Mt. Hamilton Ride Report

[TomInPA]

The Plan: Ride from Sacramento to tour Mt. Hamilton and see who would join in along the way.

Participants: TomInCA, Puppychow, Madminke2, James Burleigh, Brodie, RussPerry, JohnF

Results: A great day of riding, new friends and some new favorite roads.

We met at Laguna Road at the crack of dawn, or 9:00 by my watch. When I arrived, Mike and Brodie were already discussing which movie they wanted to rent for the night. It was my first time meeting Brodie, and one of his first rides since a serious collision with an SUV last year along the Delta. At his request, we added a stop at the scene of the accident, Walker Landing to celebrate his victorious comeback.

Mike is not too sure about having a second generation AE with a colorful trunk along. Puppychow showed up and grabbed his uh, banana.

I really didn't too too will with the photography stuff. Of all things, I did not document the early rising of James Burleigh (Hans) who was also ready to ride out from Sacramento. Hans was with us through Antioch to Morgan Territory Road, before he had to split off and take care of real life. I was in the lead going down the Delta along the Sacreamento River, and figured I'd take a shot of the awesome Clearwater lights on the front of Brodie's FJR...

But, uh, no one was there

Oops, forgot to stop at Walker Landing Road. So I double back and found I had missed the celebration. At least I got a picture of Hans.

We rode out through Isleton and Rio Vista to our second meeting spot in Antioch, where we met JohnF, who naturally had is back turned here.

Out of Anioch we headed down to Marsh Road which has some very nice sweeping turns approaching the foot of Mount Diablo, and said goodbye to Hans at Morgan Territory Road where we turned south again. I hope some of the other guys have some pictures of Morgan Territory. I was busy dodging bicycles and cars on the one-lane road, and didn't have my camera in a spot that was convenient. Just one quick picture at the exit where we picked up russperry.

Here are Russ and Brodie heading out of Livermore after a quick lunch at a Subway. Brodie used to commute on Calavaras and Sierra Roads and so he was nominated ride leader for this segment. Knowing the road counts when it is one-lane with tight twisties, and we rode it at just under warp speed.

We stopped at a summit overlooking San Jose.

Everyone has their own way of appreciating a view.

Or as mike would say...You didn't just say that, did you?

 

[TomInPA]

After a quick trip through the outskirts of San Jose, we launched up the flanks of Mt. Hamilton with John in the lead. Wow! Let's just say the pace did not lend itself to taking pictures. :yahoo:

Sam and Russ. Russ led the descending trip to the Junction. Nice pace considering he is usually on a FZ1 up here.

I'm still looking forward to the other ride reports. I really wasn't on the camera thing, and didn't even take a picture of Lick Observatory. :dntknw:

I sure enjoyed this ride and meeting some new friends. These are some roads to be done again soon.

 

[puppychow]

It was a great time indeed Tom. Thanks for leading part of the way and on the ride back home. Hope to see you all on many future rides!

Here below is the link where I archived my ride report on my blog.

Ride to Lick Observatory, Mt. Hamilton.

or continue reading it here...

Enjoy! I certainly enjoyed that day very much!

Tom had planned a great day of riding for us this Saturday. I realize the word epic is oft used these days, for adventures not quite deserving, believe me though when I say this one truly was an epic day of experiences, it had all the ingredients - Diversity of moto roads, from smooth fast snaking twisties, to goaty one lane trails, to steep switchbacks while dodging sink holes from hell, scenic backdrops, and most of all great company and excellent riders to show me how it is done.

We met in Elk Grove for a planned start at 9AM. I rode up at 8:40AM and was surprised to see Hans already there waiting for us. I did a double take and had to check the clock on the bike, just to make sure that it somehow wasn't 11AM.

Also there waiting was Brodie, I had not met him before, but had heard of him on the forums, Mr Titanium himself! Good to see him ripping it up on his FJR again, these two gentlemen had come up to Elk Grove from the East and South Bay to join us.

After Mike and Tom joined us, we were on our way, we jogged along I-5 till Lodi, and then headed for the Delta through the Vineyards in Lodi.

Soon we found our way to the Sacramento River Delta. It was a cloudy, moody morning by the river. I liked the tall radio/cell towers straddling the river, almost like goal posts as we rode in between them.

We made a stop at Walker Landing Rd. This road has a bit of a history for Brodie and he wanted to revisit and retrospect.

The light wasn't improving as we passed by Rio Vista. I think this is the third time I am photographing the Rio Vista Bridge, from a third angle. Not sure if you can see it, but the Black Lab on the boat made me think of my friend Tim from the Central Coast.

Riding towards Antioch, we could see Mt. Diablo looming in the distance.

I am sure Hans who lives very close to Mt. Diablo was seeing this as well, he was going to separate from the group near there to go back home and was probably singing:

"We can drive it home, with one tail light"

Riding over the Antioch Bridge, I took a fly-by of the Antioch Power Station (I assume).

We stopped in Antioch to pick up another rider, John was waiting in ambush as we passed by this gas station, so we stopped for a bit to chit chat. Here you can see two of my favorite Norcal peeps chatting.

From Antioch, we caught Deer Valley Road, I had never been on this road before, great pavement and riding through some scenic East Bay countryside and cow pastures.

There is Mt Diablo again...

and some California happy cows...

and some nice turns too...

We found Marsh Creek Road from here, leading us towards Mt. Diablo..

There were others out enjoying this day as well, albeit it was overcast, it was still a great day to be outside!

Hans split off for home and the rest of the group caught Morgan Territory Road from here, this was the only road in the bay area portion of the ride, that I had ridden on previously. A goaty trail which skirts Mt. Diablo into Livermore.

Here is Mike bringing up the rear..

The last time I was here, I had wanted a better picture of this tree by a pond as I flew-by. This is my second attempt and I am still not satisfied. Might actually have to stop for the third attempt, with hopefully blue skies.

Right after we exited Morgan Territory Road, Russ sniped us as we rode through, I glanced in my rear view and saw two FJR's instead of just Mike.

Once we navigated through Livermore, we found Calaveras Road to Felter/Sierra Road. These were mostly one lane roads, however, this was a group of experienced riders and we were moving through here briskly! No stops till we reached a vista point on Sierra Road overlooking Silicon Valley.

We had just ridden up from over there..

Silicon Valley, home of some of the giants and entrepreneurs who kick-started the multi-billion dollar high tech industry, and the reason I have the job that I do now. In my opinion there isn't a finer or greater example of American entrepreneurship.

Mike and Brodie relaxing, enjoying!

This was a good place to stop for a break and B.S.

I "borrowed" Russ' bike for some photography fun!

Yes, more happy cows were in attendance as well.

Followed by more fun riding with such a scenic backdrop as we dropped down to the Silicon Valley.

If you haven't ridden the road to Mt. Hamilton from San Jose, it should be on your bucket list. This road is an adventure in itself, tight corners with no guard rails, steep switchbacks, sink holes in the middle of the road, moronic cagers who can't stay in their own lanes, and don't know that stopping mid turn in a steep banked switchback is beyond stupid!

Anyway, no pictures on this section for the above mentioned reasons, till we reached our headline destination at Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton.

This time I "borrowed" Brodie's bike..

Tom documenting the group's Tomfoolery!

Sorry I take so long to manually adjust the camera settings Tom!

Panoramic views from up here, although, why is it that every time I ride to the Bay Area - it is always muggy and overcast?

Coming back down Mt. Hamilton on its East side was some very spirited fun. We did pass a LEO, but he was not in predatory mode, besides I think in that section we weren't railing anyway.

Also, the sun was starting to peek out, this is such a gorgeous countryside in Spring time! I enjoyed riding through here very much!

We stopped at "The Junction" a dive place that Russ recommended at the junction of Del Puerte Canyon Road and Mine Road. A simple and small eatery, but we had already eaten in Livermore, still it was a good break nevertheless.

Here are the cowboys on the ride all 6 of us posing by the sign...

Not sure what those are, but it looked like a field of Lollipops..

Waved goodbye to iRobot over there...

...and dug into Mines Road from here, another mostly one lane road and the pace was brisk once again. Don't have pictures of the one lane sections, I did manage to fire off a couple shots, but in the scope of things, they were not worthy of being posted..

Did however, find an old barn on Mines Rd. I liked this collage of white picket fences, a "new" home/ranch and an old barn patiently sitting on the hill watching, and it seems it has been watching for a while..

Mines Rd. led us back to Livermore, we separated from the Bay area riders here and upon Brodie's recommendation found Altamont Pass Rd to ride through Wind Turbine galore!

At first we saw one...the lone sentry, watching over who enters their domain..

...and then they came in droves...

...they had us surrounded, these three armed giants, waving wildly!

...they kept cows as pets to mow their lawn..

After escaping the clutches of the three armed freaks, the Three Amigo's sailed home through Palm trees and crazy Italian trees, already thinking of the next adventure!

Thank you for reading!

 

[Niehart]

Good ride report.

Also great to see Brodie saved that coat.

 

[madmike2]

Good ride report.

Also great to see Brodie saved that coat.

Not the same gear, Dave. They cut his Darien coat and pants. The new stuff is ordered.

 

[madmike2]

Okay...my turn!

0845 @ Elk Grove

It was great to see Brodie again and wonderful to have him back on an FJR.

Hans must've seen me get the camera out and ran inside to hide....not wanting to ruin his reputation of sleeping in.

Southbound on I-5 to Twin Cities Rd.

Crossing Snodgrass Slough

Along the Sacramento River on Hwy 160

Our "hero" Brodie at the scene of his head-on collision last year. He hit a pick-up coming the other way and landed on the shoulder of the road across the street and behind where he is standing.

He's saying, "The truck was coming from that direction...."

It's Spring...time to break up the fallow ground for planting

Isleton drawbridge

Tom leading us to the Antioch Bridge

More to come.

Photobucket Album

 

[rogdeb]

Guys ..... nice set of pics there Ya'll, glad you all had a good day.

 

[madmike2]

I got a picture of Hans before he went home to awaken "Fang".

L-R/F-R: TominCA, Brodie, JohnF, Hans (James Burleigh) & Sam (puppychow).

Farmland....5-6 miles from Concord?

Great riding!!!

Fun on Deer Valley Rd.

Five riders overlooking San Jose:

Brodie (Taking a poll: "Who's glad OM isn't here?"), Sam, John's head, Tom & Russ

Down Calaveras Rd. to Piedmont for a gas stop

Following Russ up Mt. Hamilton

:yahoo: Yee-Haw :yahoo:

Sam is right....this road MUST be on your bucket list!

 

[madmike2]

AT the Lick Observatory

Brodie, John, Tom & Russ

The others have posted pictures of the roadway below the observatory and the panoramic vista from this altitude.

Heading down the East side of the mountain on San Antonio Valley Rd.

Russ is leading but I couldn't keep up AND take pictures....and this is the LESS twisty part. Needless to say, both hands were plenty busy riding down most of this road.

Once on the valley floor it is a gentle road through rolling countryside

After "The Junction" (See Sam's photos) it becomes Mines Rd.

Yee-freakin'0haw comes to mind......

No need to repeat myself... :yahoo:

On our way home, after we split from Grodie, John & Russ, we stayed off the mian highways (580, 205 and I-5) until we had no choice.

Tesla Rd. in Livermore

Barn for Andrew.

You knew it was coming. All during this ride I was thinking how much Tim and Andrew enjoyed this type of inviting roadway and interesting scenery.

Andrew was in my thoughts all day. Tim passed in and out as we rode Mt. Hamilton Rd. and San Antonio Rd.

As much as I enjoy my new riding companions and friends, these two fine gentlemen (TwoWheelNut and OrangevaleFJR) are never far from my thoughts as I enjoy different rides.

Altamont Pass Rd. that parallels Hwy 580 between Livermore & Tracy

Home safe!

Thanks to all who attended this ride....you certainly helped make my Easter Weekend a good one.

Hans, it was good to see you and to share a brief time of riding.

Brodie, you are one of my "champions". Following your recovery and knowing you hs been a privilege. Thanks for leading us on some "new" roads.

John & Russ, putting faces and riding abilities to those who are new to our forum can be interesting. You two made it a distinct pleasure as you shared your local knowledge and set a terrific, fun pace through the countryside. I hope we will be enjoying your company again and again.

Tom & Sam, we seem to be the 3-musketeers on some adventures. It's always fun and I appreciate the new memories more than you can know.

All my uploaded photos are here.

 

[Brodie]

Tom

Thanks for a great day. I wasn't sure i would make this until the night before, I'm glad I did. I just couldn't resist joining a group of FJRs riding the roads in my own back yard.

This was my first group ride since my encounter with a 2000 Chevy Silverado early one morning last summer at Walker Landing road. I've had the replacement bike since last November and more than doubled the mileage on it, now pushing 20K. Unfortunately those are mostly commute miles, although I've made 2 trips to San Diego.

My alarm woke me up at 5:30 saturday morning and drove me into the shower to start my day. With KSU at 9 AM, I thought I had plenty of time to make it to Elk Grove. Things kept dragging out and I didn't leave my garage until 7. A quick look at my dash showed me the bike was on reserve. Typically I allow 2 hours to get to my daughter's apartment in Sacramento so I was running late, the gas stop didn't help. Fast forward - a quick trip and I was at our gathering point in Elk Grove around 20 minutes early, traffic was flowing freely.

Believe or not, JB beat us all there at that ungodly hour of the morning. It was fun seeing who would be showing up. After our good mornings and such we departed at the approved KSU time of 9:00 sharp(ish) - about 9:18. The tone for the day was Ride, stop a bit to relax, then Ride some more. There were a number of roads to cover and still get back home in a decent time.

Gentlemen, I appreciated the unscheduled stop so early in the trip where my previous bike met such an early demise. Walker Landing road is so out in the middle of nowhere, I'm surprised how quickly the emergency services kicked in following the accident last summer. I can't say I very much enjoyed my first helicopter ride, this ride turned out much better.

We had a nice ride along the delta - getting used to our various riding styles, a couple of us were new to the group. It was a nice relaxed easy going pace. John F joined us in Antioch, JB left us shortly afterwards when we turned off Marsh road onto Morgan Territory road. That road is a neat little connector road skirting on the back side of Mount Diablo. It follows the twists and turns of a creek in the middle of it which makes it quite goaty. I had led a ride northbound on this road a couple of years back and they paved it since. The surface was still quite rough, but every bump we felt this time was a pot hole last time. I love these kind of roads.

We picked up Russ in Livermore. I wasn't sure where, since there wasn't a fixed meeting point set up. When we got into town I asked Tom if/where we were going to stop for lunch. He said he didn't know and that he was just following his GPS and playing it by ear. I offered to be guide and took us to the far side of town to a small shopping center with a gas station and a Subway.

After lunch the lead fell into my hands. I took the group south out of town over route 84 - pigeon pass. A few years back it had a few twists in it as it snaked through the hills, however it is a main commute road and has since been straightened out with a multi lane road bed up and over the hill. I kept a strict 55 MPH as I know this is a prime state revenue generating stretch and I wasn't going to have any part of it. It must have been doughnut time, no sign of the CHP.

This quick jaunt over the pass lead onto one of my favorite quickie motorcycle roads, Calaveras Road. A few years back this was my main commute road from my home Milpitas to where I work in Livermore. I worked swing shift at the time and had the choice of either playing pinball in the motorcycle lane on Interstate 680 in Fremont, or having a grand time - daily - on this sweet little patch of chipseal. Back then I rode a 500cc Honda Ascot thumper, and a Yamaha Venture Royale. My best time, northbound, is 22 minutes from my driveway to the freeway at the other end where we picked it up yesterday. That 22 minutes was on my touring bike believe it or not. As torquey, light, and nimble as that little Ascot was, that Venture loved to lean and it's mighty V4 pushed it through quicker.

Yesterday we rode the route southbound, not my regular direction as during the week it is a northbound road when 680 gets jammed. Being saturday we had other people to share the road with. The bicycles were out in force, as with other drivers. Calaveras road is a single lane road that follows the ins and outs of the hillside as it skirts along one of SanFrancisco water districts damed reservoirs. No switch backs as it doesn't climb very high, but back in the '30s when the road was built they spared all expenses with the roadbed. I don't think there is a straight section on this road at all. Just after it's high point north of the dam is where the tightest areas are. At least once a year some hapless big rig driver gets his 18 wheeler stuck in there. More than once I was late for work having had to backtrack my way out and take the freeway parking lot through Fremont.

It was interesting leading a six pack of FJRs on this road. We kept a nice grouping, I would take us through a series of turns and then back off on some relaxing sections to count the headlights. We had a group of seasoned riders, and it was a blast. There was talk back at the Subway of cutting the southern part of this run short and come out in Milpitas, I'm glad we didn't as the stop overlooking San Jose was priceless. It may not have been a sunny day but the view was fantastic. We took it easy coming off the hill, it was steep, full of turns, and the view was quite distracting. We made another gas stop at the bottom for those of us that hadn't gassed up yet since Elk Grove.

After taking us to the entrance of the road to Mount Hamilton I passed the baton to John and thoroughly enjoyed chasing him up the hill. We hit a few sink holes along the way, but he showed me where most of them were.

We made a mistake at the top. Sam and Mike took a few moments longer to get there and we didn't notice we were 4 when we made the right turn to the observatory. Oops - sorry guys. Hopefully they didn't get too far when it dawned on them we weren't in front any more. Once gathered we had a nice respite. I had a bit of a scare, there was a bunch of antifreeze on the ground under my bike where I parked. I had put my helmet on and rode down to chase our friends only to meet them at the base of the driveway. We spotted the spill after I came back up and parked in the same spot. After much looking under the bike, it was dry - the overflow tank was fine, I moved it to see if it would baptize a new section of parking lot. Not a problem, it wasn't me.

The ride down the back side of Hamilton was fun. It's steep, with a lot of switch backs. It can get you in trouble if you don't pay attention. Our group handled it just fine. Nobody was out to prove anything, and our stop over at the junction had us in great spirits. It was getting late in the afternoon, Russ and I had already let the group know we would be parting company at Tesla road in Livermore. I mentioned Old Altamont Pass road as an alternative to Vasco road for the return trip to points up north, I'm glad you fellows enjoyed it. Along the way we picked up a BMW rider in our group. I was leading when we came up on him. It was fun following him as he picked up his pace for a few miles. He waved us on with about 20 miles to go. When Russ and I parted from the group at Tesla I counted 2 sets of headlights in my mirrors. As I entered the left turn lane at Concannon road both sets came whizzing by with a wave. By golly I think Mr. BMW had a good time with us.

I got home around 5:15 to a house of hungry cats. My very best friend came home about 10 minutes later. Half hour later we were on our way to my mother-in-law's home for an early Easter Dinner.

Thank you Gentlemen for a great day of riding and good friendship.

Brodie

 

[TomInPA]

Thanks Brodie for the trip narrative. As one of the new pups, I really enjoyed meeting you and hope we get to ride again soon. Perfect ride and everyone took a turn leading their favorite sections. It's so much better when you have locals with expert knowledge of the roads. Calavaras and Mt. Hamilton were new for me, but I won't be a stranger to them for long. :yahoo:

 

[madmike2]

Thanks Brodie for the trip narrative. As one of the new pups, I really enjoyed meeting you and hope we get to ride again soon. Perfect ride and everyone took a turn leading their favorite sections. It's so much better when you have locals with expert knowledge of the roads. Calavaras and Mt. Hamilton were new for me, but I won't be a stranger to them for long. :yahoo:

Amen, Brother Tom! We simply must put this on the list for a repeat performance.

BUT...there's no way this ride would be comfortable with a huge number of bikes.

Maybe if it was divided into groups of 5 or 6, spaced by 1/2 hour.

 

[James Burleigh]

It was great seeing everyone yesterday morning and riding south on 160. After I got home I had lunch then rode up to Napa to pick up a part from BikeEffects for the radio I bought from him. So my new radio seems to be working perfectly now, so I look forward to trying out the new radio soon, Mike--maybe on a Hwy 160 loop for lunch with Fang. JB

 

[John F]

Great Reports, Glad you got my good side in the pics. :lol:

 

[puppychow]

Great Reports, Glad you got my good side in the pics. :lol:

There ya go!