How I started riding

A dozens bucks.

 12 dollars.

That's all it costs to go for a 200+ mile ride.

A tank of gas costs $12.

I've wondered over the last few months why I didn't just buy a bike 5 years ago. 

I had money then. I had just come back from Iraq, and  I had $10K in the bank.

But I didn't.

I got an apartment and wasted money (although I also bought useful things like furniture) and drooled over motorcycles online but never pulled the plug.

I remember when I was still in the Army, my dad bought a bike.

It was a 1982 Honda Goldwing.

From the aid station (I was a medic) at Fort Polk on a training mission before my unit went back to Iraq, I called home one night and he told me he had bought a motorcycle.

"That's so cool," I said.

"It's an old motorcycle, I'm still getting used to riding it," he said.

He kept riding, and I got out of the Army without using the chance to buy a bike.

A few years later he bought a 1999 Goldwing. He rode all over. 

Yosemite. 

Nearly every weekend. It's only a few hours from home for him.

Yellowstone. Why not? A cross-country ride is an American Dream.

Glacier National Park.

Of course.

If you have a motorcycle, you have to ride to absolutely amazing places.

Then, earlier this year, he crashed.

He was ok, a concussion and soreness but not seriously injured.

Mom said he had to get rid of the bike.

He didn't listen at first, but then he was on a long ride. Like a 14-day ride.

Sitting in a motel room by himself he realized he would rather be home.

Playing with his grandkids.

I've only seen true love a few instances in my life, but my dad is completely, unequivocally, madly in love with his grandchildren.

He's only 51, and they're still all under 5 years old, but I know they will be so spoiled for the rest of forever and that Grandpa will always be fondly remembered.

The decision was made in a crappy hotel room, he told me over coffee when he dropped off the bike.

He was done riding.

For some still unknown reason, my mom suggested he give the bike to me.

Alright so I'm the only one of six kids who actually thought it was cool that dad rode a motorcycle. And I'm the only one of six kids who went for ride with him.

Yeah, I rode in the bitch seat.

We looked totally like two gay lovers.

We even had to stop for gas, and people looked at the bike and us and you could see how their opinions formed about the man-on-man action that must have been going on in their heads.

But it was awesome!

That's was the first time I really experienced riding a motorcycle.

I had been on dirtbikes a few times as a teenager and it was cool, but not really a life experience.

On the back of my dad's bike, riding the curving roads around Lake Isabella, I saw how big the world is.

All we did was drive around the lake, but it was an experience that is lodged in my memory forever.

They call Montana, "Big Sky Country," and I'm sure it is, but on a motorcycle, every inch of the world is big sky country.

The world was new.

A few years later and I still hadn't bought a bike.

I was texting my brother, who was living with my parents with his wife and daughter after being laid off from the Bakersfield oil fields, when he texted to call dad (dad doesn't text, he's old-school like that).

He offered me the motorcycle.

That's how I ended up with a 1999 Honda Goldwing. It's how I got into riding and why everything in life is awesome.

When I think about everything in my life, it can all be wrapped up with a single statement.

"At least I have a motorcycle."

Oroville

Oroville might be made for motorcycles.

Maybe not Oroville itself, but the foothills around the city are wonderful.

It's a totally different experience riding a motorcycle across the dam compared to a car.

The largest dam in the United States, and without much water in the lake, it feels almost even higher.

I met my brother Steven at the top of the dam, at the parking lot at the end. 

I had been planning on hiking/climbing down to the water from there, but he missed the parking lot and went to the Spillway launch ramp area, where he paid the $6 for a day pass.

That was probably worth it, because hiking down that embankment would not have been fun.

I left the bike at the top of the dam and we went fishing from the shore.

Fishing for bass, we tried a few different lures, and had moved from the side of the gravel launch ramp closest to the dam to the other side where I was throwing a Senko. 

As I cast and reeled, I felt a bite, but it was not a big hit, so I let the worm settle.

Another bite, I set the hook and reeled in a Coho salmon.

I caught a Coho salmon today at Lake Oroville. First salmon ever.

A photo posted by Dan Reidel (@dan_reidel) on Dec 4, 2015 at 1:10pm PST

Crazy, a salmon on a Senko.

But this is a motorcycle blog, not a fishing blog, so let's get back to the bike.

An 18-inch salmon easily  fits into the side compartment of a 1999 Honda Goldwing.

I later cooked the fish up and ate it.

Delicious.

More fun than a barrel of monkeys

Motorcycling is too much fun.
I rode the best route so far today. I went straight out to Orland on Highway 32 and kept going when it became County Road 200.
If you haven't taken a ride around Black Butte Lake and you live in the area, go do it.
Seriously, just get on a bike and ride out to Black Butte Lake.
It's beautiful. The road is great too, plenty of straight stretches to go fast and plenty of curves to give you a challenge.
The lake itself is nice, there are also a few places to pull over and have lunch, I stopped at the dam overlook, which also has bathrooms. It is marked as "B" on the Black Butte to Willows  route on the map.

A view from the dam overlook.

Getting back on County Road 200, I didn't actually see the lake again, but riding through rolling hills and seeing old barns and cattle in the fields between the buttes, it reminded me that California is such a gorgeous place to live.

There were a couple places where the road was really torn up. One curve had about half the westbound lane completely eroded but potholes were all easily avoidable.

I thought about turning around and going back the way I had come, but decided to drive south on County Road 306, then hit Highway 162 to get back to Chico through Willows.

Taking a quick break.

I stopped at a small cemetery and looked at the gravestones. There were a bunch of Powells which is my dad's family's name (Reidel is my mother's maiden name, long story and not important to this story).

A couple of Powells buried in the Grindstone Cemetery.

With a roughly 20 minutes stop for lunch, this ride took me about 3 hours.
This route will surely be a regular part of my life, I can't wait to go do it again.

Commuting

It's my lunch break.

I rode the bike the work today. There were two court cases I wanted to check out so I rode to Oroville for the first time.

Nelson-Shippee Road is not paved. It's all gravel and I found out too late. To not take the road meant a 15-20 minute extra ride and I was already late. 

Except I wasn't late.

I read the date wrong. The two cases were scheduled for Thursday.

But I did see that Yatee Her was to be sentenced today. So I got to ride back to Oroville.

I took Table Mountain Blvd to Clark to Durham-Dayton Highway.

That's a nice ride. It was a little windy so I didn't go too fast but it was beautiful.

I'm back at the courthouse waiting on Her's sentencing.

It will be interesting to see if the family of the deceased speaks in court.

The above was written Wednesday. Yatee Her was sentenced to 159 years to life for murder.

It took a long time for the judge to call the sentencing. By the time I got back to the office, I had to ride home and finish up the story there because it was almost dark.
My permit doesn't allow me to ride at night or on the freeway, so I had to plan out the route without using the freeway. The stretch of Highway 99 I rode is not freeway, it's a highway, and yes there is a difference, I checked.

The map route is Commute.

Rain, rain go away

Water fell from the sky Monday.

I know it was needed in the worst drought in recent California history, but I didn't have to work and I wanted to ride.

The weather report Sunday night said it would rain the morning and clear up by the afternoon. I thought I could wait that long.

Obsessed with riding now, I checked the weather over and over throughout the morning.

The storm kept coming in.

I thought to myself, OK, I have pat the registration fee to register the bike in my name, I might as well do that now.

It took a little bit of a wait at the DMV, but I got it done.

While I was in the DMV office, reading "The Lord of the Rings" for the upteenth time, the sun came out.

By the time I got home, the clouds were back but the hourly weather forecast said there should be time between 3 and 4 p.m. 

I readied the bike and waited. 

It stopped raining, the sun came out and I waited for the roads to dry a little.

I know after a rain it can be more dangerous because the debris and oils are all sitting on the surface of the road.

Riding is so much different than driving.

You have to be aware of every little thing on the road.

A little bit of dirt on the road can ruin your day when you wipe out on it.

I held on tight and rode the same route I had done before, bbut this time I continued on River Road and crossed the Sacramento River.

Bridges are windy.

So was the rest of the route, it was sunny, but it had just rained.

I made it to Hamilton City, the wind blew me around a little bit and I let cars pass me on County Road 45 because I wasn't confident going too fast with the wind blowing me all over the road.

I eventually made it Hamilton City and turned onto Highway 32. I did stall on at the stoplight in Hamilton City (there's only one stoplight), but I made it the rest of the way without any issues.

It was fun.
The map shows the route I took. You can click on the different elements of the map to see routes and hazards.

First ride

I backed her out of the garage with one goal: River Road.

The slightly winding route that runs along the Sacramento River isn't far, but I had only been around the block a few times.

I made it down the avenue I live on, through one stop light (had to stop, didn't fall over or stall), then pulled up to the intersection of West Sac and Nord Avenue.

If you happened to pass that corner around 11 a.m. Friday, I was the man waving for cars to go around me as I picked up an enormous red Honda Goldwing.

I didn't have any other troubles, and I rode down West Sac all the way to River Road.
Turned the bike down and went to Chico River Road, then I turned around and rode back up to the Pine Creek boat launch.
There's a map of this route at the bottom of the page.

Selfie time.

A photo posted by Dan Reidel (@dan_reidel) on Oct 30, 2015 at 11:36am PDT

The road:

1. A few potholes on the northbound side of River Road in the mile south of the West Sacramento Avenue intersection. Easily avoidable.
2. Some curves, nothing crazy, as a brand new rider I had no problems, but I did slow down.
3. Few other drivers, it seemed a good place to get a handle on riding the bike, doing little things like smoothly shifting and testing actual stopping distance. 

The fastest speed limit along my route was 55 mph and I got the bike going that fast. 

I think I may need a different helmet than the one Dad gave me, it gets pretty loud with the wind at higher speeds.

After doing one loop, I headed home and drove around the neighborhood before I went back to the house. 

Then I skipped going back to the house and rode back out to River Road.

If you happened to pass a man with a huge grin screaming "WHOOOHOOO!" as he rode back and forth on River Road from about 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., that was me.

Eventually I had to go to work.

It's been two days.

All I want to do is ride, but I haven't gotten off work with any daylight left.

Tomorrow.

If the rain stops.

New rider frustrations

She's a beast.

My dad dropped off the bike Monday.

We had a nice time, he and I went to lunch and grabbed a cup of coffee at the former Empire Coffee while we waited for the train.

After he left, I was ready to take it out.

I got my Class M permit last week and I thought I was ready to roll.

I was not.

I dropped the bike five times trying to get out of the driveway.

I also crashed into a tree in my yard. It sucked.

I eventually got the beast into the street, got it rolling, turned around the corner ...

And dropped it again.

It was very frustrating.

Tuesday

There was just a little bit of a sprinkle of rain Tuesday, so I put the bike in the garage, and dropped it again.

I hadn't made enough room the garage, so I had to wait for my roommate to get home to pick it up again.

Wednesday

The bike sat in the garage while I worked and the sky rained.

Thursday (today)

After work there was still a bit of sunlight.

I grabbed the helmet, gloves and a jacket before I backed it out of the garage.

Thank you Honda for the Goldwing's reverse.

I got it out of the driveway and onto the street.

I went around the block a couple times without dropping it and pulled into the University parking lot, where I practiced for a little bit.

I have a long way to go, but I'm confident now that I can actually ride this thing.

Please leave a comment, I can use all the riding advice I can get. Happy trails.

Class M permit

Today is my Sunday.

I lazed about a bit, then made the move to the other room.

One of my roommates -- like a flatmate, we share the house not a single room -- moved out a while ago and the other roomie and I haven't been able to find a replacement.

Since I've been living in the smallest room in the house, I decided to move into the open space. I'm paying for it after all.

It took a bit of cleaning, I can be pretty messy, but around 3 p.m. I was about done and had my computer hooked up.

I took a few practice motorcycle tests online and checked to see if the DMV had appointments for Monday to take the written Class M test.

The site said there was a six minute wait. It was 3:40.

I changed clothes, drove over and filled out the form.

Barely any wait, but I browsed through the motorcycle handbook for about five minutes.

Called to the counter, handed over the paperwork, paid the 33 bucks, got my picture taken, took the test.

I had to pee.

Held it in.

Missed two questions.

Passed.

Now I can legally ride a motorcycle.

Just not at night. Or on the freeway. Or with a passenger.

So stoked.

My dad asked my about a month ago if I wanted his bike.

It's a 2000 (I think) Honda Goldwing. A beast of a bike.

Hell yeah I want the motorcycle!

He's bringing it up in a week. I can't wait.

I have almost zero experience on a bike. I rode a friend's dirt bike a couple times when I was a teenager, and I rode my dad's old bike around the block once. I dropped it when I got back to my parents' house.

That's it.

This is my story about learning to ride and riding a motorcycle.