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12 hour ride to go to a Frog jumping event in Calaveras County. Serious
Business.
So I left at 2:00am from Oakland because that's a pretty happening time in
these parts for headed off into the darkness.
But, I improved my darkness with a pair of 110watt Extreme White Plus PIAA
Headlights. I really was just looking for a reason to drive on very dark
mountain roads. These lights are bright, almost twice as bright as the 55watt
bulbs I replaced, and they produce a clean white light.
Amazing nightlife in Oakland on a Friday night, heading down East 14th Ave /
International Blvd towards Foothill. Always looking for some action from the
local Pimps, Ho's, Players, Stunta's and "Big Ass Tittie" Baby Mammas... it's
always entertaining.
I decided to hit the highway at 3 am.
Hwy 580 East is pretty much an Official Raceway, if you can't do 80mph in the
slow lane you better use the city streets until Hayward, even the CHP speed!
If you are caught doing 55mph you'll most likely be shot, maybe a flesh wound
for a first offence but it gets serious after that.
Heading over the hill into Dublin then Livermore I decided to pull over at
Tassajara Road. It's like 4 in the morning and I am at this Shell gas station
with the worst smelling bathroom I have seen in years. It's almost comical
how bad this place is maintained. I checked the local selection of energy
drinks and moved on.
Taking 580 to 205 I quickly pass thru Tracy and make my way to Hwy 5 and
drove up to Stockton and decided to stop for some grub at a Arco Am/PM off
Hwy 4. I topped off the tank and drowned some more coffee and headed
down Hwy 4 towards Copperopolis. Keeping at the speed limit and really
getting to know the new headlights I moved through a lot of small farmlands
and stopped off at Altaville / Angles Camp. Getting ready for the final
stretch I finished off my coffee and started heading into Calaveras.
It's like 6:30 am and I pulled into the Main Street of San Andreas and can't
help wondering where is the fault line? Pulling into Black Bart Inn I noticed
the lack of cars and wealth of Motorcycles parked out in the parking lot.
Nobody is awake, I mean nobody! I did notice a few locals and took the time
to drive around and get re-acquainted with this area. I found the Town Hall,
Churches and even the Cemetery. I saw the ravages of the strip mining on the
hills and even bonded with a few cows.
So I head over and found the local Fairgrounds and watched the Frog Jump
Setting up.
Back in the day this started out as the Messengers Motorcycle Club Clean and
Sober ride to go up to the Calaveras Frog Jump Run. Today it's total a
debauchery block party drinking fest with the party starting the evening
before and running through the entire event ending in a demolition derby on
Sunday night.
Over time the scandal of Drugged / Doped jumping frogs, endangered species
frogs and those West African Goliath frog ruined the sport. Sure you can get
a bunch of West African Goliath Frogs and hop them up on a bunch of speed...
but is it fair to the children?
So if a Frog jumps over 21 feet in 3 jumps you get $5,000.00... pretty good
incentive to recruit some Big Ass African Frogs.
After killing some time I had my fill of watching locals and bikers wake up and
headed down the road to find new roads and get lost. I stopped off at Annies
Vallero station and grabbed some energy drinks and talked with Annie. Annie
is nice and while the locals pass thru i cant help but notice Annie sells a lot of
fried chicken at 8:00 in the morning. Must be a local thing?
I quickly found myself heading thru the mountains and found a local town
hosting a car club event with a bunch of really cool antique car's and old school
hot rods, pretty cool and they were even having a cherry festival as well.
It's off to Tracy and up to Mountain House, I was told there was a ride here
but I guess I am early. After a couple of phone calls and more coffee I
decided that this was a wash and found a local place to grab more grubs and
coffees. I started off after breakfast to ride around Altamont Pass and
checked out the really cool windmills. Awesome experience driving directly
under those wind movers, you can actually watch them move the fog and feel
them. When your all alone just standing under the blades of those things
hearing and feeling the amount of wind moving its incredible. It make's you
feel very small, you never get that feeling driving by on the freeway.
So back into Livermore and onto the 580 heading west, I was tired, well
ridden and looking forward to grabbing lunch at a favorite cafe along the way
home.
Business.
So I left at 2:00am from Oakland because that's a pretty happening time in
these parts for headed off into the darkness.
But, I improved my darkness with a pair of 110watt Extreme White Plus PIAA
Headlights. I really was just looking for a reason to drive on very dark
mountain roads. These lights are bright, almost twice as bright as the 55watt
bulbs I replaced, and they produce a clean white light.
Amazing nightlife in Oakland on a Friday night, heading down East 14th Ave /
International Blvd towards Foothill. Always looking for some action from the
local Pimps, Ho's, Players, Stunta's and "Big Ass Tittie" Baby Mammas... it's
always entertaining.
I decided to hit the highway at 3 am.
Hwy 580 East is pretty much an Official Raceway, if you can't do 80mph in the
slow lane you better use the city streets until Hayward, even the CHP speed!
If you are caught doing 55mph you'll most likely be shot, maybe a flesh wound
for a first offence but it gets serious after that.
Heading over the hill into Dublin then Livermore I decided to pull over at
Tassajara Road. It's like 4 in the morning and I am at this Shell gas station
with the worst smelling bathroom I have seen in years. It's almost comical
how bad this place is maintained. I checked the local selection of energy
drinks and moved on.
Taking 580 to 205 I quickly pass thru Tracy and make my way to Hwy 5 and
drove up to Stockton and decided to stop for some grub at a Arco Am/PM off
Hwy 4. I topped off the tank and drowned some more coffee and headed
down Hwy 4 towards Copperopolis. Keeping at the speed limit and really
getting to know the new headlights I moved through a lot of small farmlands
and stopped off at Altaville / Angles Camp. Getting ready for the final
stretch I finished off my coffee and started heading into Calaveras.
It's like 6:30 am and I pulled into the Main Street of San Andreas and can't
help wondering where is the fault line? Pulling into Black Bart Inn I noticed
the lack of cars and wealth of Motorcycles parked out in the parking lot.
Nobody is awake, I mean nobody! I did notice a few locals and took the time
to drive around and get re-acquainted with this area. I found the Town Hall,
Churches and even the Cemetery. I saw the ravages of the strip mining on the
hills and even bonded with a few cows.
So I head over and found the local Fairgrounds and watched the Frog Jump
Setting up.
Back in the day this started out as the Messengers Motorcycle Club Clean and
Sober ride to go up to the Calaveras Frog Jump Run. Today it's total a
debauchery block party drinking fest with the party starting the evening
before and running through the entire event ending in a demolition derby on
Sunday night.
Over time the scandal of Drugged / Doped jumping frogs, endangered species
frogs and those West African Goliath frog ruined the sport. Sure you can get
a bunch of West African Goliath Frogs and hop them up on a bunch of speed...
but is it fair to the children?
So if a Frog jumps over 21 feet in 3 jumps you get $5,000.00... pretty good
incentive to recruit some Big Ass African Frogs.
After killing some time I had my fill of watching locals and bikers wake up and
headed down the road to find new roads and get lost. I stopped off at Annies
Vallero station and grabbed some energy drinks and talked with Annie. Annie
is nice and while the locals pass thru i cant help but notice Annie sells a lot of
fried chicken at 8:00 in the morning. Must be a local thing?
I quickly found myself heading thru the mountains and found a local town
hosting a car club event with a bunch of really cool antique car's and old school
hot rods, pretty cool and they were even having a cherry festival as well.
It's off to Tracy and up to Mountain House, I was told there was a ride here
but I guess I am early. After a couple of phone calls and more coffee I
decided that this was a wash and found a local place to grab more grubs and
coffees. I started off after breakfast to ride around Altamont Pass and
checked out the really cool windmills. Awesome experience driving directly
under those wind movers, you can actually watch them move the fog and feel
them. When your all alone just standing under the blades of those things
hearing and feeling the amount of wind moving its incredible. It make's you
feel very small, you never get that feeling driving by on the freeway.
So back into Livermore and onto the 580 heading west, I was tired, well
ridden and looking forward to grabbing lunch at a favorite cafe along the way
home.