July 27th: My Best Day of Riding on the Deli Schlep
By: Steve Goode
Edited By: Judi Goode
July 27th- LA to Bakersfield, CA
I left Canter’s Deli and began heading north with my final destination being Bakersfield, California. True to form, it began to rain 5 minutes prior to my arrival at the hotel on the evening of July 26th. But when I awoke early the next morning, it was sunny with comfortable temperatures in the 80’s. Of course, when it’s 80 degrees at 8:00 AM, you know you’re in for 100+ temperatures later on in the day. The weather has played a huge factor in my trip this year. I have ridden throughout this country for decades and I have never experienced weather like this-the torrential downpours, in areas that don’t normally get those types of storms and the intense heat in areas that are usually quite moderate. The climate has changed significantly.
In 2017, I did a motorcycle tour of the 47 national parks in this country. It was an incredible experience to see the diversity and splendor of nature at its best. Today, I have the opportunity to visit two of my favorite parks. The first is Sequoia National Park. I tried to capture the depth and beauty of the forests, trees, mountains and streams with my camera, but a simple photograph just can’t do it justice.
Today’s ride had everything a motorcyclist could hope for, elevation changes, crystal clear blue skies, rivers that followed you on every turn and most important limited traffic. When you are in Sequoia you must visit General Sherman’s tree, which is the largest tree in the park at 275 feet tall and 36 feet in diameter around the base. Experts say the tree is between 2300 to 2700 years old and it is largest living thing on earth by volume. According to Google, “The primary difference between sequoias and redwoods is their habitat. Redwoods live near the coast, while sequoias live in subalpine regions of California. Redwoods are the tallest trees in the world. Sequoias are the biggest, if measured by circumference and volume.
The next park I visited was Kings Canyon National Park. I made my way there after lunch. Sequoia was established as a national park in September 25, 1890. It was our country’s second national park. Fifty years later, on March 4, 1940, Congress established Kings Canyon National Park, with over 800,000 acres is just adjacent to the northern boundary of Sequoia.
It takes about an hour to ride thru Kings Canyon, but I guarantee that it will be the most incredible hour of riding any motorcyclist will do. It reminds me of the European Alps, where you ride “on” the mountain vs. “thru” the mountain.
Riding into both the Sequoia and Kings Canyon parks were without a doubt the best day of riding on this trip.
