Hi Coasters,
Well, the 10th (actually the 11th if you include the 1999 preview ride)
Pacific Coasts on the Pacific Coast Highway ride is in the books.
It was a good ride in spite of Bruce's accident.
We had rain late Sunday afternoon and Monday morning but the rest of
the time the weather was good. Almost exceptional.
Saturday the 12th, Ian Elder (Balclutha, New Zealand) and I left
Placerville on 2 of my beloved PCs: Ian on the '89 like the ones he has
at home and me on my deer-encrusted '90. We immediately got onto
motorcycle roads by taking CA49 through the American River canyon and
CA193 over to
Lincoln; nice stretches those... There we met Peter Noeth on his
uber-PC (also known as a GL1800). We stayed on CA65 and then CA70 out
into the farming communities of the northern valley and then caught
CA99 to Red Bluff where we stopped for lunch and gas. Art Steinbach
from Redding joined us at this point. It had been threatening rain but
except for a few sprinkles, we had stayed dry.
Upon leaving Red Bluff, we got onto another wonderful motorcycle road
which starts with a sign indicating winding roads for the next 140
miles, CA36. Yesssssssss! All the way to the coast, we wound through
the mountains with the road challenging us every step of the way. Ian
was right on my tail, followed closely by Art. I suspect that if he
had felt like taking off on his own, Ian would have run away from me in
those corners. :-)
In any case, we all had grins on our faces when we stopped at Mad
River, population 7, for refreshments.
Onward. From Mad River on, the road gets very narrow. It is actually
only one wide lane for a while. And VERY twisty. We get to the coast
and turn north making our way through Eureka this time, headed for
Arcata up the road a bit.
At the Motel 6 in Arcata, Ian's friends Graeme and Maree (also from New
Zealand) were there ahead of us. So was Malcolm Cook from Ontario,
Canada and Jim Geary from Felton, California. Shortly thereafter,
Ralph McComb (one of the three musketeers from the 2003 ride) arrived
on a very funny looking PC (actually a Suzuki DL650 that Ralph dearly
loves).
Ian, Graeme, Maree, Malcolm, Ralph, Art, Peter and myself made our way
down to Woodley Island and Woodley Marina Cafe where we had a delicious
meal.
Sunday morning, the 13th, found Art Steinbach, Kevin Quosig on his
Burgman 650 and myself heading out for the wonderful Sunday ride we
have become so fond of: CA299 to Weaverville and lunch and gas, CA299
to CA3, south through Hayfork to CA36, CA36 back to US101 and north to
Arcata. The sun was shining and all was well with the world. After
lunch, Art continued on 299 to Redding to get some things he had
forgotten while Kevin and I headed south on CA3.
Everything went fine until just a few miles before we reached US101.
It had been looking angry off to the south and that front caught up
with us. Kevin was prepared but, unfortunately, my rain gear was
sitting back at the motel. It rained hard. Also unfortunately, I
learned that my new Shark Evoline helmet is a disaster in the rain.
The shield fogs so badly I didn't dare put down the chin bar (I tried;
it made things worse) and I had to constantly wipe the inside with my
glove. Needless to say, I was relieved to get back to the motel where
I changed clothes and put my jacket, pants and gloves in the dryer to
try to get the water out of them.
While I was drying out, most everyone else was arriving. Tosh Konya
and David Sigsbee from back east, the Williams boys, Dean and Kel, from
Oregon, Bruce Pickett from Washington, Jerry Wright and Bob Walton from
Oregon, Roy and Julia Coss from Elk Grove, California with Roy's cousin
Lance Coss and his wife Sue, also from Washington, and last but not least
Tom Humphrey from Brentwood, California.
Most of us made our way out to Samoa to the Samoa Cookhouse. It was
still raining a bit but not as hard as earlier. At the Samoa
Cookhouse, we had a special guest arrive. John Treiber had come down
to have dinner with us. It was great to see John up and around after
his accident the year before. We missed seeing Pat. John had wanted
to come down to thank us for, among other things, naming this year's
ride after Pat. We wouldn't have had it any other way, John...
We made it back to the motel after dinner without drowning.
Monday, the 14th, we made our way south to Eureka to the Bayshore Mall
parking lot where we always get a picture. It was looking pretty gray
south of us. We started south on US101, turned west toward the
Victorian town of
Ferndale on CA211 and then turned onto Mattole Road, the Lost Coast
route.
Whatever rain we got was light but enough to make the roads wet. And
the cattle guards slipperier. After getting down the hill to the coast
OK and then back up into the hills heading for Honeydew, we hit a
cattleguard on an uphill grade. I slipped badly going through it. I
was upright when I hit it but must have been accelerating thus the slip
(I realized later that I used to always close my throttle when crossing
one of them but had gotten out of that habit. The habit has been
reactivated...). Dean Williams saw me slip and had the presence of
mind to figure out what probably happened and pull his clutch in to
coast across it. He also shared his thoughts with us (that we probably
slipped because of the acceleration) and I suspect he's right.
Bruce Pickett came next and was probably also accelerating. Bruce went
down hard. Bruce ended up with just (I know, JUST?) a broken rib and
Blue Pacific was dinged up pretty good. We all helped get the bike off
the road, make Bruce comfortable until the CDF and the medics arrived,
take pictures for Bruce, and so on. At the point where we were waiting
for the ambulance to arrive and Dean and Kel had taken Bruce's bike to
the nearby CDF station, Dean and Kel and the CDF folks stayed with
Bruce and the rest of us continued on. (Dean and Kel: This ambulance
chasing has to stop. That's two years in a row. Enough already...)
We made our stop at the Honeydew store and then continued on over the
hill and through the woods (Redwoods, that is; in the form of the
Avenue of the Giants) to Garberville for lunch.
After lunch, the real fun begins. We jump onto US101 South and proceed
to Leggett and the beginning of CA1.
We pretty much started down the hill toward the Pacific together but
that usually doesn't last long and this year was no exception. There
was a Yamaha Venture ahead of me as we started out and we soon got
behind something large. Can't remember what it was now, truck, tour
bus, motorhome (I think that was it) but in any case, at one point the
Yamaha managed to get around it and I went right around behind him. He
and I continued dicing for a while at which point he slowed down for me
to pass.
I continued on down the hill with him not far behind me. When we
reached the ocean, I pulled over onto the nice pullout at that spot and
he pulled in with me. Turned out to be Rick Nemeth, a southern
California PCer, who was just coming back from a long trip. He is
selling his PC and has it listed on my site. Very small world.
Anyhow, we shook hands and, as the rest of the PCers began to pull in,
he continued on.
After a few photos, we headed for Fort Bragg and a well deserved rest.
Most of us stayed at the Vista Manor. I love the ocean view from there
plus their facilities are pretty nice: Indoor pool, big breakfast room,
free wi-fi, etc. That evening we headed for Silver's at the Wharf
(same restaurant as in the past, different name) for a good dinner.
Tuesday morning, September 15th, we started for Pacifica. The sun was
shining and the fog was off shore so we got a terrific start for the
day. Roy and Julia Coss, Lance and Sue Coss and our friends from New
Zealand started out behind us as they were planning some sightseeing on
the way to Pacifica.
We stopped for lunch at the Boat House in Bodega Bay. Still sunny.
Still beautiful weather. Could this hold up? After lunch, we reach
Point Reyes Station and the weather was still holding up. As we
started out toward Point Reyes Lighthouse, I could see the fog moving
in. Sigh...
We got to the lighthouse parking lot and although it was cold, the fog
wasn't as thick as it has been in the past so we ventured out the half
mile walk to the viewpoint above the lighthouse. The fog was staying
high enough that we could see ahead and see down to the water and the
beaches. We continued on. By golly, we could see down to the
lighthouse. It is closed on Tuesdays so we couldn't go any further.
Just as well since the walk down to the lighthouse is the equivalent of
a stairway in a 30 story building. Not a walk for the faint of
heart... We were able to get photos of the lighthouse, the islands
below and the birds on those islands. No whales that I noticed but
life was good. Next stop: Marin Headlands and a marvelous view of the
Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco.
Alas, the fog got us here... I managed to get a few photos of the top
of one of the bridge supports but that was it. Roy, Ian and company
later reported that they had gotten some good photos from out toward
the end of Marin Headlands; they were down on the deck and could see
under the fog and so got the views I missed.
Onward. As I crossed the Golden Gate, I got a shot of the fog hovering
on the bridge. We had arrived during commute hours so motorcycles get
through free saving us $6.00. I turned onto 19th Avenue which is CA1
and continued on through the city, out onto the freeway and into
Pacifica.
It was overcast (with fog) at Pacifica. Was this an indication of
things to come?
Having spent the night near Bruce in Fortuna, the Williams boys had
rejoined us in time for dinner.
We had dinner next
door at Nick's and had a special guest show up. Joyce Calvert, who was
one of the six people on the original preview ride in 1999 and who has
been on several other PCH rides, was in town and joined us for dinner.
It was great seeing her again. She was driving one of those funny
looking 4 wheeled things but that's OK; it was still good to see her!
The motel in Pacifica sits about 100 feet from the shore so if you
leave your window open at night, you can hear the surf crashing on the
rocks on the far side of the parking lot. Fun stuff.
In the morning, Wednesday September 16th, it was still foggy in
Pacifica. Windshields wet, seats wet, etc. But as we start south, I
see bits of sunlight. Yeaaaaa. Then the fog is above the road. Arms
of fog with sunny spots between. This is getting better.
I made a switch this year. Because we are having lunch with our PCing
friend Jim Geary, I decided to do the bike photo before lunch. So we
go south right past the San Gregorio turnoff and head straight for
Pescadero Beach - the second Pescadero Beach. Good. Only one car and
it's down at the end. We pull in and start lining up the bikes.
Pretty soon we've got a nice long line of 17 PCs and one oversized PC.
I have to say that one of those PCs was one of the ugliest bikes I have
ever seen. There were only a few pieces of plastic on it: The front
fender, the shelter cover and the two passenger peg covers. And that
was it. Talk about Frankenbike...
Lot s of photos were taken and lots of farkles discussed. It was
overcast with fog but clear down where we were. Not bad.
We headed back north for the junction with CA84 and the wonderful road
up past Alice's restaurant. As we turned inland on CA84, the sun was
shining and the road was dry. Hooray. Off we went. I swear that CA84
from the junction with CA1 to the junction with CA35 (Skyline) was
designed by a motorcyclist. If he or she didn't ride, they were at
least sympathetic to riders and riding. No decreasing radius corners,
nicely banked, good road surface, corner after corner. It's a delight.
When we reached Skyline, we turned south. At one point, there is a
wonderful overlook of most of the San Francisco Bay Area and we stopped
and took photos. Must have been 50 mile visibility. Wow; this is
great! Skyline is also a good motorcycle road as we continued on
toward lunch.
Turning west on CA9 toward Boulder Creek and Felton, we were still in
sunshine and still had dry roads. Wonderful! Just before we reached
Felton, we got into a construction zone and had a bit of a wait there
but until that point, it was a good ride.
We stopped at the now famous Cowboy Bar & Grill in Felton. Our
hosts, Jim and Catherine Geary were there to greet us. They even had a
menu printed welcoming the Pacific Coast Riders. Thanks, Jim and
Catherine; that's a nice touch (they did that last year too). I had
one of the best burgers I've ever had which didn't hurt a thing.
After lunch, we got everybody together in front of the restaurant and
got a people photo. I managed to get into this one because a nice
young lady from the restaurant came out and did the camera duty for
me. She done good.
After lunch, we continued down CA9 to the junction with CA1 in Santa
Cruz only to run into the worst traffic of the ride. CA1 was blocked
for a couple of miles. Never did see a cause and it finally let up,
thank goodness.
We arrived at the motel in Monterey and got settled in. We rode down
to Monterey's Cannery Row and found parking near Bullwacker's. It's a
nice restaurant and they let us pretty much take over the patio which
is outdoors. Good food, good conversation, good friends. It doesn't
get a whole lot better than this.
Thursday, September 17th, we start out for Lompoc. Once again, Roy,
Ian and company are doing their sight seeing thing. And Dean and Kel
Williams have departed for home.
We start south and, once past Carmel By The Sea, get into a terrific 74
miles section of twisties (this is second only to the 140 mile section
of twisties on CA36 starting from Red Bluff...). The fog is toying
with us. Sun, then fog, more sun, more fog, etc. But the road is dry,
we can see the ocean, life is still good. I think I almost got a shot
of the area that Honda used for their Pacific Coast advertising
poster. I believe I was one curve up the hill from where they took
their photo. Great photo.
On reaching Ragged Point, I pull in. I could use a good cup of
coffee. While there, a couple of lovely young women riding scooters
pull in. We had passed them earlier so they had been making pretty
good time. One of the bikes was the 3-wheeled Piaggio which is an
intriguing vehicle to me. Both front wheels lean, I believe... The
other woman was on a Vespa.
Also while there, Tosh pointed out the fact that his PC had just rolled
over the 100,000 mile mark. I got a picture of his brand new PC with
only 48 miles on it. Miracle of miracles... :-)
Continuing south, the fog toyed with us for a time and then, as we
approached the San Simeon area, it backed off the coast a bit leaving
us completely in sun with an intriguing view of the ocean and with dry
roads.
At Cambria, and the junction with CA46, Roy and Julia, Lance and Sue, and
Bob Walton turn for home. Jerry Wright either turned back with this
group or with the Williams brothers; I'm not sure which.
As we passed through Morro Bay, I saw a sight I haven't seen before:
Only the base and the tip of Morro Rock were visible; the rest was
belted in fog. I just looked and the photos I got of it don't show the
tip as visible; only the base.
When we got to the south side of Oceano, I discovered that the Rusty
Pig was still closed and that the sandwich shop next door was now a
Burrito Loco. I love Mexican food so I could deal with that. Every
one else seemed to deal with it as well. :-)
At this point, CA1 swings inland, or to be more precise, the coast
swing out away from the highway. We are heading through farm country.
Just before reaching Lompoc, we reach the front gate of Vandenburg Air
Force Base. CA1 goes left and that point and on into Lompoc.
Everyone gets checked in. We have arrived early enough that there is
time for everyone to catch up. 4:30PM arrives and we leave for Solvang
and the motorcycle museum. I find the shopping center it is located in
OK but then lose the museum itself. After walking almost all the way
around the block, I see Jill Ballard who is opening the museum for us.
For the next hour and a half, we are all fascinated with the wonderful
collection of motorcycles held there by Virgil Elings. It includes the
last Norton ever built and the last Britten ever built. And, of
course, since John Britten was from New Zealand, and we have visitors
from New Zealand, Virgil himself was there. We got photos of Ian,
Graeme and the New Zealand flag in front of the bike and owner Virgil
Elings standing behind it. Wonderful.
The final touch on this visit was having Jill Ballard hand me a
business card on which she has written "free admission for 5 years".
That's intended for the group and so the next time we head south and
visit the museum, there won't be an entrance fee. Nice.
After leaving the museum, a friend of Jason Scarborough's stopped by to
pick us up. I was not at all sure I could find the way to Jason's
again even though I was just there 2 years ago. (I miss my mind...) We
had our dinner in Jason's back yard again and a good dinner it was
too. Just like the last one. Watched the sun go down, good food, good
conversation, good friends. Again, it doesn't get any better than that.
Friday morning, September 18th, and the sun was still shining. We
managed to lose Ian and Graeme and Maree. They had stopped for gas and
I thought they saw us go by but they didn't. Fortunately, with aid of
Ian's GPS, they caught up with us in Oxnard at the Mickey D's where we
had stopped for lunch. I wanted to stick together as much as possible
for the rest of the day as we would be going through LA.
After lunch, we headed down the coast. Once again the fog played with
us. Sunny one minute, foggy the next.
We made very good time all the way through Santa Monica but then got
bogged down in traffic after that. I'm not used to seeing slow
driver's in southern California but I think I picked every one of them
out that day. Even so, it was less than 3 hours from Mickey D's in
Oxnard to the motel in San Clemente. And the weather was mercifully
cool.
That evening, we walked from the Casablanca motel over to Dave's
Mexican Restaurant. Turns out that Dave is selling the restaurant.
After eating there for the past 10 years, I hope whoever takes over
does as good a job with it as Dave has. Oh, and after all these years,
his name isn't Dave. It's Dan Finn. Apparently many folks make the
same mistake so he is used to it. I managed to remember to call him
Dan for most of the rest of the evening. I hope we will see him again.
Saturday, September 19th, and we are in the sun again. Everyone except
Art Steinbach is off doing other things today so Art and I do the
little side ride I've been enjoying for the last several years. The
best portions of it are the Ortega Highway (CA74) and Mad Madeline's in
Temecula.
As we are bombing along the Ortega, I see a group of sport bikers
coming up behind us at a pretty good rate of speed. They get up behind
Art and then settle in behind us. We are doing our thing through the
corners and, apparently, they were satisfied with the pace so they
stayed with us. In fact, when we pulled out onto the Lake Elsinore
overlook, one of them gave us a thumbs up as he went by. Coming from a
sportbiker, I consider that a high compliment. :-)
I spot a flying boat parked on the lake but even the 12 times zoom of
my camera won't pull it in close enough. When we get down to the town
of Lake Elsinore, we pull off in the city park and catch a picture or
two. Turns out it was a fire fighting air tanker from Coulson. I
think they contract to help fight fires with their fleet of such flying
boats.
We have a good lunch and head south for gas and CA76 which takes us
over to I5 and back to San Clemente.
That evening, Ian, Graeme, Maree, Art, Peter and myself ride down to
the San Clemente pier and dinner at the Fisherman's Restaurant on the
pier. We spend about an hour wandering around the pier waiting for our
table. When it comes there is more good food, good conversation and
good friends.
Sunday, September 20th. Art left early to get home. He's got a 700
mile ride ahead of him. Graeme and Marie took off early for Las
Vegas. Ian, Peter and I start for home about 9AM. We pushed fairly
hard to get through before the worst of the heat but in spite of that,
it was about 100 degrees by the time we reached the Sacramento area.
We're home and the trip is over for the year.
Photos are at:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/lcshepp
Leland
--
Leland Sheppard
Placerville, California, USA
...Life is good on the Pacific Coast...
'94 Pacific Coast, "Black Beauty", 211,500 miles
'89 Pacific Coast, "Shadow Dancer", 113,525 miles
'90 Pacific Coast, "Red Baron", 100,525 miles
'96 Pacific Coast/SuperSport sidecar, "Handsome Hannigan", 31,075 miles
'02 Ural Patrol, "Boris Blueanov", 15,015 kilometers
'89 GB500, "Little Bugger", 13,550 miles
'02 GL1800, "Copper", 51,800, '07 Aspen Classic, "Copper's Camper", 1,545 miles
iPCRC #72; IBA #10582; AMA #481368
Mother of all PC800 Web Site Lists: http://www.pc800links.net