The T Shirts to prove “we done it” show “Springtime in the Sierras 2018” and feature both a Vincent Twin and a Norton Commando on the front. That’s because this was yet another in a series of now annual “EPIC” runs done jointly by lucky members of SoCal, NorCal and Texas Norton Clubs and Vincent Clubs, respectively, several of us belonging to one or maybe even all and which includes a bunch of wandering “Peckerheads.” Although nine passes were named on the back of the T Shirt, we rode over more than that, some of them both ways! Most of the riders were in for the entire haul, June 9 through June 16. So, a full week of riding, with one day set aside to laze around, work on bikes or – do more riding! The Texas boys flew to California, while Alton Gillespie hauled their bikes cross country. The California fellows rode in or trailered in, mostly the latter, and they also had a chase vehicle along, the driver being an old pal of Derry’s named Richard and Richard had his wonder dog Bonnie riding shotgun. We staged in Springville, CA near Fresno on the southwestern slopes of the Sierra Nevada Range, spending two nights there.

It was “meet and greet” on Saturday the 9th, and then the riding began on the 10th. SoCal Vincent Owners Club (VOC) stalwarts Tom Gross, Jeff McCoy, David Belleville, Greg McBride and possibly others did the planning for routes, rest stops, eat stops, etc., and Tom did an impressive job describing the targeted passes, each being major areas along the “drainage divide” of the Sierra Nevada Crest. Yes, we did more passes than named on the T Shirt, but Tom named the main ones. Tom’s description of each day’s route and point by point directions with options and “what ifs” amounted to quite a volume, but one sure did not want to bury their head in that stuff while hauling along great roads! I reckon most of us just simply played follow the leader and enjoyed the scenery, which was GREAT!

Our California pals selected great roads getting to each pass. Mostly, we avoided lower elevations and therefore stayed reasonably cool – and out of big traffic. We never did get really cold, but we were glad to have layers, occasionally, at really high elevations and early/late in the day. Several of us have done the European Alps and other ranges, but the roads selected for this ride hold their own with anywhere for challenges to rider and bike. Countless turns, some of them 1st gear switchbacks, very steep grades, and occasional poor road surfaces required riders to pay attention. And, we rode quickly. Our mostly-vintage collection of machines may have been old, but they went along about as fast as you could go on a new one, considering safety along the way. And, they mostly stayed together! My own machine covered 1,277 miles on the ride!

The Texas riders were all vintage-mounted, with Richard Asprey’s White Shadow Vincent, my Vincent Comet, Clinton Haddock and Ben D’Avanza were each Norton Commando mounted, and Keith Martin and Dennis Tackett rode on respective Triumph T140s. The NorCal and SoCal men rode a variety of a Vincent Black Shadow, an assortment of BMWs, Commandos, Triumph, a Ducati GT 750, an MV, so some vintage, some not. I’m hoping I’m not leaving out anyone, but the CA folks included Jeff McCoy, Greg McBride, David Belleville, Mitch Talcove, Tom Gross, Derry Naylor, Bob Rymer, and Tom Roach. Several other riders joined in at various points along the way, to include Jeff Shiffer on a BMW sport-tourer, Barry Porter on the MV and Sam Whiteside of Carson City, roaring in on his beautiful Vincent Black Shadow.

All of the selected passes had their individual charm and I reckon each of us had his favorite. Mine was Monitor pass, as near the top there were opportunities for high speed along with the curves and huge views (if you took a pause to have a look, and we did). Of course, Tioga and Sonora passes are the best known, one leading into/exiting out of Yosemite National Park from the Northeast, and Sonora, with its tight and steep switchbacks near the top.

Really good riding with this group, everyone respectful of others’ lines through corners, and boy, were there a LOT of them! Sheesh! A dizzying number! Many of us hit the MOTHER of all potholes one day, which caused the loss of Jeff’s R90S’ headlamp, my Vincent STOP taillight lens/grille and even the LED insert! I had brought along a spare lens and grille but never dreamed a bump would cause loss of the LED component! Wouldn’t you know our clever artist Alton drew up a fake headlight for Jeff! Only in our Club! That pothole may have been the coup de gras for Richard’s Shadow’s rear fender fracture, come to think of it ……

The slow bike in the group was of course the only single on the ride, my 1952 Vincent Comet. It has been on many long-legged rides in Big Bend and The Hill Country, but because we were needing to keep up with bigger bikes, it was pushed REALLY hard. We could hang with the group everywhere except long and or very steep grades and straights where folks wanted to go really fast. Fortunately, there were not many straights on our routes and with the occasional rest stops and traffic delays for one-lane construction; we were generally at the rest stops before everyone was through parking. And, a few of the riders occasionally hung back to take in the views, so I had company most of the time. My bike never missed a beat while running, but it did get cantankerous upon starting after getting warm (hot?) but as we went along I changed kicking drills until I got almost good at it. Still, it was an opportunity to get some deserved ribbing from everyone, and also give a few folks some exercise as they pushed me! Haha!

Richard’s White Shadow ran extremely well, and really, all the Texas mounts did. Ben’s Norton was putting out some oil, and after lots of looking things over, it turned out to be a filling primary chaincase. Clint’s bike was steady, but he did have to use a couple of header patches as both pipes decided to crack. I don’t recall Dennis’ pride and joy T140 ever showing anything other than a need for fuel, OFTEN, with that tiny tank. He is considering a touring tank for the next ride. Speaking of tanks, Richard, Keith and myself got separated from the group one day and BARELY made it to fuel before running out of gas.

The lodging choices were all good and all very different. The Springville choice was a typical mountain motel on the side of a hill, and had a comfy, although minimal bar, and “ok” food. The carpark was fun and shady, so we could fix and fettle without too much sweat. We stayed two nights. The Bass Lake campus was huge and we stayed there two nights. They had a great pool and Richard hosted a party in his room, one night. The restaurant was very nice, and both dinner and breakfast offerings there were GREAT. With a day off from riding there, we had plenty of time to cinch up our bikes (and OURSELVES) after two very long and tiring days, almost 300 miles each day, and riding old bikes on those roads at our speeds was TAXING. But, VERY fun! The off day, Jeff McCoy fixed his bike, removing part of the electric start so he could just kick and go on, the broken part having messed up his electric leg luxury. Tom Gross improvised with the master cylinder on his Ducati – he had no spares for that but swapped positions of seals and got enough function going to keep the binder working while he rode at the front. Impressive. Derry wrestled with the carburetor(s?) on his Vincent Twin but kept it going until he decided the front tire was a bit too worn and cracked to risk going at our pace, so he hopped on his BMW toward the end. Keith Martin was pumped for info constantly, his experiences with racing bike and street bike prep always valuable, and plus, he is big-time fun to be around and it was good to see him taking some time off from his Big D Cycle enterprise.

The third lodging was in Bridgeport, on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Range, just north of the road up to Tioga. There, we had a catered BBQ, lots o’ fun!

Then, from there, we pulled into a hotel on Lake Tahoe, on the south shore near the Nevada line and the CASINOS. Dining choices around the hotel were very nice. The Texas contingent stayed there four nights as we could not get flights out of Reno on the scheduled departure date. Hey, an extra night at Tahoe ain’t a problem!

Alton had plenty of opportunities to round up bikes that needed a temporary “on board” experience in the trailer, and to deliver bikes back to the starting point for the CA folks to rendezvous with their trailers after the ride was over. Of course, he kindly hauled our luggage and spares/tools from location to location.

The lunch stops were mostly very nice, and of course we made a couple pub runs that turned out great. We never got a drop of rain until we were done riding!

Like fine dining, fine riding inspires more of the same. One venue is not even completed and we already discuss the next. Several options are on the table, but whatever it is, the next one will be terrific. Look for the expanded Peckerhead Racing Group to come up with EPIC stuff every time! GUARANTEED!

Photos taken by Bev   -   Click on photo to enlarge.

                              Here are two examples taken by Ben D'Avanza.      Click on photos to enlarge.