Here is Version 2 of the ride report.
The previous one was a bit unbalanced in it's irreverence, so I removed it. Dougie and I talk a lot of **** on the comms when riding - 99% of which is unpublishable.
I had reached out to Doug on Wednesday about a day ride over the weekend, the response was - "going away for a 3 day ride, not sure where..."
Which got me thinking - how about taking a day off work on Friday, and going "not sure where.." it would be a fitting replacement for the usual Winter romp in the CA winter, which had so far been washed out by the deluge we have received this winter.
We met in Winters, where I committed heresy by actually spending money in a Starbucks - instead of just pissing at Starbucks, as tradition calls.
Once we got on the move, we found the back-road way around Lake Berryessa. As is usual with Dougie rides, the traffic was terrible.. as you can see in the pictures..
We found a lunch spot near the shores of Lake Berryessa. The farthest north, and the remotest spot with picnic tables - that is accessible via pavement on these shores.
More back-roads followed, and dropped us onto Hopland Grade. It had been a late start, on top of back roads with no center line, and as you can see, the day was already getting long in the shadows, and we hadn't reached the coast yet.
From Boonville, we had a choice of taking the shorter way on 128 directly to the coast, or..... that meandering goat trail of a Mt. View Road to the coast, no points for guessing what we picked. By the time we reached the coast, it was already dusk, and very cold, we missed the sunset while switching into warmer liners.
I have never rode the coast in the failing light, the fading light was magical on the ocean, an unimaginable shade of purple, broken up by streaks of black as undulating as the waves. Soon it was dark, and it was pitch black, pierced only by the excellent LED headlights (Philips LED) on the Strom. I tried high-beams, for a moment, and turned them off as I didn't really need them, and as Dougie said, turn that **** off, it is setting everything ablaze!
We stayed in Fort Bragg Friday night, right next to the Harbor, and about 150+ feet above the water, just in case there is another party in Tonga.
We did, however, take a chance and walked down to the harbor for dinner. Silver's at the Wharf, it was a nice enough place, but nothing to rave about, the waiter extolled the virtues of the fall of the bone lamb, but it turned out to be cut off the bone with a saw lamb. This wasn't no lamb, it was an old goat.. I had to send it back. Ordered a burrito in it's place, as walking up to the restaurant, we had heard the music coming from the Kitchen...ordering Mexican was a safer bet.
It was great waking up with a view of the Harbor, and the sound of the fog horn. What a beautiful morning this would turn out to be, one of the days where the coast was as clear as glass.
Some ways north of Fort Bragg, the coast was clear to the horizon, not even a hint of any haze. The air was so clear, you could actually see the illusion of the undulations in the horizon where the skies met the ocean.
To be continued
The previous one was a bit unbalanced in it's irreverence, so I removed it. Dougie and I talk a lot of **** on the comms when riding - 99% of which is unpublishable.
I had reached out to Doug on Wednesday about a day ride over the weekend, the response was - "going away for a 3 day ride, not sure where..."
Which got me thinking - how about taking a day off work on Friday, and going "not sure where.." it would be a fitting replacement for the usual Winter romp in the CA winter, which had so far been washed out by the deluge we have received this winter.
We met in Winters, where I committed heresy by actually spending money in a Starbucks - instead of just pissing at Starbucks, as tradition calls.
Once we got on the move, we found the back-road way around Lake Berryessa. As is usual with Dougie rides, the traffic was terrible.. as you can see in the pictures..
We found a lunch spot near the shores of Lake Berryessa. The farthest north, and the remotest spot with picnic tables - that is accessible via pavement on these shores.
More back-roads followed, and dropped us onto Hopland Grade. It had been a late start, on top of back roads with no center line, and as you can see, the day was already getting long in the shadows, and we hadn't reached the coast yet.
From Boonville, we had a choice of taking the shorter way on 128 directly to the coast, or..... that meandering goat trail of a Mt. View Road to the coast, no points for guessing what we picked. By the time we reached the coast, it was already dusk, and very cold, we missed the sunset while switching into warmer liners.
I have never rode the coast in the failing light, the fading light was magical on the ocean, an unimaginable shade of purple, broken up by streaks of black as undulating as the waves. Soon it was dark, and it was pitch black, pierced only by the excellent LED headlights (Philips LED) on the Strom. I tried high-beams, for a moment, and turned them off as I didn't really need them, and as Dougie said, turn that **** off, it is setting everything ablaze!
We stayed in Fort Bragg Friday night, right next to the Harbor, and about 150+ feet above the water, just in case there is another party in Tonga.
We did, however, take a chance and walked down to the harbor for dinner. Silver's at the Wharf, it was a nice enough place, but nothing to rave about, the waiter extolled the virtues of the fall of the bone lamb, but it turned out to be cut off the bone with a saw lamb. This wasn't no lamb, it was an old goat.. I had to send it back. Ordered a burrito in it's place, as walking up to the restaurant, we had heard the music coming from the Kitchen...ordering Mexican was a safer bet.
It was great waking up with a view of the Harbor, and the sound of the fog horn. What a beautiful morning this would turn out to be, one of the days where the coast was as clear as glass.
Some ways north of Fort Bragg, the coast was clear to the horizon, not even a hint of any haze. The air was so clear, you could actually see the illusion of the undulations in the horizon where the skies met the ocean.
To be continued
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