Day 9 - 347miles / 2704 total miles UGLY DAY!!

The morning started out so well and so calmly as they rode throught he dessert.....but that did serenity did not hold for the rest of the day.

The girls decided to take it easy, sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast and then get going. About 10am they hopped on the bikes and headed west, further into California and toward Riverside to visit a friend of Sheris. The ride was hot but beautiful as they past through the dessert. It was another beautiful ride, and the girls saw spectacular dessert views and windmills farms. That was really cool.

TerBear and MerBear had a bad feeling about going into the LA area. They tried telling Bif and Sheri about their feelings bu Bif said...like we would take you seriously...you are stuffed with fluff..... Bif has now recognized that her judgemental ways did her no good...people stuffed with fluff not only have things to say...Bif should pay attention to those fluff ideas.

So, the gang first stop was going to be at the Loma Linda HD dealership. As they came off the hi way, Bif was hot and tired. As they came of the exit and stopped Biff lost her footing because of oil and gravel. And with the extra weight of the luggage on her bike Biff almost dumped it fortunately she was able to hold the entire bike up with one hand. Yet, that much weight on one hand was a bit too much and Biff's wrist puffed up and is a wee bit swollen. So, it will have to be wrapped for the rest of the trip.

When they got to the Loma Linda dealer it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience and it was a tiny dealership. The girls really, really needed a break, a rest and to cool down. Unlike some of the other dealers, this one did not have a nice rider lounge area. But the the girls made do and grab some cool drinks and hung out for a while. That dealership did have dealer charms so Biff was excited about adding to her bling, bling!!

Then the girls were off for a quick ride over to the Skip Fordice HD dealer. Now this dealership knows how to treat customers/Bikers. As the girls walked in they were greeted with friendly faces, shown where the lounge as and given cool water. And Bif found the sparkliest helmet she has ever seen. Oh Boy!!

Sheri hooked up with her friend Alison who couldn't have en nicer. She runs the Riders edge program at Fordice. Alison was so nice that she was introduced to TerBear and MarBear. Hmm....that TerBear was caught giving Alison the wink, wink in a oh so subtle flirty way. MarBear was none to happy with such behavior.

Then the girls were ready to take off again about 3pm....and the real adventure of the day began!! The girls were going to go to Bakersfield for the evening ...well Riverside to Bakersfield.....167 miles ....not too long of a jaunt.... that is not that long of a ride....Except that day.....SIX and a half hours latter the girls arrived there. Yes that is SIX fucking hours latter!!! First it took the girls over two hours to go the forty miles to get out of LA. And those oh so careful LA drivers...gotta love them....NOT.....numerous times the girls were forced to spilt lanes...not by their choice. Oh maybe, hose LA people just wanted to be closer to the fabulous biker babes...yea that was it...they just wanted to be close. NOT. Bif is Yowzer...Bif has resolved never EVER to ride anywhere near LA again.

Oh but the fun did not end with just getting out of LA. The traffic lessened and the girls began zooming their way up the Grapevine. Now they were moving vroom vroom. Yet that only lasted a few minutes, as the got over the top of the grapevine traffic came to an almost complete stop. Oy vey, not good on a bike. The girls turned off their engines and inch by inch rolled down the Grapevine. That went on for an hour and a half or so.

Finally, they were able to pull off at a rest stop where they met the most interesting people. Sheri met an ...an....interesting (well that is one way of describing him) tow truck driver who had the hots for Sheri. And Bif met a cute Brazilian boy named Fabio. He was riding a little 650 Yamaha- god knows how that bike even made it over the Grapevine. He was fun to chat with and they all chatted about bikes and different rides they had been on. And the girls had a yummy gourmet meal from Subway. yummmmm...

The sun went down and finally it looked like traffic was moving. Apparently, the hold up was from a semi truck that lost it's breaks and smashed into at least four cars and there was at least one fatality. To move the wreckage they brought in bulldozers!! Bad, bad accident.

So, finally the girls and Fabio rode down the grapevine and pulled into the Hampton Inn about 9:30pm - tired,hot and cranky....long long day. And to their surprise the Hampton Inn turned out to be a terrific experience. The lady at the counter, Angela, could not have been kinder and the beds were perfect!! Angela even made sure the girls got ice and an ace bandage for Bif now very sore and swollen writs.

So,it was a very nice end to a tough tough day. And the biggest lesson - Bif and Sheri will never again ignore the advice the fluff stuffed pals......Don't go to LA on a bike never EVER!!!