Oro Quincy Highway - NorCal

[maximo]

NorCal folks, just thought I’d pass on the word that Hwy 162 (Oro-Quincy Highway) just reopened today after being closed a few years. The side area is rebuilt, and as a bonus, there’s fresh pavement on much of the area that was closed. I bagged it during an extended lunch today, and it was fantastic. 

[koth442]

Some great riding up that way!

[betoney]

29 minutes ago, maximo said:

as a bonus, there’s fresh pavement on much of the area that was closed.

Plumas NF... fresh pavement... must investigate!  😎

[chitown]

Sweet, I'll be up there with a group of friends soon so we've timed up it well  

[fr8dog]

That's one area I haven't ridden. No excuse really since I'm near Sacramento. I have 3 weeks to get up there. Moving to the Boise area.

[maximo]

2 hours ago, fr8dog said:

That's one area I haven't ridden. No excuse really since I'm near Sacramento. I have 3 weeks to get up there. Moving to the Boise area.

Here's a good day ride, starting and ending generically in Sac. Adjust the Sac side of the ride to your specifics.

This will get you on 162 Oro Quincy, LaPorte Rd, and the incomparable Hwy 49 through Downieville.  You owe it to yourself to ride this before moving out of the area. 

Google Maps

 

[chitown]

Although 49 can be nice in many stretches it can also be trafficky. One option for the above route is to do Quincy-La Porte as an in-and-out from 70 down to Little Grass Valley and back. Maximizes the technical stuff and minimizes traffic. I also usually throw in Gold Lake Hwy. Los Dos Hermanos in Sierraville is a nice lunch stop. 

[koth442]

On 9/14/2019 at 8:23 PM, fr8dog said:

That's one area I haven't ridden. No excuse really since I'm near Sacramento. I have 3 weeks to get up there. Moving to the Boise area.

Ha, my Dad moved from Sac to Emmett (just outside of Boise) a year or three ago. He's very content.

[maximo]

9 hours ago, chitown said:

Although 49 can be nice in many stretches it can also be trafficky. One option for the above route is to do Quincy-La Porte as an in-and-out from 70 down to Little Grass Valley and back. Maximizes the technical stuff and minimizes traffic. I also usually throw in Gold Lake Hwy. Los Dos Hermanos in Sierraville is a nice lunch stop. 

Good suggestions - the fun parts of LaPorte road are between Quincy and laPorte. Up and back is not a bad idea. Although 49 can have traffic, especially below Downieville, I've never had a problem dispatching with traffic, there's plenty of passing opportunities if you don't let double yellows hold you back. They're painted for cars, anyways.  🙂   I actually ride 49 quite a bit (I work in Oroville and live in Chico, and I often take the long way home after work), and have only had an abundance of cars on saturday/sunday lunchtime. Any other time and it's been just fine.  In fact, I can't count the number of times I've jumped on at Camptonville and ridden all the way over the mountains into the Sierra Valley without seeing a single car. 

tl;dr if it's a weekend lunchtime, the LaPorte out and back merits consideration. Any other time I'd definitely take 49. It's just a fun road.  

Full disclosure, 49 holds a special place in my heart, since that's the place where I was pulled over doing triple digits and passing on double yellow, yet managed to not get my bike impounded, AND I rode off without a ticket.  A story for a different day. But it holds magic for me. 

[fr8dog]

On 9/16/2019 at 8:51 AM, koth442 said:

Ha, my Dad moved from Sac to Emmett (just outside of Boise) a year or three ago. He's very content.

We'll probably end up in Kuna. Don't know what the roads are like up there. I saw a lot dirt roads from the highways going into the hills. May be time for that dual sport.

[fr8dog]

On 9/14/2019 at 7:44 PM, maximo said:

Here's a good day ride, starting and ending generically in Sac. Adjust the Sac side of the ride to your specifics.

This will get you on 162 Oro Quincy, LaPorte Rd, and the incomparable Hwy 49 through Downieville.  You owe it to yourself to ride this before moving out of the area. 

Google Maps

 

Making time for this one! Looks like the weather will cooperate. Thanks

[maximo]

1 hour ago, fr8dog said:

We'll probably end up in Kuna. Don't know what the roads are like up there. I saw a lot dirt roads from the highways going into the hills. May be time for that dual sport.

There's lots of great riding up in that area.  Your biggest challenge is going to be adjusting to a much shorter riding season than you're used to. I lived in Idaho back in the 80's, and there were years that I'd prep and store the bike for winter late September, and it would stay there until late May.  When I moved to the Bay Area in '86 I was amazed that 1. I didn't have to prep the bike for winter (drain tank/carbs, oil vitals, remove battery, disconnect plugs, etc), and that I could actually ride 12 months out of the year! It was though I'd moved to Shangri-La. 

The weather in the Treasure Valley is milder than where I was, so you should be able to ride more than 6 months/year, tho. You won't run out of great rides, they're all over the area. 

[koth442]

18 hours ago, fr8dog said:

We'll probably end up in Kuna. Don't know what the roads are like up there. I saw a lot dirt roads from the highways going into the hills. May be time for that dual sport.

Definitely.  @Cruizin lives in the Boise area IIRC.

[Cruizin]

On 9/17/2019 at 10:57 AM, fr8dog said:

We'll probably end up in Kuna. Don't know what the roads are like up there. I saw a lot dirt roads from the highways going into the hills. May be time for that dual sport.

I live very close to Kuna, send me a PM and we can exchange phone numbers. You are moving to the world headquarters of the Tracer900 forum, lol. We.can meet for coffee and post some pics on the forum . 

Love meeting forum members!

[Cruizin]

On 9/17/2019 at 10:57 AM, fr8dog said:

We'll probably end up in Kuna. Don't know what the roads are like up there. I saw a lot dirt roads from the highways going into the hills. May be time for that dual sport.

Also, this area "Idaho" dual sport heaven. We have more miles of  OHV  trails than anywhere else in the USA. Next spring if you are here I'll make you a lucky bastard by showing you some of my favorite chill trails and dirtroads. Springtime is Hemmjngway Butte and the Danskins. Then when it gets hot in July we go up to the Sawtooths, the Whiteclouds, Frank Church wilderness area and the Trinities. 

There are also some very very good twisty streetbike roads close by, but I don't do that anymore.