The Hayfork Loop, where the hooty owls chase the prairie chickens...

[MikeB]

Saturday three RT’s hooned it up on the Hayfork loop outside and west of Redding CA. I,

Mike Benzon, Ken Wood and Rick Mayer met for an afternoon ride. I was the new comer

so I sat back as Rick and Ken layed out the route to ride. We started from Rick’s house

which is located on the west side of the Redding area with Rick in the lead followed by Ken and me riding shotgun. Rick led us through some back

roads that wound through some of the most beautiful green landscape you will ever see.

You won’t see these colors in the summer time, but it is late winter in Northern California

and the winter rye grass is fabulous. It was a fun road with narrow sweeping turns and

plenty of elevation changes. Not as good as the lower east end of Hwy 36 but fun just the

same. We kept it tame, as there are a fair amount of houses and driveways. Eventually we

connected with Hwy 299 at Shasta City, one of the area’s first towns. It is a historical land

mark with its partial structures of red brick lining both sides of the street. We headed

west on Hwy 299 on mostly long straight sections of highway and two CHPs, one with his

radar on according to Ken. We were just a tad over the speed limit but easly correcting it

before they were in range. I imagine that both Rick and Ken had the same thing on their

mind as I did while we were heading west, BUCKHORN SUMMIT GRADE. Folks, you

have to ride this some day soon because they are planning to straighten it out. It is 8 miles

of tight twisties, that are wide, smooth and with passing lanes through many of the turns.

It is way cool to go to max lean while passing the cages in a turn. It is also just plain fun to

ride the grade and feel the force of the tire grip just press you down into the seat. The turns are so

long that if you trim off a little too much speed, you have plenty of time to wick it up and

really feel the grip of the modern day tire.

At the top of the grade the road straightens out and now it is time to behave yourself until

you reach Hwy 3. But first we turned off to Lewiston, a little small old time town of the

early California days where we would stop for lunch and some time to chat. Ken knew of

a nice cafe and so we let him lead the way. It would be a great place to bring about a

hundred BMWRTers with its huge parking area and good sized dining rooms. The food

isn’t bad either.

After lunch we headed a little more west to the town of Weaverville, again a nice place to

stop and check out their historic section, but we have miles of road to cover and it is

already 4 pm. We head back east on Hwy 299 to pick up Hwy 3.

Rick leads us to the turn off for Hwy 3 and sets a nice pace. This time the boys let me ride

the middle position and Ken is riding shotgun. Hwy 3 between Hwy 299 and Hayfork is

probably one of my favorite pieces of road anywhere. It is twenty eight miles of the best

steady state, just the right tightness, almost no cars, butt kicking road you will ever want. If

you aren't dizzy by the time you reach Hayfork you didn’t ride fast enough. I love this road.

The first time I rode it I was on my Sprint ST and I was not very experienced. The turns just

kept coming at me and I couldn't keep from riding it fast, it was like drinking COLD chocalote milk, you know, when you are

chugging it down and you can’t stop until it’s all gone? Well here I was on this powerful

machine with way more ability than I was capable of and I just kept taking corner after

corner, until finally I said to myself, you better stop or you’re going to crash. I was so

tense, my arms felt like rubber, and the walls of the hillsides looked like they were the ground

and the road looked like it was the walls. I stopped!

Something has changed sinse then, now when I reach the end of the twisties I can’t

believe it’s over. I have so much fun and it wasn’t any

different this time, my first time on the RT for this road. Rick and Ken were the old pro’s

as they glided through the turns, but I am sure they had the same ear to ear grin I had.

As Ken and Rick discussed earlier in our route planning we turned off before we reached Hayfork to a

road I don’t remember the name of, but would take us to Hwy 36 and through somewhere

called Wildwood. All I saw was this big rustic bar in the middle of no where. I am sure the

Harley guys know about it. This road was tight and twistie and we held back considerably

because we didn’t know what was around the next corner. One time I slowed down to

almost a stop and looked over the edge at one of the 20 mph corners and it was about a

thousand feet straight down. I said to myself, self, do you know what it would be like if

you over shot that turn? Did I mention it was getting late? Here we are riding on a road

we have never been on and the trees are tall and the mountains are tall and the sun is gone.

It was getting a little chilly too. I had removed my liner at Ken’s house earlier and my

heated vest was in the saddle bag. I turned on my heated grips and that helped. Eventually

we made it to Hwy 36 and with a quick blast eastward we showed up at a place I often

stop at when I ride Hwy 36, Platina. By the way, this little town is for sale on ebay. We

parked our bikes for a short break and something to drink. I enjoyed the opportunity to

get to know Ken and Rick at these stops, both of them are great guys to ride with and to know. All the time I was thinking, I doubt I would have ever met these guys if it were not

for our motorcycles. I eventually would have met Rick, because I have been planning to

have him make me a seat since the days I was touring on my Sprint. It was a real treat to

visit his home where he performs his magic on motorcycle seats. I felt like I was riding

with a legend, I was!

Once again we were on our way down Hwy 36, one of the most famous motorcycle roads

on the west coast. By the way, Ken would like to host a ride up in our neck of the woods

soon and I would suggest you put some pressure on him to get it going. This section of

Hwy 36, from Platina to Red Bluff is a blast, especially the lower end near Red Bluff. It is

the closest thing to a roller coaster without being on one. Imagine, a roller coaster that

you can fall off of, this is it. The lower section consist of swoopy, blind, tight, turns with

sharp rises and dips strong enough to get you airborn. I especially like when I fly over a

sharp rise that has a turn on the other side, so you have to lean the bike over before you

ever see the turn as you crest the top of the rise, it is a wonderful feeling. (One time while

on this section of road with a group of five sportbike friends, we entered a big right hand

sweeper followed by a very tight decreasing radius left hand turn. The first rider made it

through successfully, the second rider and the one in front of me tracked wide and lost it

in the gravel of the road shoulder. I made it through but not without a lot of pucker

power, I was trail braking with the rear brake after I released the front brake and twice felt

the rear end slide out before I finally felt in full control. It was one of those Ben Bostrum,

backing it into the corner type of things, though it was not intentional by any means.

Anyway, the next guy behind me made it all right but then the last guy paniced, locked up

his brakes and went straight off. The first guy off was fine, but the second guy left in an

emergency helicopter). Point of the story, this is a fun road, but you must respect it and ride it

with a vetern before you go full tilt. We cut off about half of the roller coaster ride and took a

cut off road back to I 5. When we reached the freeway I split off to get some gas for my

ride home and to tear of a piece of crap anti fog laminet with sensi-tint. From Platina to

the freeway I had to ride with one hand holding open my visor so I could see. Here we

were blasting down Hwy 36 in the dark, I thought, until I raised my visor. Then I realized

it wasn’t dark and Ken and Rick weren’t as crazy as I thought. The rest of the trip was

just a nice slow ride home in the dark with the fantastic lighting of the new RT. It was a

little disappointing that I didn’t see any CHPs because I was traveling the speed limit all

the way home.

I would like to thank Ken and Rick for a fun day.

 

Remember this route, “The Hayfork

Loop” and put it in your book of rides to do. Hope to see you all here some day.

 

[ghan]

Mike, you are killing me with these ride tales. I can't wait to get back up there and ride Hwy 36 again. And now you've got me thinking about the Hayfork loop too. Maybe a Norcal group ride needs to be scheduled before Torrey to get the sweeper madness juices flowing. (wish I owned tools to change tires at home, it's going to be a long tire-eating summer )

[Luv2lean]

Thanks for the ride report Mike. It made me yearn for HWY 36, a truely great motorcycle road.

 

FYI, another great motorcycle road is Southfork Road which runs between 36 and 299 to the west of Wildwood and Hayfork. See www.pashnit.com for details.

 

[MikeB]

Thanks Gary, it is almost as much fun writing about the ride as it is riding the ride. I have been riding the Hayfork loop for three years and I never get tired of it. The people of Hayfork always amuse me, they look at the sportbikes entering town as though they have never seen such a thing. I wish there was more to do in town, like a good cafe and some outside seating. It could be a cool hangout.

[MikeB]

Chris, I know what you mean about the tires, I have two bikes that eat tires like they were dounuts. Do you ride with the River City Beemers? I have seen the club come up to Fall River Hotel twice during the summer, but I don't see the run listed in the calander for 2003. Usually, there are 15 to 20 bikes. There is so much I want to do on my RT now that I finally have one and hooking up with the RCB club for one of their weekend campouts sounds like a load of fun.

[Ken Wood]

The people of Hayfork always amuse me, they look at the sportbikes entering town as though they have never seen such a thing.

 

Hey Mike...

 

Thanks for coming down and joining Rick and I for another great ride. Going to Hayfork always reminds me of Jeff Foxworthy redneck jokes. We were at a High School football game there a couple years ago and the locals sitting just outside the fence had chainsaws for noisemakers. "If your noisemaker of choice at the High School football is a chain saw...ya just might be a redneck"

 

The shortcut road between hwy 3 and 36 that we took was the Wildwood Rd and that took us right into the heart of Wildwood. And yea the bar there is something....the Redding Dirt Riders do a two day ride and camp right there next to that bar in June. LOTs of fun dirt riding in that area.

 

till next time...Ken

[ghan]

Mike, that was me that posted about tires. And yes I do belong to RCB and occaisionally get out on day rides with them or visit their campsites in the summer to chow down (don't camp yet on the bike).

[MikeB]

You're right Gary, I was combining a response to two different messages. Thanks though,for the information, I was fishing for some comments regarding the RCB club. And to respond to Chris about the pashnit.com, I am a real fan of the web site. It really stirs my desire to ride. I am looking forward to a ride I found on pashnit, which is the road off of Hwy 299 at Cedarville that travels south to Hwy 80 through the Nevada desert. It connects to I 80 just east of Sparks. I am waiting for the next opportunity to allow enough time to complete the round trip.

[Luv2lean]

Mike, you had me confused on the tires issue.

 

I too am a RCB member and have enjoyed the few rides I've attended.

 

You have some good roads up your way. Perhaps we can get a few riders together for a weekend tour of the top of California someday

[MikeB]

Watch for a post very soon about a ride we are putting together based out of the Redding area. We are in the planning stage right now as we speak. We have tested some awesome rides we think y'all will like. Hope the weather works for us. If the weather bags the ride we'll just hang out in a local pup and talk about riding.

[wfodave]

the road off of Hwy 299 at Cedarville that travels south to Hwy 80 through the Nevada desert

 

Mike:

 

I know this road well - it's the Surprise Valley Road. Most recently, two buddies and I came up through Gerlach through Cecilville, heading back to SF. Two suggestions if you're out that way. One is camping at the Mill Creek Campground near Jess Valley, about 25 miles southeast of Alturas. The second is a real find - a three person hot tub on the east side of Surprise Valley Road, about 9 miles south of Eagleville. You may have to hunt for it, but it's worth the effort. They don't call it the Surprise Valley for nothing. And the road itself is also terrific. Enjoy!

[MikeB]

Thanks for the info Dave. The last trip I made on my Trophy was to Eagleville, 128 miles east of my home in Burney. I listen to an AM radio station during work days and there is an advertisement for the Eaglepoint cafe running throughout the programming. So, one day I decided to ride over there and have lunch and see Eagleville. It is my favorite part of motorcycling, exploring. I think I will post another ride tale describing my visit to Davis Creek.