Joy Dutta’s blog

Trip Summary:
Original plan included Death valley national park, but ultimately we did Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite due to my flat tire on the first day. 800 miles total for me, and 1100 for Ligeo. Dates: 5-8 Apr 2007.

Route map: SKY trip map
Photos: SKY trip pics

Day 1, Thurs 5th April: Sunnyvale to Buttonwillow
I always like to get up in the morning at a remote place, so it meant starting after office on thursday and scoring a couple hundred miles to small town and hitting a motel. Buttonwillow, my favorite small town showed up to be an exact midpoint between me and Ligeo. Thanks to my preps the day before, I went to office fully loaded, hence started off at 4:30pm. After 60 miles at Gilroy, I just stopped and without any reason just checked my tire for any issues. Shockingly enough, a 1.5 inch nail was just waiting for me, taunting my trip preparedness (I guess it was there when I started, as the day before the pressure was little less than expected). I didn’t lose hope yet, but knew that the death valley plan had just died. Having the stop-n-go tire plug kit and the airman sparrow portable compressor, I would not give up just so easily. Practised plugging a tire back in frigid weather of Stony Brook in Dec 2005 and that memory was enough to provide me confidence. Plugged the tire in less than 30 minutes and was ready to go, but not without a fine streak of anxiety, all the way till Buttonwillow. Ligeo turned up at the same time, and we checked in at the Homeland Inn. The trip plan got shortened to just the 3 national parks, consoling ourselves that death valley be grouped together on a Las Vegas gambling trip.

Day 2, Fri 6th April: Buttonwillow to Sequoia national park
I made it a habit to check the tires everytime I got a chance. A single act of negligence about those highly stressed tires can just cost my life, anyday. The plug looked not too healthy, seemed the shaft of the muchroom-shaped plug was trying to come out. A quick check with saliva confirmed the existence of a leak. Not a good feeling 225 miles from home. Things could get nasty or costly in a bad way very easily now. Plugged the same hole second time with a little more care. We were heading to Tulare so we planned to visit the Kawasaki dealer there. The ride was a little too fast for a plugged tire this time too, occasionally touching 75-80 instead of 50, and I had to pay the price. Just before Tulare I felt the long anticipated read wiggle, and immediately pulled over. The plug was totally gone. I thought the air pressure plus the rotation just spit it out, but it actually got sawed out by the sharp plies in the tire rubber. Had to plug the third time to ride on. It was already 1pm.

Tulare Kawasaki didn’t have the tire in stock, so my hopes started to dwindle again. The plug was not reliable for a home run, and going far from a town seemed downright risky. As one last chance, we took the address of Visalia Kawasaki and called them up. They had exactly one tire in stock and only a couple miles away. When I thought I almost reached there, the GPS failed to locate the address, due to possibly older maps. Ligeo had to call a friend for the exact direction from downtown where I again discovered my plug leaking, and fixed it up in 15 minutes without even thinking. At this point I almost gave up all hope and decided to “limp” to home and letting Ligeo do the trip alone. But finally we could reach Visalia Kawasaki a few blocks away, and funnily enough, the tire was fully flat by then. I will be forever grateful to that dealership. Despite a long queue they replaced my tire right away for a decent “dealer” price. By 5pm after an exhausting day, we were finally ready for a trip. We hit Rt 198 east to Sequoia and at a gas stop, had footlong sub sandwich and haagen dazs icecream to charge up the body. After that, just the peace of mind and a beautiful road in warm sunlight. Lots of bikers and not much of cages. Just the motorcyle road we always crave for.

The potwisha campground seemed a little crowded, so we climbed 4 more twisted miles to another camping place, just beside a river. It was a little bit cold, but quiet and a lot more peaceful. Slept like a baby from 10 to 7.

Day 3, Sat 7th April: Sequoia national park to Yosemite national park
We started a lazy day just to be relax. Packed up and started at 10, along Rt 180 west through the giant Sequoia trees towards Fresno. The mountain road scenary was pure therapy for the mind. The foggy forests like Munnar/Kodai back in India, the rich aromas of wildflowers, and the spectacular vistas reminded yet again why we ride motorcycles. We passed through kings canyon before we even knew, it was hard to stop on an empty twisty road. From Fresno, Rt 41 north took us to Yosemite through wawona. Again some roads to remember and roads that never get old. Reached Yosemite village at 6pm but didn’t expect to find any vacant camprgounds. Tourists were everywhere. Just as we were going back from the gate of north pines campground, a guy from a mid-sized RV hollered at us, asking to follow him. I guessed right, he had to be a biker and was doing just what we would do for another biker. Turned out he was a proud harley rider, and was out there with his young son for a fun trip. I liked the RV a lot, and wished to rent one someday to take my family out on a trip.

It was still winter at Yosemite. Cold in the evening and near freezing at night. My 40F sleeping bag did okay, but next time I would take a 30F. Too cold is way worse than too warm.

Day 4, Sun 8th April: Yosemite national park to Sunnyvale
The day started with a scenic ride inside Yosemite with frequent stops for photos. Then the gorgeous Rt 140 alongside the merced river till before Mariposa. I would ride this one road many more times, it was just my kind of twisty road, of all that I have ridden till date. After the merced river gone by, it was a series of lustrous green meadows till Gustine near I-5. The whole Rt 140 just amazed me, and it is way better than the western part of Rt 120 that I have driven on.

We made one last pit stop at the Romero visitor center overlooking the San luis reservoir on Rt 152 before splitting up. It was the best view of the reservoir to me. Many future trips gotta be through this spot, I am sure.

Reached home at 2:30pm, completely exhausted but satisfied after a long time.

Lessons learnt the hard way:
1. Check tires thoroughly before each trip !
2. If a puncture happens close to home, fix it and immediately go home to get it repaired and inspected properly.
3. Always use rubber cement in tire flat repair, and preferably use the rope-type patches, as plies in some tires can act as a saw for the rubber mushroom-type plugs as in stop-n-go kit.
4. Get a faulty tire replaced at a dealership on the way if not sure about the repair.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 10th, 2007 at 4:39 am and is filed under motorcycling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.