The parking lot at Devil Mtn was empty when we pulled in this morning at 7:00 AM. It made me wonder if I had the correct starting location, but then I spotted Daisy's truck and knew I was in the right place. Daisy had come in early, again, to open the place up so we would have coffee, snacks, and access to the restrooms before we departed. I can't thank the team at Devil Mtn enough for all that they do to support our rides. I hope they know that we really do appreciate all that they do.
It wasn't long before more bikes started arriving, and by the time we were ready to go there were 10 bikes in all. Just before the pre-ride brief Kelly informed me that my reputation was at stake on this ride because I had declared this route to have some of the best motorcycling roads in Northern California. Well, we'd know the outcome of this by lunch time, one way or the other. We jumped on Hwy 4 and made our way to the Antioch Bridge where we had a cage try to cut into the group at the last minute when he discovered he was in the FasTrack Only lane. One of the road captains convinced him that this wasn't the right thing to do, allowing the group to stay together at the toll plaza. Then it was up Hwy 160, through Isleton, followed by a turn onto Andrus Island Rd. We rode along the Georgiana Slough to the Walnut Grove Bridge, this time coming at it from the opposite direction, crossed the bridge, and took Walnut Grove Thornton Rd to the Chevron station in Thornton, our first scheduled stop.
After a short break we were on our way again, up to New Hope Rd and into Galt. We zig-zagged our way through Galt, crossed over Hwy 99, and made our way up to Hwy 104 which we followed all the way into Ione where we made our second scheduled stop. While taking our break here we noticed a yard sale across the street. A few of our riders walked over to see if there was anything of interest but came back empty handed. Whew! I thought we were going to have to find a way to cart all the booty back on the bikes ;?)
We departed Ione on Hwy 124, following that up to Hwy 16 and then joined Hwy 49 for a few miles. This took us into Plymouth where we turned right onto Shenandoah Rd. and headed up into the hills. We rode along Shanendoah, Mt Aukum and Sky Park Roads into Pollock Pines. These roads took us through some fantastic country, riding up and down hills, around sweeping turns, through vineyards, forests, and small towns, in and out of the shadows and past the Jenkinson Reservoir. As we rode along we could smell the pine trees and smoke from the chimneys of the houses along the road. We passed under Hwy 50 and made a left turn onto Pony Express Trail, riding the last mile to Magoon's Saloon. As we pulled into the parking lot we could smell the smoke from the BBQ that was out back. While parking the bikes we determined that my claim that these were some of the best motorcycling roads was indeed correct and my reputation was intact. What we couldn't decide on was what my reputation was, and whether it was good or bad. Oh well, that's a topic for another time and place.
So happens that the BBQ wasn't quite ready yet, but we were OK with waiting another 30 min. or so to eat. We sat around watching the NASCAR race and the football game till the food was ready. And it was worth the wait. We had BBQ'd ribs, tri-tip, chicken and hot sausage served with potato salad and beans for $15. A lot of food and it was good. If you find yourself traveling along Hwy 50 any Sunday you should make a lunch stop at Magoon's. You won't regret it.
We began splitting up for our ride home with one rider breaking off right away and half of the remaining riders turning off when we got to Ione. We took back roads out of Pollock Pines, working our way through the twisties on Snows Rd back to Hwy 49. This part of the return trip was as spectacular as the ride up. We joined Hwy 49 at Diamond Springs and followed that through El Dorado, Plymouth, Ione, and Flag City on our way home.
Another great day spent riding and mingling with friends.
