Back roads to Livermore

[Loki]

First of all, I want to thank everyone who rode today. I had a lot of fun. And, it was nice meeting all of you. Ken, thanks for the lunch. It hit the spot.

I started my leg of the journey from Clovis. I met with Larry at the Riverpark mall Starbucks around 0815. We left Starbucks and rode to Coursegold on highway 41. We arrived in Coursegold at the intersection of 41/Rd415 where we met Matt and Steve. We all took a vote and had Matt take the lead since he lives in the area. Matt set a nice, comfortable pace. Rd 415 was fun. Ben Hur was another story. There were potholes, gravel and sand. About halfway up Ben Hur, we stopped for photo ops.

We continued our journey up Ben Hur dodging potholes. Oh, Steve. Don't forget your backpack. We arrived at Mariposa. We stopped again for another photo op of a stream. Steve decided to soak his dad's t-shirt with water from the stream to help him stay cool. Yeah Steve we know. You and Matt were having a wet t-shirt contest. There was one thing Larry did notice. Matt's shirt did not soak up water as easily as Steve's shirt. Larry also made the comment, one of the shirts had been laundered.

We then traveled west on 140. What a nice road. Well maintained and sweeping turns. We stopped at a gas station where we met some people riding BMW motorcycles. They were all going to Sonora for a BMW event. One couple rode from Monterey on a 1200GS.

We left the gas station and took Hornitos rd. This is a fun road. A lot of turns and changes in elevation. It was like riding a roller coaster.

Under Larry's leadership, we ended up in Merced. Now, we decided to take 99 to Turlock. From Turlock, we rode to Patterson where we met Ken. He was waiting for us at a Subway sandwich shop. There we decided to have lunch. Since we were in Ken's territory, he paid for our lunch. I hope to return the favor someday. After lunch, Steve decided he would leave the group to go to Stockton. After saying our good byes, Larry, Matt, Ken and I continued our journey on 130.

We stopped at the Junction store. Took a few photos and compared digital cameras. From there, Larry continued the ride to Livermore. He had an agenda. He had to go the Aprilia dealership to return a turn signal light. It was the wrong part. The rest of us decided to return home.

It was a great day for a ride. Weather was nice.

Here are some of my photos from the ride.