We had some similar activity here several years ago. Dirt bikes and 4 wheelers all out in traffic on the freeways around the Bay Area. Assaulted a driver in an SUV when he bumped one of the bikes as it stopped dead in front of him. All caught on phone camera too.
Several weeks after that incident, same bunch of idiots pulled the same sort of thing on the Bay Bridge. CHP helicopter followed one group of bikes as they departed the area and continued as they broke up and went their separate ways.
Directed police on the road to their whereabouts. All caught, all arrested and information from them used to track down the rest. (round of applause for the CHP!) On another note, today was a good day for a ride.
Took my little Gixxer and went on a ride today with the guys from my old shop. Was a really good ride considering the circumstances.
On my way to meet the group at a gas station in Vacaville, I joined the freeway in my normal manner. I was astonished that I wasn't out running anyone as I zipped down the on ramp.
I looked down at the tach briefly and noted that I was sitting right around 8K! That works out to around 80 mph. So I picked out a car and just started pacing them. I was again shocked when I looked down at the tach again, and was sitting around 8700 rpm. In 6th gear no less. 2 cars came steaming past in the far left lane.
At that point, I rolled out of the throttle and check my speed. I was doing 93 mph indicated while pacing a car. Too fast for me. I slowed it down to 70s and continued on. I thought for a split second, I was doing 90ish and got passed rather handily. Those guys must have been well past the 100 mph mark.
I rounded the last bend in Hwy 80 before the off ramp I needed when I see a CHP interceptor pull onto the freeway from the shoulder. One of the cars that passed me and my pace car got pulled over. Remember, I rolled out when I realized we were over 90 and not one, but a few cars passed us.
As I took the off ramp, up ahead I could see another car pulled over by a CHP motor officer, and it was another of the cars that had passed me. This was not looking like a positive start to this ride.
Anyway, I met up with all the guys at the gas station. Once everyone fueled up, we took off to the back roads and headed out towards Lake Berryessa. It's a long weekend. I anticipated a parade of boat towing traffic headed out the same way.
Luckily, it was still relatively early and we only encountered a single boat tower on the way. Once we broke free of that, and slow rolling cars we were able to wick things up a bit. It was nice after that and we were able to make a very entertaining run through all the fast sweepers.
Once past all the sweepers, the road opens up a bit, and I was just kinda cruising as it isn't all that entertaining. One of the kids from the old shop picked himself up a 675 Daytona after his deployment. He passed me quite rapidly, and as we were leading a group, I just let him go.
Gone he was too. After the long, wide straight away, I got to the corners and he wasn't even in sight. I just maintained my pace and after a couple of corners, I see a CHP interceptor going the opposite direction. I though Mr. 675 would soon be sighted sitting on the side of the road, receiving his "performance award". As it turned out, it was his lucky day.
We made it to what is known as "Poser's Corner" and stopped to shoot the breeze and split up the ride. Those wanting to ride farther and longer were heading out through Butt's Canyon and over to Napa. The rest of us were going the short route and back home.
As we departed the corners, there was a massive parade of boat traffic heading to the lake from the way the rest of us intended to ride home. Good thing it was all opposite direction.
Saw tons of bikes out as we headed back. Mostly sport bikes, and mostly European. One group appeared to have a CHP motor officer escort. Probably 30 of them, nearly all Euro bikes. Saw just a few HDs out.
A little bit further along, we encountered a line of cars going the opposite direction all stuck behind a boat tower. As we went by, I realized they were all exotic sports cars. I was able to pick out a Ferrari, and a Bugatti Veyron followed by what looked like around 10 Audi R8s.
The 4 of us who returned on the short loop, had a nice flowing and fun ride. Interrupted here and there but given the circumstances previously mentioned, it was a good day. I was home in just over 2 hours.
The little Gixxer needed to be taken out and run, as it hadn't been ridden since Laguna Seca last year. The guys who did the long loop reported they all made it back without incident also. Win-win.