We departed the dealership with 11 bikes and headed for a route that took us on 160, Twin Cities, and I5. Our approach to the Capital Cities club house was on Riverside. We made a gas stop at a Valerio station at Riverside and Broadway which was a mistake for several reasons: (1) real bad restrooms, (2) credit cards didn’t work at the pumps, (3) attendant was overwhelmed. As it turned out, we could have walked to the club house which is a very nice facility with very clean restrooms.
At the club house we met up with 4 additional bikes representing the chapter that took a different route. After registering, some coffee and goodies to eat we gathered up and left for the poker run.
The first stop was in Woodland at Schoeder’s Motorsports. The route took us along the river using the Old River Road. It was a pretty route that kept us off the freeways.
After checking in and getting our envelops punched we took off for Dixon using I5 and Hwy 113 for the second stop. One of the bikes didn’t make the exit for 113 from I5 but caught up with us at the Dixon stop which was another Schoeder’s Motorsports.
The last two stops were in Rio Vista at the Chevron Station and at the Bates Elementary School in Courtland. When we arrived at the Chevron Station there was a group of classic cars were pulling in from the opposite direction. The left turn off 12 was a little difficult but everyone made it ok. We left the station and headed to the Ryer Island Ferry and then the Howard Landing Ferry. After the Howard Landing Ferry we ran into a long line of real old cars pocking along at about 30 mph. The group was able to pass all the cars and continue on our route to the final stop.
The Chapter won the "mileage" participation award and Elk Grove won the member participation award. Diane and I dropped off the award at Pittsburg on the way home. Alan F won the high hand in the poker run with queens over jacks for a full house.
On the way home we saw a lot of emergency equipment on the River Road between Walnut Grove and Islenton. We were on 160 across the delta. We could see a car turned over and a life flight helo on the road and traffic was blocked in both directions. Hopefully no motorcycles were involved. A few miles up the road we ran into a couple of fire trucks putting out a grass fire.
Other than these two events, just a nice ride home along the delta.
-- Alan Fitzgerald --
