This past labor day weekend I spent Friday through Sunday on the back of a 2008 Yamaha FZ1 riding through some of the best motorcycle country in the nation. It was incredible. The trip was practically perfect. The weather was perfect, several of the roads were perfect (all of the roads were good or better), the bike was also nearly perfect.

My step-dad, Greg, and I rode three days, each day had roughly 170 miles of beautiful CalTrans maintained roads. Friday was filled with three shorter local rides. The first of which was 47 miles long. I just started getting used to the FZ1 toward the end of the ride. The brakes are great and the acceleration really kicks in at around 7500 rpm.

View Mooney Flat / Peterson’s Corner Loop in a larger map

The second ride was a longer 78 mile ride past Bullards Bar Reservoir. This was a nice high speed ride.

View Marysville Road Loop in a larger map

The third was a short 21 mile ride before dinner.

View Bridgeport Run in a larger map

For this ride we brought out Greg’s GoPro video camera which resulted in the following videos. This camera is fun though it straightens out all curves and it also makes it seem as though we are traveling very fast during the slow sections.

The next day we went on a 178 mile ride through Auburn to Eldorado National Forest. The most amazing part of this ride was the eastern 20 miles or so of Wellfleet Springs Rd. This road is motorcycle heaven. High speed, high visibility, high quality twisting asphalt. Early in the day’s ride, I switched to the 2009 BMW F800GS and enjoyed the extra leg room, but found that the seating position made my lower back stiffen up within minutes. It also handled a bit funny compared to the FZ1. After 20-30 minutes I switched back to the FZ1 and within about 10 minutes my back was restored.

View El Dorado Wentworth Springs Loop in a larger map

Videos from the day’s ride.

On Sunday, we took a leasurely 170 mile ride north of Highway 80. This was another beautiful ride with some great scenes, great pavement, and high speed sweepers (especially on Hwy 89).

View Sierraville, CA Loop in a larger map

Videos du jour

If you wanted to string all of these great roads into one Ultimate Marathon Road Loop, here it is: try it at your own peril.

View The Ultimate Marathon Ride in a larger map