Not really sure why SaddleSore rides fascinate me – Except for a pin that you have to *pay* for, there’s nothing to show for the effort. And if you tell anyone, the first reaction is that you’re nuts. But after the first ride turned out easier than expected, and the second even easier than the first, it’s just become somewhat of a hobby to collect them.
Last year’s SaddleSore completed entirely within the borders of Nevada inspired me to find a route within California. One friend suggested San Diego for lunch and then back home, but passing through LA twice might be a challenge, but certainly not fun. I thought about up to Yreka, down to San Bernardino and home, but that’s just 16-17 hours of Interstate 5 and interstate trucks. Boring!
Besides, any ride through California should include the Golden Gate bridge. What’s more Californian than the Golden Gate bridge?
And so, the ultimate California SaddleSore 1000 was born. Leaving from Sacramento before dawn, the plan is to reach Redding at sunrise. Sunlight will be important because the next 2.5 hours will be over twisty State Road 299. After that, it’s a couple hours of US101 down the “Avenue of the Giants” and back into civilization north of San Francisco.
The Golden Gate bridge should fall around 1:30PM and the southern reaches of the San Francisco Bay Area should be clear by 3PM when traffic tends to get bad. Then it’s down to Paso Robles, across to Kettleman City, cross the 1,000 mile mark around Patterson, and home by 10PM … Hopefully!
Armchair rider? Want to follow along. Click here, and assuming I turned my gadget on, you should be able to track me. Wish me luck!
