October 12, 2008
I celebrated the end of the BMW MOA (Motorcycle Owner's Assn) Mileage Contest by snagging the last destination in the SCMA/AMA California National Park Adventure - Yosemite . My itinerary:

Wake up - 3:41 am (ahead of the alarm set at 4)
Cup of coffee, granola bar, glass of O.J., banana.
Brush Teeth
Second cup of coffee
Kickstand up - 4:17 am
Not a very creative route; blast up I-5/Hwy 99/Hwy 41. It was a pretty efficient, albeit a bit nippy (37F in Visalia ) ride until I reached the park around 9:30 am . It was a slow ride. 20 mph zones interrupted by groups of cars driving the speed limit! I think I was in the park 3 hours even though it's only 25 miles from the gate to the visitor's center where I had to get my book stamped (SPOT had me at Coarsegold at 12:59 pm).

Unfortunately, Tioga Pass was closed. So, I turned around and repeated the route home.

I pulled into the driveway 6:17 pm , exactly 14 hours and 735 miles later, easily an IBA pace even with the tortuous ride through Yosemite and two sit-down meals. That's what spending all day on the super-slab will do for you (if you can consider Hwy 99 a super-slab).

No performance awards (although I did turn the heads of two LEOs).

Even though the mileage contest for me got started with a bang with a ride to Branson, MO for the Blitz (2BB + 1 SS; 3,700 miles in 5 days, including one non-riding day), it ended with a fizzle and 2,000 miles less than last year (work is bad for the m/c class). Still, I ended with 14,328 miles and more importantly, crossed the 200,000 miles on BMWs without an accident (other than the 0 mph variety). For that, I'm grateful.

I'm now looking forward to an active off-season. The last three off-seasons, I've managed to get in 10k. One of the "perks" of tolerating the 15 million people living in Southern California . Oh yeah, I've also got to rebuild both shocks, rebuild the seat, replace the brake rotors...