Our first leg was through iconic CA-36 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_36), featuring over 1,000 turns in 140 miles. It makes the Snake look quaint, frankly. Winding through the Trinity Alps and foothills, it is a world-renowned motorcycling road. Easily in a class by itself.
After working our way through the Trinities, we crashed for the night in Yreka, CA within striking distance of the OR border. It being fire season in California and with us being in the late stages of an epic drought, the local fire crews were mightily busy fighting fires in the area. Our bikes got a nice coating of ash overnight.
The next morning we struck into Southern Oregon, where the roads went from psychotically twisty to, as Tim put it, "rolling and bucolic." I actually prefer those kinds of roads to the hyper-twisty, as the F6B tends to bog down in the tight stuff. As the road opens up a bit, this bike really comes into its own.
Unfortunately it was around this time that I started getting really fatigued and sore. I thought it might mean dehydration from the previous day's ride up the Central Valley, but in fact I wear a Camelback and was diligent about hydration (when you're peeing every hour on a ride, chances are it's because you're adequately hydrated). By the time we pulled in for the night at Cottage Grove, I knew something was up. A trip to the local pharmacy confirmed--I was running a fever. So I popped some flu treatment and went to bed early.
In the morning my fever had broken, but I decided to still take it easy--just a trip to Crater Lake on my own. Turns out it was a great decision; I had a simply fantastic ride south from Cottage Grove to Craker Lake. To be continued...
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