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Alarm went off at 7 a.m. (I'd been rolling around since 5 a.m. unable to get back to sleep)... I thought, ugh, I don't want to get up... it's too cold... it's probably raining... blah, blah, blah... I finally dragged myself out of bed and downstairs to walk the dog... opened the front door and was graced by the color of the sunrise bouncing off a few clouds in a blue, blue sky. So I pulled it together, got myself dressed and out to the garage to do a little pre-ride check on my “boy” who has been feeling sadly neglected these past few months as I have gone into the garage and take the "other" man out to play in the dirt... when I turned the key, he started up immediately, his rumble ignited me and I felt the stir of a dormant excitement start to warm my heart and spirit. I suited up, gently eased on the throttle, and we headed out into the world... the beast tamed for the moment as his mistress guided him along the beginning of the journey. Meeting for coffee, I was surprised to find a mass of people, many more than expected! We had a total of 15 bikes show at the start of the ride – our biggest showing yet! A gal named Letty, who is a member of another women’s group called Curve Unit, was there and brought along several friends as well. We had a nice mish mash of all kinds of bikes – sport bikes, sport touring, dual sport, and a couple of cruisers that Susan (recuping from a broken shoulder) and her husband, Scott, were riding. This was also Dana’s first ride with the group on her 250 – she’s done a lot of dirt riding but is fairly new to the street thing. The morning was a bit on the cool side but slowly warmed up as we headed out. We started on a peaceful run along Bailey Rd. and out to Uvas, stopping at the dam for a nature break, and then continuing along 152 out to Watsonville and Hwy 1 to Davenport for lunch. The place was packed as there was a Doc Wong riding clinic that day as well as many other eager beavers out enjoying the absolutely glorious weather. We sat out on the patio for lunch, and I closed my eyes and just reveled in the feel of the sun on my face. The mood of all was quite jovial and spirited and the group meshed quite well, given the different skill levels and types of bikes that were riding together. We determined that Dana needs a bigger bike pretty soon for longer trips… she had no problems keeping up with the pack but could tell that her little 250 was at the top of its scale along Hwy 1. From there, we made a quick gas stop and then rode some of our old favorites, although they were new to many of the group – Gazos Creek, Cloverdale, Pescadero, 84 and stopped at Alice’s for a break before splitting up and heading home. The roads were in pretty good shape, a few wet sections with some debris but it was easily avoidable and everyone made it through without incident. Most of our group headed down 84 for home but Cris, Rick, Dana, and I decided to take Skyline to 9 since we weren’t quite ready for the day to end. But Skyline was closed at the preserve due to a car knocking down a power line and going down an embankment so we were detoured onto Page Mill, which also was in pretty good condition… it’s a bit goat-y but not a lot of debris from the previous day’s rain. One more quick stop at the bottom of the hill to adjust earplugs and the like before slabbing it home… 170 miles and home before 5:00… t’was a great day, beautiful weather, wonderful people, and new friends. Looks like 2006 is off to a great start Peace,
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Our first DC ride of the year and, man, what a great day for a ride!! Have to admit, it was really hard to haul my butt out of bed but I am so glad I did... it was good for my spirit and I needed that! Well, that and I knew Cris would kill me if I didn't show up (she was leading the ride).