Magna-ficent Rides: Follow the New Front Tire

Day 1

The ride began at around 11am. A little later than long rides usually get going, but I did the usual 15 trips back into the house to get stuff I though I might need. I even went back after I got a few blocks away to get some ibuprofen to take along.

I got to Kingsburg on schedule, had some lunch, then headed straight north through the vineyards. Destination: Bass Lake, where I did a 25-mile bicycle ride a few years ago.

My plan was to go along the south shore of Bass Lake then head west to Oakhurst, where 49 begins. I made a couple wrong turns and wound up on the north shore. These wrong turns are pretty predictable when the map is in the bag on the back of the bike, and are the reason I chose to avoid this route last summer when transitioning from Yosemite to Sequoia. I didn’t want to get lost and lose valuable time. In retrospect I would rather have been lost forever than to listen to the whining about the heat from the Hawaii Weather Wimps (HWW) as we passed through Fresno on the valley floor. It was only about 105 that August day.

Anyway, these wrong turns put me into the town of Bass Lake, which had a great classic auto show going on. I felt lucky and walked around the show for a few minutes. I took a few photos of cars that had been popular hotrods in my youth, bought “the t-shirt,” then headed to Mariposa.

Fins

57 Chevy 58

After drooling over the cars I headed to Oakhurst, to start the run up 49.

Start 49

In Mariposa I stopped for fuel and to stretch my legs. As I pulled into the station, a group of about a dozen Goldwings pulled out going the other way. An elderly European walked over to me and asked me what all the motorcycles were doing on the road today. (There were more bikes than cars, and even the Harley riders were waving.) I told him that it was a beautiful day for riding and it was a terrific road. He said, no, there were 2000 bikes in Sonora. I had no idea what kind of ride was going on, but made a mental note to find out. A couple of sport bikes pulled in for fuel and left, and a guy drove in on a Shadow 1100. Like many before him, he eyed my Magna with envy. He said his friend had one and it would run rings around his 1100. He also said he used to owned Harleys and would never own another one. He likes the "bulletproof" Hondas like I do. He had just come up the hill on a short ride from Atwater and headed right back home.

I finally left Mariposa and entered the best part of Highway 49, between Mariposa and Coulterville. This was the highlight of our Yosemite ride last August. It was just as awesome, though a little more dangerous as all the rains left a lot of small rocks and sand on the road. The rear tire got loose on me twice.

Merced River - Top

Ready to Descend

Actually, this was the second great segment of the day. I was earlier surprised on Auberry Road going up to Bass Lake. It has a similar descent to a river valley, in this case the San Joaquin River. At the new bridge I dismounted and walked down to where the old bridge had been. It was incredibly peaceful. The river was running strong, as all of the Sierra rivers are right now due to the long, wet winter. Walking back to the bike it was so quiet that I heard this tiny waterfall about 20 yards off the road.