This loop is 240ish miles, and a bit long for the time I had available. I had no time to stop and enjoy the scenery, and will go on shorter rides the rest of the year and do a bit more gawking. As a result, pix of this ride are almost exclusively from the GoPro, and of the road itself. Speaking of pix and the map, if you want to see more, just click on the pic. Here we go:
Highway 36 is a legendary MC road here. Where Tail of the Dragon runs 11 miles, this one announces 140 miles of squiggles from its Eastern approach. Here's a sample:
For a bit, it narrows and loses the center line:
And a look at how narrow it is:
There was some construction on that bit, but this pic is when the flagger waved me to the front of the line. That car was a Buick, and I thanked the flagger profusely. Nothing more annoying than being stuck behind a Buick in the mountains--it even happens mit the Kombi!
A little time behind the pilot car:
The truck around the corner is stationary, and appears to be some sort of drilling rig. I've seen a few of these around. I think CalTrans is fracking under the roads using the guise of construction in the hopes of hitting an oil or gas seam.
That section managed, it was on to Dinsmore. On the left is the end of the Dinsmore store. The locals call it "The Mall." The locals are all ranchers, loggers, and dope growers. Anything you might run out of for any of those noble professions is available at the Dinsmore store.
After Dinsmore, the road opened up a bit and regained the yellow lines in the middle, like so:
But the bike was not upright except in transition from left to right lean until I got to here:
Eventually I got to Hwy 3, and the turns kept on coming:
This retired logger (white truck) pulled over politely right after this pic:
And right back to business:
Hwy 3 gets to the bottom of the valley and straightens out for a bit:
Til it gets to fabulous downtown Hayfork:
Right after downtown, I found the geocache for this trip:
http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC34 ... 2d53c8c806
And then on to Weaverville and lunch. I was disappointed, and I got clues to why as I sat and listened to the kitchen folk. The place had an authentic look, but instead of banda or mariachi music, a country station was playing. The TV was not on for Futbol or Beisbol, and after I ordered, I was told "We're out of chicken." I can't imagine running out of such an essential ingredient at 12:30, but there it was. While I ate, the kitchen discussion revealed the taqueria recently changed hands, sold to the Anglita who ran out of chicken. So here it is, a Super, changed to Veggie after the order:
The only upside is that there was a Chevron station right outside. This was a place where one could "Eat Here, Get Gas."
I hustled on home on 299, once again getting the MC pass at the construction sections, and got home in time to take the younger boy to his XC meet. He got 5th in his age group and 8th overall.
