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Posted April 22, 2005
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Commutes to envy
A treasure of a ride If roads could talk, this one would have a lot to say. Once traveled by horses, wagons, stagecoaches, and some of the richest men in America, it has a history of many hidden stories. Stories of mystery, drama, and excitement are buried under its path, unlike the thousands of tons of silver unearthed nearby that were hauled over its rugged, twisted route during the famous Comstock era. The miners painstakingly extracted over $400 million in silver and gold from the area mines before it was all said and done. They were some of the highest paid workers in America during that time, making $4 a day. Money flourished and so did investments. There was enough going around to help finance the Civil War, as well as build San Francisco. And to think it all started from an annoying bluish-gray mud, all dug up from ground that was christened with a broken whiskey bottle, dropped by a drunken miner named Old Virginny. At least that's the story about how Virginia City, Nevada, got its name. Linking famous Virginia City to Reno (The Biggest Little City in the World), State Route 341, a.k.a. Geiger Grade, gets its name from Davison M. Geiger, a local physician who financed its construction back in 1862. Beginning at 4,440 feet in the desert valley floor south of Reno, off of Highway 395, it snakes it way up through the rugged mountainside, offering spectacular views, and drop-offs. Near the top of the grade at 6,800 feet, juniper trees and sagebrush dominate the landscape, and the road begins to wind its way down the other side towards Virginia City. There’s another nice little historic cutoff at Virginia City, called Six-Mile Canyon, which continues curling its way down to Highway 50, near Dayton, site of Nevada’s first gold discovery in 1849. I have the honor and pleasure to travel these two wonderful roads daily as I commute to work on my BMW K1100LT. This is overwhelmingly a dream commute come true! With more than 120 curves to navigate over the 30-mile route, it’s like having your own personal racetrack in your backyard. As a private pilot, and full-time C-130 Flight Engineer, I assure you that traveling this road is the next best thing to flying. The panoramic views along Geiger Grade’s scenic route are like those seen from an airplane. Riding it almost gives the sensation of low-level flying. Banking from one corner to the next, through its peg-dragging sweepers and switchbacks, is exhilarating. The road is cut out of a steep mountainside with sharp rising terrain on one side, and abrupt drop-offs on the other. It’s not a road for the squeamish or those paranoid of heights. Without a doubt, I rate Geiger Grade as one of the best motorcycle roads in the Reno/Tahoe area. Some days I’m just tempted to turn around when I get home and go back to work, just to say, "I forgot my sunglasses." I suppose any excuse would do, anything to keep the grin on my face. And my co-workers wonder why I’m so crazy about riding to work. Well, to be perfectly honest with you, I just know that near that delightful twisting pavement, perhaps around the next scenic bend in the road, up and over the next rugged hill, or down in the rocky gorge below…held in the silent earth… there’s still more gold and silver out there somewhere. Michael Martin The fun is in the challenge When I tell people about my commute, most of them think I'm verging on insane, especially when they notice the glint in my eye and the larger-than-life grin. Five days a week, rain or shine, I get on my '99 GSX-R750 (haven't owned a car since 1989--them are evil things!) and ride over Highway 17 from Silicon Valley to Santa Cruz. Loving this road like I do, with only two lanes in either direction, a cement barrier between, and a particular corner nicknamed "hospital curve," I guess it isn't odd that people think I'm AWOL from the local sanitarium. What they don't understand is I know every corner, every gouge from overturned tankers, and every camber shift, no matter how subtle. Not only that, I'm slicing my way through beautiful trees that line the highway on both sides and a view at the summit (especially if I time it right to see the sunrise) that still makes me ooh and ahh. Yeah, there's some black ice, occasional flooding, and a downed tree every once in a while during winter, but the challenge is to make it home in one piece with the shiny side still shiny. Even the usual white-knuckled motorist weaving between lanes (because one lane ain't wide enough for their skill level) doesn't dampen my enthusiasm. Most may think me crazy, but I consider myself lucky to be able to enjoy nature on my way to work and sharpen my riding skills all at the same time. It's multi-tasking at its best! M.B. "Motor Bike" Vanzella Continued: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Next>> © 2005, American Motorcyclist Association |
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