The Trip Conceived

After a twenty-something year hiatus from riding, I am now back in the game. I spent last fall learning to ride again, only this time I was NOT nineteen and invincible. My first priority is safety. My second priority is fun. Those two are sometimes diametrically opposed, so I figured that I better learn how to do this right the second time around in order to maximize both at the same time.

So after getting my permit I enrolled in Idaho's STAR (Skills Training Advantage for Riders) program. Its a full day of classroom instruction and riding skills tests that when completed successfully results in getting your motorcycle endorcement without having to do the riding test at DMV. I highly recommend taking this  program regardless of your skill level or experience (they offer several different skill level courses). Not to mention that my friend Mike (that got me back into all this) happens to be married to a STAR instructor (who also happens to ride a shiny new Harley!)

And as is likely to happen, after getting my endorsement I went on a couple of rides with Mike and his wife. We did an easy but enjoyable trip from Meridian to Murphy, then stopped for some Pizza in Marsing, then back home. (see Meridian to Marsing loop route) Another time we took a more challenging ride with lots of 50-60mph turns from Hill Road in Boise up to Idaho City (see Boise to Idaho City route). Hill Road is a fun and beautiful ride by itself with lots of people enjoying it on bicycles as well. But Idaho City is  a classic ride out of Boise. We had burgers and fries at Trudy's Kitchen for lunch, along with many other motorcyclists, then headed back to town. It was an awesome day.

Of course Mike and his Wife ride pretty regularly and every year they plan a week or two long trip across the West. I am fairly confident that this is the highlight of Mike's year as he goes on and on about it both before and after. I am also fairly confident that this motorcycle thing is a disease that spreads rapidly, because now I have been bitten, and that itch needs to be scratched!

So this summer I conceived an excuse to ride my motorcycle to some mystical far away place; my Parents house in Sonora California. Okay not so mystical, but I don't get to visit them very often because it is far away (about 12 hours), and the bed and meals are free. Typically this trip runs from Boise to Winnemucca Nevada on Hwy 95, then down I-80 to Reno, and pick your route from there over the Sierra Nevadas to Sonora. This route, while efficient, is quite boring, straight, through the dessert, and Interstate 80 is all 75mph through Nevada. Not my idea of a "motorcycle trip". I spent some time trying to figure out how to get from here to there without going a million miles out of the way or exceeding 2 days, and yet avoid the Interstate freeways. This is the route I ended up with. Day one is a little boring but there is no avoiding that. Day two will be mostly through the Sierras so I will have to pack and prepare carefully to make sure I don't get caught in some unexpected weather. 

With the route set, I am trying to nail down the date. I would prefer to travel when its warm, but not burning hot since half my trip is through high dessert. So late July and August are out. I have other plans in early July so it looks like late June is it. As my departure day looms in the near future I am apprehensive about the weather. We have had an un-seasonably late spring here in Boise, and its been raining every few days and only 50-60 degrees. In fact it rained all day just this last Saturday. I guess I will be packing rain gear for sure.

The anticipation is growing. I could hardly focus at work today. I leave in just a few days!