Hi Coasters and PCHers,

Well, the eighth annual ride is in the history books. And a dandy it was. Best weather we have EVER had. A little fog in Eureka, low clouds along Skyline on the way to Jim Geary's place and a little fog in San Clemente and that was it. Sunshine but cool temperatures. No rain. Amazing. And the new route we took to get to Eureka was a dandy. We went almost straight north to Red Bluff, CA and then rode CA36 all the way to the coast. As the sign says 140 miles of twisties. What a way to start the ride through the twisties of the PCH. Saturday evening, we had dinner at Cafe Marina on Woodley Island. A couple (she's a PCer, he an STer) who live on their boat nearby, Larry and Lisa Litrell, came over to join us for dinner.

I liked 36 so much, I came back on Sunday and did it again. Actually, that was our normal Sunday ride which includes the western portion of 36. Almost no traffic on 36 either day. Yeeeeehaaaa!!! Sunday evening, we had dinner at the Samoa Cookhouse and it was delicious as usual. And everybody found their way back afterwards!

The Motel 6 in Eureka has deteriorated rather badly over the past few years. The police were there both nights hauling someone off. I think we might try another location next year...

Monday, we did our usual thing and got the bikes together at Bayshore Mall in Eureka and got pictures. The Lost Coast was gorgeous. Rough as usual, but gorgeous. We got over the hill from Honeydew and stopped in the Redwoods for a time. Only a few people turned north this time; my coaching ahead of time didn't help... Sigh...
Lunch at the Getti-Up in Garberville was fun as usual. And the Ugly Iguana (CA1 from Leggett to the coast) was its usual delightful self. Tom Humphrey counted over 300 curves, as I recall. The roadway was superb and the traffic minimal. 22 miles of roadway that rivals Deals Gap in my book. Coming out of the Iguana one gets the first view of the Pacific on CA1. There is a large area for parking right there and, as usual, we took advantage of it. Allows the adrenaline a little time to settle as well... On into Fort Bragg and a nice dinner at Silver's at the Wharf. After an ice cream stop at the local home made ice cream store on Main Street, of course.

Tuesday, we started out with more traffic than usual. Hopefully people are NOT catching on to the fact that this is a better time to travel than summer... An accident on CA1 stopped us for a while. But with the help of some locals, also stuck there, and a Thomas Map book Roy Coss was carrying, we worked out a detour and took it. As it turned out, the folks who waited got through before we did but we had a nice little side ride right in the middle of the day. I had a portable CB hooked up and Peter Noeth was on his GL as tailgunner and, using the radio, we managed to keep everybody together through the detour that no one was familiar with. Lunch in Bodega Bay in sunshine. Late lunch but lunch nonetheless. By the time we got to Point Reyes Station, it was late enough that I decided to skip the lighthouse tour that we usually take. We continued on 1 through Stinson Beach to Marin Headlands and spectacular views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. We got over the bridge during the commute hours so we missed the usual $5 toll; motorcycles go free during a certain portion of the rush hour. On to Rockaway Beach in Pacifica and a nice ocean view for the evening. And delicious prime rib (or halibut steak) at Nick's Restaurant next door for dinner.

Wednesday, we leave a little later because it's a short day. We turned inland onto CA84 at San Gregorio heading up into the hills. Only this time, instead of stopping at Alice's, we turned south on Skyline Boulevard (CA35). It was overcast and on Skyline, we got right into the clouds. Visibility got down as low as a couple hundred feet a couple of times. Once we turned off CA35 onto CA9 and started dropping down toward Boulder Creek and Felton, we got out of the clouds and back into just overcast. Arriving at the Cowboy Bar and Grill in Felton, Jim Geary, Pcer, host and restaurateur greeted us warmly. Even had a special welcoming menu printed up. Had a delicious lunch during which Jim treated many of us to Pacific Coast t-shirts he had acquired. After lunch, we got a group photo of the people attending the ride. Thanks much for the hospitality and good food, Jim. Because of the low clouds and lousy visibility back up the hill, we decided not to retrace our steps but to go on to Santa Cruz where Dave Misunas led us to a parking lot on the coast that we could use for our annual bike photo. Thanks again for that, Dave! Back out in the sun, we got some nice pictures of the bikes and Monterey Bay. We continued on south into Monterey for the night. Dinner at Bullwacker's was fun as usual, in spite of the fact that the street in front is now one way. After dinner, yours truly started out the wrong way and quickly retreated back to the parking spot from whence I came before I got run over. As usual, we were on the patio at Bullwacker's. Yours truly took a wrong turn on the way to Bullwacker's and one on the way back. Not sure why that place does that to me; I seem to repeat that each year. Anyhow, we finally got back to the Cypress Tree motel.

Thursday morning and we lost a bunch of people at this point; they turned around and headed for home. We, in the meantime, headed down through Carmel and Big Sur in more sunshine. Only 74 miles of twisties on this one. Only... :-) A few of us stopped at Ragged Point for coffee and pastries. Still in the sunshine. Our usual lunch stop, The Rusty Pig near Oceano, was out of business. We had sandwiches at a new place next door but that one, the Mesa Cafe and Coffee Company, got mixed reviews. While we were there octogenarian PCer Walt Elliott stopped in to say hello. He and his son Paul have been on the PCH ride several times. On we went to Lompoc. For dinner that evening, we took a ride to Santa Ynez where Jason Scarborough's wife put on a backyard feast to remember. We had a delicious meal and enjoyed Jason's family, friends, home, dog and backyard very much. Thanks again to Jason's wife and to Jason for their warm hospitality and good food. Once again, Peter acted as tailgunner for me with the radio so we could insure that everyone got over and back OK. Jason came over to the outskirts of Solvang to lead us in to his place. I managed to find my way back out! :-)

Friday morning we lost a few more folks who turned for home or in different directions. The diehards left for San Clemente and environs. We stopped at a Mickey D's in Oxnard for lunch as usual. We made one other pit stop and that one got us into the rush hour traffic a little bit but by that time we were in Dana Point and had only a short distance to go anyway. We made it to San Clemente and the Casablanca OK. That evening, we walked over to Dave's Mexican Restaurant and had a delicious dinner. Saturday, we took our usual side ride to Temecula and Mad Madeline's for lunch. Good burgers, good fellowship. A new PCer from southern California, joined us for this ride. Good to meet you, John. Glad you could join us. By this time, we were down to four bikes: Me, Jason, John and John and Pat Treiber. When we left Temecula, John and Pat dropped off as their motorhome was stored near there. Jason dropped off to see friends in Oceanside so it was just John and me arriving back at the Casablanca. The traffic on the Ortega Highway (CA74) was quite a bit worse than usual this year and the construction didn't help. Saturday evening found me, Peter, Jim Geary and Jason heading for a N'awlins style restaurant that Jim found while wandering around San Clemente. Good eye, Jim. The four of us walked up the hill to Iva Lee's for a delicious dinner. Good thing the return trip to the motel was downhill... :-)

Sunday, Jim and Jason headed north for home while Peter and I went back across the Ortega to catch I15. At the junction with US395, I turned off while Peter continued on to Calico (ghost town) and environs. I rode up US395, along the eastern edge of the Sierras for the rest of the day. Had a delicious burger at Walker Burger and then headed over Monitor Pass on CA89 (#1 road in northern California according to Destination Highways), through Markleeville, over Carson Pass on CA88 and down Mormon Emigrant Trail to home.

As I said, a dandy trip. I can hardly wait to do it all over again.

:-)

My photos are at http://www.kodakgallery.com/lcshepp The album is
entitled PCH Ride 2007.

Leland

--
Leland Sheppard
Placerville, California, USA

...Life is good on the Pacific Coast...

'94 Pacific Coast, "Black Beauty", 207,625 miles
'89 Pacific Coast, "Shadow Dancer", 104,050 miles
'90 Pacific Coast, "Red Baron", 79,750 miles
'96 Pacific Coast/SuperSport sidecar, "Handsome Hannigan", 27,350 miles
'02 Ural Patrol, "Boris Blueanov", 14,000 kilometers
'89 GB500, "Little Bugger", 13,275 miles
'02 GL1800, "Copper", 30,575, '07 Aspen Classic, "Copper's Camper", 700 miles
'04 Helix, "Miss Bee", 775 miles (breaking in for my roommate)
iPCRC #72; IBA #10582; AMA #481368

Mother of all PC800 Web Site Lists: http://www.pc800links.net