Lemond1985

"I don't know you, but I don't like you." That's the motto of CA's Great Central Valley. Not a very welcoming place for strangers. Don't take it personally, it's a long tradition.

stardognine

I don’t really “deserve” to complain, I guess. 🤔 Western Pennsylvania, where I’m from, had that friendly steelworker attitude, while I was growing up there. 🙄😉 Think “The Deerhunter”, especially big Polish (or Italian) weddings. Sometimes your worst enemies are your friends. 🤔😒😉

bikemig 

I‘ve seen a lot of bike porn on BF. This is the first snake porn I’ve seen!

stardognine

Well, Visalia wasn’t bad at all, but it didn’t really “speak to me” either. 🤔 So I got over to Hanford, and started eating everything I could find, lol. 😁 There’s a Chinese place, called the Rice Bowl, that serves a very unique type of teriyaki chicken. It’s breaded, and the breading tastes like nothing else I’ve ever eaten. Kind of a cross between walnuts & brown sugar, but it also still tastes like teriyaki. 🤔 It’s hard to describe properly, you just have to try it. 🤔👍

But I also stopped & got my new v-brakes mounted. 👍 Then I had a big tub of blueberry yogurt, and a small tub of cottage cheese. All I have left for snacks, is grapes, oranges & apples. 😲🙄😁

BTW, it’s in the 90s F here for a few days, so I’m eating more, to help maintain a low profile.

Lemond1985

Hanford? The valley floor is for farming, period. Little reason for humans to even live there, IMO. You gotta get up in the foothills, there are various wildflowers that appear at certain times of year and at certain altitudes, and little microclimates that appear in sheltered areas. I think the CA poppies are done, maybe blue bells next? Foothills are far more interesting than that damn valley, spent way too many years living there myself.

If you go back to Hanford though, try this place for the chile verde burritos, best i have ever had anywhere: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=lm&q=jalis...rd&iaxm=places

stardognine

Yeah, that’s the right neighborhood, alright. 👍 I’m still in Hanford, you know, and I might not be through eating yet. 😁😁 I saw 3 or 4 Chinese places, close together there, and chose this one for it’s ornate roof. 🙄🤔😁

stardognine

Well, I rode a little last night, and was on the road at 6:15 this morning, so got into Fresno’s suburbs before noon today. I see it’s not all that smart, rolling through certain neighborhoods in Fresno, no matter what time. 🙄 I had 5 different guys scoping me out, to decide if I was worth rolling, lol, but got through alright. 😎

I kinda got a hint, to be careful, when I saw this. 😳 And the City Rescue Mission is right up the street, about 5 or 6 blocks worth, with razor wire on the chainlink fence. I figure they must use that, like a work release type thing. 🤔
Doh, I’ll edit in a pic later, it’s on the other phone. 🙄😉

Lemond1985

Are you doing a poverty tour of Central California? (is there any other kind?) There are dozens, maybe hundreds of little towns in that area where the per capita income is like $13k. Combined with some of the worst air in the nation. Not that living in Bakersfield or Fresno is too much of an improvement. You are in one of the poorest areas of the country there. And you were lucky the H/A's had the day off.

Post more pics!

stardognine

Post more pics of what? That sign was the only thing worth taking a picture of. 😁😉 I lived a few years as a kid, right on the state line between Ohio & Pennsylvania. There used to be a bar there, on route 422, where the Angels, Pagans, and Brothers of the Hammer used to hang out. A few of us kids on our Hondas would try to hang out, and sometimes they let us. 😎

I’ve seen way worse cities than Fresno, lol, you gotta go to the Deep South to see real poverty. Or the old Steel Belt, around the Great Lakes. I almost got stuck there, the year I graduated high school (‘79) was the same year they started shutting down the steel mills. 🙄😒

It hit 98 F here yesterday, and I found a little park on the San Joaquin River, to take a dip. That park was officially closed, but there were plenty of folks, with enough sense to get around the gate. 😁

I’m just a mile or two from Madera now, been zig-zagging these country roads, because there’s no frontage road here, for route 99. 🙄🤔 That can get a little tricky. 😉

Lemond1985

If I had been on my toes, I would have mentioned the palm tree / redwood tree marker on Highway 99, that is which signifies the unofficial dividing line between northern and southern California. It's just north of Madera, IIRC. Here is what it looks like:



Hope you are staying goathead-free, it's apparently a bad year for them, or it has been for me anyway.

greatscott

did you catch it and eat it? I ate one once, and as cliche as this sounds but they taste like dark meat chicken with a bit more oil to it.

I use to live up in the Mojave Desert area not far from Lake Castaic, and as I'm pedaling up mountain roads they would be out sunny themselves so I had to go around them as not to get bit, some were dead from being ran over by cars, but coming down was more interesting. As I would come down I would be doing over 40 mph and couldn't just weave around them, so I ran them over! I don't think that killed them but they didn't like it much either, but I was going to fast for them to strike, so as I hit them they would get pissed and rattle their tails. It's not like they're hundreds of thousands out on the road, but on a 50 mile one way mountain trip I would probably see around a dozen of them, and about 1/2 of those were dead, and 1/2 of the remainder were trying to leave the ensuing violence from cars, so I think in the 14 years I lived up in that area I think I ran over maybe a dozen of them.

The first time I saw one I pulled my feet out of the pedals fast thinking they could strike my feet or ankles, then that's when I found out I was going to fast for them.

I once got to see a Roadrunner kill a rattlesnake, that was cool! pound for pound the best fighter on the desert floor that can punch way above its weight class.

Goatheads gave me more grief than rattlesnakes did!

stardognine

No flats for quite awhile here, knock on wood. 😎 I still think those Slime tire liners do more good than the Slime tubes, but I’m still using both. 👍

I don’t recall seeing any snakes today or yesterday, but I did see 2 foxes today, maybe 6 or 7 miles Southeast of Chowchilla, where I just arrived, right before dark. They were hunting birds, inside of a fenced-in area, when I rode up on them, by accident, of course. They just looked at me, like “Thanks a lot, jackass!”. 😁

I’ve lost count of how many dogs have chased me lately, but none were seriously trying to bite me, just chasing a bike, like dogs do. 🙄😁 One I saw early this morning, was probably Malamute & wolf mixed, with 2 different-colored eyes, like Huskies are known for. He ran right up beside me, from behind some bushes, and definitely could have chowed down, if he wanted to, lol, but all they really want is to chase you a little, to protect their turf. But 99% of them have their tails wagging, so all you need to do is talk to them, and be friendly. And show no fear, lol, they’re probably just trying to scare you, for fun. 😁😉

stardognine

I never saw that in person, yet, but someone posted a link to a video here before. 😎

I’ve seen several roadrunners now, mostly back in Arizona, and I think they’re awesome too. 👍

staehpj1 

I briefly was in the central valley on one tour and mostly remember little "mini compounds", composed of small houses with low riders in the driveways with tall fences around them with several mean dogs at each one that ran out through the open driveways to harass us. We weren't there long enough to meet many of the people, but if they were anything like the dogs I am glad we didn't. I think the dogs were the most dangerous ones I have encountered, worse than any in Kentucky and given the closer quarters and tag teaming worse than the half feral reservation dogs in the west that were at least too lazy to chase us the majority of the time. I have no doubt they were chosen for their meanness and it was encouraged. I think the three that triple teamed me on an uphill may have been the only time I actually feared for my life because of dogs. I dismounted and was ready to kill or be killed. I am still unsure how I managed to get out of there unscathed. I think maybe only one of the three was actually a real fearless killer at heart and I managed to keep the bike between us and cow the other two.

stardognine

Yeah, and you haven’t been telling me where the good ice cream stands are, either. 🙄🤔😉

I could tell I was getting somewhere, when I saw this mileage sign awhile ago. 😎 I imagine Southern California is just about as hot as Arizona, in the summer, huh? 🤔 That’s why I got moving early in the Spring, whenever that was. One summer in Arizona is enough for me. 😉

Lemond1985

Makin' good progress, though it's impossible to tell, it's like the Russian Steppes, just goes on and on.

Regarding valley dogs, yes, they are extremely mean. I think the meth trade may have accelerated the development of some really scary hybridized attack breeds that are huge and have no fear at all of humans. Shepherds, to me, are the most dangerous of the conventional breeds because they don't have any fear of humans. You can get in their faces and scream at one at the top of your lungs, and it won't raise their blood pressure one trace.

This one got me last year, up until then, no dog had ever actually bitten me despite thousands of chases in over 50 years of riding. Slammed into me and bit me twice, and then 5 or 6 other dogs joined in. Owner and his family were nearby, including young kids, so I guess dog was trying to "show off", and figured there would be no witnesses, He came at me so my eyes were in the sun, he was a pro.

I used to own a dog, but not owning one has shown me what completely inconsiderate SOB's a lot dog owners are, and with the "attack" breeds, it's probably at least 90%.

DropBarFan

LULZ, when I was a kid the Pagans (East Coast) had an unmarked clubhouse a block away from my house, they never bothered the locals aside from the (cool) Harley noise.

Lemond1985

They had those in the Dragnet movie, with Hanks and Ackroyd. Different gang?

DropBarFan

Pretty scary photo. Nowadays so many dog owners without any common sense or knowledge to even raise a little dog let alone bigger more aggressive breeds.

Lemond1985

Yeah, I have to hold my tongue around here, but I really do not wanna be in that situation again, I did nothing to cause it. I would love to get some bear spray or something, but then I'd be dealing with the owners afterwards.

I just wish people would keep their dogs confined, it's not that damned complicated. And don't act surprised if someday your attack dog actually does what it was bred to do (what a surprise!) and attack some innocent person.

Mushrooom 

I'm just gonna leave this here...