2 April 2000
The Accidental Tour
Most of Saturday I spent installing new handlebars, levers, throttle cable on my TR6R. That normally does not take long but each nut and bolt I remove gets cleaned and polished or replaced. Besides, there is the inevitable chain-of-events where you want to replace the throttle cable so you have to remove the carb to pull the top off to remove the needle to get the cable end out but you can’t get the carb off because the studs are backing out when you try to turn the lock nuts so you go with it and back out the studs then discover the air cleaner is in the way so you have to reinstall the studs and try to spin off the air cleaner but it hits the oil tank so you have to dismantle the air cleaner then go back to the nuts/studs to get the carb off to install the cable then button it up and discover that if you over tighten the lock nuts that you can now back them off so you’ve learned something after all.
So now it is dark and time to kick the bike to life. It fires up with a 5000-rpm roar. Something is wrong with the throttle cable but it is too dark to see so I shut down and roll the bike under the deck and wait for tomorrow.
Sunday I get a late start and then discover the problem is the cable stop is missing. It is somewhere out in the gravel drive where I was working on the bike yesterday on a sheet of plywood that I have since moved. I get my glasses and start looking. Amazingly, I find it in minute. It is going to be a good day! I set the cable stop in place and fire up the bike with a 4000-rpm roar. I know that can’t be good for the motor. It seems the cable is a bit short and I am out of adjustment so I have to shorten the steel sheath. And so the day progresses. I open up the headlamp and the oil pressure light is missing a ground wire. I have had this bike only about a year and have not done much work on it because it runs so nice. When I was putting the handlebars on I noticed the hi-beam/horn switch was looking beat up and would need some attention soon but not just now. So by 5pm Sunday I have most of the fettling done and it is time for a test ride. The bike is shiny and the Boyer keeps it idling at under 1000 rpm.
My usual test ride is up to Monticello Dam at Lake Berryessa. It is less than 10 miles and has some nice straight sections to get my speed up and then the crooked bit from Lake Solano to the dam. I set out a little after 5pm and I have to say it is a beautiful Sunday. I make it to the dam and decide to head a little further down 128 to the west. It is another 10 miles to the 121/128 split where I often turn around. This makes a ride of less than an hour back to my house. But I am feeling good so I take 128 to the northwest and follow it around the lake. Pretty soon there is a turn that will take you west on 128 to Rutherford, south of St. Helena. You can then take 29 south to Napa and get on 121 back to Berryessa. That is a nice loop. But I decide to turn north toward Spanish Flats. I had heard there was a loop around the lake that would take me to hiway 16 and Cache Creek Canyon. From there it is less than 50 mi to my home. How much further could it be to complete the loop? I have traveled about 25 miles so far and it is about 5:45pm. Lots of daylight left. I turn north.
Past Spanish Flat resort is a sign that says “Curves ahead, 20 miles”. So if I have 20 miles of curves then I hit Cache Creek Canyon I would be home in 70 miles, tops. Maybe less if this road drops into the canyon somewhere closer to home. I have never noticed the intersection I envision but that does not mean it doesn’t exist. I have flown over the area many times in a small plane and the back hills have lots of little roads. The road is absolutely beautiful. The flowers are out and the grass is green. KEE-RIST!!! There is a hornet in my helmet! I can see it walking around on my visor about an inch from my eyes. I pull over and flip up the visor and slap myself on the back of the helmet to knock out the hornet. I may have been a little enthusiastic with the slap on the head. I head out again.
A month from now the grass and flowers will be dead. The road gets narrow and winds up into oak woodland. There are meadows and pastures and you follow a creek for a good distance. There are no other vehicles but I see bike tracks; looks like some Goldstars, a Norton and maybe a Duc have been thru here in the last week. I see a sign warning me about high water. Well, that sign must be left over from the winter but when I come around a turn there is a creek running over the road. I just polished this bike. Do I want to go thru the creek or turn around and go back? I’m an hour into this run now and I don’t want to go back so I ease thru the creek trying not to get water up too high. It is only a few inches deep. I take off up the road and come around a turn and here is more water but this time I am going too fast to stop so I hit the water and send it spraying out everywhere. My right leg is soaked. I take it easy after that and make 4 more water crossings. My foot is wet.
The road climbs and gets gravelly in spots. I feel the bikes’ rear end slip out to the right in a left turn. My own rear end gives a sympathetic twitch. The road is paved but very uneven in spots. Like asphalt moguls. The road then climbs and starts to get better. There is a big gopher snake in the road here soaking up some heat. A large facility shows up on the right and there is a sign: the Homestake Mine. It is a large open pit mine I have seen from the air many times. Now I know where I am; nowhere. From the air, this is just rolling chaparral for hundreds of miles. I know I am west of the lake and I should be heading north but the road heads west up over the hills at about 2000-3000 feet and then starts down a steep grade to the valley floor. A big black tail doe stands in the road and stares at me. She takes off when I get too close. Now I’m worried about gas. I had about 3 gallons when I started 90 minutes ago.
I can see a mountain to the west. It reminds me of Mt. Konocti, at Clear Lake. I am headed for it. Pretty soon I see signs of civilization; a few ranches and then some smaller homes. I have not seen any road signs since I started that indicate where I am going. I ride into a small town and there is a fire station with LLVFD over the door. I am in Lower Lake on the east end of Clear Lake. Ahead hiway 29 crosses north and south. I get gas, peanut M&Ms, and orange juice. It is after 7pm and I am a long way from home. I really don’t want to ride at night because I don’t know this bike very well. I know the headlamp is not very bright.
At 7:17pm I head north on 29, then I take hiway 20 east. No more twisties now. The sun is down but it is still light. I make the hiway 16 turn about 25 miles from Lower Lake. It is getting dark. The bike pings on hills when I try to run above 4000. A few miles down 16 and heading into Cache Creek Canyon I flick up the high beam switch at my left thumb. The bike dies and the lights go out. I flick it down and the bike starts but the light stays out. I try it again. The bike dies. Hmmm, there seems to be a correlation. I switch back to low beam (no beam) and ride on. I push down on the switch and see blue sparks. I put my hand over the headlamp and it is barely illuminated by the pilot light. I’ve lost the headlamp and it is getting pretty dark. I have at least an hour to go and now the road is twisty again. But it is big sweeping turns and I can keep the speed up. The idea then is to get as far as I can before the darkness stops me.
So as night falls I am going as fast as I can with no lights, on a canyon road with a gorge on one side. Is there something wrong with this picture? I am keeping it at 4000 or so which is about 60 mph. Even if I get to Esparto, how will I get thru town with no lights? Maybe people will think my pilot light is just the Brit-Iron version of an American headlamp. A few cars pass going the other way. I am worried about getting stopped by a cop and forced to leave the bike until morning. It is not full dark but it will be in 15 minutes. Then the headlamp comes on. What the hell? Should I try the high beam again? I reach out and tilt the headlamp up a bit so I can see further down the road.
I am moving in and out of streams of cool air running down the canyons and across the road. It will be 70 degrees then 50 degrees. I am wearing a t-shirt, Levis and a denim jacket. I have no gloves. I am wearing shoes not boots. After all, I was just going to the dam and back. My headlamp picks up a pheasant in the road. He takes off and I duck as he flashes past my head at 65 mph. I notice my tach light has failed and I can’t really read the numbers on the speedo. I pass through Rumsey then Guinda. I pass the garish Indian Casino in the beautiful Capay Valley. Now I’m in Esparto and being tailgated by a beat up Pinto. Back onto 16 and I can get some breathing room. Just before 505 I turn down road 89, which parallels 505 for 10 miles into Winters. Now there is someone else on my ass. I slow down and a van full of kids passes me with mom doing about 75 or 80. I try to keep up but I don’t like that kind of speed on this kind of road at night. An orange sign flashes past at about 70 mph: GRAVEL 25 MPH. I am going to die. This is why you do not do 70 mph down a county road at night with a marginal light. I roll off the throttle but there is no gravel. Just another cosmic anus tickler.
I pass thru Winters and turn right on Putah Creek Road. It is 2.8 miles to home from here. I park the Tiger in the shed and walk into the kitchen at 9pm. My 20-minute run to the dam has turned into 4 hours in the saddle. My visor is dark with bugs. My jacket is covered with bugs. I say to my wife, “Hey, Dallas, check out my coat!” She looks, she blinks. “Get out! Get out! Get out!” Life is good.