his 81 and John, whose last name I forget, also rode in from S. SF. on his 82. Had we left earlier we would have missed them altogether. As noon approached we decided to hit Alice's for a snack which turned out to be lunch and afterwards, John headed back to S. SF and the rest of us cruised over 84 to the Pacific. Ten bikes in all left Brookdale, all Xs except for Susan's SV. Highways 152, 9, 35, 84 and 1 are all great roads and I thought everyone riding them with me enjoyed them as well. The shaded two lanes out of Brookdale to Alice's restaurant for lunch were a good ride. Dan from FL stayed in my mirrors nearly the whole ride and he was geared for the long haul! Way to go Dan! Lunch was good (I had the Honda sandwich, what else?) and the ride over 84 for pictures and toe dipping in the ocean was also great. Weather was good all the way and a bit cooler than most were used to. Traffic was not a problem.



After a gab session and pics at the beach, we headed south on 1 to Santa Cruz and the short ride up 9 back to Brookdale. The creekside restaurant at Brookdale is closed on Monday and Tuesday so we missed a group dinner there as no one was left by Wednesday night except the Popes, but the all you could eat buffet on those days was very good. Some enjoyed the pool at Brookdale and breakfast there was also good. Its hard to beat that area for riding and the redwoods surrounding the lodge made the, back at the motel time, quite enjoyable. Participants left, rider by rider until there was only Rick and Susan and myself. They decided to venture down to Carmel and the Big Bur area on their own so I took off as I had to pack and move the following weekend.



I thought a good time was had by all, except for maybe one rider, who, between offering unsolicited advice, and correcting everyone within earshot, complained about most everything else. :) I got a hug from him when he left so I figure he must have liked the area a little bit as well. Let's hope all (did) have a good time on this trip and that we can do it or something like it again real soon.

[Rick Pope]

We're finally unpacked, mail opened, grandkids have been here and gone. Now it's time to get organized.

Bill, the film is stil being developed. As soon as I get it back, I'll forward the digital stuff to you so you might put it together w/ yours and Dan's?

Terry, I sure appreciate all you did in setting us up at the Brookdale. The place is a natural for a motorcycle group, and the surrounding hills and roads are as good as anything else I've ridden. I'm also equally certain that all the other riders enjoyed it as much as I. Maybe we can do a "re-union" in 2010? I know Susan will be ready.

[Will]

Rick said:



>I'll forward the digital stuff to you so you might put it together w/ yours and >Dan's?



I snail mailed a CD with about 20 to 30 of my pictures to Mike Barone, today. It would take too much bandwidth and time for me to upload that many megs. He can use them on the website or the magazine or wahtever. The stack of stuff is still about 6" deep on my desk and work beckons on Monday.

[Will]

Rick said:



>I'll forward the digital stuff to you so you might put it together w/ yours and >Dan's?



I snail mailed a CD with about 20 to 30 of my pictures to Mike Barone, today. It would take too much bandwidth and time for me to upload that many megs. He can use them on the website or the magazine or wahtever. The stack of stuff is still about 6" deep on my desk and work beckons on Monday.