Trip Report Day 1 - Fresno to Oakhurst

Note: Sorry for the delay. The DSL at the Oakhurst Lodge was dead. Here is yesterday's post.

After the 2.5 hour delay in Phoenix, I finally arrived in Fresno around 5:30pm. Homer from BMW Fresno met me at the airport and we had a nice chat on the way to the dealership. Once I arrived, I saw my new bike sitting in the middle of the showroom and ready to ride. Homer did a walk-through of features, quirks and details and we signed paperwork and exchanged money. He gave me some bottled water and a quart of motor oil for the road.

I setup my luggage and zipped up my jacket amidst the 105 degree Fresno afternoon heat. Since I was coming off my recent 125cc scooter experience, I decided to drive around in the parking lot behind BMW Fresno and see how the bike felt. In short, it was heavy and powerful. But that was my first impression, again compared to the little 200 pound scooter.

I left the lot and headed out onto the street, turned right and was launched onto CA Hwy 41 towards the end of rush hour. The three lanes of Hwy 41 weave through dry, dusty countryside and eventually transform into a two lane country highway. The brown landscape slowly changed to hilly canyons as I made my way north of Fresno towards Oakhurst.

About halfway through the 40 mile trip, I passed a brush fire burning right off the road – a potential disaster building in the hot, dry California countryside. Soon I was passed in the opposite direction by the volunteer fire department in their antique fire truck. It was almost as if they had raided the local history museum and driven the artifacts to the fire. I hope it was put out quickly.

I slowly became more comfortable with the bike. It is strong, powerful but very comfortable and smooth. The mass of the horizontal twin boxer engine creates a very low center of gravity. I began to see the wisdom in my choice to ride the bike back to Utah. This was already starting to be epic.

I arrived at the OakHurst lodge and checked in, noticing a brand new BMW K1100LT touring bike a few spaces down. The motel owner kindly offered me a small square of plywood to put under my side stand – to help keep it from sinking into the hot molten asphalt. Thanks check-in guy!

I parked in front of my room, dismounted and stepped back to see what I had gotten myself into. I already love this bike. It is very technical, very modern, but rides with a definite soul that comes from nearly 100 years of BMW motorcycle history.

I’m readying for sleep to the sounds of the hillbilly children festival taking place in the pool across from my room. Apparently the see-ment pond is a unique and rare treat in some circles so the children get to stay up late. Yeah I know, I’m a jerk.

It’s up early in the morning for a cool and quiet ride up into Yosemite. Tomorrow is my long riding day, but I’ll cut through most of Yosemite and see some magnificent scenery. Tioga Pass is considered one of the great roads in the west. Should be something.