Last weekend I was scheduled to attend my riding group's Wildflower Ride to The Hacienda at Fort Hunter Leggett. While I did make part of the ride, I had an unexpected and delightful detour along the way.
Some friends, Dorothy, Geoff, and Brent, had bikes exhibited at The Quail Gathering in Carmel, an annual event showcasing motorcycles from the past, present and future... Dorothy told me about a group ride on Friday morning with all the entry bikes and I asked if I could tag along for a bit before meeting up with my group later that afternoon. I woke up at 4:30am (yes... really!!) and hit the road at 6am so I could get down there in time to join the ride.
Brent, Dorothy, and Geoff with a stunning Norton they had restored and would be exhibiting at the show...
Brent and his steed for the morning's adventure...
I pulled up, took off my gear, and almost immediately, Craig Vetter (www.craigvetter.com) came up to me, introduced himself, and told me that he needed a Spyder to show at The Quail on Saturday in the Motorcycles of the Future exhibit and would I be willing to bring mine.
After I picked myself up off the ground and kept looking around to make sure he was talking to me, I kinda stammered and said, um, I, well, there's this group ride, and, ah, uh, let's see, hmmmm...
HELL YES!!!
So he directed me to someone to get signed up and the deal was done for the next day. In the meantime, the group ride started off down Carmel Valley Rd. and I followed behind watching these glorious machines in what I call "The Dance"... back and forth along the twists and turns... no time to get the big camera out as the pace was brisk and I didn't want to hold anyone up...
Rest stop in the middle of Carmel Valley Rd...
River Rd...
Break at Robert Talbott's Sleepy Hollow Vineyards...
It was nice and cool inside the warehouse... another time, I might pop one of those corks and put a straw in it!
Brent's bike was having some plumbing issues...
Getting ready to roll again... there were at least 100 bikes in attendance...
Dorothy and her Triumph...
River Rd where you could see the line of bikes stretched all the way through this sweeper...
Did I mention we had CHP along for the ride and helping to block intersections to get the group through? One of the few times the sight of these folks behind me didn't make me nervous... LOL They did an awesome job and I think were having as much fun as everyone else...
Some friends, Dorothy, Geoff, and Brent, had bikes exhibited at The Quail Gathering in Carmel, an annual event showcasing motorcycles from the past, present and future... Dorothy told me about a group ride on Friday morning with all the entry bikes and I asked if I could tag along for a bit before meeting up with my group later that afternoon. I woke up at 4:30am (yes... really!!) and hit the road at 6am so I could get down there in time to join the ride.
Brent, Dorothy, and Geoff with a stunning Norton they had restored and would be exhibiting at the show...
Brent and his steed for the morning's adventure...
I pulled up, took off my gear, and almost immediately, Craig Vetter (www.craigvetter.com) came up to me, introduced himself, and told me that he needed a Spyder to show at The Quail on Saturday in the Motorcycles of the Future exhibit and would I be willing to bring mine.
After I picked myself up off the ground and kept looking around to make sure he was talking to me, I kinda stammered and said, um, I, well, there's this group ride, and, ah, uh, let's see, hmmmm...
HELL YES!!!
So he directed me to someone to get signed up and the deal was done for the next day. In the meantime, the group ride started off down Carmel Valley Rd. and I followed behind watching these glorious machines in what I call "The Dance"... back and forth along the twists and turns... no time to get the big camera out as the pace was brisk and I didn't want to hold anyone up...
Rest stop in the middle of Carmel Valley Rd...
River Rd...
Break at Robert Talbott's Sleepy Hollow Vineyards...
It was nice and cool inside the warehouse... another time, I might pop one of those corks and put a straw in it!
Brent's bike was having some plumbing issues...
Getting ready to roll again... there were at least 100 bikes in attendance...
Dorothy and her Triumph...
River Rd where you could see the line of bikes stretched all the way through this sweeper...
Did I mention we had CHP along for the ride and helping to block intersections to get the group through? One of the few times the sight of these folks behind me didn't make me nervous... LOL They did an awesome job and I think were having as much fun as everyone else...