Hi, Friends... Got in yesterday early afternoon from this year's PCH ride. Logged right at 2000 miles this year. A brief day-by-day synopsis follows: Sunday: Launched from Springfield with Kel in tow at 7:30. Sad that George Hilsinger & Bruce Pickett were not in the entourage as had been the original plan. Stopped to warm hands and have coffee at Heaven on Earth, south of Roseburg. No rain, and rode out of the fog south of Roseburg. Pleasant all the way to Eureka, after that. Fun riding down the Smith river, but too much traffic through redwoods near Crescent City to enjoy that stretch much. Arrived mid-afternoon in Eureka, after 310 miles. Dinner at Samoa Cookhouse, as usual, with too much food, and just enough fun. Monday: To Bayshore Mall at 8:30 for photos. Just under 20 PC's to start the ride. Departed for Lost Coast at 9am. Just out of Ferndale, Kel & I pulled out of line and waited for the procession to go on past. Leland was setting a more conservative pace, and with great weather and dry roads, I wanted a bit more out of the Mattole Road experience. We gave the group 10 minutes head start after the last bike passed, then headed out. Were both "in the groove", and absolutely rocked that stretch of road. Leland and company had pulled over for a break on the long straight stretch along the beach. We passed on, and continued to push the corners hard into Honeydew. The group ultimately arrived there, and after we'd had our break and visited a bit, we headed out early again towards the Avenue of the Giants. We still pushed the pace, and had the best run I've ever had on that part of the ride. We stopped just before entering the Redwoods, and Leland and a handful of other riders caught up to us, and we rode with them on into Garberville for lunch. We all then toodled along down to Leggett for the start of CA-1 (or the Iguana; that 17-mile stretch of road from Leggett to the Coast). Again, we pushed the corners pretty hard. What a great stretch of road that is! Finally made it to the coastline with big grins intact, and then rode the rest of the way into Ft Bragg for the night. Without a doubt, this was the best "technical riding day" of my life. Great twisting roads, dry, and we were "in the groove" and feeling good. Tuesday: Up early for breakfast in Ft Bragg, then headed for Pacifica. Was pretty much in "cruising-mode", since most of that stretch is moderate sweepers as you head down the coastline. Traffic was spotty, but pretty well behaved for the most part. The day was pretty routine until we got to Stinson Beach, just a bit north of the Bay area. There, CA-1 was closed for construction, with a detour taking Panorama Highway up and over Mt Tamelpais, and coming back down and re-connecting with the PCH near Mill Valley. Yeehaw, what a detour! The first several miles are uphill, and as twisty as the Lost Coast, but the pavement is in very good condition! Kel & I were riding by ourselves again at this point, and strafed those corners hard and fast. There simply are NO straight stretches, and no chances to rest from the start to the top of the hill, just corner upon corner upon corner, a canyon-carvers idea of heaven. We found a rest area up on the summit, and took a break. Leland arrived a few minutes later, with Keith from NM and Walter Lettink from New Zealand. After our break, we rode as a group down from there to the Marin Headlands for a quick photo of the Golden Gate, then down and across the bridge, thru rush hour in SF and on into Pacifica. Had dinner at Nicks as usual. Wednesday: This day is our usual "mid-trip rest break". It's a short, easy day, cruising down to Alices for a brunch, then down to Pescadero Beach for the group photo, then a short run down into Monterey for the evening. Roy Coss led a group of "sedate riders" on an alternate path to Alices. Since it was looking foggy & moist at the hotel, Kel & I figured that the (twisty & tasty) run up 84 to Alices would be dicey, so we tagged along with Roy's group to see the other route into Alices. Turns out that was foggy and drizzly as well, but the weather finally broke just before we got to Alices, and it was most pleasant for the rest of the day. After brunch and the usual people-photo on the steps of Alices, we ran 84 briskly on the way back down to Hwy 1. The road was dry and clean, and we caught no traffic between Skyline and the Coast highway. Rode on down to the beach with Leland, where the usual group bike photos were taken, with 20 or 21 PC's in that photo. From there, we left in small groups to finish the ride down into Monterey. Kel & I stayed in Marina as usual, and headed down to Cannery Row to meet the rest of the group for dinner at Bullwackers. Thursday: This is the first time I'd continued on down into Lompoc. Was foggy off and on as we rode south thru Big Sur. Traffic was more of an issue today, with many areas where passing was difficult unless the drivers pulled into turnouts, and we also had an unusually high number of slow drivers who refused to use the turnouts available, even when holding up long lines of drivers. Pretty frustrating. Even though there are some great stretches of road in Big Sur, the traffic made it more of a chore than a joy. Near San Simeon, Kel was in the lead and had a near-miss with a coyote who was crossing the highway at warp speed. Finally made our way into Lompoc a bit after 3pm. The group re-formed at 4:30, and left for a tour of the motorcycle museum in Solvang. It must be seen to be believed. Probably 60 to 80 bikes represented, and it's just a jaw-dropping experience. Big thanks to Leland for setting that up. Back to the motel for a quick cleanup, then to Salettis for dinner. Friday: Left the group today to head for home as the remaining riders headed through LA toward San Clemente. We headed back up 101 to San Luis Obispo, then into Paso Robles, where we caught CA46 to CA41 to I-5. Once on I-5, we were just burning up miles heading north. Just north of Redding, two birds flushed from the roadside, and headed across the lane in front of me. One climbed above the bike, and the other tried a high-speed U-turn just in front of the bike. I was wondering if I was going to have to duck to avoid a bird hitting me or the windshield at 75, but I lost sight of the bogie, and didn't feel any hits, so continued riding. Kel pulled up alongside about 20 seconds later, and looked the bike over, then shrugged and dropped back. When we got into Yreka, he told me that the bird apparently hit the bike around the front lower fork and/or brake/wheel area, and (using his words) "just exploded". We looked the bike over, and simply could not find any marks of any kind. Odd. Finally made it into Yreka and stopped for the night, after a 620- mile day. Saturday: Slept in a bit, pulled out of Yreka around 8:00, wound up stopping just north of town, after only about 5 minutes on the road, to take some pictures of a total of 20 hot air balloons who were (apparently) participating in some kind of group flight just north of Yreka. Back on the road, up an over a very foggy & rainy Siskyou summit, then just more miles on I-5 to Springfield and home at around 1pm. Total mileage for the trip: right around 2000. Lots of newbies out for their first PCH ride, which means we got to meet lots of new PC'ers. Chris Hodes from Arizona, Ned Porges from Seattle, Jim Geary from Felton, CA, Stacey Brown from Yuba City, Dick & Scott MacInnes from the Ventura area, Keith Ashmore from New Mexico, Lisa Herbert and Larry Littrell from the Eureka area, Walter from New Zealand, Tom Bazemore from Oxnard, Jason Scarborough from Santa Ynez, Ron Gelling from San Jose and Bob Couvillon from South Carolina on his neon- equipped Goldwing. There were also the three "Long-Riders"; Tim Davies from New York, and Bob Fitzgerald / Dick Robinson from Ohio. That's something like 17 riders for whom this was their first PCH ride. Anyway, we missed you who could not attend, but reveled in the chance to ride that famous route once again. Dean Williams Springfield, OR 98 PC800 "Nata Harli" ... in glorious, bug-splattered yellow HSTA #9479