Message: 1
   Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 01:47:52 -0000
   From: "Dean Williams" <dwilli5342@aol.com>
Subject: Made it Home

Hi, all...

What a great ride!  Was grand to see all the folks who turned out at 
Eureka, and who joined up later on down the coast, while it was also 
a bit sad that not EVERYBODY could be there.  Trust that you missed 
another wonderful wander down the coast.

We had a group of 5 make the ride down to Eureka from Springfield, 
Oregon on Sunday.  My brother and I, George Hilsinger, Bruce 
Edenfield and Juan Goula all joined up and rode down together. Had 
rain for the first couple of hours out of Springfield, but then it 
cleared and was pretty pleasant clear down into Eureka.

Monday brought VERY dense fog for the obligatory "photo shoot" at the 
Bayshore Mall parking lot.  We were all thinking this would be 
the "pea soup tour" of the Lost Coast, but slogged out that direction 
anyway.  Fortunately, the fog cleared a few miles south of town, and 
we had a gorgeous day, clear down into Ft Bragg. The Lost Coast is 
still a treat, but the stretch of Cal 1 from Leggett down into Ft 
Bragg was awesome. Some really fun "10/10ths" riding there.  After 
checking into the hotel, Leland, brother Kel & I took a side trip out 
Hwy 20 up to Willets, which is just another blacktop rollercoaster. 
While the Hwy 1 / Hwy 20 loop from Leggett to Ft Bragg to Willits may 
not be "The Tail of the Dragon", I believe it's good enough that it's 
been christened "The Ugly Iguana, at Lelands Gap" (grin).

Tuesday, the ride from Ft Bragg to Pacifica started out with fog and 
a steady drizzle.  Roads were wet, and "sporting" riding was out of 
the question.  After stopping for lunch in soggy Bodega Bay, a group 
of us decided to head inland to see if we could lose the wet weather. 
We headed east on a state road towards Petaluma, and rode out of the 
wet stuff only 10 or 12 miles inland.  Picked up 101 in Petaluma, and 
cruised south to the Golden Gate, on across, and down into Pacifica.

Wednesday dawned clear and nice again.  Got the group together, and 
headed down to Hwy 84 for the run up to Alices Restaurant for a late 
breakfast.  Hwy 84 was fine up until the twisty part begins, but with 
all the shade, there was still a lot of moisture on the road, which 
made it slick and treacherous.  A couple of us _almost_ found out how 
slick it was the hard way. Fortunately, all made it to Alices without 
anyone going down (although a few of us in the front group definitely 
did the "tippy-toe" style of riding the last couple of miles, after 
some pretty serious slipping in one particularly "interesting" 
corner).

Had some additional folks meet up with us at Alices.  Roy Coss made 
it over from Sacramento, and three guys new to the ride (Rennie 
Glover, Paul Elliott, and a gent named Sam whose last name escapes me 
right now [sorry, Sam]). Had a nice meal, and we all rode pretty 
sedately back down to Hwy 1, and on to the Pescadero Beach wayside 
for the next "photo op".  Think we had 15 PC's at the beach shot, and 
4 of the "brand X" bikes that were along for the ride (my brother Kel 
on his BMW R1200C, Don, a friend of Harry Mitchells, on a Concours, 
and ex-PC'ers Ralph McComb and Brian Soloway, who both rode along on 
VFR's).  From there groups left in dribs and drabs for a pleasant 
cruise on into Monterey.

Can't say much about the more southerly part of the ride, as Kel & I 
departed at Monterey, and headed back north.  Up to Santa Cruz, over 
to Los Gatos, where we picked up 280, and headed back thru San Fran 
to the Marin Headlands for a photo shoot.  Then, we cut across to 
Napa, up the Silverado Trail thru the wine country and into 
Calistoga.  Headed east and picked up I-5 at Williams, and bombed up 
the slab to Lake Shasta, where we spent the night.  One more easy 
day, and 290 miles later was home again.

Hope the other "longer riders" have good trips home.  Juan Goula to 
Fairbanks.  Revill Dunn back to Austin.  Buzz riding his "new" VFR 
clear back to Washington DC, after having an emergency stop at Honda 
of Milpitas for a new battery and fresh tires. Don back to NY, and 
Harry back to Great Falls, MT.  Rick Corwine to Minneapolis, and 
David Sigsbee back to Memphis, Tennessee. I wish you gents good 
weather, good fortune, and safe rides home.

Time to start planning for next year. 

Dean Williams
Springfield, OR

98 PC800    "Nata Harli" ... in glorious yellow
HSTA #9479