Some general comments from the event:

"We just got back at 8pm. Sunday I added another twisty new loop to my Sierra list of great road rides (and found a great Thai restaurant for dinner). We wished you were with us. Not only did we see fire up close at Kings Canyon but we drove through one at the Kern River south of Lake Isabella. They were closing the road as we came through the smoke. After lunch at the Sisters Mountain roadhouse (home of the famous 'Bikini Bike Wash'!) in Badger on Hwy 245 is Negro Cyn. Rd. going west to the valley floor, then south to Boyd Cyn, then east, back up to Hwy 245. Very enjoyable back roads, I'm glad I finally got to ride them." - Glenn Giardinelli  

"What a great weekend! Another ride filled with fabulous roads, scenes and people. Thank you to everyone that helped make it happen. Here are my few photos from the weekend: http://www.buttonhome.org/component/option,com_gallery2/Itemid,42/?g2_itemId=44542" -- John Button

"I thoroughly enjoyed this event. The ride down and back, Saturday's ride through King's Canyon, and all the fun of hanging with a really good group of guys, in an area where most of us had never ridden before, was bonorue (sp?), righteous, and groovy. In my mind, Paso in April and Porterville in September form the base of a solid [Calif.] MSTA calendar for '11." -- Rich Mample

From Brian Wood:

What a great trip.  We couldn't have picked a better time or better weather, and the location was great!  Thanks to Jeff Smith, Rich Mample, John Button, and Glenn Giardinelli for helping plan the event, deal with logistics, and lead the ride.  Going after Labor Day avoided lots of traffic, but we arrived early enough in the season to avoid the cooler temperatures.  Just right.

Kellie and I got all packed up and ready to ride early-ish Friday.  I had a couple brand new tires sitting in the garage but opted to stick with the ones on the bike as the front had good tread and the rear had what appeared to be at least 1,000 miles left on it -- if not more.  No sweat, right?  So, we loaded too much stuff on the bike (why did we think we needed all that for a two-night trip?), programmed the GPS, loaded up the MP3 player, and headed out.  Not wanting to simply 'slab' it up to Porterville we took the twisty roads out of Santa Clarita (Bouquet, Spunky Canyon, etc.) to the awful, boring straight stretches through Lancaster on up to Tehachapi.  From there we got to ride the wonderfully twisty (though sometimes dirty) Caliente Bodfish Rd. to Isabella Lake.  Heading west, we took Highway 155 (Evans Rd.) to Jack Ranch, White River, and Mountain Roads through to Porterville.  All told, about 180 miles of twisty, out of the way, incredibly scenic riding.

Amazingly, we happened to arrive at the Best Western Inn right as Glenn & Caroline and a few others showed up.  Kicking tires and unloading our bikes someone made comment about my heavily worn rear tire.  No biggie I thought -- I knew it was worn.  Then I looked at it.  OMG!  Where did all my tread go?  I still had a bit of sipes down the middle of the rear tire, but between the heat and load and perhaps a bit of heavy throttle, the shoulders of the tire were completely worn away.  Not worn down, but gone.  Trash.  Uh oh.

I called Fred Cummings Motorsports in Bakersfield but it was after closing so no answer.  I dropped them an e-mail just in case, then we headed off to dinner.  Discussing things over a delicious burger at the Black Bear Diner we decided it best if Kellie and I headed to Bakersfield to try to find a new tire while the rest of the group headed into Sequoia/Kings Canyon for the regularly planned ride.  I simply didn't think my rear tire would last the day considering how quickly it wore down just getting to Porterville.  Bummer.  We really didn't want to miss out on the ride, but safety first, right?  Amazingly, I got an e-mail back from Fred Cummings indicating they thought they would be able to help me (not having access to inventory after hours), so that pretty much sealed the plan.

The next morning we headed out bright and early in order to be in Bakersfield by 9:00am while the rest of the group saddled up and headed up some un-named back roads to Sequoia and Kings Canyon.  Kellie and I arrived at Fred Cummings right at 9:00am as they were opening up shop. Problem is, the shop manager had no clue we were coming.  To make a long story short, we got the last tire they had in the size we needed and the shop manager sympathized with our situation and took care of us while we grabbed some breakfast.  Nothing like a hot breakfast, good coffee, and new rear rubber to brighten the day.  We blitzed back to Porterville for a change of clothes (it was getting considerably warmer), then headed out to find the rest of the group -- not thinking the odds were all that great.

Heading up toward the 198 Entrance to Sequoia National Park I let my GPS persuade me to take Dry Creek Drive and Hwy 245 up towards Hwy 180 (and into Kings Canyon) instead of the normal, main entrance.  What a treat!  Dry Creak and Hwy 245 were motorcycle nirvana -- lots of twisties, smooth clean pavement, and no traffic.  All I could think was how great these roads were and I hoped the main group found something like it during their ride up.  Once we got to Hwy 180 and paid our fee to enter the park, we rode to Grant Grove for some coffee and to find some food.  As we sipped coffee and enjoyed the view, who should we see but the group coming up out of Kings Canyon!  Great, we managed to find everyone and were able to rejoin the ride.  We grabbed a quick lunch at the market (the restaurant was closed), and started to compare notes on where we'd been only to find out the group had come up the exact same way we did (Dry Creek and Hwy 245), though they got to enjoy a scenic drive down Kings Canyon to the end of the road and back while we were running our errand in Bakersfield.  Oh well.  Nice picture for them, we'll have to try again next time.

After our late lunch snack we headed down Generals Highway through the park toward the south/198 entrance.  Other than a slow moving group of cruisers (what's the deal going 30 in a 45 mph zone?) and some construction delays, it was a great ride with beautiful scenery.  Good stuff.  Truly spectacular views and great roads with Glenn and Caroline setting a good pace.

Getting back to Porterville we cleaned up a bit then headed out to The Oak Pit for dinner.  Nice to have everyone together and we were joined by late arriving Mike Sleeman.  No problem, all are welcome.

The next morning we said our goodbyes and headed back to Santa Clarita.  Glenn and Caroline stayed an extra day to sample the roads around the area but it appears everyone else left to head home as planned.  We found a couple extra fun roads (Woody and Granite Roads) before hitting the highway and taking the quick route back via Highway 5.  All told we enjoyed around 650 miles of great, twisty, scenic roads, and thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with new friends as well as old.  We'll definitely have to do this again next year (right, Jeff?).

One lesson learned... make sure your tires are in good shape before heading out for a MSTA ride -- we seem to be hard on the rubber.  The center tread was fine (not much use), but the parts used in the twisties sure got their wear!

Thanks to everyone for coming out to play: Jeff Smith, Rich Mample, Glenn & Caroline Giardinelli, John Button, Tim Reard, Les Katz, Gary Ward, Dom Ochoa, and Mike Sleeman. We'll look forward to seeing more of you again on future rides!

If you're interested in a few pictures and a video, point your browser to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/calif.msta/2010091012MSTARidePorterville
   - and -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvutEIxWOqM

Brian (& Kellie)