Beckwourth/Sonora Passes Ride Report

WeekDay Ride Report - Beckwourth/Sonora Passes, September 13, 2012. This WeekDay ride ( http://goo.gl/maps/wB9Zh ) went up Feather River Highway (SR70 east) to Beckwourth Pass, then 395 south to SR108 and west back home over Sonora Pass. Some ride factoids: 610 mi RT, 15 hours door-to-door; temperature range form 45 (8:30 AM in mountains) to 100 (3pm in valley) for a differential of 55 - only possible to enjoy the ride (for me in full gear) was to have layers in AM and evaporative cooling gear in the PM; no near-misses (rare that I don't have a least one on a long ride - from either operator error or the other guy); and no-smoke in the air (don't like smoke as CHIPS fire which burned 75000 acres is out except maybe for some hot spots). The ride started at sunrise in Oroville (the nearly 3 hours getting there in the dark did not count for much), then proceeded up SR70 into Plumus National Forest via the Feather River Highway - the canyon winds were strong, the road was quiet (very quiet), the air was crisp, and the views were awesome. No sign of the CHIPS fire on this route - not that I could see. Once a bit past SR89 the road levels out at 4000-5000 feet and there are more valley areas along the way - and people! Stopped at the RR Museum in Portola - did not pay the $8 to get in - just left a donation. Beckwouth Pass is a bit anti-climatic as compared to nearly every other Sierra Pass as it only drops down on one side (Nevada) as the other side (west) is mostly a high plain . Took photos ( http://2012ride.shutterfly.com , click on the 1st photo to open the Sutterfly album) as best I could but nothing can substitute for seeing it on 2-wheels! Lots of short traffic construction stops on the way - but a necessary evil to keep up our roads - and California has a great highway system - the road surfaces were near perfect for the entire ride. This completes my quest to cross all of the Sierra Mountain passes in N. California during the past two weeks before the snows come - did Tioga, Ebbetts, Carson, Echo, Donner, on prior rides - and Beckwourth and Sonora on this ride - 2000 miles total - maybe there are some minor passes that I missed? Ride Safe!

Wow, Dimond. Nice long ride.

Nice ride for sure; thanks for sharing!

:not worthy: Great report with pictures. I like pictures. Thank you.

I like the pictures, I have been to part of them, Would sure like to go again on my SWing

Dimond, that's quite a ride! It looks like you had a good day for it. Thanks for sharing the pictures.