We were intending to start out at sunrise but were surprised by how cold it got in Bridgeport at night. At 4:30 in the morning it was 36 degrees. So we didn't get on the road until around 8:30 when the sun had warmed things up to a balmy 60 degrees. We still had well over half a tank of gas apiece so we headed on north on Hwy 395 looking forward to our first view of Lake Tahoe from the Nevada side. Right where 395 cuts back into Nevada there was some road construction going on. We pulled into a Casino Hotel Gas Station and topped off our tanks. Carole looked at where we would enter back onto the highway and grew concerned when she saw the flagman was stopping traffic from the parking lot right on the side of a pretty steep little rise. I rode down to see if there was a more convenient way to enter the road and had no luck. So we pulled over to that area just as the flag person started letting traffic out of the lot. Carole zipped right over the rise with no issue. Oh well, better to be concerned about nothing than to be surprised by the near impossible.
About thirty miles later we began our ascent to Lake Tahoe up Hwy 207. I was disappointed to find that the highway was a wide 4 lane road that didn't offer much in the way of excitement, although the view back into Nevada was spectacular. We rode on through South Lake Tahoe and its large casinos and then caught Hwy 50 to start our descent down the Sierra's. We paused just outside Lake Tahoe to drink some water and decide on plans for brunch. Then we jumped on our bikes and headed through the forested curves of Hwy 50 westbound.
After about 20 miles we entered into the small little community of Strawberry, CA where the Strawberry Inn is a favorite place for Tahoe visitors to stay year round. The Inn is nestled among some pines below a large granite cliff called Lover's Leap. It has a bed and breakfast feel to it but is actually much larger. We stopped here for brunch and had the most wonderful biscuits I've eaten since leaving my grandmother's home 40 years ago.
An hour later we were back on the road heading toward Sacramento. It looked like we would be getting home about 5:00 PM. Carole decided to take the lead for a while so she passed me and I tucked in by her right rear saddlebag as we wound down past Placerville and through Folsom. As traffic became more congested I once again took the lead and guided us into Sacramento, passing the now closed Mather Air Force Base where I was stationed in the late 1980's. As we passed through downtown I noticed Carole falling way behind in my rear view mirror. I was trying to figure out what was going on when a youngster in a car pulled up next to me and yelled, "She's got a flat!" I pulled over immediately to the shoulder and Carole made her way in behind me. I had her move her bike in front of mine, chivalry causing me to think I could somehow protect her from the 75+ mph traffic with my bike.
I looked down at her tire and realized that we were in a bad way. No tubeless tire plugs was going to fix this beast, the tire had delaminated quite a bit as she was slowing down from 75 mph. I called HRCA on my cell phone and explained where we were and what our situation was. While I was talking to HRCA a highway patrolman stopped by. I told him I was contacting a tow service and got back on the line with HRCA while the cop stood by. They took down the appropriate information and told me they would call me right back after communicating our situation with a towing company. The cop suggested we move the bikes forward a little bit more since we were right where traffic split between two freeways and they had seen several cars in the past run into the barrier where we were sitting. We moved the bikes forward and the cop went on his way. A few minutes later they called back and said they had some bad news... there were a lot of motorcycles experiencing difficulty in Northern California and it would be a couple of hours before a tow truck could make it by. They suggested we have the CHP tow us and HRCA would re-reimburse us. I was concerned that the CHP would not send the right kind of tow vehicle so I told HRCA that I had no problem waiting two hours. They called me back a couple of minutes later to let me know that they had contacted a tow service and they would be by in a couple of hours. I asked them if they could call the local Honda dealer to have them ready for our arrival. They did, and now all we could do was sit and wait.
Over the next 45 minutes we watched traffic slowly move by wondering if we were causing a traffic snarl or if this was just the normal rush hour slow down for that area. We saw several Gold Wings and sport bikes ride by with a wave. Three Harley's pulled over and asked if we were doing all right. I told them we were okay and they rode off. A guy riding a GL1500 saw us and worked his way across the freeway to pull up behind us. I remember thinking, "tons of Gold wings have driven by and here is the first that stopped to check up on us." I let him know we were okay and he pulled out. As I watched his back disappear into the distance I saw that the back of his shirt said, "GWRRA Chapter F." I've come across that group before. They are all a great group of folks.
After about 45 minutes of sitting on the freeway my cell phone rang. It was the tow driver asking where exactly our position was. I described the signs all around us and about five minutes later he pulled up in front of our bikes. We tried to push the ST onto the slanted flat bed but it was simply too heavy. Finally I said to him, "just let me start her up and drive her on board." It was easier than I thought. He tied the bike down just by its handlebars which made me a little nervous, but I was in no mood to get picky so I followed the truck to Honda of Carmichael. We arrived without incident or damage to the bike.
Upon arrival at Honda Carmichael I immediately went in to the service department and spoke to Jeff, telling him our situation. He said I needed to go to the parts department and check if they had a tire. They didn't. But the parts guy got on the phone and started calling around. The sixth place he contacted had the tire but it was 5:30 and it was about a one hour round trip to pick it up. I found Jeff and asked him if I took off for the tire right away if he could install it for me. "No way. It's rush hour, it will take you at least an hour to come back, and we close at six." I was bummed. I hunted down Carole and told her we would have to spend the night in Carmichael. She asked me what time the service department would open in the morning so I went looking for Jeff. He caught me from behind and said, "If you can hurry up and get that tire I'll start working on taking the flat one off and get you back on the road tonight." I grabbed Carole and we were out of there before he could reconsider.
We rode over to Roseville and bought the tire from Roseville Cycles. Carole wore the tire like a bandoleer on the back of the Gold Wing while I rushed back to the dealer as fast as I safely could. We arrived at 6:45 PM and Jeff had the tire mounted, balanced, and installed by 7:00 PM. I thanked him profusely for going the extra mile and asked him what the bill came to. He charged us fifty bucks for the install so I flipped him an extra twenty. I wished I could have given him more to show how deeply we appreciated his efforts. I asked him where the nearest diner was and he said there was a Denny's right down the street. Although we weren't really hungry we needed to recollect our thoughts before getting back in traffic for our final leg home. We rode both bikes down to the Denny's and had a dinner side salad while catching our breath.
Phil, if you ever read this note I can't thank you enough. Honda Carmichael will be getting lots of our service business in the future (I'm about due for a new pair of Dunlop Elite 3's on the Wing).
We got back on the road at about 8:00 PM and made our final dash for home. As we left I-80 and cut over to I-680 we started getting blasted again by a side wind. At night, when visibility is restricted, all the fun I have with side winds disappears. Carole was feeling stressed by the winds as well. We would have been wise to find a hotel for the night but with the end just an hour or so away we pressed on. We finally pulled in at home around 10:00 PM, grateful that our trip had come to a safe end.
It was an extremely satisfying trip with lots of adventures to talk about until our next big ride. I learned a lot about what it is like to ride side-by-side with the one you love, and all of it was good. I look forward to our next run. It looks like we'll be taking a trip to the San Juan Islands in Puget Sound outside of Seattle in August. Until then, we'll have a blast on the Northern California roads that are our playground.