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The first part of the ride was the icky part… slabbing it down 101 to 156, cutting over via Union and Southside to our first gas stop in Tres Pinos, much to the joy of those with smaller bladders! We chatted up some of the locals and their pets, enjoying the warming morning temperature. Headed off down 25, one of my all time favorites, past the rolling hills which always amaze me at how quickly they go from green to yellow. The temp was definitely climbing and by the time we got to King City it was downright HOT! Guess summer is finally upon us, as are a ton of bugs – you should’ve seen my windshield after the ride... we all definitely did our part on this particular day in bringing the bug population down! From King City, we headed off via Metz Rd. to G16 which eventually turns into Carmel Valley Rd. Having only ridden it once before, I had forgotten how long this road really is but it runs through the beautiful Carmel Valley, past running streams, glistening ponds, and trees dripping with Spanish moss. It was at one of those pastoral ponds where I decided to stop for a photo op that we all got to learn a valuable lesson at my expense (or maybe I should say my chagrin!). Previously, I had stopped the bike (on a flat stretch), popped it into neutral, hopped off the bike, snapped a couple of pics of everyone, hopped back on, and away we went. This particular section, the road was sloped slightly downhill and the side of the road slightly sloped downhill as well. Following my previous method, I put the bike in neutral, put down the kickstand, dismounted and then the front wheel started to roll forward, thus effectively flipping up the kickstand and the beast laid down for a little nap. Laura helped me pick up the bike and I then proceeded to do THE EXACT SAME LAME A** THING with the same lame a** results. Duh… so our lesson of the day, kids, is leave your bike in gear when stopped on an incline so your bike doesn’t roll… sheesh! (I actually told everyone when we got to our lunch stop that I had staged that whole incident for their benefit… shhhhhh, it’ll be our little secret! J) Onward we went, experiencing a lovely passing incident with a white Subaru who just couldn’t wait longer than 30 seconds to get past the group – they kept tailing each bike in our group and passing on blind turns and then flipping off each rider as they did it (mind you, they had just come up behind the group... wasn't like we kept them at bay for miles and miles... am always considerate to any vehicle behind us, no matter how many wheels, and will pull the group over at the first SAFE place to do so)... as I pulled right and waved the car past me and got the same salute, I just laughed to myself... the other riders commented how pissed they were at the guys' antics and how calm I seemed when it happened... to which I said, you don't know who the hell is behind the wheel, what their mental state is, what they've been dealing with, and there are a lot of crazy drivers on the road... if you piss someone off and go up against a cage and they decide to do something about it, you'll lose every time... so why bother? I'm out there because I want to enjoy life and the ride and the people. That’s what it’s supposed to be about, right?? We lunched at the Baja Cantina and thoroughly enjoyed our food as we were pretty near starving by that time! The temperature had dropped considerably since we were closer to the coast and we were all very grateful for that! We listened to the music drifting in from the band out on the patio, enjoyed the cool breeze and warm sun, and chatted amongst ourselves getting to know everyone, and of course the general good-natured ribbing as well! I always find myself laughing a lot along these journeys – great fun! Continuing along Carmel Valley Rd., we headed north on Hwy. 1 and then cut in at 152 to Uvas, where once again the temperature climbed and we pulled over to strip a layer or two before coming to our last rest stop at Calero Reservoir. The sun was glistening off the water – it was just beautiful. I had originally contemplated doing a few more backroads to get home but at this point in the day, it was about 6 p.m. and we had clocked nearly 300 miles on this particular journey, and I was toast (and think was in good company… happy riders but definitely pooped!). We took everyone out to the freeway for their respective journeys toward home, family, friends, and a very welcome night’s rest. I think I sleep better after a long ride than any other time! Was great to have a bevy of great ladies, as well as Todd (should we make him an honorary “one of the girls”?? J), who always has a good story to share! Hoping to see you guys out there soon now that summer is upon us (well, I think it is anyway… looking out at rainy skies right now!) and put some (s)miles in your life! Peace,
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Whew!
What a day… started off cool, then it was hot, then cool, then
hot… it was the menopause ride! J CC (on her new Beemer K1200),
Laura, Cheryl, Nancy Mags, newcomer Vickie, Tyler, and our token male
for the day, Todd, arrived bright and early for coffee. Was good to
see some new faces as well as some that we haven’t seen in awhile!
Everyone was ready and chomping at the bit to git on the road and git
we did.