Saturday, January 3rd Ride

:yahoo: :yahoo: What a great day!!!!!!! :yahoo: :yahoo:

Quite a bunch met in West Sacramento, then rode 1 hour to Benicia to meet those coming from the South Bay area.

I just wanted to start this thread. I've loaded my pictures and will be putting them here post haste!

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I didn't take any pictures in West Sac because 3 others were documenting there. Here are some of what I took during the day:

Southbound on Hwy 680.



Mothball fleet in Benicia. Refinery steam across the straits.



ONE of the tables in the restaurant:, L-R:

Silent (Ray), feeger (Alan), Painman (Del), Susan's hair, Dave Migliore (Dave), Bluestreek (Steve) and Mrs. Bluestreek (Cyndi).



View of the Vallejo Bridge from the restaurant window.



The bikes from the restaurant window.



The wait-staff.

Looks like you guys had a blast. How many miles was the ride?

Since there were more than 25 bikes, it was discussed and decided to break the group into 3 parts. We left the restaurant just after noon and headed across the bridge to Martinez.

Refinery and storage tanks in Martinez.





The roads were technical enough that I didn't take any pictures while riding. Once we got to our destination I rounded a corner and saw Hycle and the 1st group at one of the turnout/scenic overlooks so I turned in and the group followed me!!! Here are the first 2 groups to arrive. You can see some of the 3rd group coming around the curve.



Here's a picture that shows the bay in the background. That is the Oakland Container Port to the left, the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge improvement, Treasure Island and San Francisco across the bay.



Lookie at all those FJRs that have been out enjoying a clear sunny day on Jan. 3rd!



(Edit photo)The bottom of this picture is the campus of a certain University in Berkley that employs JB. The tall buildings in the center of the picture are hotels in Emeryville.



After some time at the overlook, different groups headed home via various routes. A group of 5 of us headed down the hill and to Hwy 24 East to 680. Kromm headed South to get to Modesto, mm2, Hycles, Bluestreeks and Sacramento Mike headed to Hwy 4 through Antioch and Hwy 160 to Rio Vista.

Approaching the Antioch Bridge.



Going down the bridge and into the Sacramento Delta farmland.



We stopped at this cafe for some dinner before splitting up and heading to our homes. By the time we left here the sun was setting so I didn't take any pictures of the darkness.....



Again....what a fun day of sharing and riding with the NorCal group! :clapping: :yahoo:

Wow, great pictures and what a perfect clear day. I missed this ride, but was happy to see so many bikes and riders enjoying the day! I was stuck helping a neighbor and friend move! That's a job I would hate to have every day! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks go to JB and MMII and Hycle for spending the time to get this rolling. :clapping: It is much appreciated. I really enjoy seeing the lot of you, especially the charming pillion crew in this local cluster of riders! You have a good thing going. Loads of friendly faces and happy smiles!!

What a view!! :yahoo: Many reminiscences of long-passed relatives houses on Grizzly Peak, climbing rocks in Strawberry canyon, the Farallon Islands 21 miles out the Gate in clear view!! Absolutely mind-spinning!! And deeply satisfying memories.

Always restless, I faintly heard 160 mentioned as a small group was leaving the "not-the -wall" parking view. I pulled in behind four others( perhaps with Walt in the lead ) with FJRChris right behind me as we went to 24 and 680, but when we approached 242 the others were going straight ahead. We pealed off to the right and headed for the Antioch bridge. Crystal clear!! Views everywhere. And a new road for me. When 160 became a two laner we had the road to ourselves. Must have only passed four vehicles all the way to Franklin/Pocket Road. This was a far more delightful stretch of road than I had ever imagined. A perfect way to avoid freeway boredom. And I actually got home from a ride an hour before dark..........unheard of!

A superb intro to the 2009 season. Thanks again to all of you!!!

Alan

YES - an excellent way to start the year.

check out this slideshow from the day.

this was my favorite....

:clapping: Great job, Dave! :clapping:

I am posting some of my favorites from your slide show......

I really like this photo of the dining room, Quite a crowd!

I think in know who they are, L-R:

Painman (Del, Dave Migliore, Bluestreek (Steve), Sacramento Mike, madmike2 (Blue hat), Kromm (cack, green shirt-Wayne), Mrs. Bluestrek-standing (Cyndi), FJR Chris, weekend rider (Bob)at the end of the table, LastChance (Loren) in red, by the windows.

On the far side of the table, across from Kromm is CelloII (Alan), Ric in Sacs head (between the 2 mikes), Mrs. Ric in Sac (Karen), Mrs. Hycle's hair (Terri).

Coming toward the camera from the corner of the table:

Hycle (Mike), MDiesel Di's hair (Mrs. Highlander, Dianne), Highlander (Dave), FlyingJR (Walt), Silent (Ray) and feeger (alan).

Small table in far right corner:

Brodie, James Burleigh (back turned, Hans) and FJRonaMission (Brian)

Who knows where the uberkuls are....and Susan, Dave Mig's SO, is taking the picture.



Lots of bikes at the restaurant.



Some parked on the other side of the street.



Niiiiice, Susan!



It's hard to believe these roads are only 10 miles from a major metropolitan area and I-80 along the bay!



Here we are!

Great ride lots of riders new and old and some of us really old. And for the choice of eatery ku-doos for the choice maker.

Got a chance to try out he new heated jacket it rocks and a must get... :fans:

Great day out with all my favorite people... and MadMike.

Trying to educate the young pups.



Cindy's new best friend, a hot beverage!



Diane and Dave were uncontrollable with excitement!



Del always seems to end up at the head of the table...royalty.



Brodie (left) rode up from San Diego to make the ride.



Not The Wall Logs.



The Nor-Cal hotness AKA MadMikes girlfriends.

UberKul said:

Great day out with all my favorite people... and MadMike.

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Geeee....thanks! :lol:

The Nor-Cal hotness AKA MadMikes girlfriends.

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Y'know that "outsiders" aren't going to get that!

At James Burleigh's suggestion and lead we went around the table introducing ourselves by handle, name and city. I introduced myself as "George, George Smith from Sacramento, and I'm here with all of my girlfriends." Hey....it works for me....and pretty good choice, don't you think!?!?

Boy! Days like this are what it's all about. I guess you might be able to see the Farallones on 10 days a year, and we had one of them. And then we had great ride leaders on every step of the way, and wonderful company in that big private room.

madmike2 and James Burleigh: you both done real good!

What I really appreciate is that those roads are out there for us to enjoy any day, and we do enjoy them plenty. But assembling this big production made for something beyond just great riding.

ALSO: Amazing pictures, everyone!

Looks like a great time. Thanks for posting thie pics.

BTW, what are those green things on the trees?

We had an awesome day with friends and food ... great scenery.

The weather was as good as it gets for January....

I took some video for the first time... here it is

=We stopped to regroup and bathroom break just before the wall

VIDEO "LOOKY"

=At the wall..... awesome weather and views


LOOKY LOOKY

LOOKY LOOK

Kind of lame video.... enjoy......

B.

madmike2 said:

"... and I'm here with all of my girlfriends." ...and pretty good choice, don't you think!?!?

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Certainly for you Mike, but for them...? :blink: :lol:

Great seeing all these happy faces and pretty motorbikes gathered to celebrate the start of the 2009. Would love to have been there. Thanks for all the piccies.

Agreed. It was a terrific day, weatherwise and otherwise. We were all pretty bundled up when we met in the morning, but after our brunch stop most of us shed a few layers. Incredible clear sunny day, and as noted, the Faralones (thanks for spelling it right, Walt, or I wouldn't have) were out there in plain sight for the first time I'd ever seen (to be honest, I don't know if I had ever noticed even if they were visible before, plus the height from our vantage point helped). But that's one of the joys of these rides, "discovering" roads and routes and sights right in your own back yard--and yesterday's route had some great ones!

All great pictures on this thread, so I'm posting just a few that seem to fill in a couple of nooks that others haven't filled yet. I've passed by Benecia hundreds of times, always on I-80, and it didn't impress. Yesterday was the first time I ever saw the little city itself, and it had a lot of charm.



Those Faralones, right above the right, or north, tower of the Golden Gate Bridge in this shot, 27 miles out.



A couple more long shots of San Francisco from our overlook. The first one shows the "Bay Bridge," officially the "San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge," which is two separate bridges, meeting at Yerba Buena Island in the middle of the Bay, where traffic passes through a tunnel of maybe a quarter of a mile. The new bridge, on the Oakland side, is still under construction and will replace the one that partially collapsed on the first day of the '89 World Series. I'm sure you all remember that video of the car trying to jump the gap in the bridge. Unsuccessfully.



This one shows a blimp that had just passed over the city.



Anyway, it was a great day, and great to ride with all of you. And meeting some of you for the first time, it reminds me again we're lucky to be in what must be one of the Forum's major strongholds. Good to see such strong participation and such a dynamic "membership" that is refreshed with new riders at almost every event. Happy new year!

I had a great time re-connecting with all my FJR buds whom I hadn't seen much of since NAFO. I'm glad we had such great weather. But most of all, thank you to the Sacto gang for coming down to our patch. It was fun showing you around.

JB

Looks like we missed an excellent day :-( ... but glad you all enjoyed it

Great pics guys.... some REALLY great shots !

Nice links Dave and Brian .... good work for a first timer Brian :clapping:

So glad the '03 year was represented (who's ?), we're a rarity nowadays.

MadMike,

What a wonderful expose of an idyllic motorcycle day. Gives me hope during this winter season. Thanks for sharing!

rogdeb said:

So glad the '03 year was represented (who's ?), we're a rarity nowadays.

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That was Mike from Fremont...feejerweejerman

03HiYoSilver said:

MadMike,What a wonderful expose of an idyllic motorcycle day. Gives me hope during this winter season. Thanks for sharing!

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It wasn't me, JB started it then Hycle and I PM'd back and forth. Mike (Hycle) knew of this restaurant so we rode down there last weekend and firmed up the plans with them and did a pre-ride of the route.This was more a group effort by the 3 of us rather than one man's plan....except for JB initiating the entire plan.

As is normal, its the wonderful people, the scenery and weather (On a clear day....you can see for ever and ever and ever...more) we have in NorCal that make each of these rides special, as they are.