Riding Lady: January 2009

Sunday. January 25th, 2009.
We were meeting at (supposedly) Chuy's in Corona at 1;30 PM since that seemed to be a really good mid-point and mid-time for everybody concerned (even the church folks). Barry, Johney and I from the OC, Fred (Johney's cousin, whom he calls 'Uncle Fred') from Norco, and Tommy & Eric from Chino. Since we were going to Temecula and points east, seemed a good spot. It was.

The Alpha Bit....oopsie, I mean Alpha Female Dog (me) leading this pack 'o mutts (you like that? I borrowed it from another forum, it sounds pretty cool) had been checking the weather all week and quite a few times on Saturday, so when I was pretty doggone sure that it wasn't gonna rain I started putting the final touches on a trip. A couple of friends gave me some input, and you know who you are, ("50 DEGREES? HELL, NO I AIN'T GOING UNLESS YOU FIND ANOTHER PLACE THAT'S WARMER!")
So I did. Kinda. Well, it SEEMED like it'd be warmer than Glendora Mtn. Ridge Road...that's what the weather said, but there were some extenuating circumstances...
I had worked up a spreadsheet and pinpointed just WHERE we'd be on the route and just WHAT the temperature was projected to be at that point at a certain time. Using ascending algorithmic functions whereby given 1)the mileage from point A to B to C to D to E (Mapquest does that EXTREMELY well), then 2) the time leaving, MPH, stop times and duration, so then adding in the projected temps for us getting to point A at a certain time, point B at a certain time, etc., was able to figure out that the lowest the temp would go would be 52 on our way back to our respective homes around 5 pm, or just before dusk.
Here's the email I sent the guest of honor:

Weather projected as partly cloudy, small chance of precipitation.

Temps are projected as:
Temecula 2:00 PM 60 degrees
Aguanga 3:00 PM 60 degrees
Warner Springs 3:30 PM 54 degrees
Pauma Valley 4:00 PM 58 degrees
Temecula 4:30 59 degrees
Corona 5:00 PM 57 degrees

RIIIIIGGGHHHHTTTT.
I knew I should've factored in a) wind chill and b) SHOPPING. That's right, SHOPPING. I go with guys that like to SHOP. I love these mutts, but then again, I take care of my guys.
Before Bub and I left, I was doing a check off sheet, and decided to take my lighter balaclava whole head and face warmer/shield/whatever, and I also decided to take my new half-helmet.
Mistake #1. Never go on a long ride that you haven't at least done a pre-ride on or have never done before with a new helmet that you haven't broken in and/or have no clue how it SHOULD fit.
Bub tried on one of the face shields we bought last year, and it seemed to be ok. It wasn't.
Mistake #2. Always bring back-up stuff for the stuff you think 'seems to be ok'.
We DID take the new polar gloves, which worked well.
Left for the meeting spot, got there around 10-15 minutes early with Tommy and Eric passing us on the 91 and getting there 2 minutes earlier than us, and NOW I'm gonna ream him for bugging me about my speed after the ride-DUDE, you were haulin' ASS on the 91!!! Ahem...to continue...
Johney and Fred were already there, Johney on OF COURSE The Spyder Special and Fred on his $10 750 Honda from the '70's. Yup. $10. Worked really well, too.

The guys decided that, since it was going to be an hour until we ate, they were going into Jack in the Box and get a bite. GMAFB. I guess it gets dangerous for those guys to live off their own body fat for more than an hour. I know I'D want to keep my hands and feet away from their mouths when they're hungry.

Ok, we left at pretty close to 1:30, with the tinker-toy 650 in the lead. I will say that MY SPEEDOMETER DIDN'T GO OVER 82 and that was only once in awhile. I heard grumblings afterwards that SOME people didn't feel comfy with machinery that goes that fast, but I can understand. It was thoughtless of me to go that fast without checking with everyone to see if that was kosher. Honest. But I didn't pass a lot of cars, just stayed in the middle of the freeway and some cars went faster, some were slower, and SOME cut me off within 2 feet of my fender.
Bub saw him coming, but all of a sudden this guys comes jamming up and totally cuts me off. I'm really glad I didn't see him coming up because I probably would've freaked a little something. I honked at him but he ignored my hone and he did the same thing to another car up a bit.
Ok, we get to Temecula, stop to shop, great stuff, great stuff. I'm definitely going back.

Mistake #3. Check with your other riders the day beforehand to see if there will be any additional stops other than the ones you plan for, because the timing will possibly be thrown off.

We rode down 3 blocks (like, we couldn't WALK?) to Mad Madaline's, a great place for food, a little pricey, but the portions are huge. One comment-what kind of a place is it that DOESN'T serve COFFEE??? I had a patty melt that I couldn't finish and Bub had the biggest, messiest ortega chicken sandwich you ever saw.

Stopping at Slap 'n Leather, a very nice shop and one I will return to for summer riding clothes.
http://www.slapnleather.com/

The score at the end of lunch stood at Barry 0, chicken grilled ortega sandwich, 1.

So we leave, take highway 79 out towards Aguanga and Warner Springs, not too bad. Frequent stops for pics and Tommy's shoulder, and I was kinda glad, actually, because the sun went behind clouds and the temp DROPPED about 10 degrees. You do the math.

We stopped at a housing area and started laying on clothing. I told Tommy to put on his leathers at the restaurant, but NOOOOO...
Unfortunately, when Johney rode to Fred's house, the weather was in the 70's & beautiful, so he trusted me & my analysis and didn't wear his denim shirt. Sorry, Johney. When I asked at this stop if anybody ELSE was frickin' freezing, he said hell yeah.
Mistake #4. Bring a thin but thermal undershirt-it takes up very little space but can be golden.

Next stop, around Lake Henshaw which was off from the 79 on hwy 76. Stopped again ("Tommy, I KNOW your shoulder has to be hurting!" Yeah, that's it, let's stop for TOMMY, forget about us freezing or the pee factor)
You can see how overcast it was, and that was 3 PM in the afternoon.

Yeah, it was as cold as they looked.

Now here's the neat, NEAT part. We stopped, took pics of the lake, and an old Ford Tempo stopped and the girl in it told us about a protected bald eagle and it's aerie just across the road. We looked, and there it was. I've tried to capture it. (the photo, not the eagle. DUH)

Sometimes the hard part was finding a side of the road to stop for photos that WASN'T just gravel or hard pack, but was actually paved. Kinda. And the guys here are STILL bitching about finding a place to pee.

Found one. (place to pee, that is)

Took S7 (I think) that is the road up to Mt. Palomar (another ride we'll do sometime) and I found the guys some trees.

Of course, the trees were about 200 feet tall down a 100 foot embankment, but hey, I didn't know! And I'M not the one who had to go POTTY!!! So the urge to find a place wasn't so, um, urgent. For me.

Sorry guys.

After that stop we beat feet to Pala to a gas station, because I had figured the ride from Temecula to Pala at around 120 miles, and it was actually about 123 miles, which worked out really well. Came out at Temecula Valley Parkway, the same route we took in and east. I THOUGHT I recognized that route because that's the SAME ROUTE we took to San Diego last March with 230, except some of it the other way. (Hwy 76 to hwy 79 and then down to Fallbrook)

After gassing up, went the 15 at (my speedo's reading) 70 MPH, up to the 60 fwy to the 57 to STARBUCKS across from Barry's work at 6:50 PM. THANK GOD. It took me another hour to thaw out, but I've been colder. Night skiing when it was 12 degrees in Big Bear, and a LONG TIME AGO, riding my 125 Enduro from Newport Beach to Long Beach via PCH at night....in the mist...with just a L/S shirt. I learned the value of newspapers under my shirt that night, I must say.

Got a very nice note from Tommy and he posted one on the 230 forum as well. That made all my work SO worth it, and Tommy? hope you got some memories as well to hold you over until your shoulder heals.

Shoot, maybe I should just be a motorcycle tour guide, what with all the pre-planning and first aid stuff I do...

Like they do in Europe...

Glad you liked the ride, boys, there's more where that came from. (wait a sec, that REALLY didn't sound good...)

Only 27 finished. Amazing. Just over 1/3 passed the class. But they warned us.

I was really bummed 'cause my buddy Mike C (darkmonkee), the one who has been a BIG calming and learning effect in class, didn't pass the final. Missed it by an iota. That's just not fair, total bummer.

Our primary instructor was Mike Zanitto who is an RN, a police officer with Garden Grove, and a member of their SWAT team as the medic. He couldn't be there on Thursdays due to work, so Janell was our secondary instructor. Both instructors were AbFab, very highly skilled, gave lots of positive feedback when we were 'getting it' and didn't think we were idiots when we were scratching our heads and going, 'whaaaaa?'. They made the material if not easy to learn, at least doable for those who could stay the course. (no pun intended)

All but five students were called up for their certificate, and I felt left out for a minute because Janell hadn't called my name...she said, "I'm getting to it"!
She then told the class that the next five people were 'the geeks' of the class, the 5 people who got A's.
She called my name. I actually got my 90%. DAMN! I was lucky I didn't freakin' cry.

The top 5 got EMT pins, with the top 2 also getting top-of-the-line sphygmomanometers (aka blood pressure cuffs).
Here are pics of some of the graduating class. THIS is why I brought two cameras!!!
Barry and Jackie came to cheer me on, and some of the others brought their families as well. I got Mike a little giftee, and since Janell was going to be the one there, the class got Janell flowers and a card, and I gave her a bear with some prose I had written:

I will remember you…

I will remember you each time I

Bandage an owie;
Feel a forehead for fever;
Put ice on a sprain;
Look at an AED;
See an ambulance;
Hear a motorcyclist down on the
radio traffic report;
Show care and concern for
another who comes to me with an injury,
whether physical or mental;
And when I pass my NREMT
so that I may also teach others.*

I will remember you…

Absofreakin’lutely.

For Janell Carlson EMT-B Instructor
NOCROP Fall 2008

Ha, ha, GOTCHA Janell! You thought nobody was taking pics, didja!!! (did you know, and somebody tell me if I'm wrong, but she was a runner-up in the Miss California pageant?)

This is the room that we had to finish class in since our school's roof caved in December 15th 2008. CARE Ambulance was gracious enough to let us use their training center. If we had started here, this room would have been overflowing the first day of school September 2nd, 2008.