It's a last minute decision on Friday, but in a span of an hour a
consensus was reached to do a 280 miles round trip ride from
Pasadena to the Anza Borrego Desert State Park to view blooming wild
flowers. Objections? None other than the fact that my R12R
has only 302 miles on it and it still needs another 300 miles to get
pass the break-in interval. This means I can only do 4K
RPM. At least that means 70-75 MPH max. That's alright I'm
game. The other bad news... no GPS. That means the Captain
has to lead.
[ Saturday -
April 3, 2010 ]
0830 hours. I find myself gliding pass the gates of the Captain's
gated community. I managed to sneak in without having to dial him
up. His garage open and he's getting ready for the ride.
"Just the two amigos," he says. Yes, just the two amigos.
It's been at least 5 months or more since our last trip to Arizona, which was a
mild disaster. Still, it's time to put that all behind us and
enjoy today's ride. First stop, Pala Casino for brunch.
However, I need coffee. It's a quick stop for fuel and Starbucks
before the day begins.
Yum... nothing like the taste of a Starbucks mocha. It definitely
sets the mood for the day.
Starbucks! The juice of champions.
80 miles on the 71, 91, and 15. Traffic is moderate with a
moderate splattering of idiocy, but that wasn't too bad. Man oh
man! The fuzzies are out in droves. They're
everywhere. It's a definite case of, "Let's ticket you so the
state of CA can have a budget."
It's been just two years and the Pala casino has already changed.
What use to be a open garden entrance to the casino is now a closed off
parking area. It goes to show how quickly time passes and how
fast life changes. Here's what the parking area looked like two
years ago.
Even the buffet area changed. It's an upgrade compared to how it
looked two years ago.
Always eager to start the chowing down. Fancy chairs and fancy
tables.
A bit of history about the Pala Indian Reservation... what does it say?
... and a lot of hanging around relaxing before heading out to
experience the wild flowers.
Well, the intent is to head to the Anza Borrego Desert State Park to
check out wild flowers, but we're not going to make it. Instead,
we're going to do what ever good ADV biker would... detour as we see
fit because it's an adventure regardless of how it's slice up. In
other words, we're checking out the Palomar mountain road because we've
never been on it. Not to mention the road's popularity with the
sport bike crowd. We even make it all the way to the Palomar
Observatory. You know, the locate where the famed Eugene Shoemaker
use to work before he had a tragic car accident that ended his
life. Who's Eugene Shoemaker?
A
geologist/astronomer who discovered the Shoemaker-Levy9
comet.
Up Palomar mountain road we go. Man I'm rusty with hanging off
the bike. The Captain cooks me up the hill. Here we are.
Palomar Observatory, or at least the parking lot of.
I have to admit defeat and admire the 11 year old bike that can still
kick my ass.
Of course I think I have him beat in the fuel range department.
This is turning out to be quite the fun ride. Unfortunately I'm
the only one that appears to be willing to go on these short notice
rides. I comment to the Captain, "Hey, it looks like I'm the only
kid that can hang with the old man." I get a definitive yes and
laughter of agreement. Well, we can continue to Anza Borrego or
head back. I decide to end the trip here as it's getting
late. We head back to Temecula for some coffee before really
ending the day's ride. On our way down, we are captured by Rick Clemson. I have to
go to his website and order my below full photo.
The white thing...
Once again, fuzzy wuzzies are everywhere.
We fart around at the Starbucks for another good hour before we take
the final 80 miles to get back home. 15, 91, 71, 10? I
don't think so. The 91 is plugged up for some strange
reason. The Captain resorts to the 15, 10 to go home while I
resort to the 15, 10, 57, 210 to get home. What a great day and a
perfect way to end the break-in period. By the time I take the
12R in for the service, it has a good decent 730 break-in miles.
Written on: April, 3 2010
Last modified: April 13, 2010
