2011 Kali Trip – Wheaton does Kalifornia -CONTINUED
Part3 – Bay Area Madness – Santa Clara to Bodega Bay via Alices and GG Bridge, Day 8, 21 May
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Dawn burned bright that Saturday morning…or I don't know, maybe it didn't. I don't know, I was sleeping. Got up about 6am PDT, looked out on the parking lot of bikes…
My bike, SacMike's, two black FJRs, Old Michael's car, beemerdons touching the rear of Lucy Liu, and Fairlaner's HondaLounger…plus two cars from the NorCal guys that were afraid of the rain forecast…
SacMike talking with George/escapeFJRtist, TomInCA talking to MadMike2 and just realizing that he forgot his
finger nail polish…Oh NO! (hands to the face)…
There was a group headed out at 7am heading for the Redwoods…or atleast the roads that lead to the Redwoods. Karl and I chose to ride with Tyler with KSU at 8am. Tyler, Barb and others met us in the motel parking lot beforehand. Thanks Barb for zipping me up…you seemed to have too much fun grabbing a handful when you were done.
This was going to be a great day! The mist was clearing, the temps were good, we had a whole gaggle of riders heading out. I believe we had George, Hudson, the ugly pieman(Niehart), Barb and her friend Kim in a car, Tyler on her Spyder and Erin (on a VFR I think), airboss and myself in a group heading out from Santa Clara. Tyler and Erin lead us out of town on the beautiful roads that lead up to Alice's Restaurant (where Tyler had arranged for a whole room to be reserved for this FJR breakfast-thanks Tyler!) with Erin eventually taking the lead. After some awesome roads that MUST be revisited some day, we stopped at an overlook.
First, it was clear and bright…
Then you looked a minute later and it was foggy…
Then it was sunny again…
Someone tell me what I'm looking at…
It was very windy at the overlook…and a cold damp wind cut through you if you weren't wearing gear, right barb?? Here, the pieman is talking to someone (probably Panman) about pie, Kim is asking barb if it's cold, Barb is saying, "yes, it's damn cold", and Karl is walking over to warm her up (dirty old man). Puppychow is in the background, oblivious to all the drama, taking great picture after great fecking picture. Puppychow had been out and about and evidently waited at the overlook for us.
Here's the group at the overlook, Hudson, Erin(Tyler's VFR bud), Panman hiding his face, Puppychow thinking about food, Barb's friend Kim sizing him up, barb thinking her nipples are about to fall off, George/EscapeFJRtist thinking about plugging and MEM, Karl wondering why barb left him, the ugly alcoholic pieman – once again thinking…does alcohol and pie work together? Does it matter?...and Tyler, wondering "does he even know how to take a d@mn picture?"
Well, after some more fun riding, we pull into the spaces in front of Alice's Restaurant.
Lots of bikes…
I met a BMW R75 owner and chatted for a second…he was waiting for one of his Beemer buddies. His other bike/commuter bike is an FJR…and oh yeah, there were some cool looking cars there as well…
…even some purty red ones…
But mainly, there were lots of people there…the people are who you are looking to meet up with. The other FJR groups were there and individual riders as they met up here.
…including two of my favorite FJR people…Rog and Deb, (Sun a little bright there Roger??
)
Then it was time to gather for breakfast…the breakfasts were outstanding and the friendly prompt service was great!! I can see why this is such a great place to get together…thanks Tyler!
Okay, breakfasts are good, but sharing it with your long distance FJR buddies is even better…(once again, sorry for the sucky photos…operator error)
Blurry Mike/Hycle with Mrs Hycle, Sam/Puppychow, Hudson, Brody and Brian/FJRonAMission (and who isn't)…
Richard/Fairlaner, Dave/Highlander, RogDeb, unknown FJR rider (help me out here), and ??? (it's not MM is it? It doesn't look like him)
RussPerry and the AlcoholicPieMan (Bloody Mary and Pie for breakfast????)
SacMike, Old Michael, unknown FJR rider (help me out here), Gary and his wife (gfran), Tyler and barb standing…
Tyler
I know I didn't get everybody, but I believe people were represented in the other's RRs. Sorry if I missed you, it wasn't intentional. Sorry if you were shown in these photos, my people photo skills suck. Hey, it is what it is…
After the great time at Alice's, people chatted and talked and finally geared up and headed their separate directions, some singly, some in groups. Karl and I hung with Tyler and her group, which included Erin as well. There were some fantastically great roads around there…however, some cars would not pull over, so we enjoyed the scenery…and wow there was great scenery in the mountains!
We stopped at Pescadero Beach and I took some pictures…great scenery there as well.
Some guy came back to the beach to retrieve his camera…my friend Old Michael. There are a few rascals on the FJR board who I could be best buds and hang out with, Old Michael is one of them. He makes me laugh dammit…and yet you see in his RRs not just humor, but a lot of perception and appreciation for the simple things. Thanks OM for your ride reports, and hanging with me for a bit on this Saturday. It was a great day!
OM and Karl
Tyler and Puppychow running towards each other just before the big embrace…
Next, Tyler and Erin herd us towards the GG Bridge. We get separated at Half Moon Bay, but karl makes a recovery and rejoins the Rolling Cluster…
Tyler takes us through the Presidio, and we stop near a great big beautiful building just south and west of the GG Bridge…beautiful area. I get my first peek at the Golden Gate Bridge…
Tyler, doing what she does…
San Francisco
Alcatraz with the Bay Bridge in the background…
The Golden Gate Bridge was definitely one of the highlights of the trip…being so beautiful..so huge...the structure exposed for all to see and understand...it was structurally designed by an alumnus of the University of Illinois, my Alma Mater.
Actually, being with all these FJR friends at one time and throughout the day was a highlight,
one of my favorite pictures of this trip...Karl looks like he is having a ball!!!
Brodie and OM…you knuckleheads! :lol:
