Picto Diary - 09 November 2019 - Inland California

Above: California SR 58, thirty miles inland from the Central Coast. 09 November 2019.

Out and about on the Duc.

Riding inland, from St. Luis, Obispo, east on CA SR 58 towards Bakersfield, hooking up with CA SR 14 northwest, and US 395 north to Bishop on the back side of the Sierra.

Morning ride section. First time on this road. Isolated. No traffic. Cattle ranch land. Fun riding. Curves... undulating road.

California has 40 million people. You wouldn't know it being out here.

80 miles between gas availability. San Luis Obispo east to Buttonwillow. Had someone told me there was an eighty mile no gas road in central California, I wouldn't have believed it. Duc has a range of plus or minus 200 miles. Never start a days ride sans a full tank!

One hears a lot about bad roads in California. SR 58 was a study in two extremes. After coming out of well engineered and well surfaced road through fifty miles of cattle ranch hills, I reach the flatish Central Valley, Kern County. Here CA SR 58 became very poor. There were occasional potholes, much patching and little evidence of any recent road engineering... as in lots of dips and "jumps" that followed the sometimes irregular contour of the land.

Near Bakersfield, CA SR 58 joined CA SR 99 for about four miles. CA SR 99 is the notorious poster child for California bad roads. It's a freeway running north/south, connecting the major cities of the Central Valley... Fresno, Stockton, Merced, Modesto, Bakersfield yada. It is a notoriously bad road, full of cracks and irregular lane edges.

SR 99 was built in the 60's using narrow lane width and short ramp specifications of the day. Nothing has changed in the ensuing fifty years. Yet, in contrast, beyond Bakersfield, SR 58 became first class, well engineered, freeway. It's the route heading southeast from Bakersfield through the Mojave Desert to connect with Las Vegas. There were lots of eighteen wheelers on this road section.

So... my limited experience on CA roads this trip was a mixed bag. Some top of the line roads and others seemingly unchanged, and not maintained since the 1960's.

Above: Pecan grove and water pump. CA SR 58. Buttonwillow, CA. 09 November 2019.

Out and about on the Duc.

Pecans take a lot of water. Before there was some draught relief last year, many pecan groves were taken out of production. Now, pecan production is back up.

California's water catchment program was built for a population of 20 million people. Back in the 70's, Governor Pat Brown, Jerry Brown's father, developed a plan to build reservoir capacity to service 40 million people.... allowing for enough water to service that number for several bad water years. Jerry Brown, when he became California Governor in 1975, scrapped this plan saying that California didn't want forty million people and that current water availability was sufficient.

Today there are nearly forty million people and as became clear in the draught years between 2013 and 2018 California was woefully short of water. The water shortage problem was made greater by the state's decision to, despite draught conditions, maintain a one million acre feet river flow in the St. Joaquin-Sacramento river delta so as the endanged Delta Smelt fish population would survive. Finally, there is no provision at all to capture rainfall runoff in the coastal ranges.

So, today, California is living on the edge water wise. In a good Sierra and Rockies snow year there is enough water. With two or three years of draught conditions, farmers will have to cut back on pecan growing and city folks will have to ration.

Above: Solar farm and oil field. CA SR 58. Kern County, California. 09 November 2019.

California has passed legislation calling for greater proportions of energy production to come from so-called renewable sources over the coming years. So, conventional wisdom says that renewable energy will replace oil as a source of electricity. Ie. one of these pictured energy sources is on the way out, and the other is on the way in. Interestingly, the two images are within fifteen miles of one another, along CA SR 58.

California has enacted its "virtuous" energy strategy at a cost. The state's per kilowatt hour energy costs are double the national average. Heavily taxed gasoline prices are also nearly double the national average. While "the wealthy" have no problem with higher gas and electricity prices, the poor and middle class feel the effects of these high prices. There are other consequences of California's "virtuous" energy ideology. One is an increase in property damage from wild fires. The state's primary utility, PG and E, following costly legislative mandates to increase renewable energy investments, has not spent sufficient time and money to keep the existing grid and power supply reliable. Therefore, existing, unmaintained equipment poses a serious fire risk during periods of high winds.

In the absence of keeping the existing grid functional and up to date, PG and E has announced the likelihood of ongoing power
cuts during high risk wind days for at least the next ten years.

But, don't bury the fossil fuel industry just yet. New drilling techniques and hydraulic fracturing have opened up vast new sources of oil and gas in the United States... including these California oil fields. The United States is now self sufficient in oil and gas and has even begun exporting natural gas around the world.

Also, the idea of solar and wind being "renewable' energy" sources is a bit misleading. The sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow. There is no battery technology on the horizon that suggests that power from either of these two sources could be stored for use when they are not productive. So, back up fossil fuel plants are always required to keep the power on when solar and wind are not working. The redundancy of having back up systems means that the overall cost of power from the solar/wind/gas medley exceeds the power of just natural gas alone. Further, building new grid systems for more solar or wind farms is an enormously complex and costly task.

Truly virtuous seekers of clean power should check out nuclear power. Costs are coming down, capital investments are lower due to more efficient technology, and, the power generation of nuclear is carbon emission free.

Just saying here... California still benefits greatly from its abundant fossil energy production. As the consequences of solar and wind virtuousness become increasingly clear, don't rule out a cry from disgruntled citizens, not willing to accept third world electrical power standards as normal, to push their politicians to roll back some of the aggressive moves to adopt faux renewables. Even Bill Gates has pooh poohed solar and wind as viable solutions to the world's energy problems.

The willingness of Californians to adopt so-called virtuous energy and water polices which leave them on the brink of third world living conditions is a source of amazement to me.

Above: The other California. Buttonwillow, California. CA SR 58. 09 November 2019

Out and about on the Duc.

Victor Davis Hanson, five generation resident farmer of California's Central Valley, and Senior Fellow of The Hoover Institution (Stanford, University) writes most eloquently about the two Californias. Part of the population is wealthy, lives in costly, exquisite, beautiful coastal enclaves not having to live with the consequences (until this year's power cuts) of their "virtuous" energy and immigration ideology. The other part, many of whom live and work in the agriculturally intensive Central Valley where I am riding today, is impoverished with low wages, poor housing, high energy costs, high fuel costs, and joblessness in draught years etc.

The above image is representative of store fronts seen along the way in the 'other California.' Squint, and you could be riding through Ensenada.

Above: Duc and Sierra Range from the east side. Inyo County, US 395, California. 09 November 2019.

Out and about in the Duc.

It's about 4:30 PM as this image is taken. I love how the shadows on the range create a vista of sharp relief. I have about an hour and a half to ride to Bishop. I'll be riding about thirty minutes in the dark.

Addendum:

I’m glad to see you out enjoying the road. It made my heart feel good to see Henry is doing well. I hope this coming spring will bring a visit with both of you gentlemen.

ITYW,
San Angelo, TX

Let's make it happen!

You picked a great week to explore the central coast. Have fun…be careful.

Fish,
Santa Barbara, CA

You were only 100 miles away, but, I had no time to ride that direction.

hI,

Appreciate your report. I have motorcycled that stretch of CA SR1. It’s a treasured memory. I better plan another trip and check out the original Citizen Kane castle.

Peterbilt,
Bountiful, UT

I’m all in lane on the lane splitting, going to the head of the line at construction stops and traveling at speed’s that will eliminate the threat of the cagers MAGA🤣

ITYW,
San Angelo, TX

WRH - glad you had the opportunity to stop at the castle; I’ve had the opportunity to visit many times and read several books - A few interesting facts he was not allowed to start to build castle on the grounds until his mother died as it was not his ! He built a small airport for his airplane which left each morning early and gathered as many newspapers as available and delivered them to the castle ,For construction workers and others that were needed to build castle he build a small city across the street .As he did not like to watch people work during the day much of the landscaping was done at night with the use of torches. After the initial pool was built he only had one remark and that was “To Small” The pool was filled back and a new one was constructed. 🙀

Glad you enjoyed the ride sorry you didn’t have time to stop, Steve.

Mr. Z3,
Oxnard, CA

Hope you are well. I am envious of your trip.

The photo of the Duc dealer in Sunnyvale brings back memories. I bought a 900 SS from them 29 years ago.

Search,
Park City, UT