5th Annual Range of Light Gypsy Tour a Success
The 5th Annual Range of Light Gypsy Tour went off without a hitch
on Labor Day Weekend, 1995. Over 110 participants assembled at
the Butte County Fairgrounds in Gridley on Friday evening,
September 1. Saturday, they awoke to warm but pleasant
temperatures and departed for the Tour's first stop, Ozzie's BMW in
Chico, where coffee and donuts were waiting, courtesy of Ozzie and
his wife Emmy.
After searching Ozzie's for the answers to the first poker run
questions of the day and a bit of talk about side cars and motorcycle
racing, it was time to take off up Highway 32 to Lassen National Park
for the day's second stop. Then it was on through the Park (much
snow still present) to the Hat Creek area and along some sporting
back roads to Fall River Mills, where the shopfront of Russell Cycle
Products provided the day's third stop for poker run answers. More
back roads provided the route to the little town of Adin, the day's
fourth stop, with views of Mounts Lassen and Shasta and the day's
first optional GS route (a four mile two-track cut-off following the old
stage route up the side of the Lassen Bench) along the way.
After Adin, it was the back way to Alturas and on over the Warner
Mountains into Saturday night's camp at the Modoc County
Fairgrounds in Cedarville. The route to Cedarville included the day's
second optional GS leg, a 25 mile detour through the Warners south
of the main highway, featuring easy gravel roads through alpine
meadows with spectacular views as the road crested this
little-known mountain range.
At Cedarville, Louie Vermillion and the Cedarville Volunteer Fire
Department had beer, soft drinks and snacks waiting, a prelude to
the steak dinner they served the assembled throng later that
evening. Cedarville is a friendly little town about as far away as you
can get and still be in California. A bit of Montana or Wyoming
relatively close to home.
Sunday morning, the Fire Department was back at camp bright and
early to serve breakfast. It's nice to be able to simply walk from
camp to breakfast before suiting up and hitting the road and Louie
and the boys served a good one. Sunday's route took the group south
from Cedarville through sleepy little Eagleville, the day's first stop
about 15 miles away. Then it was across the border and into Nevada
(what would a Gypsy Tour be without a loop through Nevada?). A
rolling, twisting highway took the group southeast to the day's
second stop, Planet X Pottery, about eight miles northwest of Gerlach,
at the juncture of the famous Black Rock and Smoke Creek Deserts.
After searching for the Master Batters Empire Puds Trophy and the
meaning of SASSASS to answer poker run questions, and perhaps the
purchase of a souvenir from this unusual roadside art studio, it was
off to Guru Road, the day's third stop. Guru Road is hard to explain.
You'll have to ask someone who was there.
South of Gerlach, the road straightened as it headed for the southern
end of Pyramid Lake, a blue-green jewel in the midst of the Nevada
desert. A few of the participants tested the limits of their machines
and Nevada's traffic enforcement policies on this stretch and paid the
price. After rounding the southern tip of Pyramid Lake, it was into
Reno BMW for the day's fourth hiatus.
Jan Cutler at Reno BMW pulled out all the stops for us: a barbecue
lunch, extra fun, games and prizes featuring the use of the Special
Issue Reno BMW Condom (you'll have to ask someone who was
there) and the general good times for which the "home of long
distance touring" is famous. Be sure to stop there the next time
you're in Reno.
After lunch and the shenanigans at Reno BMW, participants hopped
onto the superslab for a few miles and got quickly out of town to the
north on Highway 395. Half an hour later, they crossed back over the
border from the Silver State to the Golden State, near the northern
terminus of Highway 49 at Vinton. Then it was south on 49 to
Sierraville and the Sierra Buttes, where they headed north again
through the Lakes Basin to Sunday's final poker run stop at the
Portola Railroad Museum. This surprising facility, more or less in the
middle of nowhere, is an impressive tribute to the heyday of
diesel-electric railroading in the 1950s. Lots of restored locomotives
and rolling stock, along with exhibits in the old locomotive repair
shed. You can go on short train rides here and can even rent a
locomotive and drive it yourself!
From Portola it was a short run down Highways 70 and 89 to the
second home of the NorCal Club, the Plumas County Fairgrounds in
Quincy, where the tour camped Sunday night. Free beer, soft drinks
and snacks were waiting as the Gypsy Tourers rolled into camp. Our
friends from California Casuals were nearby selling custom-screened
Range of Light t-shirts and sweatshirts and we were sharing the
fairgrounds with an Airstream trailer rally (Airstreamers are
inveterate vagabonds much like BMW riders, just a bit older and at
the opposite end of the vehicular spectrum), so we felt right at home,
sort of like a mini-49er.
Bob and the gang from the Hilltop Cafe served a barbecue chicken
dinner later in the evening, which was followed by the awards
ceremony where the cash poker run prizes and door prizes were
awarded. We had a terrific response from BMW dealers and other
motorcycle businesses this year, as well as some unclaimed prizes
from the 49er Rally to award, so we were able to give out over 60
prizes, meaning the winners were in the majority for a change.
Elsewhere in this issue is a list of our sponsors. Please support them
with your business if you have a chance-they've been good to us!
Monday morning saw most participants up and at it early to get a
jump on that Valley heat on the ride home. We hope some took the
new Quincy-Oroville highway, a wonderful new way to or from
Quincy (an exception to the general trend toward straightening and
eliminating "motorcycle roads," this is actually an example of a new
motorcycle road being built more or less from scratch-try it
sometime).
We tried to add a few new features this year to make this 5th
anniversary Range of Light Gypsy Tour a special one. We thank those
of you who attended and hope you had a great time. We also thank
our many sponsors who donated door prizes to this event. It was
truly an embarrassment of riches and helped make just about
everyone on the Tour a winner. But the biggest thanks of all go to
Ozzie Auer and his wife Emmy of Ozzie's BMW in Chico, and Jan
Cutler and Steve Losofsky of Reno BMW, for hosting our two special
poker run stops on Saturday and Sunday. We think those really
helped to make this event different and fun.
Finally, Cedarville, California became our second home this summer.
We were both there four different times preparing for and attending
the Gypsy Tour. It's a wonderful little town with friendly people and
a beautiful setting. Jeanne Grove of the Modoc County Fair and Louie
Vermillion of the Cedarville Volunteer Fire Department went well out
of their way to help us and so we'd like to dedicate this year's Range
of Light Gypsy Tour to them and the other people of Cedarville who
made this so easy and so much fun for us.
We had a great time putting on the Gypsy Tour. Thanks to the Club
for letting us do it.
Lars Swartz, Rally Chair;
Terry Burnes, Rally Staff
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