Home at last, but the day didn’t start out well. I woke up at 3:30am with an extremely sore left forearm. I spent the next hour and a half worrying about how I was going to ride with such a sore arm, and how was I going to fly on Tuesday—my first Baron flight in about 2 years. I finally got back to sleep and woke up again at 8. It was pretty cool outside again but I was happy to take my time again anyway. I took some ibuprofen (glad I went back for it on Saturday) and waited for it to take effect. After a shower and a slow bike cleaning the arm felt useable so I saddled up and headed out for the final day at about 10:15.
I quickly learned that all I had to do was change the position of my elbow and my arm was like new. The pain wasn’t really from clutching but from all the tension in the climbs and descents. Conscious relaxation of the arm made me forget that it hurt at all.
The seventeen-mile run into Sonora wasn’t as great as I’d hoped. All the Sunday drivers and all the bikers were gone as I’d predicted, but they were replaced by Monday work vehicles, which were worse. Pickups and vans who totally owned the road and made no concession to the biker in the rear view mirror. Once past Sonora, however, the traffic disappeared. The stretch shared with Highway 120 was really fast and then from Chinese Camp (where one of the HWWs was riding so fast he couldn’t read the signs and made a wrong turn) all the way to Mariposa I had the road all to myself. The climb to Coulterville past the banks of green rock (obsidian?) was more beautiful than I remembered. You can see so much more if there is no traffic and you can set your own speed. Also I was wearing polarized sunglasses on Day 1, and the scenery just didn’t look as good.
I should have stopped at the quaint old hotel in Coulterville for a soda, but was on a roll and headed for the descent to the Merced River crossing. At the bottom I stopped to take a couple pictures from the other end, then crossed the river and made the great climb up toward Mariposa. I almost turned around and went back to Coulterville for one more run at this canyon, but had no confidence that my arm was going to continue to feel good.
The Low End of the Merced River Climb
When I got to Mariposa I stopped for a bite to eat and wandered around the Museum of Gold Mining. My first concession to actually learning something about the history along this fantastic highway. I had skipped Sutter’s Mill and Mark Twain’s house as well as a couple other significant locations, and would’ve skipped this one if I weren’t tired. Glad it was break time.
There was a post office right next to the museum. Flying below the US flag was a POW-MIA flag. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that flag on a federal building before.
POW MIA flag
The last segment of 49, back to Oakhurst, is pretty fast, and I stopped there again to take a couple photos, get some fuel, and say a proper goodbye to a great Highway. The HWWs will note Pete’s great breakfast place across the road from the sign.
The End of 49
I wanted to take the quickest route home from here without actually going through Fresno. Buuut, a couple of wrong turns put me too far into the city and another one put me back even farther. I finally got on track and came into Kingsburg from the north, and it only took me about 30 minutes longer than it should have. I dismounted downtown in “little Sweden” and walked around for about 30 minutes. Every restaurant was closed, just as they had been when Michele, Ed, and I wandered around this street on our way back from Yosemite. The rusk lady was still gone, so I left her some money and a note (again) and helped myself to another rusk. This street was so much like before (nearly abandoned), that I felt like I was in the twilight zone. I finally remounted, got some gas, and started the last leg home.
Highway 99. Ho hum. Held as close to 70 as I could all the way for a gas mileage test (46.7), and got home a little after 6:30. Weakened but not so painful arm, tired but not painful body. Loving the road and loving the bike (my touring sport cruiser) that carried me safely up and back. Once the temperature got into the 70s it stayed there. The leather jacket was comfortable again all day. It was a perfect day, even for the HWWs.
For the benefit of the HWWs, some equipment observations:
The add-on windshield—already proven to be an absolute necessity on a long ride.
Floorboards—very comfortable. Easy to change foot and leg position. I scraped each of them once while cornering, so they probably slow the bike down in turns, but that may be a good thing.
Sissy bar/luggage rack—looks good and even in the absence of a biker babe is functional for securing luggage.
Driver backrest—very comfortable. An absolute necessity. This old couch potato really beat up his body over 3 days. No back pain and no shoulder pain. And now I know how to avoid the forearm pain.
Gas pump nozzle thingy—holds the gas fume recovery collar back on the gas nozzle. Makes refueling a breeze. Bought it at the Motorcycle Madness a couple weeks ago. Almost left it on the pump once. Various versions available on the internet.
Throttle-rocker—dollar for dollar the best accessory I’ve found. Takes away the need to squeeze the throttle all day long. Right hand doesn’t get nearly as tired. Cruise control would probably be better, but costs 25 times as much—or more.
Metzler tires—terrific if they’re installed. I put the front one on a couple weeks ago. The new rear tire is on my garage floor and probably contributed (in its absence) to my rear end getting loose a couple times descending to the Merced River.
Hard leather luggage—looks good, but kind of hard to pack efficiently. Once I got it figured out, though, it was fine.
Total distance – exactly 750 miles
Saturday – 264.8
Sunday – 210.5
Monday – 274.7
Worst gas mileage – 41.7 (Bakersfield to Kingsburg, upwind freeway)
Best gas mileage – 48.3 (Kingsburg via Bass Lake to Mariposa)
Average for the trip – 46.2 mpg
On 49
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