I rarely get stirred up by politics because there are so many other, more interesting, things to think about but this one has me in a state of - "Say What?!"

According to the American Motorcycle Association (AMA), former South Dakota Governor Bill Jankolow sped through a stop sign in 2003 and killed motorcyclist Randy Scott. 

Jankolow was convicted by a jury of second degree manslaughter but Judge Rodney Steele issued a "suspended imposition of sentence" which is nothing less than a free pass for a felony.  Jankolow served only probation and that was cleared in January meaning he walks with a clean record and his license to practice law intact. 

Again, "Say What?'"

Other outrageous stories recently reported by the AMA:

A woman in Kansas turns her SUV in front of a motorcycle a kills rider and passenger. The accident is ruled her fault but she only pays a $60 fine and $117 in court costs.

A man in Wisconsin makes an illegal left turn in front of a motorcycle.  He is cited for failure to yield and pays less than $200.

A woman in Michigan pulls away from a stop sign in front of a motorcyclist already in the intersection.  She is charged with negligent homicide but faces only probation.

Outraged by these incidents the AMA, following the example of MADD has instituted the Justice for All campaign.  According to AMA spokesman Bill Kresnak:

"The idea is not to turn drivers into criminals over simple mistakes, but to allow for great penalties where someone's actions constitutes reckless disregard for the safety of others."

This includes, of course, motorcyclists themselves.

For more information or to find out how you can get involved go to:

www.amadirectlink.com/justice

I last left you at Lake Berryessa watching Hawks. But there were still miles and miles to go that day.  Overall this was turning out to be a long but very enjoyable ride compared to some of the suicide missions Friction Zone has sent me on.

Most of the roads were series of high-speed sweeper and carvable twisties with very few sharp corners or hair-pins.  And, almost all smoothly paved.

Sweet!

This is that special time of year when the meadows and the lower ranges of the California mountains turn that special shade of green that no matter what I do I cannot capture with a camera.  I've been trying to think of how to describe it-like a glowing luminescnence almost.  The special coloring lasts only a week or two so now is the time to get out and see it.

====================

Again jump forward many, many miles.  The last part of the ride took me back to The Delta region.  Along highway 12 there is a ten mile scenic loop passing through a number of picturesque boating resorts.  I has checked out the loop the day before entering from the western entrance which is very straightforward.  This time I approached the loop from the eastern entrance, which, is to say the least, a bit confusing.  Taking a wrong turn I soon found myself  very lots amon the maze of small, rough levee roads.  The GPS kept showing me the right way to go, but I couldn't go that way.  AARRRGH.

Eventually I found my way out and I must say the scenic loop if very interesting.  Most of the buildings are built on stilts.

 Seems like a good idea to me!

Yesterday I made the long drive home and it looks like I will be grounded from long trips for a while as my medical leave ended today and I started back to work at my "real" with a new assignment.  But will probably be doing Kings Canyon over Easter and going to Mexico in October.

Take Care.

Cameron

www.highslab.com

When last we left this little travel tale we were riding along the Sacramento Levee system which is really quite amazing.

I don't know what the purpose of this boat was but it is pretty cool looking

I think I posted this picture already, but what is THAT about?

The counterweights on the end of thes suspension bridges are pretty darn impressive!

Here is a satellite view of River Blvd and Highway 160

At the tunaround point lays the little riverside town of Isleton where we met the very Colorful Character JT who is the proprietor of a small coffee shop there.  We tried to get an interview and picture but JT politely refused saying he liked his life just the way it was and didn't want anyone to know about him.

By then darkness was falling rapidly so we headed back across the flatlands towards San Andreas.

Unfortunately I am running out of time here so I will finish up the story in the next entry.

And BTW it was fun meeting some of you at Dagnys the other day!

And as always there are more pix, info, and, of course, the podcast available at:

www.highslab.com

Take Care.

Cameron

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Greetings from Angels Camp California.

We have been "off-the-grid" for a couple of days.  This morning we got a good internet signal, finally, at Starbucks which was closed when we rolled in last night.

Last night we stayed at the Jumping Frog Motel, being that we are in Calaveras County; home of the annual frog jumping contest.

Yesterday we rode along the levees of the Sacramento River.  I don't really have time to write about that right now, but I am going to post some pix.

Will check in later today hopefully

Cameron and Patti ....out

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Good morning everyone!

Here is a report on the last couple days of riding.

Here Patti  AKA "The Wrench Wench" 'renches on her helmet getting ready for the days ride

On Sunday we rode up Highway 41 from Oakurst.  Which, for you fellow bikers/motorcyclists our there, is just one of the sweetest roads you could ever ride on.  Perfect in angle and banking geometry it just doesn't get any better.  So much so, in fact, that during a high-speed pass in a passing lane I we were accompanied in the other lane by a member of the CHP who, amazingly, just let us off with a verbal warning over the loudspeaker.  Whew, how often does that happen?

CHP or no CHP the wrist twisting fun would not have lasted much longer anyway.  Highway 41 gains altitude rapidly.  By the time we had reached the little town of Fishcamp there was at least two feet of snow still on the ground.  It was a beautiful, sunny day which had cleared the roads of water and ice in the sunny places.  Howvever At 10 in the morning the shaded areas were still quite trecherous,  The melting snow under the redwood trees was running freely across the road creating leaving icy patches in many places.  Thankfully we were warned off from going higher at that time of day by the thin, friendly gentleman at the Fishcamp General Store who looked more like he should be a college professor than a shopkeeper.Nevertheless we took his advice to heart and backtracked down the road

 a half mile or so to one of the very swanky lodges, everything up here is called a lodge, and indulged in a couple of gourmet coffees while we watied for things to warm up a bit more.

I'll have to tell the rest of the story later as it is time to move on to our next destination but here is a photo album of some pretty cool stuff.

Will add more later

Cameron and Patti...out

www.highslab.com

Greetings everyone from Oakhurst, Ca.

It has been a while since Road Show has actually been "on-the-road."  First there was the 1000 mile day fiasco which some of you may remember, then the Beemer required major surgery.

How do you like my homemade ignition timing device?

After a weeks worth of delays having to do with broken parts, some of which were already broken and some which I broke myself after replacing them.  (Note to self: if it is in the service manual and it is in BOLD print perhaps one should pay attention to that!) Ahem, like I was saying we are finally on the road again.

Yesterday we traveled through the southern end of Gold Country.  There is an intricate maze of back roads which runs through the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas just south of Yosemite that was just made for motorcycling.  And many of the small towns which these roads connect have fascinating sights and histories.  It is a good idea to bring a GPS or a compass along though because the road signage is confusing at best.  Most roads have at least two names.  Usually they have a name and a designated number, but the numbers do not follow the normal east-west equals even number, north-south equal odd number convention.

The first little town we came to was was Raymond,  This is a small community in the southern Sierra Foothills. but was one a stage route to the Mariposa Grove and Yosemite ValleyRaymond was like a trip back in time.  There are at least two what I would call "General Stores"  with peeling paint, fading signage and half-lit beer signs in the windows.  Mid-morning on a Saturday there were already a number of people lounging on the large, shaded porches.  I was very curious to stop in have a chat and to see what might be inside, however they seemed to eye these motorcycling strangers with suspicion so we kept movin on.

On the outskirts of town, however, there is a sight that cannot help but catch the eye.  One of the nearby hills has what looks lik a grey angular wound bleeding grey dust.

As far as I could tell this is the main industry of the town and very, very impressive.

We then traveled south on Road 600, a very good motorcycle road.  Well maintained and lightly traveled it is possible to carve it at fairly high speed with only a few very sharp curves to slow one down.  Inexplicably the oak trees which are so prevalent in most other places in the Sierra Nevada foothills are strangely lacking.  The glacial rocks also are missing making the grassland look very barren.

Seven and a half miles south of Raymond a turn to the east on Road 603 also known as Daulton road leads to the man-made Hensley Lake.

The ride down 6-3 from a riders perspective is quite dull, just a straight ribbon of concrete.  There are apparently some interesting sights alongside the road my passenger said, but she will have to report in on that herself.  One past the southern end of the lake the road turns north and becomes much more interesting.

30 MPH  --- Yeah Right!

Continuing north on Road 400, confusingly also named Raymond Road, as you may recall road 600 is ALSO called Raymond Road.  We eventutually turned east on Road 415, then on to Highway 41.  A brief trip up 41 brought us to the town of Coarsegold.

Coarsegold is the southern-most point of what is known as Gold Country and is very near the exact geographic center of California.

The Coarsegold Cafe..a popular hangout where they server the "Burgers of Death"

And there are some other odd things there too.

Currently we are seven miles north of Coarsegold in Oakhurst and it is time to head out.  Will be reporting back in this evening.

Have a great day everyone!

Cameron and Patti

www.highslab.com

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I don't know if many of you know this but we have a real-live hero and celebrity here in our midst.

Dave Barr author of "Riding the Edge" and "Riding the Ice" lost both of his legs in combat and went on to set two seperate motorcycling records.  He is the only person to ride around the world solo on a Harley Davidson, and the only person to across Siberia in the dead of winter.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Barr for "Bakersfield" magazine and was able to obtain pictures from Mike's Famous Harley Davidson in Delaware and thought some of you might enjoy seeing them.

There is also a brief interveiw with Mr. Barr on this weeks edition of Road Show which also has an interview with Kelly Woodhouse, owner of Bikersfield Leather and Accessories.  A show with local flavor you might say.

www.highslab.com

 www.davebarr.com