Carson City Ride

CE – THIS IS A CLOSED RIDE TO THE PUBLIC. MEMBERS MAY BRING TWO GUESTS WITH THEM.

PLEASE ARRIVE 20 – 30 MINUTES PRIOR TO THE PRE-RIDE BRIEFING! (This will allow you time to visit other riders, use the restroom, fuel up, get a cup of coffee, etc.)

PLEASE BRING YOUR SM HOG MEMBERSHIP CARD FOR CURRENT STATUS!

Ride Rating: Complex

I will hand out a ride plan for each day during this ride after our morning pre-ride briefing.

Day 1 (Wednesday, October 5): Santa Maria to Manteca

Depart Santa Maria from the Chevron Station on Santa Maria Way and Bradley and travel Highway 101 north to Highway 46 west and the McChevron station (McDonald’s / Chevron) (61.6 miles). Pick up north county riders, conduct pre-ride briefing for the riders from this stop. After we take on fuel and take a break, we will head north on Highway 101 to Highway 46 east. We will travel east on Highway 46 to the Highway 41 split, to Highway 33 and to Avenal where we will head east on Highway 269 to Highway 5 where we will head north to the Highway 198 exit, turn right, and stop at the Shell station for fuel and a break (78.6 miles). We will also eat lunch here at the Harris Ranch Quick BBQ.  After lunch, we will continue north on Highway 5 to Exit 391 / Highway 165 and head north (57.9 miles). Coming into Los Banos we will turn left on Highway 33 / 152 and travel a short distance to the Chevron Station for short break (67 miles from Harris Ranch) to get rid of lunch liquids and top off the tanks.  We will come out of the Chevron at the traffic light out of the parking lot and turn left.  We will stay in the left lane and then turn left back onto Highway 165 and head north.  We will pass through Stevinson, Irwin, and Hilmar on our way towards Turlock.

Just as we pass under Highway 99, we will get on Highway 99 north and travel 60 miles to our destination.  We will travel through Modesto and on to Manteca taking Exit 242 / E. Yosemite Ave (30.2 miles) and make a left, travel under the Highway 99 overpass and our destination will be on the right, Best Western Plus Executive Inn & Suites.  Total Mileage Day 1 is 267 miles

Best Western Plus Executive Inn & Suites
1415 E. Yosemite Avenue
Manteca, CA 95336

Costs will be $135.10 for the room, $16.09 tax for a total due of $150.19. This is the AAA rate.

https://www.bestwestern.com/en_US/book/hotels-in-manteca/best-western-plus-executive-inn-suites/propertyCode.05488.html?propertyCity=Manteca&propertyState=CA&propertyCountry=US&iata=00170260&ssob=PSPBM0204G&cid=PSPBM0204G%253Agoogle%253AConversion_National_X_US_Google_BW_BW-Plus_BR_LO_Phrase_En_United-States_California%253Abest+western+plus+manteca&gclsrc=ds

There is a Chick-fil-A in the adjacent parking lot to the hotel and there are places to eat across the road that are within walking distance (In-N-Out, Chipotle Mexican Grill, McDonalds, Panda Express, Wing Stop, and Jack in the Box) and there is also a Black Bear Diner just east of the hotel about .2 miles away.  This is where most of us went the last time we were in Manteca.

Destination / Termination point for Day 1 will be the Best Western Plus Executive Inn and Suites in Manteca

Day 2 (Thursday, October 6): Manteca to Minden to Carson City

After breakfast and we are all packed up we will fuel up next door at the Shell Station. You can fuel up here is you choose to and did not fuel up at the Chevron near Turlock.  Even with the ride plan change this is still a rather short ride into Minden / Carson City. We get back on Highway 99 north to exit 255 / CA-88 (14.0 miles) and head east on Highway 88 traveling through Lockeford, Clements, Martell, and into Jackson where we stop to top off at the Chevron Station (on our left) that is just before we make our left turn onto Highway 88 and travel east (55.5 miles from Manteca).  We will encounter a lot of twisties, elevation changes and some awesome scenery along the Carson Pass Highway.  We will travel 89.8 miles to the Highway 395 intersection, and we will use the left two lanes and make a left turn at this intersection.  We will stop at the hotel (Quality Inn & Suites in Minden) and see if we can drop off our gear, so we are not hauling it into Carson City and this way we are not leaving it unattended while we are in the Museums.  I will update this information after I talk with the hotel.  We will continue north on Highway 395 into Carson City.  Due to the short distance on Day 2, we will take in some of the local history and travel (13.1 miles) to the Nevada State Railroad Museum (on the left coming into town from the south) and time permitting (we can see how we are on time and discuss) we will travel a little further north (1.4 miles) on S Carson Street / Bus 395 to the Nevada State Museum (on the left).  After leaving the Nevada Railroad Museum we will take the roundabout and keep left and stay on S Carson Street north.  Just after the roundabout we will make an immediate right into the parking lot and have lunch at Chipotle Mexican Grill.  We will see how we are doing on time after lunch and either continue to the Nevada State Museum or head south to the hotel but will make a stop at the Chevron station on the right at the corner of Highway 395 and Mica Drive to fuel up.  If we decide to go on to the Nevada State Museum, we will leave the parking lot and turn right onto S Carson Street and head north.  We will turn left onto E Robinson Street just before the museum and find parking in the parking lot on the left and if none is available, we will try to find parking directly across the street from the Museum.  If we cannot work this stop into the schedule, we will try on Day 3 with time permitting.  If we make the stop and after spending time at the Nevada State Museum, we will travel south on Highway 395 to Minden and to our destination for the day, Quality Inn & Suites Minden (14.2 miles).  I did not block off rooms.  Due to the high hotel rates in Carson City, we will be staying south of Carson City for two nights for this ride.  The prices just did not work out for this ride, and I think they are trying to recoup from COVID-19 and little to no international travel going on right now which is just my opinion.  Total mileage:  172 miles depending on our museum stop(s)

Restaurants nearby include Louie’s Mandarin, El Agaveño, and Pizza Factory next to or within a block or two of the hotel to consider for dinner.

Destination / Termination point for Day 2 will be the Quality Inn & Suites Minden

Quality Inn & Suites
1795 Ironwood Drive
Minden, NV
775-782-7766
https://www.choicehotels.com/nevada/minden/quality-inn-hotels/nv101

For rooms at this hotel it would be easier if you go to the website for the hotel, and pick out what works best for you.  If you are a member of Choice Privileges there is a better rate and there are rates for paying now, paying when you check-in, and there are package options.  A lot more information than I want to post here on the website for this two-night stay.  There are Best Available, AAA, Sr./AARP, and Military/Veteran’s rates available for your choosing on the Quality Inn website.  I will leave this up to you.

Nevada State Railroad Museum
2180 S Carson Street
Carson City, NV
$8 entry fee
https://carsonrailroadmuseum.org/

Nevada State Museum
600 N Carson Street
Carson City, NV
$8 entry fee
https://www.carsonnvmuseum.org/

Day 3 (Friday, Oct 7): Minden to Virginia City

After breakfast and our pre-ride briefing, we will depart the hotel and head north on Highway 395 and make a right onto Highway 580 (21.7 miles).  We will continue north to  Highway 50E where we will make a right turn.  We will continue east on Highway 50 to Highway 341 / 342 and head north to Virginia City passing through Silver City, Devils Gate, Gold Hill, and on into Virginia City (29.0 miles).  We will park in the paid parking lot next to Bucket of Blood Saloon which will be our first stop of the day.  You are free here to roam around town and grab a bite to eat for lunch.  Consider a change of shoes for walking if you don’t want to keep your boots on.  We will coordinate a return time to the parking lot upon arrival.  After lunch we will head back south on Highway 341 / 342 to Highway 50 and turn right and head west towards Carson City.  We will turn right on E College Parkway and just as we pass the Sonic Drive-in on the right, we will turn left on Goni Road and then make a left on Research Way to Battle Born Harley-Davidson (14.5 miles) and we will spend about 30-minutes or so here.  From here we will determine if we have time to go to the Nevada State Museum if we did not make it on Day 2 or forego it and head back to the hotel and we will turn right on Mica Drive and fuel up at the Carson City Chevron station on the way back.

Harley to the Museum:  From the Harley dealership we will travel on Research Way to the light and turn left and travel under the overpass and get on Highway 395 / 580 and travel south to Exit 5 / E. Williams Street where we will make a right turn.  We will travel to N. Carson Street and make a left turn and travel 3 blocks and once again as explained on Day 2 we will look for parking across from the Museum or on the south side of the Museum.  We will head south on Highway 395 and make a right onto Mica Drive and fuel up at the Carson City Chevron Station before heading back to the hotel.

Harley to the Hotel:  From the Harley dealership we will travel on Research Way to the light and turn left and travel under the overpass and get on Highway 395 / 580 and travel south to Exit 3 / Fairview Drive and turn right and travel to S Carson Street staying in the left 2 lanes.  We will turn left and travel to the Carson City Chevron Station on Mica Drive and then head back to the hotel that will be on our right.

Total mileage: Approximately 61.4 miles for the day

Dinner will be open for discussion.

Destination / Termination point for Day 3 will be the return trip to the hotel

Day 4 (Saturday, Oct 8): Minden to Angels Camp to Sonora

Please note that this is a change from the original route due to the Best Western in Angel’s Camp requiring a two-night stay now.  I made my reservations in July, but it doesn’t seem to matter and for those of you that are going and did not make your reservations (as of Sept 6) this could be a problem for you.  This is the reason we are now going to Sonora for the night.

So…..after breakfast and our pre-ride briefing, we will depart the hotel and head south out of town on Highway 395.  We should be good on fuel since we fueled up on Day 3.  Once again this is a relatively short day, but we will get a workout on a couple of passes.  At the Highway 88 / 395 split we will continue south on Highway 395 towards Topaz Lake, and we will turn right onto Highway 89 (27.3 miles) and travel west across Monitor Pass.  With any luck we may see the Aspens starting to change to their fall colors.  This is one of my favorite passes to travel on albeit somewhat short.  We will travel 17.6 miles to the Highway 89 / 4 junction.  One option is to turn right on Highway 89 and travel a short 4.8 miles to Markleeville for a short stop or to make a left onto Highway 4 and continue to Angels Camp.  To be discussed.  If we do not go to Markleeville then we will make a left onto Highway 4 and travel Ebbetts Pass where we will encounter a ‘lot of twisties’ and in some cases a narrow road with lots of great scenery along the way.  We may make a short stop at Lake Alpine which is a beautiful little spot for photos before we take a break in Bear Valley (75.8 miles if we don’t stop in Markleeville) for liquids and snacks.  After our break we will continue west on Highway 4 passing through Cottage Springs, Camp Connell, Dorrington, Arnold, Avery, Red Apple, Forest Meadows, Murphy’s, Douglas Flat, and Vallecito before we come into Angels Camp.  At the Highway 4 / Vallecito Road split we will stay left and travel to Highway 49 where we will turn right and travel a short distance to the Angels Camp City Museum (45.7 miles).  There is a $15 admission fee so you can either sit in the parking lot or take in some education at the Museum.  FYI….if you don’t know your history.  This is an area with a lot of Gold Rush history as well as when Mark Twain spent some time in this area.  It will be a nice break off the bikes.  After some time here we will stop at the the Chevron station and fuel up before heading south on Highway 49.  We will travel through Carson Hill, cross over New Melones Lake, and then make a right on Rawhide Road and encounter a few twisties as we come into Jamestown.  We will then make a left onto Highway 108 and travel east.  We will continue east into Sonora and take the Hess Avenue Exit where we will turn right and travel through the traffic signal at Mono Way intersection and our destination will be on the left, Best Western Plus Sonora Oaks Hotel & Convention Center (20.3 miles).  You can either call or go online to make your reservations.  I did not block off rooms.  We can discuss dinner after we relax for a while but it looks like we either order in or we will have to ride to dinner as there is nothing really close to the hotel.  Total mileage: 142 miles

Destination / Termination point for Day 4 will be the Best Western Plus Sonora Oakes & Convention Center
 
Best Western Cedar Plus Sonora Oaks & Convention Center
19551 Hess Avenue
Sonora, CA
(209) 533-4400
https://www.bestwestern.com/en_US/book/hotel-rooms.05408.html?iata=00171880&ssob=BLBWI0004G&cid=BLBWI0004G:google:gmb:05408

2 Queen for AAA / Sr. $161.99 + taxes; 1 King for AAA / Sr. $170.99 + taxes

Day 5 (Sunday, Oct 9): Sonora to Home

After breakfast and our pre-ride briefing, we will depart the hotel and head west out of town on Highway 108/ 120.  After we travel through Jamestown we will continue west to Oakdale (36.4 miles) where we will turn left onto S Yosemite Avenue / J14, and we will follow Albers Road, Geer Road and we will turn left onto E Keyes Road to the Chevron station (57.4 miles from the hotel).  We will take a break, lose some liquids from breakfast, and top off tanks here.  From here we will get on Highway 99 and head south towards Turlock and we will take Exit 211 / Highway 165 and make a right turn.  We will continue south on Highway 165 through Hilmar, Stevinson, and Los Banos to Highway 5 where we will head south.  We will take Exit 334 and turn left and stop at the Harris Ranch Shell station at Harris Ranch and we will fuel up and have a bite to eat at Harris Ranch Express BBQ (103 miles from last fuel stop).  If need be you can fuel up / top off here at the Harris Ranch Shell Station.  After lunch we will continue south on Highway 5 to Exit 319 / Highway 269 and travel through Avenal to Highway 33 where we will turn left onto Highway 33 and travel to Highway 41, Highway 46 into Paso Robles, and Highway 101 south back to the Santa Maria area (133 miles from Harris Ranch). Total mileage: 290 miles

Destination / Termination point for Day 5 will be the Santa Maria area

You are more than welcome to use other hotel reservation systems such as Expedia, Priceline, or Hotels.com if you can get a better rate.  I believe all of the hotels might be trying to recoup what they loss during COVID-19 albeit two years ago now since the pandemic.

If you have any questions please contact me at PhilipRietz@comcast.net or call me at 805-757-9202

Phil