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Started out with coffee in Fremont - CC, Nat, Tyler (the Honda girls), Rob (an Aussie who doesn't have an accent but says we Americans sure do talk funny), Real, Patrick, (the Beemer boys), and Stevie riding passenger with Patrick. All a little bleary eyed, we felt much better after our caffeine fueling and geared up and hit the road at 9 a.m. heading up Niles Canyon to 84 through Livermore and out to Patterson Pass, a kick a** stretch of road that at this one turn in the road, reveals more windmills than you ever thought possible in one place - you thought you could see them off of 580 but this is something more awesome. And also the reminder that it's important to watch the road even when you're in awe of the view! We scooted along Hwy. 4, passing a cow farm (mmmmmm, love that smell… glad it was early in the day before that stuff really got heated up!) with a couple of gender confused cows (one was mounting the other one - it's the cheese!) and a line of eight cows standing side by side staring us down (they looked like a picket line or something), through the farmlands into Brentwood for our first gas stop. Once refueled and unloaded from the morning's coffee, we headed out 4 to 160 and on to the Delta. The road along the Delta is really not a challenging set of roads and seems to go on forever to the point it's almost hypnotizing… you just go and go and go and your mind relaxes and reality melts away and the hum of your bike and sound of the wind clear out the cobwebs. Oh yeah, and we definitely did our part for reducing the bug population in the area. I have never seen such a huge array of critters and colors on the front of my bike. Rob wins for the biggest splat… a big yellow bug that hit his fender, splattered up on the inside of his windshield and onto his helmet… guess that bug won't have the guts to do that again. ;-) Anytime anyone questions you on why you should have a good windshield, well, this would have stated your case but good! We finally arrived in Old Town Sacramento a little before 1 p.m. and it was HOT! We pulled into the parking garage where they were going to charge us $7 per bike until the attendant told us about a small dirt/gravel lot just across the street that we could park in, so more fun in the hot sun to get around to it and finally settled the bikes in. I have never seen people strip so quickly in my life… okay, maybe a couple of other times but that was a completely different situation. Stevie and Patrick win for the most clothing removed in anticipation of the heat. No, there are no pictures… these are the things you miss when you aren't there! We headed off to the New Orleans Café and met up with Vanna and Ed (Tyler's mom and her hubby who will be our hosts for the Gold Country trip coming up in a couple of weeks) and enjoyed lunch together. We had some time before we planned on heading back so people split up to do their own thing - CC and Real looked for a shady spot to enjoy a power nap, Nat headed off for a little shopping, and Stevie, Patrick, and Rob headed off for the California Train Museum to view the trains. We headed off to the bikes to meet at 3:00 and as we converged upon our little dirt parking lot, there was a guy there citing all our bikes for illegal parking at $35 a pop… ARGH!!!! He was trying to figure out Rob's license plate, which is a diplomatic plate, and I talked him out of giving him a ticket at least. While I was doing that, our resident DC savior, Patrick, went down to the parking attendant's booth, talked to her supervisor who talked to the citation guy's supervisor and got the tickets waived! Woo hoo!! The kid who wrote the tickets came back and said he got approval to void them so all the girls gave him a big hug (talk about a happy young man!) and we took a picture of him with the group. Reluctantly, we started to suit up again in all our black gear. I forgot I had left a tube of chapstick in my jacket pocket which had turned to liquid in the hot sun but luckily not leaked out anywhere. CC evidently had a similar experience one time that involved a Cadbury chocolate egg and her cell phone… it wasn't pretty. We mounted our trusty steeds - Real and Nat heading for home - and the rest of us heading downtown to do a pass by the state capitol building just so we could say we'd been there and then started our return trip. We stayed mostly to the same route except for a side trip down 220 and across the Delta via the ferries. When we pulled up the first one, the Ryker Island ferry, and waited for the ferry (which is basically a steel platform that is pulled across the river by pulleys and rope), CC asked me what we were doing. I told her. She said, "We're going on THAT?!? Ohhhhh, the things you guys make me do…" - yeah, right, like you hated it, CC! So we rolled onto the platform, put the kick stand down, and went for the ride across the river, enjoying the heavenly breeze that swept down the waterway upon us. We successfully made it across and off and headed to the 2nd ferry of the day, The Real McCoy ferry (yes, that's really the name). This time CC didn't even flinch. Headed back 160 to 4 to Vasco Rd. and stopped for gas just before 580 where a discussion was started about how we should get home… and the rebellious inner teenagers kicked in. We decided to forego the freeway and head back via 84 and do Calaveras Rd., which is one of the most technically challenging roads in the Bay Area but is sooooo much fun and goes through some amazing countryside. Emerging victorious from the twisties, we turned left onto Felter road and up into the Milpitas foothills. CC remarked on what awesome roads those were and it reminded me that sharing a new road with someone is almost like doing it for the first time all over again… that wonder and awe and excitement! Now there are a couple of points where you crest a hill or come around a turn and there splayed in front of you is the entire South Bay and then some. The view, when it's not hazy, is spectacular. There's a small turnout with signs always marked No Parking and always ignored, and we managed to get there about 15 minutes before sunset so parked the bikes and watched the sun dip below the mountains across the bay and the sky turn orange. As we watched the sunset, Stevie started reminiscing about all the animals that she saw along the way that no one else saw (her imaginary menagerie) - elk, peacocks, llamas, foxes (lions and tigers and bears, oh MY!) and we started to wonder what Stevie had eaten for lunch. We did have to remind Stevie that, as a passenger, she had the luxury of not having to concentrate on that silly old road as much as the rest of us. As the sun continued its descent, and the twilight night creeped over the sky, we headed down the hill to reality and home, anticipating the next journey and the sights and scenes and camaraderie to come.
Peace,
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What
a day, what a day! We definitely entertained our rebellious inner teenager
because every time we got to a point where we could hit the freeway
and head for parts home, we said "No! I don't wanna go home!"
and figured out one more way to stay on the backroads until the last
possible moment!