Hi, Folks...

Home safe, sound and smiling from the 2007 PCH Ride.

We headed south on Sunday from Eugene. Present for the southbound leg were Bruce Pickett and I and brother Kel. Dave Zagorodney had hooked up with Bruce
in the Portland area and ridden down to Eugene Saturday evening, but he headed back to Portland after dinner that same night. Bruce, Kel & I headed south on I-5 to Grants Pass, then west on 199 thru Cave Junction to the little burg of O'Brien. We then turned south on Waldo Road, wandered thru eventually to California 96, to California 299 west into the Arcata / Eureka area. There were some fun twisty sections between 199 in Oregon and 299 in California, but it was hot, Hot, HOT, and we were looking for shade and cool drinks as much as we were enjoying the road. Got into Eureka in time to clean up and have dinner with the main ride group at the Samoa Cookhouse, which was great food as always, and good times catching up with old friends. Again, Ann Reid had sent a care package of goodies, including entire "Guardian Alien" families for some of her frequent riding friends, and more small "stick" Guardian Aliens for all attendees.

Got up Monday morning and headed for the Bayshore Mall for the obligatory start-of-ride group bike pics, and then it was off to Ferndale and the start of the Mattole Road / Lost Coast loop. Leland was leading the contingent as always, with myself, Kel, Bruce P and Jason in hot pursuit. Had a really good time strafing the corners all the way into Honeydew for the initial rest stop. We pushed the section after Honeydew at a sporting clip as well, down into the Avenue of the Giants, where the lead group pulled in for a rest break and to group back up with the remainder of the pack. Then, it was a pretty leisurely run through the Redwoods and down into Garberville for lunch.

After lunch, it was a short run down 101 to Leggett, then it was off on "The Ugly Iguana at Lelands Gap", that 22-mile stretch of rollercoaster road that signals the official start of California 1, the Pacific Coast Highway. Again, I was right on Lelands bumper, with Kel, Bruce P, Jason and Dave Misunas in hot pursuit. Again, the pace was plenty spirited clear down to that sweeping left-hander that gives the first view of the ocean, and we again all met at the pull-out overlooking the beach to let everyone catch up and tell stories. It was then a pretty sedate final few miles into Fort Bragg for the night, and our usual dinner down at The Wharf. Monday is always the most challenging day of technical riding on the entire trip, and this year was no different. It's a lot of work, but even more fun, and we went to bed tired but satisfied with the day's ride.

Up Tuesday morning for the ride to Pacifica, but we were missing Kel. He'd left Fort Bragg for home in Oregon at 2:30am, to be home 500 miles later to be at work at 1:30pm. After breakfast, the group headed south on CA-1, only to be stopped dead in our tracks 17 miles down the road. Seems there was an accident further south on the highway that had traffic backed up nearly forever. Maps were consulted, and Leland led us back up north a ways, then on an inland-then south-then-back-west route that contained some fun twisty bits, and eventually dumped us back on CA-1 a mile or so south of the accident, after a 30-plus mile side trip. We then continued puttering south in a leisurely fashion until lunch at Bodega Bay. The group then continued south and most rendezvoused again at the Marin Headlands just on the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge for the usual photo shoots, and then it was across the bridge and through San Fran and into Pacifica for the night. Dinner was at Nick's, next door to the hotel, and they didn't put us in our own room 'out back' as they normally do, but put us all at one long table out in the middle of their normal dining area.

Wednesday morning we headed south as a group to the junction of CA-1 and Hwy 84, which we took East up to Alice's Restaurant, where we normally stop for brunch. This year, however, instead of stopping there, we headed south on 35 toward Felton. As we climbed the ridge, we got into very heavy fog, which kept us down to a creeping pace for several miles. However, as we dropped a little altitude and moved further south, the fog started to break up, the pavement dried (mostly) and Leland upped the pace. Soon, we were riding "in a spirited fashion" again, really enjoying the twisty sections on both 35 and Hwy 9, until we got into more and more traffic and finally just puttered into the Cowboy Diner in Felton, owned by our own Jim Geary. Jim and his family and staff had really gotten ready for us, with special menus, great food and five-star service. In addition, Jim had some special shirts made up for PC'ers, as well as setting a flat price of $6 per head for anything on the menu for the PC contingent. Big, big thanks to Jim, his wife Katherine, and his daughter and staff for the special meal we all had there. After lunch, Dave Misunas led the group into Santa Cruz to an oceanside parking area for the group bike photos that usually are taken at Pescadero Beach. From there, it was an easy, uneventful cruise down CA-1 on into Monterey for the evening. Dinner was the usual fun and food at Bullwackers down on Cannery Row. The entire block just south of Bullwackers was cordoned off with literally dozens of police and fire vehicles, but no news about what was going on. Additionally, there was a group of 10 or so young women in the same seating area at Bullwackers who apparently had an early start on the evening and a lengthy bar tab going, so the atmosphere was more loud and raucous than usual, but we still had a good time and great food, once the other group quieted down a bit. Dave Misunas had brought in his laptop with a slideshow of the many really top-notch photos he'd taken so far on the ride, so we all got to see some of the memories we'd made over the past few days. Dave is gifted with his use of the camera, and I can't wait to see the entire group of photos he took along the ride. Alas, Bruce and I had to say our goodbyes as the group left Bullwackers, as
we were heading back North towards home on Thursday morning, while the other lucky folks continued on south towards Lompoc. It's great to see old friends again each year, and make new acquaintances, but it's still hard to shake hands and say goodbye, knowing it'll likely be at least a year before I'll enjoy the company of many of them next.

Thursday, BP and I grabbed a quick breakfast and headed towards home. We initially had planned to do a "casual mosey" pace, with some off-the-beaten path tracks included. After some consultation, we decided to simply head east to pick up I-5, and pile up the miles. Consequently, we made it the nearly 700 miles into Eugene, which meant home for me and left Bruce with a chance to get a good night's sleep before his last 260-ish mile leg back into Federal Way.

It was again, quite simply, the highlight of my riding year. Thanks again to Leland for his planning and conscientious leadership of this ride, and for being so willing to set a hot pace during the twisty bits! As mentioned earlier, it was great to see all our friends from past years rides, and folks I'd not met or spent much time with before, like Jerry Wright, and Roy & Jennie Chalk from Merrye Olde England, via Eastern Canada, and Jeff from Fremont, who learned just how fast old folks can ride while following Leland down from Alices to Felton (_Grin_).

I'm weary and glad I'm off the bike for a day or two, but am already missing the ride and good friends.

Dean Williams
Eugene, Oregon

98 PC800 "Nata Harli" ... in glorious yellow
HSTA / IPCRC / IBA member