Sunday Nov 5th Ride

****LONG POST WARNING**** Go to bathroom now and get at least 2 brews for this couch-cushion journey!

Sunday ride. Round 3. The players for todays event: Vick on the FZ6, Dan on the 99 VFR, and Reg on the 98 with Justen as co-pilot.... Here's a partial group photo...





And here's one of Vick so he doesn't feel left out...




Today's journey will take you boys and girls through Atascadero, Creston, Pozo, Santa Margarita, Cayucos, and Templeton and all over in-between. We started out at my place in Atascadero around 10:30. From Atascadero we headed east on Hwy 41. Those of you familiar with the area know Hwy 41 is a nice cruising hwy and you'll see lots of bikers. As you head east leaving Atascadero you go through a nice series of turns climbing up and over small mts or big hills that border town. From there the road winds it's way east. At Hwy 229, we turned and headed through Creston. Hwy 229 is very well known to motorcyclists around here. It's about a 10 mile link between Hwy 41 and Hwy 58. Take a look on maps.google.com at Creston, CA and you can follow our route. The road was repaved not too long ago and one 6 mile stretch of it has over 60 (or maybe it was 70) curves by my count. At Hwy 58 we turned right (west) for the section of road that I think the locals call 13 turns which crosses back over the hills or small mts. Then we took a left on Parkhill Road headed generally south... This pic is Justen and I, followed by SLOav8r (Dan).



We got several photos in this stretch of road. Just before we started down Parkhill we saw a wrecker and ambulance, etc. We were informed by passers-by that there was a bike down. After hearing that news we were kind of putting around anyway so it allowed us to get lots of pics. Here's a couple more...





I like to call the above photo 'Americana'. I saw the windmill with the antique tractor sitting beside it and had to get a new and old contrasting photo.

Below is Dan coming up behind Justen and I. I think Vic had already gotten by before I could get the camera out...




(and yes, that's my finger above. I didn't have time to crop these before processing so they are a little raw.) In the next photo, I was trying to get the bikes and the scenery for you guys. I was telling Dan that the pics just don't do the rides justice. I need some type of video camera or something so I can take you all on a ride. Or you can just fly out and go riding with me.



Hey, can you guess which bike is mine? hehe. This photo was taken just outside Pozo very near one of the entrances to the ORV area. I hear there are 30+ miles of single track in there so I'm in the market for a dirtbike, too.

Next we'll stop in Pozo for smoke fiend aka Vic to take his breathing treatment. He was Jonesin for a cig like a junkie!


That saloon you can see in the background has been there since the 1800s according to the historical marker sign that you can kind of see in front of the bikes. It's a pretty popular hangout for the Harley crowd on weekends, but you'll also see ORVs, roadbikes, and everything in-between. That have outdoor concerts there failry often, too. It's supposed to be pretty cool. The food is common bar fare and decent enough. We were just getting started, though, so decided on eating on the beach.

From Pozo we headed back towards Santa Margarita on Pozo Rd (with a short detour to glance at Santa Margarita lake). This stretch of road is pretty fun and scenic. It used to be pretty brutal because of buckles in the asphalt but apparently they have flattened them significantly. It's still not choice riding because of frequent asphalt gravel but there are some nice wide curves thrown into the mix that make up for it.

In Santa Margarita, we took a short break. Yep you guessed it. Smoke fiend!



I choked down a quick cup of coffee and Vick grabbed a few snacks to satisfy his 'mouse-like' metabolism. In the short time we were sitting there, we saw a Ducati, an Indian, a few CBRs, and some other bikes all cruising by. From Margarita, we headed to the 101 and headed north back towards Atascadero. We took the 41 exit and headed west toward Morrow Bay. This was probably the worst part of our journey due to traffic and no-pass zones. Apparently someone driving a car decided to park her car hanging off a cliff on the side of the road. No one appeared hurt. I didn't think she'd appreciate pictures. Also, about this time, we noticed the CHP spy plane cruising directly above at a slow rate of speed. Anyway, we stayed in our RV-led convoy for about 10-15 minutes before getting a broken center stripe. After a hearty Amen and quick twist of the wrist, the cage caravan was left in the rearview and Morro Bay was in the foreground. At Morro Bay we caught Hwy 1 north to Cayucos for some obligatory beach shots for you guys.




After several beach shots from most every angle, we headed on over to Cayucos for some lunch. Cayucos, for those no in the know, is a nice beach town that hasn't tottaly gone commercial. It still has the nice lazy beach town feel. You can get a parking spot on a Sunday afternoon without an ordeal, and you can get a table in a little restaurant with an ocean view with little to no wait.


How's that for parking spot conservation... I'm not sure of the name of where we ate. Perhaps Dan can enlighten us on that one. After a nice lunch and some conversation on the origins of the universe and current political issues (read motorcycles and girls) we headed back south on Hwy 1 for a mile or so to catch Old Creek Road which heads kind of north and east and by Whale Rock Resevoir where we stopped for another photo op.



In the above pic, you can see a 'V' made by the hills. The camera didn't capture it, but beyond that is the Pacific. Unfortunately, pictures just don't quite convey the whole view. Old Creek is a pretty decent road with nice scenery, lots of curves and elevation changes. The things to watch out for are oncoming traffic 'borrowing' your side of the road and tar snakes. On a hot day the tar snakes will bite you on this road! There are a cople double back curves on this road, and there is one curve that almost always has water on it and it's shady to boot. I've never seen an accident there, but it always occurs to me that would be a good place for one.

At the end of Old Creek Road you meet Hwy 46 which connects Hwy 1 to 101 at this particular place. Here are the guys coming up behind me after I crossed over onto Santa Rosa Creek Road which is 17 miles (give or take) of narrow, winding, bumpy, poorly maintained but still awesome road.


At this point, Vick took his leave of us and headed back east to Paso Robles where he makes his residence. Those of us who are more hardcore decided to venture on as there was a sign that said narrow winding road, etc. Well, we couldn't just be mocked like that by a common sign, no less! Santa Rosa Creek Road is everything I said above and more. It's proably better suited to a BMW like the ones Boorman and MacGregor took the 'Long Way Round' but a VFR can handle it, albeit slowly. The road is paved, but probably paved sometime around when Jesus was born would be my best guess. The scenery is worth it, though. It's curves, elevation changes, creeks, hills, curves, trees covering the road, curves...well, you get the picture.



That pic was taken at the top of the hill that we had just climbed on a nice winding road. From here, you can follow much of the course of the road down.

****I had to break the message here. I exceeded the 10000 character limit. Boy do I feel chatty...

 

Sunday Nov 5th Part 2

The next series of shots can be thought of as a time delay photo. I'll start with a short section of the road, then I'll track SLOav8r as he goes down the road.



The next shot is taken with me standing on the hill above Dan as he doubles back around and down the hill...





In the above pic, you can see Dan on the upper part of the road and then in the next pic, you'll see him waaaaay down there below the hill where I'm standing.



You can kind of get an idea of the road surface here in the pics, but it's much worse than it looks. I think Dan almost ended up singing sorprano after riding down that stretch of road. Alas, the end is near. For those of you with much fortitude and perseverence, I have just a few more pictures and words. As the day was waning and we were headed into the sun, we made an executive decision to make a 180 shortly after this big hill.




My zoom caused a blur in the above pic so you can't tell that on the right is a small creek. At other times of the year, the creek is pretty full and you can hear it nicely if you're not riding with me. We did note a strong sulfurous(sp?) odor about this time so either Lucifer belched or that creek went through some sulphur springs or something.
In the following shot, I return to the hill where so many of my pics were taken. I have done a similar angle before and I liked it so I thought today would be a good time to try it again. My wife likes this shot because she said you can see the road in the reflection on the bike.



After going back the way we came, we headed east on Hwy 46 towards Paso Robles. We turned south on Vineyard to skip going through town and went through the small town of Templeton, crossed Hwy 101 and turned right (south) on Templeton Road. Templeton road is a nice little road that I run, and ride motorcycle and bicycles on that connects Templeton to Hwy 41. At Hwy 41, we headed east back into Atascadero where we started. If you look at maps.google.com you can drag the map around to follow our course. If you look real close you may see me waving. Well, to those of you who made it this far, congratulations. I think this counts toward college literature credit if you want to run it by your prof. (good luck with that) Until next Sunday, I'm out....

 

Umm, I think it was 140 or so... It was around 90 miles when Vick bugged out and we went a little farther then turned around to race the sun home so you could have shortened it! We also had breaks for those with less rear fortitude.

 

Hey Dan, we need to do this ride again. If the weather is decent, or maybe even if it's not I may do at least part of it Sat or Sunday...