We gained first hand experience at how blissful ignorance can be. Carole had tried for months to get us reservations at Lake Tahoe for the Memorial Day Weekend but everything was booked. So we rode up on Tuesday, May 30th somewhat disappointed that we didn't spend the weekend in the high Sierras. (Actually, I felt incredibly refreshed on Monday after getting the weekend to de-compress from work in the luxury of a 5 star hotel and spa) .The ride up was beautiful but we learned that South Lake Tahoe had experienced a white-out condition snow storm over the weekend that had many travelers stranded away from the popular vacation spot.
Our ride started out of south San Jose. I check the air in my tires every morning and was becoming concerned about my front tire. The past week it was holding 27 psi, even though I had aired them up to 42 psi the previous nights. That was extremely unusual, as I rarely lost a pound in a week. But I had done careful visual checks of the surface of the tire and found no cut or puncture. The morning we prepared to leave I finally found the problem. There was a slight crack in the valve stem that could only be seen/heard if you pushed on the side of the valve. Like an idiot I was more concerned about spoiling my wife's surprise ride plans than I was about the valve stem. After all, it had been doing the job fine for over a hundred miles even though it would leak until the air pressure was down to 27 psi. So I kept silent about the issue, keeping it to myself instead of ruining Carole's ride with thoughts of concern.
All went well as we pulled out from San Jose and wound our way on freeways to Tracy, California and on up to Stockton. Traffic was moderate and the temperature was a perfect 72 degrees. We stopped in Stockton to use the restroom and top off our tanks. I checked the air pressure in the tire and found it again had leaked down to 27 psi. I realized that the problem was nagging me, cutting into my enjoyment of the ride. Considering that we were just an hour away from some pretty technical riding in the Sierras I finally fessed up to Carole that the valve stem had a problem and that I thought it would be best if we found a nearby Honda Dealer to replace the stem. We looked in a local phone book and found Stockton Yamaha/Honda was close to our route.
I tried calling them but their phone was constantly busy. We rode the 5 miles to the dealership where I walked into the service department to explain my situation. The service manager explained that they were extremely busy and it would be a while before they could get to my bike. I told him I didn't have the time since we were on a trip and asked if there was another dealership around that he could recommend. He said to hold on a minute and at least let him check to see if he had the valve stem. He did, and then told me that he could squeeze my bike in as soon as one of his mechanics finished with another bike. The look in Carole's eyes told me it would be best to wait around and get it fixed.
About a half hour later they rolled my bike into the shop, and half an hour after that the mechanic came out to tell me that the new valve was in place, the tire aired up to my requested 41 psi (I keep it there to minimize cupping), he had checked the rear tire valve and the breaks as well, and everything was good to go. $75.33 later we were back on the road again. My hats off to the guys at Stockton Honda. They did a great job, took pride in their work, and went out of their way to get us going again.
We quickly found our way to Hwy 88 and began our ride into the Sierras. And what an incredibly scenic and fun ride it turned out to be! After about an hour in 80 degree sunshine the flat road of farmland began to gradually change into an alpine climb. My occasional checks (like every other second) in my rear view mirror revealed that Carole was having a great time in the curves. I can't even begin to communicate how strong a rider she has become. I wasn't having to hold back on the throttle to allow her to stay close. Her bike and riding attitude seemed to have happy feet! I was envious of how low she was leaning into some of the curves, knowing that I would be scraping pegs and other parts if I was having as much fun. It was like she had turned into a skilled sport rider over night.
We crested Carson Pass and felt the air get quite a bit colder. I was wearing a thermal shirt under my mesh jacket so I felt comfortable, but Carole had taken the liner out of her leather jacket and was feeling a bit too cold. We came around a bend and saw an incredible frozen lake sitting among what appeared to be glacier covered peaks. We pulled into a turn-out along with four other bikers so that we could change into warmer gear.
The other bikers were three Harleys and a 2006 BMW K1200LT. The guys on the Harleys were three French men touring the US on rented Harley Davidsons, being led by the BMW rider from Seattle. It turned out that the BMW rider had rented the K1200LT to test it out. He was ready to move off of his HD Soft Tail and move to a more comfortable and snappy long distance touring bike. He was going to rent a GL1800 the next week to see how it felt. He mentioned that the weight seemed too high on the BMW for his comfort. He asked me how I liked the GL1800 and I simply smiled. I told him that I didn't want to bias his opinion and would let him discover perfection on his own next week.
After a few pictures and adding a few more layers of clothing we were back on the road again. Later Carole told me that she was still fairly frozen for another half hour after we left the lake. She had forgotten that we had packed our Gerbing Heated Clothing and it was extremely accessible for just such an occurrence. Oh well, the gear is new and it will take a while to become automatic with it.
We finally pulled into South Lake Tahoe around 5 PM. The sun was bright and the temp comfortably in the high 60's. We wound our way to our hotel that was a couple of blocks off the lake and less than a quarter of a mile from the Nevada state line. It turned out that Carole had found an incredible price from Travelzoo, an online "last minute" travel agency. We were staying in a suite that had just recently been remodeled to feel like you were staying at a ski cabin in the mountains. The price was only $29.00 a night, plus tax!! You can't even camp in that area that cheap! I would have been impressed if the place had only cost $99.00 a night. What a find! What a brilliant wife I have! Here's the link to the hotel we stayed in, the 3Peaks Resort and Beach Club.
After checking into our room we secured the bikes for the night and decided to find a place to eat on foot. Considering that the state line was less than a quarter of a mile away. We took the walk and checked out the casinos. All they had were the typical Casino Buffets, not our idea of a good meal. And the coffee shops smelled more of stale smoke than good food. So we headed back to the California side of South Lake Tahoe in search of an Italian restaurant. About 2 to 3 miles down the road we found The Brewery at Lake Tahoe, a micro brewery that served great pizza. Afterward it was back to the Nevada side of the state line to sit and celebrate my birthday over a couple of drinks at The Hard Rock Cafe. We both got a little looped before staggering back to our hotel room to call it a night.