We are a motorcycle riding club based in the Sacramento area. Northern California to Eastern Nevada is our playground. Club rides will be a chance to share the great backroads of our area with friends and fellow riders. Preference is for lightly travelled roads that let us explore places that few people ever see.
Club riding style is best described as sport-touring. Sport does not mean that we try to keep up with sportbike clubs, we don't. Speeds around towns, on the freeway and easy country roads, or places with great scenery might about the same as an average car. Maybe the 70th or 80th percentile, but generally not fast enough to get unwanted attention. When the road starts to turn and get more challenging we might go a little faster than an average Winnebago.
Touring does not necessarily mean multi-day, multi-state jaunts, although some members may get together and do those tours, but more the length of our rides. Most rides are one day, with a few two or three day rides each year. Typical days might be 250 to 400 miles. We might ride a few event, or destination, rides a year, but most of our rides are about the roads we will travel, not the destination.
Any group riding adds difficulty that is not appropriate for beginning riders. Riding at a sport-touring pace adds more, as you will find us going faster than a “cruiser” club. At least several years of experience is strongly suggested to join our club. Training above the basic MFS class is also encouraged, as is any reading which will increase your understanding of riding theory or techniques to improve your riding skills.
You should be comfortable with tight uphill switchbacks, narrow one lane roads, and for those times that we do go on a freeway riding at highway speeds so we don't get run over by traffic. You should also be comfortable in exceeding the speed advisory signs on curvy roads by at least 30% when conditions are good. Many of our riders will go faster than that, but the 30% rule is a reasonable level of skill to ride with our club. If you can’t comfortably handle a turn with a corner with a speed advisory of 30 mph at something around 40 mph, you need to think of joining a different club.
As much as we may like to ride in a spirited fashion at times, we are not trying to show how fast we can go on public highways. Save that for track days, or racing. We are a group of friends who like to ride together, as much for the camaraderie, and adventure of finding new roads, and to challenge our own skills. If some riders go ahead on a twisty section don’t worry, we always wait up the road.