Return to the Road

After a year of staying at home, it’s been a relief to head out and see some of the world again.

Riding above Kernville

I did a couple of trips in June to escape the heat in the valley. Drove up to Tehachapi to see if my spark ev would make it -it didn’t, had to get towed the last couple miles to the charger 😦 . Next I took a ride up Kern Canyon. There was a slight delay in the canyon(I178) due to construction but otherwise lots of easy riding through plenty of twisties- went to Kernville for lunch then on to Sequoia and the lovely cool trees. Saw the sad aftermath of the fires near Camp Nelson. Then returned to the insufferable heat in the valley.

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https://captnemo.smugmug.com/Places/California/Kern-County/Tehachapi-and-Sequoia-June-2021/

IMS Long Beach 2019

The International Motorcycle show held in Long beach was a great opportunity for me to check out all sorts of bikes. I particularly enjoyed getting to ride a Zero electric motorcycle, trying out their wheelie sim, checking out the Energica electric motorcycle and riding the Harley live wire on the dynamo.There were also so great electric bicycles to check out and test ride so this was a full day of fun.

 

By the end of the day I was pretty tired and hungry so I made my way through the convention center and over to shoreline village where I had delicious craw-fish étouffée at Louisiana Charlies and admired the view of the harbor before heading home.

 

 

Flight in the City of Angels

I rode my motorcycle to head out and escape the dust and heat of the valley. My first stop was near hungry Valley state recreation area to check out the wildflowers.

Next up was a brief stop at pyramid lake to enjoy the view.

Since it was such a nice day I decided to keep on riding and headed on to L.A.

I had been watching the tv show Bosch online and read some of the books as well, which mentioned the Angels flight funicular was running again. I had missed out on riding it years ago when I lived in Long Beach for awhile, so I decided to go check it out. I wasn’t able to park near the train as the Los Angeles Fire Department was involved in some sort of operations nearby. I found plenty of spots a few blocks away though and walked back.

The train cost a dollar to ride up the hill so I hopped onboard.

The view from on top was good and I walked around for a bit checking out the architecture of the nearby buildings.

Coming back down the hill I crossed the street and checked out the underground market.

I made my way back to where I parked the bike and rode on to another spot frequently mentioned in the Bosch stories- Echo park.

 

After dinner at a nearby taco truck, it was time to hit the road for the long ride home. Another great day out on the bike.

One year on an Electric Motorcycle

So It’s been about a year since I bought a City Slicker. (I know cause I just stuck the new registration sticker on it) I managed to hit over 3000 miles while riding on Saturday. In the last year I have added the rear rack, different mirrors and a new rear tire(something took a chunk out of the one it came with- roads around here are in pretty bad shape) and I added the controller upgrade. CSC replaced the charger for me when it died after about 6 months(hope the n

ew one lasts longer) Over all I’m really happy with it. Most days I drive about 20miles(9.6 to work and back) and I have enough charge to stop at the store or run to the bank etc. Today I deliberately went for a slow drive (kept it in eco mode) had lunch at Ethel’s Corral and did about 40miles before I got home(just in time it was starting to rain a little)

Return to Vegas or the T-rex ate my bike!

It turned out the reason we didn’t have reservations in Henderson for the trip home from Ely was because I had booked a non-refundable night for the following weekend, So what the heck it’s only 700 miles or so round-trip so I loaded the bike and off I went.

My first obstacle was as I neared Baker a huge dust storm hit. These are pretty impressive in a car, on a bike not really something I’d recommend experiencing. The pictures don’t really do it justice since I hid my camera away to protect it during the worst of it.

I made it through though and stopped in Baker to wash off some of the dust and check out Alien jerky.

I also stopped by a large solar collector field that had an unearthly glow as the focused sun beams shone through the dust still in the air.

I arrived in Henderson Nevada to find Dinosaurs had taken over the town!

I made it safely to my hotel though (T-Rex didn’t get me) and checked in and went and got some dinner before heading out to see the Vegas strip. I decided to take a ride on the new “High Roller” Ferris wheel. you start out by stepping into one of these.

Before long you are climbing into the sky, they have screens that remind you how high.

and the view once you’re up there is wonderful…

I walked along the strip a bit then cruised it a couple of times on the bike before the crowded traffic got to me and it was time to call it a night. So I headed back to the hotel in Henderson.