Sorry for the delay in posting. The last few days have been busy and I haven't been able to get the downtime in the afternoon to work on the post. Enough excuses.
Hayden rode out from San Francisco on his Honda CBR 954RR; a sportbike with lots of umph! Astro and Stephen drove out in Stephen's 2009 M3; another quick ride with four doors and trunk space. Our new chase car allowed us to travel a little lighter on the bikes. We suppered on wings and nachos, tequila, beer and wine. Then we second-suppered about 10PM on burgers and grilled cheese with fries.
We were up and out of the Quality Inn around 730AM. Not a bad start. Ft. Bragg was fogbound and that would be the nature of our ride for the entire day! Temperatures remained in the mid-50s all day so it was chilly, as well.
Hayden took the lead, followed closely by Mark and Ian. After they hit the second 25mph posted hairpin at about 50mph Martha and I decided we couldn't watch and wouldn't want to keep up. So, we held back and proceded at a more leisurely, mature pace. Nervously I scanned the roadside and canyons for debris left from any of the three bikes. All three youngsters must have been in good synch and of good charma. No debris!
Route 1 followed the coast along the bluffs and beaches. Once merging with Hwy 101 in Leggett we were a bit more inland until Eureka. Beautiful wooded mountains with towering, straight redwoods. We were again out on the coast by Eureka and starving for lunch.
In Eureka we caught up with the boys and checked on the GPS and figured there would be a good place in Westhaven where we agreed to eat. Well, the turnoff to Westhaven was small and, at their pace, they missed it. Martha and I found it but there was nothing there. The road was about 20 feet wide and went through some really rural areas. Martha and I rolled in to the lovely ( I mean it) town of Trinidad which has a fabulous bay, a few B&Bs, fishing business, and a couple of restaurants. Martha and I continued back on 101 and caught up with the boys in Orick where Ian found La Hacienda on his Iphone. This family-owned restaurant had the best salsa fresca I have ever had, outside of my own kitchen. The guacamole was as good! The boys chowed down on Burritos and Chimichanges, except Mark with his Cheeseburger and Fries. My fish taco with refrieds and rice was excellent, but a bit wet. Martha had a taco, as well.
Once again on 101, more in need of a siesta than more miles, we were on and off the coast; lots more elevation changes, cliffs, bluffs and twisties along the shore. Where we were inland it was more mountains and redwoods. Hard to describe how beautiful it all is, but a little challenging two-up.
We were able to connect in Crescent City with brother Scott and his posse who were coming down Route 199 from Bend, Oregon. They had covered almost 700 miles in two days. Accompanying Scott were a number of Weyerhauser folks: Joe and Ed had flown in to Seattle from Houston; Charlie had flown in from Nevada; David had flown in from the OC; Bill and Mark were from Seattle. Representing Scott's former employer, Noble House, was Jazz who is now in Seattle but grew up in New Orleans. She had a little trouble with Blues, her Harley, on the way down from Bend; it was electrically challenged and would randomly shut down. Hayden, the McGuyver of the group, was able to diagnose the problem as being with one of the fuses and, with a little aluminum foil, made a quick fix. So, we now had twelve bikes and the M3.
We made quite an impression as we rode in to Brookings, Or to spend our first night at the Brookings, Inn. This was a nice, clean property owned by one of Scott's former law partners and I'd recommend it for its on-site family restaurant which served a complimentary breakfast, as well. We ended up having supper across the street at Ponchos. The food was good and the company was great fun.
Mark, Ian, Stephen and Astro packed in to the party room for the night and, surprisingly, would be up and adam for the 7AM rollcall.
More to follow...
Jim, Margaret and Bud (Anderson). Missing our "Kitten" at home.
Actually Wild Cod, I was clocked at 52 MPH on those 25 MPH turns, Hayden 55 and Mark a conservative 26. We also developed a new riding safety manual that will be published later this summer titled "Let Us Know If We're Riding Dangerously At The Beginning of the Trip, Rather Than At The End."
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