Tour de Reno/Street Vibrations – Day 4

Before we closed out Saturday evening we enjoyed the sounds of a Carnival/Latino band.  They played Santana down to the exact guitar note and percussion crash. Awesome group. I got a fairly good picture of the band and thought I’d post it. If anyone knows who this group is let me know and I’ll update the post. UPDATE: Band is Caravanserai. A Santana tribute band who painstakingly recreate the sound. Photo is Hank Gibson (L:Bass/Vocals) and Leo Herrera (R:Guitar/Vocals).

Sunday was our return trip to Portland.  It was going to be a very full day of riding — Reno, Susanville thru Mt Shasta to Portland via I-5.  More than 550 miles in the saddle and the weather had turned ugly.

When I tour on longer trips I bring gear for temperatures between 30°F and 100°F and assume that it could be raining continuously (as in 24 hours a day). I try and do this no matter where I’m going and no matter what the time of year. It may seem silly to bring an electrically heated vest when touring in southern Nevada in September but it’s a habit and it’s been rare where I’ve taken a trip and didn’t use every piece of riding clothing that I brought at least once.  As was the case on this trip I used every electric piece of clothing I owned.

A full face helmet was needed to avoid an “ice cream” headache. Riding in the cold isn’t really the limiting factor – it’s the lousy traction conditions when you get rain or snow on the roads. We had 40°F with rain the entire way to Susanville, CA. The mountain range got a dusting of snow and by the time we stopped, up-plugged the gear at a local McD’s, it was just down right nasty. The additional effect – called wind-chill factor has a way of cooling everything and it is significant on a bike.  It has a way of finding any itty-bitty opening in clothing and making it worse. The faster the air is moving the faster it will cool.

Standing in line at the Susanville McD’s a dude told us of his departure from Reno only to find himself “wheels-up” after rounding a slick corner. Nothing major was hurt other than his pride and his significant other never stopped rolling her eyes and giving him the “if looks could kill” look! We up-leveled our body temp with some hot java and sausage biscuits. While we were eating the rain stopped. We redressed and departed and by the time we made another 40 miles the roads were dry and we were making quick tracks to Mt. Shasta.

From Susanville we took CA-44 through Lassen National Forest.  We headed up toward Old Station and then took CA-89 toward the town of Mount Shasta.  This route is good and fast with varied and interesting scenery.   When we stopped in Mount Shasta for gas and started peeling off clothes as the sunshine started making the day look better.

We hit the on ramp for I-5, stopped once for a quick gas-n-go and then landed in Eugene at a local truck stop for dinner. We made it home in a little over 11 hours and only a slight ear buzz.   Another terrific and safe trip!

There is a difference between travel and a vacation. We choose the itinerary for vacations, but our motorcycle travels lead us on a journey…