Feather River Loop - Late Summer 1979
Late Summer of 1979 was when I rode with Steve Rich on our Shovelheads up to Feather River Canyon (Hwy 70). It was a 535 mile loop out of my digs in Milpitas. 610 miles for Steve out of Santa Cruz. We met in Milpitas, and slabbed north to Vacaville for fuel.
1970 FL1200 and 1975 FLH1200 parked by the gas station in Vacaville. We took a butt break here then grabbed I-505 north.
Grumbler's 1975 FLH1200 was originally purchased in December 1977 for $2,800 in Castro Valley after years of riding Triumph twins.
We pulled over for a butt break by an apple orchard off I-505 while enroute to Yuba City for supper. Stole a couple of apples and left the cores behind. Steve Rich did a really nice job on his stripped '70 FL1200.
Steve went downhill for a couple of shots. Stood on my seat to get a better look, and got a picture out of it.
Was just relaxing and having a smoke with the sun on my face when Steve snapped this photo.
We got back on I-505, and headed north to US-99.
Northbound on US-99 to Yuba City. Had no idea that Steve was shooting film on this stretch.
Steve was getting closer, and I still didn't know what he was up to with his camera.
Looked back at him right here as he took the final picture. It became a favorite of mine. We crashed at the Travelodge motel next to the highway in Oroville. Parked our bikes with front wheels aligned with rear wheels, and chained them together at both ends. Man, the Magic Fingers in our beds were pretty nice.
Next morning, after enjoying a doobie in the room followed by breakfast up the street, we headed out to Lake Oroville. Man, the weather warmed up something real fierce so we stopped at that now defunct picnic spot by Lake Oroville for some shade.
This site was located near the southeast side of the Highway 70 bridge over Lake Oroville.
View of bridge from the picnic area. Just before we got to Quincy, Steve started having problems with his POS carb.
Stopped at a motorcycle shop inside a barn in town. Steve managed to make tentative repairs. After going south on 89 to Truckee, we cut west on I-80 to the Donner Pass rest area. Steve then decided it'd be best for us to blast straight home before his carb went bad. We did and he made it home.
That was our last road trip together. Steve moved to Long Beach that year and sold his Shovelhead. He never rode again, and now lives in Redlands. Sold mine a few months later, and stopped riding until 1990.
Photos by Steve Rich