This region is also best known for James Dean who died near Cholame in a car wreck as he was driving his Porche Spyder up to Laguna Seca to race it. Unfortunately he never made it and died tragically. A memorial now stands around a tree here along Hwy 46.
Andy & Breck read the memorial
A jaunt up Cholame Valley Rd took us to the Earthquake Capital of the World: Parkfield, this tiny ranching town literally sits atop the San Andreas Fault.
Riders coming into Parkfield
The bridge that leads across a wash to the town is actually bent at one end because that side of the bridge (which you can see in the center of the photo) is moving 1 centimeter per year in relation to the other end of the bridge as the plates of the earth slide past each other.
Earthquake Capital of the World, Parkfield, California
The bikes
Alex
There's a great restaurant here that is a favorite among bikers in the know. Equivilent to the Rock Store, Alice's, 4-Corners, or Newcombs Ranch- you can dine under a ceiling of branding irons, and a wall covered in one dollar bills. The Parkfield Rodeo takes place here, and according to our locals, was a REAL rodeo mostly comprised of local ranch hands. The rodeo at Parkfield dates back over 100 years and has been taking place even from the days when farmers all parked their Ford Model T's in a giant circle and the rodeo was just held in the middle of all the Model T's.
Let's eat!!
I have this thing for Hot Ham & Cheese sandwiches
Heading back to civilization on Vineyard Dr.
This is pretty open country and distances are rather vast. I had warned the group that we'd ride 160 miles without seeing a gas station and Alex made it 157 on the SV650 before running out of gas. Since the tour guides carry siphon hoses, we quickly transferred some fuel and were back up and running again. Highly recommended, and a mere 3 bucks at your local auto parts store. Andy and Malie ran out of gas just as we pulled into our gas station at San Miguel. See, planned that one perfectly. The trip computer on the 1150GS showed 0 miles of fuel left. Now we know that it's dead accurate at least. If we do have rider with a shorter range, we sometimes also carry MSR Fuel Cannisters of gasoline.
One of the things that San Luis Obsipo County is known for is these short 10-15 mile long roads through low canyons. There are quite a few of these roads and we ran a series of them, best described as swoopy, the local riders in the Central Coast region of California have quite a playground around them. What Tim & I enjoy with these rides, is quite often showing local riders their own local rides, which is a comment I get that seems to be re-occuring. I think that's a complement.
San Marcos Rd
Taking in Hidden Valley along Adelaida Rd
But Peachy Canyon is one of my all time favorites
Maybe for Alex too
See that smile? Just that good. Alex, who remember is local to this area, mentioned to me that he'd never ridden any of these roads. What a paradise!!
Joseph and Dianne, having flown in from Texas for this ride, where having a great ride too!
And of course, Tim doin' the sweepin' duties!
Now that was fun! Okay, I'm ready for the hot tub!
