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Sue (who was involved in a head on collision last year with another rider when he crossed over the DY) joined us in her mini-coop and was our self-proclaimed "butt" for the day (since she was sweep most of the day!). Todd also made an appearance, also recovering from a m'cycle accident but his involved a deer that materialized out of nowhere while he was riding in Arizona. They compared notes on all their recuperations and the mental process involved as well. My dad, Eric, was in town visiting from Washington and had asked if he could join one of our rides to witness the spectacle first hand. Cris was kind enough to offer her back seat to him for the day! We donned our attire and headed south on 85 to 101, 156, Union, Southside, and stop in Tres Pinos where we found a few more folks waiting there for us, including Patrick, Stevie, Henry, Laura, John, Angel, Michael and his lovely wife, Susan (on their new his-and-hers FZ1's... beautiful bikes and it was obvious that they were loving riding them and being able to share it with each other!), and even a surprise visit from Gary and his friend, Derrel (who is a great photographer!). Everyone chit chatted until CC called us over for the preride speech… all the good do-bees listened in rapt attention. We ended up breaking up into three groups since we had quite the turnout - 18 bikes - our largest showing to date! We headed down 25 for a wonderful jaunt through the Hollister hills... it got pretty dang hot in the middle section but cooled down a bit just before turning toward Kings City where we had another gas stop. We encountered very little traffic and not too many of those crazy ground squirrels either! We stopped at the corner of 25 and G14 into King City for everyone to regroup and find some shade under a big tree out in front of someone's house and say hi to the horses that lived there. After our stop in Kings City, we headed out Metz Rd. to G16 which eventually becomes Carmel Valley Rd. Again, we encountered very little traffic and were able to toodle along our merry way. I rode sweep and told everyone not to worry if I fell behind as I would probably be stopping to take some photos along the way. It was HOT out there but I worked up a good sweat getting on and off the bike! One particular shot almost produced one of those major "oh F*CK!" moments. The road had been freshly paved fairly in this particular section of the road recently. I put the kickstand down and started to move to get off the bike but something didn't feel right... the bike started to move so I grabbed the brake and righted the bike. I looked down and the pavement had gotten so hot that it was soft and the kickstand had sunk right through! I was so glad I didn't hop off quickly because my bike would most likely have had one of those Beemer nap moments. Even though it was really warm, the views were just stunning… there was dripping moss in the trees as we rode along the goatier section, dappled sunlight through the blessed shade of the trees, the crest of the mountains coming together to form Carmel Valley, and a field of dried brush that was this beautiful rust color against the gold of the hills. One more stop to regroup before heading for lunch, Eric's tush was getting a bit worn out so he decided to change rides and hopped into Sue's mini for the remainder of the ride. When we got to lunch, I noticed that John and Angel weren’t there and asked if anyone knew what had happened to them. Evidently, John had hit a deep pothole on CVR and bent a rim! So he and Angel decided to head back and had their own adventure keeping that tire inflated along the way. We supped at the Baja Cantina - good food!! We sat out on the patio which had a fairly loud band playing... music was nice but made conversations a bit challenging... thankfully, they took a long break so we were able to chat without yelling at each other. When we first got seated, there were no umbrellas available so Sue, being the ever popular trendsetter, used the tools that were at hand to shade herself and turned her menu into a stylish hat. When in Rome... soon after, Gail followed Sue's fashion statement but adding one more accessory to it, the ever popular cell phone earring. Scott (he and bride, Susan, came on their beautiful cruisers!) didn't want to feel left out either. From Carmel, we jetted up Hwy 1, had a keystone cops moment... Mike, Susan, and Denise were heading off 129 since they live in Hollister but the other Susan didn't realize they were leaving the group so followed them off the freeway as did everyone else behind them like a bunch of lemmings... I had to jet to the front of the group and redirect them back to Hwy 1 where we hooked back up with Cris and Dorothy who were waiting patiently at the Porter St. exit in Soquel. From there, we took San Jose-Soquel Rd., Summit Rd., and Old Santa Cruz Hwy. so we could avoid having to deal with potential traffic issues on 17 (plus twisties are so much more enjoyable!!). I stopped off at Lexington Reservoir and looked at the cool inviting water but decided motorcycle gear was not the best attire to go swimming in. A cool breeze greeted me as I got closer to home and I realized I was thoroughly exhausted... but the good kind! Peace,
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There were several talented photographers on this trip so I’d like to thank everyone who shared their pics! Our adventure this fine Sunday would take us to Carmel Valley Rd. via 25 through Hollister. We gathered for coffee in San Jose. The weather that morning was surprisingly pleasant as we were anticipating triple digit temps that never materialized (thank goodness!). It did get quite warm on some sections of 25 and the inland section on CVR but the cool coast fog was quite a welcome change when we got out there!