OK... the bad news right off the bat.

Today my average when filling the tank at Susanville was way down... 145.44 mpg. This is I think largely due to four things.... the steep elevation changes including the massive climb between Carson City and Lake Tahoe, some serious headwinds at times, heavier traffic between Carson City and Lake Tahoe, and road construction in places (I had to pass through two sections where flag trucks escorted us along a one way system, and I should have turned off the bike both times, while waiting..., but I didn't).

Anyway, it has a lot to do with mental discipline, too, as I can always control my mpg by lowering my speed but often don't. See how you feel, with 1000 miles in the saddle and only 30 miles to reach your next motel... it's hard to keep the speed down .... :)

Highlights... this is really amazing country, up here in Northern California and Nevada; spectacular mountain ranges framing broad beautiful valleys filled with chapparal and pine and cattle. You don't realize just how cowboy ranch Western much of Northern California is... they must have filmed a lot of Westerns here, over time... and the single biggest surprise was when I came to the crest of a hill and there sat Mt. Shasta, a single gigantic mountain rising from nowhere...

Good news... I've covered almost 1000 miles in four days!

My route began in the small town of Loyalton where last night I used the launderette across the road to remove a little of the motor oil from my jeans...

The classic western style old motel in Loyalton

I started early but the bike was hard starting... I don't know what the temperature was but it was colder than the day before (which was 53) ... I would bet high forties! The diesel bike just doesn't want to start in those temperatures and it took me a good five minutes to get it running... but then, as always, once warm she would start with a single kick (OK, two, sometimes).

Between Loyalton and Susanville... the quintessential Western valley...

As I rode north, I kept realizing just how much more amazing a motorcycle ride is than any car ride you can imagine... you are in touch with the landscape in a way you can never be in a car.

And on my bike, I'm more in touch than most motorcycles, too... because I'm slower... it gives me more time to inhale the smells as they pass by and to take everything in... if I was cruising at 70 mph, I'd see less and notice less, because with every mile you go faster you must pay attention to the road more closely, to be ready to react instantly to road or traffic conditions.

I noticed that whenever I would get enough traffic behind me that would require me to speed up (especially if there was no shoulder to the road), I'd be annoyed; they were taking me out of my relationship with the passing world and forcing me to adjust to theirs... and it's a relief when the last car whizzes by and I can slow down again...

Mount Shasta

An odd contraption... a passing biker told me this is a sawdust burner, a common site in the past, and was used just to get rid of the crop stalks and sawdust. The mesh at the top was a giant spark arrestor

Stopping for a soda in the one store town of Adin.