Occidental for Lunch Bunch

[SilveradoSlick]

Great ride! Big water, too much of it on the roads. Beautiful weather, except for TWN. Maps. Green. More good food than I could eat. Pictures. Thanks to Mike to organizing it. Thanks to PegScraper and Jacki for getting me through Santa Rosa via the secret route known only to a few. Thanks to everybody for sharing the ride.

 

[weekend rider]

MM2; you did it again put on a good ride, lots of of riders a fun route and good food . you are a natural when it comes to ride events again you proved you are the true leader of the pack.....

can't wait till the next weekend rider

 

[Coyote]

Thanks again Mike. It was a great ride and really nice weather. It's also my last ride before rebuilding my bike.

Uh, did I mention I crashed today (Sunday)? I'm trying to figure out what section to post my crash. I'm okay ... FJeer not too happy.

 

[twowheelnut]

Dang Coyote! Sorry to here of your whoopsie. Glad you're okay!

Anyhow, great to see you all. Great ride and great planning MM2! Rode 25 today for the first time... Now I know why it's named 'Airline Highway' - Woot!

Me bones and musckles be aching big time, so I'll post up tomorrow some piccies and narratives. Man, go away for 4 days and you guys go and make 8 pages of reading and postin' to catch up on!

Trudy and Jeff? Youse twose is aces in my book! Thanks!

 

[Bike Effects]

Dang Coyote! Sorry to here of your whoopsie. Glad you're okay!

Anyhow, great to see you all. Great ride and great planning MM2! Rode 25 today for the first time... Now I know why it's named 'Airline Highway' - Woot!

Me bones and musckles be aching big time, so I'll post up tomorrow some piccies and narratives. Man, go away for 4 days and you guys go and make 8 pages of reading and postin' to catch up on!

Trudy and Jeff? Youse twose is aces in my book! Thanks!

Thanks TWN, you are welcome here anytime.

 

[HIGHLANDER]

Hey pegscraper,Why isn't that picture in your profile? Too big? I can resize it and email it to you, just say the word. It's a beauty!

Pegs is a semi pro photo hog, but I'm sure he appreciates the offer

 

[twowheelnut]

I had a great time on the ride and here are some piccies and narratives:

Thursday got me outta town late cuz that skooterG fella got me all wound up about changing Barney... Had to address that issue first! Made it to Fresno an hour late, but Bob (toecutter) was there and not out on a call.

Bitchin' truck, Bob!

Talk about a C.U.N.T. Box! That valve on the lower right will flush the toilet... :lol:

I stayed in Oakhurst Thursday night in hopes of riding Hwy 49 north toward my Friday stop in Napa. Friday dawned cloudy, but dry until I got underway, then the sky opened. Hwy 49 was wet, foggy, snowy, sleety, and generally unrideble. So I cut over to 99 via 140. Though the forecast and morning TV weather report claimed 'showers' for the area, all I got to ride in was heavy rain - Yuck! Thanks to decent weather protection of the the Feej, Widders and my rain gear I remained nicely toasty dry.

I pulled into Napa just about 4:30 and found my way to Jeff & Trudy's B & B. You all know Jeff - he's of SportbikeEffects.com fame... Had a great time and some really good Italian food at a local resturant and then raided Jeff's shelves of a new Starcom system as my Softline **** the bed that morning. Jeff's wife Trudy had fresh coffee and breakfast in the morning to help start a great day of riding. Even the locals set the tone with a number of hot air ballons gracing the Napa Valley skys for our start!

By the way Jeff, never leave a pro farkler alone with your inventory... The FJR bags can hold quite a bit of goodies!

Here were are, first on the scene at the meeting point:

The almost complete group waiting on MM2's ride rules...

 

[twowheelnut]

Lunch time at the Union Hotel:

Here are the cop's various bikes mentioned on another post. Good thing Mike wasn't doing wheelies in the lot!

Stuffing faces v.1

Stuffing faces v.2

After lunch, most of us headed down to Bodega Bay and a quick run up to the Russian River - killer roads! But those slow, PIA cages who simply refused to pull over put a bit of a damper on our fun. :angry:

I split off from the group in Sabastopol and headed toward the coast and Hwy 1. Man o man! Wadda road! I was having such a grand time that I completely forgot to stop and take pictures! I made pretty quick work of Hwy 1 and wound up on 101, over the Golden Gate and into the part of 101 that is a festering zit on California's intrastate highway system. That part of 101 needs an enema, but quick! <_< Took the better part of an hour to get back onto the highway section...

Made my way to Morgan Hill for my overnight and a nice steak dinner. Weather for Sunday was to be perfect: Sunny and 65!

 

[twowheelnut]

Man, I guess I was whooped cuz I slept until 10! Way to piss away some good riding time...

Anyway, my plan was to head south and ride Hwy 25 from Hollister. Ooooh, now that was a hoot! No wonder they call it 'Airline Highway'! Fast, fast road in perfect condition. Lots of sweepers and moderate twisties. Great for ultra illegal speeding fun!

Here again, too much fun and no time for piccies, but here's the southern end of 25 looking north:

Looking east on 198:

Looking west on 198 - hmmm which way to go?

I'm thinking that this road might be fun. A quick check with Gretta shows it heading south and it looks mighty twisty!

 

[twowheelnut]

One last picture at this stop and off I go!

After a nice two lane section, Peach Tree turned into a goat path, but the quality of the pavement was very good for this kinda road:

Here's a shot of the San Andreas Faultline. No shaking, just visually cool!

An away shot of above. Peach Tree eventually turned into Indian Valley and some more great scenery:

 

[twowheelnut]

Eventually, Indian Valley Road led me into San Miguel. Very sad to see the mission in such sad repair. Indeed, the chapel is condemned. I'm guessing the earthquake up here a few years ago did most of this damage..

Cool set of side doors. Hand hammered hinges...

Now this is a barbecue spit! Tri tip anyone?

Old set of barn doors in front of a new building:

For those of you who have never seen adobe construction, here is a fence post corner...

 

[twowheelnut]

Beehive oven... Don't let the baker in your family bitch about the temp being off in their modern electric oven!

The Courtyard...

The original bell...

The inoperative courtyard fountain

And, the courtyard gate...

Well, that was a great 4 days! Thanks Mike, for setting it up and great riding with all of you. Sorry the Toes, Highs, Rogdebs and Orangies couldn't make it, maybe next time...

The best part of the trip is that I toasted these piece of **** Metzeler Z6's! I was slipping and sliding :shock: in the wet twisties and had to keep my speed down to keep from crashing. :angry: Pilots or Pirelli are next up. :good:

See y'all at WFO! :bye:

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

LOL...good thing you reserved those spots. They could've been taken!

Kewl write up! Man I wish I coulda...well, at least I was able to ride Sunday unlike some of our other brethren so I won't whine too much.

 

[rogdeb]

Hey Tim!!

Great pics, great write-up man

Deb & I took hwy 25 south from Hollister in Sept 2005.

Know what ya mean about it -- new black-top & fast

Only thing that bugged me was the absense of road signs (warning signs) on 2 of it's tight bends , maybe that's been corrected now?

 

[weekend rider]

Pegscraper; Yea came around that corner and saw those striped horses . Said wow wonder if more different critters were out there. Thought it might be one of those safe havens for animals that have trouble making it in the real world competing with the stronger animals(same kind).

 

[Ric in Sac]

What a great group of people and a fun ride. I have ridden through Occidental a number of times but have never stopped for a meal. Now I know better. Also, thanks too all who posted the great photos.

MM2 - great leadership as always. Separating into two groups was an excellent idea, even if the "rabbits" kept getting in our way of the "torties" and slowing us down . . .

Who made the lunch arrangements? Was that you MM2 as well? If not, Kudos to whomever took on that task.

I rode Hwy 25 a month ago on a trip to San Luis Obispo. I was a spectacular highway with terrific scenery this time of year -- nothing but rich green rolling hills. We should plan a future ride through this neck of the woods. This sounds like Highlander country. Maybe we should save this one for him when he gets back to 100%. Highlander is a trip to follow [try I mean] because he sure is sneaky fast and silky smooth . . .

 

[twowheelnut]

I rode Hwy 25 a month ago on a trip to San Luis Obispo. I was a spectacular highway with terrific scenery this time of year -- nothing but rich green rolling hills. We should plan a future ride through this neck of the woods.

Meeting of the Clans III?

@rogdeb... no signs yet, but it does make for some, um, sphincter tightening moments!

 

[madmike2]

The best part of the trip is that I toasted these piece of **** Metzeler Z6's!  I was slipping and sliding :shock: in the wet twisties and had to keep my speed down to keep from crashing.  :angry:   Pilots or Pirelli are next up.

Ooohhhhh, so you're the reason the "tortoises" were catching the "hares"!

I figure the P.R.'s are about done on mine, at the wear bars on the tires I put on for WFO-4, and I'm right on 8K. Of course, I don't ride all that hard and never pull wheelies or go W.F.O. in the lower gears . The Pirelli's were ordered last night. I figure I might as well try them all!

Nice pictures. Sounds like the ride South was much more fun, but less, er, uhm, challenging than the ride North. I'm sure glad you could make it. It was a great early Spring ride, and a pretty good turnout, even if 3 of the "Northie" stalwarts had semi-acceptable excuses :lol: . So, did you enjoy my little safety talk? At least we had not broken bikes and no skin, bone and blood to look at.

I, for one, had a great time and enjoyed the much needed therapy. It sounds like everyone else had the same experience. These riders are a joy to be with and share roads, etc., with. We're already working on April's adventure. :aacool: If it would just stop snowing!

 

[rogdeb]

If you will excuse the small thread hi-jack here

Got to ride yesterday

 


A full 28 miles !!

 


Not worth starting a new thread about that huh?


No twisties or nice scenery and many cagers.


More house business so decided to take Red Sylvie and get reaquainted with her after MANY weeks out of the saddle. It was good.


Deb caged it with all the tools I needed for the day.


No photo's :lol:


In pain on the ride home however as I injured my clutch hand during the day's work ---- "crap" !

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

If you will excuse the small thread hi-jack here
Got to ride yesterday

 


A full 28 miles !!

 


Not worth starting a new thread about that huh?


No twisties or nice scenery and many cagers.


More house business so decided to take Red Sylvie and get reaquainted with her after MANY weeks out of the saddle. It was good.


Deb caged it with all the tools I needed for the day.


No photo's :lol:


In pain on the ride home however as I injured my clutch hand during the day's work ---- "crap" !

A mere flesh wound?