Day 3 doesn't have much of a write up. Not because it wasn't an enjoyable day of riding - it ABSOLUTELY was. After the break-down on day 2, we finished riding Rt. 199 into Crescent City, CA. Rt. 199 between the Collier Tunnel (where I broke down) and Crescent City is just... WOW. My kind of riding. Twisty, but not crazy-insane technical. Higher speed without being a race track on the street. Light traffic. Wonderful scenery. I feel like, even on the Harley, I did some of my best riding in that stretch of road. It was maybe 35 miles or so and just spectacular.
Google Maps' view of that section of Rt. 199
We spent the night at the Bay View Inn in Crescent City and had dinner at the diner next door. Nice enough. We were supposed to ride down to Fortuna and stay the night, then meet up with Wayne's friend Roger the next day for some local day riding with Roger leading the way. All the time wasted with getting the Harley running again shot that idea. It was just late enough when we reached Crescent City, and everyone was just hot and tired enough, no one wanted to ride that last stretch.
We got up and got on the road nice and early in the morning, and rode down Rt. 101 to pick up Rt. 36 at Fortuna. Wayne called Roger, but we missed them (Roger had some friends with him) by about an hour. So, we rode Rt. 36 East in to Red Bluff.
Route 36 is an amazing chameleon of a road.
Parts of it are technical and will give *anything* found in and around the area of the Tail of the Dragon a run for it's money, but I also found it to be FAR more enjoyable (and safer) than the Dragon due to the limited traffic, definite lack of Rossi-wannabes and when there was traffic (all three or four cars we saw), they moved over or waved us by or kept a decent pace. California kicks the ass of the East Coast when it comes to being motorcycle-aware and motorcycle-friendly.
Other parts of Rt. 36 were wide open sweeping turns through small mountains and farm land that provided some fantastic scenery and eye candy. Again the scale and grandeur is more than this humble East Coast boy is used to. The colors and contrasts are right out of a movie scene.
Unfortunately, I have to rely on someone else to post up and give their write up of some pictures because... Dunce that I am... I left the battery and charger for my battery at the Bay View Inn in Crescent City. We called and they're shipping it home to me, but I still have to buy a new battery on the road. Adrian has a similar camera and has offered to let me use his charger.
No touristy stuff, just fantastic riding. The heat had us all feeling punky by the end of 36 at Red Bluff and we packed in for the night there. What an intense day of riding. But wait... tomorrow brings more
The route ridden for day-3
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