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Report From Peter aka Raider Boy

I had really been looking forward to the Northern California adventure Keith had put together for the West Coast Magna group, especially after enjoying the ride we did last year with the MRA. Last year's outing was the first time I had ever ventured out with any sizeable group for any length of time. After that trip, I was left wondering why I hadn't done such a thing before.

It was nice to see some of the same folks I met last year back for the 2005 expedition. Dobie and Val our leaders last year, Ian and Debbie from the land up north and of course Keith, our ride planner and leader for this year, all made the return engagement. I also met some new Magna people on this ride. I just continue to be amazed at how nice and quite interesting the people who ride Magna's are. Walt, Pat, Chris and Brad, it was a pleasure riding with and getting to know you. I hope we meet again.

I don't know if this was pure luck, or the result of Keith's superb planning skills, but did anyone else notice how smooth the rendezvous' were with the various riders we met up with during the course of the trip? It started with myself meeting up with Walt and Keith at the Golden Gate Bridge. We had a rough meeting time, but no more than 5 minutes after I pulled into the south visitor's center, did Walt and Keith ride in. Later that day, the three of us pulled into the Good Nite Inn in Rohnert Park to see Dobie, Val, Ian and Debbie just getting off their bikes, having come in from Placerville. Then the next morning as we were riding the short 5 minutes to the Black Bear for breakfast, I looked over to see Pat on his approach. He had ridden about an hour from his home and was arriving at the restaurant exactly when we were. Are Magna riders that prompt? Then later in the day at the junction of US101 and CA1, we were to meet Brad, coming in from Elko, Nevada. We had not been pulled over more than five minutes when bingo, Brad drove up. Good job, another on time rendezvous.

I'd have to say that the second most enjoyable portion of our five day trek was the afternoon excursion on Tuesday from Fort Bragg's on CA1 to the junction of US101 where we met Brad. This was a lovely stretch of highway 1 going inland into the forest. The curves were nice and smooth and the scenery just lovely. Thank goodness that the logging trucks were going the other way. You know, I never realized they took fallen trees out by helicopter. While I never did see the flying whirlybird, I certainly heard it hovering somewhere above us as we weaved through woods.

However, without a doubt, the best stretch of road we did on this trip was Wednesday on CA36 leaving Dinsmore to the junction with CA3. When we left the gas stop in Dinsmore, I found myself in the number two position behind Keith. Soon after departing, Keith decided to crank things up a notch and took off, with me right behind. I'd have to conclude that this section of California highway is a biker's paradise. The curves are of the 15-20 mph (at least that's what the yellow diamond signs say) sweeping variety and come one after another. The road was recently paved and in excellent condition. On this Wednesday afternoon in July, traffic was non-existent. This kind of road allows the rider to really get into a rhythm. I had heard people talk about being 'one with the machine,' but had always thought this was just a silly cliché. But now I know differently. One word can describe the feeling; invigorating!

I ran the V65 in 3rd and 4th gear most of time through this section of road, running between 4,000 and 6,000 rpm. Rarely breaking, I used the throttle and the transmission to adjust speed through the curves. After a while, I stopped looking at my speedometer and tachometer. Didn't need to see, I was purely riding on feel. This was an outright BLAST!

On one left hand turn, I clipped the kickstand on the asphalt. I thought, Holy Shoot, I've never done that before. Then on a right turn, I was leaned pretty tight into it and found my front tire within inches of the yellow divider paint when to my surprise, I looked up and saw a pickup truck hauling a camper coming around the bend from the other direction. Talk about an adrenalin rush, wow! I leaned the bike just a tad more, scraped the foot peg on the pavement and rode off into the next turn undeterred from having the time of my life. Thanks Keith.

While Thursday and Friday's rides couldn't begin to compare to the excitement of Wednesday afternoon, I continued to enjoy the companionship of our group. A few of us enjoyed a couple of beers on the picnic table on Wednesday evening at the Hi-Lo Motel in Weed. There's always an interesting story or two that gets told. Heard some interesting tales of the Nevada Highway Patrol, stories of the photographer and his favorite model Leslie, of serving in the Air Force and Navy, and about the music business back in the 70's and 80's.

Our Friday ride took us through Lassen National Park up to about 8,500 feet at the summit, where there were still sizeable patches of snow on the ground and ice in the smaller lakes. Lassen Park was beautiful and provided a nice, quiet and leisurely ride for our final day together. Lunch at the Child's Meadow just outside the park to the south was a treat. This is the place Debbie and Ian broke down a year ago. We arrived at the little café after official lunch hours, but were greeted like family while the cook stayed late and made us a wonderful lunch. It's moments like these that remain in your memory as strongly as the excitement of being on your motorcycle taking the curves and listening to your pegs drag pavement.

I am looking forward to another get together in 2006 and hope to see old friends and again make new ones.

Peter Hartshorn