Santa Cruz Run

Okay, I have no idea how my grandson's picture got in here... He is sure cute, isn't he?

As I sit here sipping an adult beverage, I do not even know where to begin... It is the Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend. Important to set the scene for the events yet to unfold... Today's run was not well attended. Boots, Outlaw and Snake were the only ones interested in a run today. We met at Starbucks as usual. The weather was warm, but not too warm. It was the perfect day for a coastal run. I can still remember the last time we went, probably the coldest I've been in a long time. Today was promising. Boots brought a new (to him) bike. 2000 BMW Roadster. A real beauty... We decided it was okay for him to retire his Sporster in favor of this road weapon. We even helped with some wording for his ad... "I'm sorry I have to sell this Sporster, it is too f'ing fast to even be considered street legal...." or, "must sell before I kill myself"...or my favorite...."this bike is a babe magnet, wife says it has to go". We figure with any of those lines, someone is certain to buy it...

Anyway, back to the ride... We took 680 to 580 and the San Mateo Bridge (92) eventually leading to Skyline Drive. What a gorgeous day. The Crystal reservoir was full, the sky was clear and the roads were open... We took the Skyline Drive to Alice's Restaurant. This is a local biker (cruiser, sport and even bicycle) hangout. Alice’s Restaurant (where, apparently, you really can get just about anything you want) was purchased in 2002 by locals James and Andy Kerr. Alice’s was built around 1900 as a general store and was converted to a restaurant in the 1940s. It became Alice’s Restaurant in 1961, named for owner Alice Taylor. It has open family seating, so you never know who you might get to know over coffee and eggs, or a burger if you like. We chowed down there, admired all the bikes, mostly our own and then fully stuffed headed off to Santa Cruz.

The ride to Santa Cruz was curvy, and uneventful. We passed through Santa Cruz without stopping, if you don't count having to wait for Boots when he missed a light. We of course stripped our leathers before Santa Cruz as it was hot as blazes. Once through SC, we were on the coast highway. It became very cold. As my T-shirt ruffled in the wind against my frigid chest, I longed for my leather jacket... You must understand, no Mild Hog will ever be the first to reach for a jacket even if it results in serious nipple chaff.... Eventually we decided to pull off "for a picture". oh well, what the heck, might as well throw on the jacket...

We eventually found our way to Half Moon Bay. As we sat at light, a Honda and Yamaha pulled up directly next to Outlaw and Snake. These are the kind of bikes that look like HD's sort of, but aren't... Well, the light changed, Outlaw and the lead faux HD jump on it! I prefer to keep a cooler head in these types of situations, particularly considering my last ticket... Well, my guy jumped on it as well, so I had to respond. I am happy to report that it is HD 2, Faux bikes 0. We kicked their butts. The brand is saved!

We eventually found ourselves in San Francisco... What a mistake that was. Holiday traffic everywhere. Even with the shortcuts that Outlaw had, we found ourselves in Golden Gate Park in horrendous bumper to bumper traffic. It was time to split lanes. You cannot imagine how narrow the lanes are without cramming 700 pounds of motorcycle in between. I may have aged 10 years in the hour we dogged cars, buses, trucks and trailers. After a rather narrow escape I asked Boots how close it was. He said I had at least a quarter inch to spare on each handle bar grip...I thought it might be closer, but I shut my eyes at the last minute.

We made it through without a scratch if Outlaw clicking mirrors with one car does not count... We did lose Boots, so if you read this note, please phone home...I know you are not in prison as stated on your text...at least I think so...

The ride was a little over 250 miles and is certainly one to remember. Happy Memorial Day!

See you on the road.

Mt. Hamilton - Rewind

Saturday, May 15th started as an overcast day in our part of the Bay Area. Instead of heading to the coast for fish & chips as previously planned, we switched gears and decided to make the Mt. Hamilton run in reverse. This decision was to seek the sun, but also to get some pictures since we failed our followers on the last run. On this run we had the Repo Team, Outlaws and Snake. Boots could not make the ride, something about spending the weekend in "Paradise". Well, I know "Paradise", and I doubt Boots could be there for more than a few minutes, let alone the weekend... I'm assuming he was talking about "Business Time", but perhaps he meant something else....

On the way we stopped at the Livermore HD shop to shop and take a break. Out of Livermore we took Mines Rd. The road all the way up to Mt. Hamilton is strewn with bicyclists enjoying the scenery of the road right in front of the tire (picture heads hanging and tongues hanging out as they make the ascent). The road up to and down from Mt. Hamilton is full of tight turns that require your full attention. I did manage to miss a snake in the road, this time... I could not help but notice a couple of things as we rode. 1.) We always managed to meet up with other cars, motorcycles or bikes in sharp turns, never straight parts of the road. A couple of times I thought Outlaw might bump helmets of other cyclists. 2.) Rock slides, gravel, pine cones only occur in turns. I'm not sure why this is the case, but it is...

At the top of Mt. Hamilton we stopped at the James Lick Observatory, named for the inventor of the Popsicle...

From the official web site.... The observatory was constructed between 1876 and 1887, from a bequest from James Lick. In 1887 Lick's body was buried under the future site of the telescope, with a brass tablet bearing the inscription, "Here lies the body of James Lick".
Before construction could begin, a road to the site had to be built. All of the construction materials had to be brought to the site by horse and mule-drawn wagons, which could not negotiate a steep grade. To keep the grade below 6.5%, the road had to take a very winding and sinuous path, which the modern-day road (SR 130) still follows. Tradition maintains that this road has exactly 365 turns. (This is approximately correct, although uncertainty as to what should count as a turn makes precise verification impossible). Even those who do not normally suffer from motion-sickness find the road challenging.

While we were at the observatory, we were joined by an antique Porche club on an outing. I felt a bit sorry for them as they were not on motorcycles and I know why they had to buy a Porche to make up for certain inadequacies....

We rode down into San Jose and enjoyed lunch at the Fire Eaters. Both Outlaw and Repo man enjoyed the wings with the Inferno sauce. I had the Nuclear sauce, a step up from my previous choice, sauce for little girls.... Afterwards we scooted home on the freeways having had enough turns for one day....

See you on the road.

Yosemite Weekend Adventure

A number of the NorCal MildHogs and their lady companions spent the weekend in Yosemite Valley enjoying riding and all the scenery this lush valley has to offer. The valley was formed millions of years ago when massive glaciers flowed carving the sheer cliffs that can be seen today. It is actually a bit more complicated than that, but this is not a geology lesson and you may be a product of the California School System in which case it is more important to know how to put a condom on a banana… I do have to mention that the first visitors to the valley were Native Americans of various tribes, the most recent being the Miwok that called the Yosemite Valley, Ahwahnee which means “place of gaping mouth” which is exactly what you do when you first see the valley. That is also the name of the Lodge where we had  Sunday brunch and also describes the look on our faces when we first saw the beautiful buffet, but more on that later.

The ride up was relatively uneventful. The Snakes, Outlaws, and Repo Team were accompanied by non-members Hollywood and Hello Kitty…don’t ask…. One of the wives took the SUV so “the others did not have to carry their gear all that way on the bikes.” It worked out well as she was able to look out for us on the road. We had a Civic with one of those big exhaust pipes come flying up on our rear end and then jerked around the rear bike only to cram the next bike in line. Unbeknown to us, our support crew got pissed and called 911 with the license number. Next thing we know, a CHP comes blasting up on us with his lights flashing and siren blaring. We were going 70 in 55 mph zone and assumed we were nailed, and me already on the most wanted list. Most of us pulled over to let the cruiser by, but one of our group did not budge and even appeared to speed up. We all assumed it was due to Hollywood’s rather questionable immigration status. Eventually even he let the cop go by. Later up the road the CHP had the Civic driver pulled over and was issuing a citation. Makes me smile just thinking of it.
We arrived at the hotel, the Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal. The lodge is right along the Merced River which this time of year is churning and flowing due to all the snow melt. Each room has a balcony with a view of the river. The lodge is only a few miles from the entrance to the park. We stowed our gear and rode through the park. The nice thing about visiting the park several times during different hours is that the scenery changes with the changes in lighting. There were not a lot of flowers in bloom due to the late winter snow which occurred as late as that week at higher elevations. We did see California Poppies and purple spider lupine. All of the waterfalls were gushing from the late melt. In addition to the normal waterfalls you see every year; I believe there were others that are not typical. We also saw 15 deer, not 14…and one bear. You can spot the bears easily in Yosemite as they are accompanied by several rangers to keep idiot tourists from becoming part of the ecosystem. That night some of us ate at the lodge restaurant, which was quite nice and reasonably priced. I do not recommend their pizza restaurant from a previous visit…

The next morning we ate a wonderful breakfast buffet at the Ahwahnee Lodge. The lodge opened in 1927 and is considered one of America’s most distinctive hotels with its huge cathedral ceilings, enormous stone hearths and richly colored American Indian rugs. If you are attending breakfast at the lodge, I do recommend reservations as it is one of the more popular places to eat in the area. In addition to an extensive breakfast fare, they had White Gulf shrimp (pre-BP), salmon, pasta, salads of every type and even cheese blintz with berry topping. It is somewhat expensive, but worth the experience and view. After we ate we walked around the hotel and enjoyed the views and took many pictures.

The ride home was fantastic. If you have not been to the Yosemite Valley, you need to add it to your bucket list and be sure to do it on a Harley.
See you on the road….