It was in the 40s when I left Roseburg at 6:50 a.m. I-5 goes up and over a couple of ranges before descending to the interior valley of California. There were lots of trucks working there way up and down the mountains and around the curves.

By the time I got to Mt. Shasta it started to warm up. It didn’t take very long for the full affect of the mid-day temperature to hit. It was 104 degrees.

I used my cool vest and got everything wet. Denim jeans go from soaking wet to bone dry in 20 minutes. Fortunately there were rest areas every 25-30 miles so I could stop and soak. The first 5 minutes after getting wet feel like riding over a mountain pass. After that it’s just hot and hotter. The Harley design is very unfriendly to riders in hot weather. The heat of the engine cooks your right leg.

Eventually I made it to an exit near Fresno and checked in to another Super 8 for the night.

The road through the valley is pretty straight and the valley is flat and brown except where they irrigate the fields, which are enormous. If they could get enough water there and plant the whole thing, I’ll bet they could grow enough food for the world.

The road also needs a little work. There are dips before and after most of the bridges. One of them was a big dip and I bottomed out. When I got to the motel I discovered the other saddlebag had cracked just as the first one had. The manufacturer did not take dynamic loading into account. I did the same repair to this bag and reinforce the repair on the first bag.

Roseburg, OR to Santa Nella, CA – 529 miles

Today’s Photo Album

Rest area shots in southern Oregon.

Rest area shots in southern Oregon.

Rest area in northern California.

Back on the highway.

Mt. Shasta.

Mt. Shasta.

Northern California.

Cooling the bikes. The rest area attendant suggested we park our bikes here in the shade. The couple riding the other bike and I ran into each other at several stops.

Wanna buy a restaurant?

Valley farms.

Valley farms.

The Map