Tally Whacker
Not another Mike
Well, because of reasons, my riding buddies and I had to move up our annual Monterey Madness ride by a month and a half. It's traditionally held on the first or second weekend of December but this year we did it October 23-25.
Yes, that's another break from tradition. Historically it had been a Saturday ride up to Monterey and Sunday back home again to SoCal. This time we rode up on Friday, faffed around the Santa Cruz and San Jose area on Saturday, then came home on Sunday as usual.
Since I'm in San Diego, two of the others in Orange County and two in Long Beach, we opted for an 8 AM meet-up on the north side of Los Angeles. Of course, this meant leaving the house at 5:30 for me, but that's the penalty I pay for getting to live in San Diego.
I have no pics of the gas station where we met, because why would I? So let's get right into the photos of the riding.
We started off with what may be my favorite motorcycle road anywhere.
It has some fresh pavement in spots.
That led us to this road, which isn't nearly as fun since it's been repaved.
(This is what it used to be like)
A little bit farther along, we hit this climb out of the south end of the Central Valley:
Which crested here:
Sorry, no pics of the descent on the other side. One of the guys on the ride might have video of the rollers....
Turning north, we entered an area that always feels as if it might be the back side of the moon, it's so severe:
Really, pictures don't do any justice to the area's otherworldly feel.
Soon enough, we arrived at the edge of the world. For our FNG, this was all new so we had to stop for the obligatory photo. His eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw the sign. This is right at the village (if it's even that) of Parkfield, the most seismically active spot on the continent.
A good place to have a bite. I strongly recommend their burgers.
After lunch, we headed up Parkfield Grade:
Yes, that is in fact a STREET triple, not a dirt road triple.
Even more unusual, here we have two ADV bikes well outside their element:
No, that isn't a Starbucks parking lot, and yet there they were.
The FNG enjoying getting his bike dirty:
Look at that. A BMW RT rocking it on a loose, dusty dirt road. Who would have ever thought?
The road turns to pavement at the top of the hill.
The view of the hamlet of Parkfield way down there:
The FNG shot some video:
[YOUTUBE]https://youtu.be/b2KGuoFNecE[/YOUTUBE]
But soon enough it was time to head downhill to the lovely town of Coalinga. Way down there somewhere:
That bike sure is pretty. Shame about the flip-up helmet on the rider, though.
Yes, that's another break from tradition. Historically it had been a Saturday ride up to Monterey and Sunday back home again to SoCal. This time we rode up on Friday, faffed around the Santa Cruz and San Jose area on Saturday, then came home on Sunday as usual.
Since I'm in San Diego, two of the others in Orange County and two in Long Beach, we opted for an 8 AM meet-up on the north side of Los Angeles. Of course, this meant leaving the house at 5:30 for me, but that's the penalty I pay for getting to live in San Diego.
I have no pics of the gas station where we met, because why would I? So let's get right into the photos of the riding.
We started off with what may be my favorite motorcycle road anywhere.
It has some fresh pavement in spots.
That led us to this road, which isn't nearly as fun since it's been repaved.
(This is what it used to be like)
A little bit farther along, we hit this climb out of the south end of the Central Valley:
Which crested here:
Sorry, no pics of the descent on the other side. One of the guys on the ride might have video of the rollers....
Turning north, we entered an area that always feels as if it might be the back side of the moon, it's so severe:
Really, pictures don't do any justice to the area's otherworldly feel.
Soon enough, we arrived at the edge of the world. For our FNG, this was all new so we had to stop for the obligatory photo. His eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw the sign. This is right at the village (if it's even that) of Parkfield, the most seismically active spot on the continent.
A good place to have a bite. I strongly recommend their burgers.
After lunch, we headed up Parkfield Grade:
Yes, that is in fact a STREET triple, not a dirt road triple.
Even more unusual, here we have two ADV bikes well outside their element:
No, that isn't a Starbucks parking lot, and yet there they were.
The FNG enjoying getting his bike dirty:
Look at that. A BMW RT rocking it on a loose, dusty dirt road. Who would have ever thought?
The road turns to pavement at the top of the hill.
The view of the hamlet of Parkfield way down there:
The FNG shot some video:
[YOUTUBE]https://youtu.be/b2KGuoFNecE[/YOUTUBE]
But soon enough it was time to head downhill to the lovely town of Coalinga. Way down there somewhere:
That bike sure is pretty. Shame about the flip-up helmet on the rider, though.