Spring Fling 2013

May 18 - 20, 2012

Spring Fling 2013 Trip Report

About a month before the Spring Fling, Ron posted that the Fling was coming up in a month and I didn’t know he was having one! So I talked to Chris and she was all for going (not that I ever doubt it…;) . So I called Pioneer and made reservations, but because I was so late making them, the room Chris and I had stayed at for the many times we’d been there, the room was already spoken for. So I took the room two doors down.

WOW, no bike prep, other than to ride the ’04 back and forth to work for the week prior, making sure it was up to the task. No issues there. The trailer was even ready, didn’t have to do any work to it either. The truck, okay, the cruise control had gone out, so I had to fix it. I figured it was probably the switch, so I ordered a new one and then replaced it. Testing proved I was correct.

So now I checked the oil and the rest, including the air conditioning. Yep, everything was fine. A couple days before we were to leave, Brett wanted to meet us for dinner, so I suggested we take the truck so I could fill it with gas. It had been a warm day, so the truck was warm when we got in. Where’s the air? No air! I figured when I tested it, dirt must have gotten in the valve and let the coolant escape. So, a trip to Wally World for more coolant, what do you mean there’s a $10 tax (returnable deposit, if done within 90 days…another CA ripoff, like the cans and bottles). Picked it up and drove home. Had issues trying to get it to refill, but I was able to get the compressor working again, but it wasn’t too cold. Thank goodness, it wasn’t expected to be too warm going up, so maybe it will be okay.

The trip up:

I took Friday off and left work early and found that Chris took off early also. I loaded up the bike into the trailer, got everything else loaded and we took off around 7:30pm. The first part of the trip was going pretty well until we hit road construction out in the middle of nowhere on the 395 about 10 to 15 miles north of Victorville. We were delayed for about 20 minutes and of course it was just before one of the few passing lanes out on this stretch. The rest of the drive to California City was uneventful.

In the past, we stayed at the Ridge Crest Best Western. As I was looking around for other options, I saw a BW in California City, and it looked pretty new (or at least remodeled). So I decided we would try it for the night. I’m glad I did. It was easy access from and where we were going and it was more secure than the BW in Ridge Crest.

The drive up 395 was slow, but we weren’t in a super big hurry. We even made a side trip into Nevada to pick up another can of coolant. Hey, saved that $10 tax CA is now charging. Also, the temp was a little warmer, so it took it better. We now had cold air! Yeah! We pulled into Pioneer around 6pm or so, unloaded a few things and headed down to the Campground where Ron & Doe were providing Pizza.

Good to see old friends again and even met a few new ones. After visiting, we went back to the Pioneer Lodge and took it easy the rest of the night.

The ride:

Saturday morning we got up and I went out and set up the bike for us, then headed off to breakfast and meet up with Dave. After breakfast we all met at the campground to chat and get ready for the ride. I usually sit back and go with the slow group, but this time I decide to go with the first group. So Dave and I got into line with the first group and we took off.

Our ride was going real well for about the first 20 minutes when the two leading bikes took a wrong turn. Instead of heading to River Pines via Fiddletown road, they took Tyler road and headed for a real adventure. I tried to get them to stop, and even started to turn around, but the trailing car (Doug) told me that we were fine if we just followed this route. So, I said "okay" and went and caught up with the two leaders.

They were stopped and had decided they were going the wrong way. Duh! ;) I quickly typed in River Pines to my GPS and it said we could get there from where we were at by following that road. So I yelled, "follow me" and took off. Everyone did just that…followed me, that is. Well, after a mile or two, the road turned into a little one laner and wasn’t that well maintained. Oops… But I continued on. After a bit, we came to a bridge. Now this just wasn’t a bridge, this was an old wooden bridge that had two tracks about 18" wide and you had to follow those tracks or fall 4" into the center. This was called Tyler’s corner.

I continued to follow my GPS, but was wondering where it was taking us. We finally emerged from our wayward trek and found the road to River Pines. When we got there, the second group was there waiting for us. Wondering where we were.

We chatted a bit and then our group took off again. Our leaders got confused again and when I rode up to them, they asked me to lead since I had my GPS and had a good idea where we were heading. So I lead from that point, into a small town where a Subway was.

After lunch, we continued on Ron’s route to a service station at the 26 & 49 junction. After a break, we all took off back to the campground or in our case the lodge. When we got the lodge, Dereck and Lexie and the kids were there. It was good to see them.

After a bit, we went down to the BBQ at the campground. Dave and I rode our bikes down and Lexie rode on the back of my bike, while Dereck, Chris and the kids took Dereck’s truck. It was a nice BBQ as always. Getting a chance to talk to many.

At the end, Dave took off back home and we went to the lodge. As we were settling for the night, Addy got sick and threw up all over her mommy. We got that all cleaned up, when she did it again. At that point, Dereck and Lexie decided that they needed to head home (this was @ around midnight…).

The next morning Chris and I meet with my Mom, Yvonne, Dave and Dino for breakfast in Elk Grove. From there Chris and I headed home.

As always, we had a great trip, with Good Friends and really enjoyed ourselves.

Pictures: Spring Fling 2013 Pictures