May 2004 Northern California Weekend Tour Pics

[pashnit]

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE - click for photostory


Spent the weekend riding the NorCal Motorcycle Paradise.

The accommodations were swell. A bit drafty. And the pool was great! j/k



We had Immanuel on the VFR

[pashnit]

Tim & Becky on the FJR - Tim is our other Tour Guide and did much of the sweeping with the slower riders. I think he wants to trade places next time.




and Duncan on the Harley.



And someone finally captured an actual picture of the elusive 'pashnit' - by god, he does actually exist. I thought he was just a made up person.



So quite an eclectic group and a real mix of bikes. There was one of everything. Liju spent the entire weekend on a stock R6 so who says you can't sport-tour on a sportbike?

I had the Hayabusa set up for travelin' with the new RKA Saddlebags which I'm really impressed with. Haven't had saddlebags since the days of my 'ole Yamaha Venture. And the sportbikecam.com mount which I shot like 4-5 hours of road video over the course of the weekend with my new fancy setup-

the thread is here on the setup !!

Interesting to note that I was able to lay my TourMaster tankbag right over the top of the SportBikeCam.com mount that had the extended post. It worked great, which solved the tankbag vs. camera mount problem.

Our first order of the day was Bolinas Ridge which is always an amazing road. Although on the Panoramic Highway, we got stuck behind the bus doing 15 mph (No lie!!) up the hill. Ever ridden a 200mph capable sportbike at 15mph through a super twisty road? Pure agony.

The views from the top both to the west and east are breathtaking though and many in the group hadn't been up there. Passed by Fairfax-Bolinas Road which has long been a favorite of mine.

Down the hill and northward on Highway 1. Northward along Tomales Bay and, noticed Seaview Road as it comes off of Hwy 1 and heads up the ridgeline. Recognized that even out of the video Greg Havercamp did of it.

[pashnit]

A stop along Highway 1 waiting for the rest of the group to catch up.



Northward along the coast, had to stop at the Stewarts Point store of course with its peculiar lean. Temps were perfect, and wind wasn't bad actually at all- only at the fort.



Lunch at Oceansong restaurant where we all got a chance to sit down and get to know each other a little better.



Getting geared up and ready for the ride north on Highway 1. You can never tire of riding along the ocean. What a dream!!!

[pashnit]

Also stopped at Fort Ross to check it out although we’ll probably skip this in future rides.





I never tire of the coast, and I think we Californians really take it for granted. Interesting to ride northward and see all the roads one after that are featured on the pashnit.com site I've ridden over the years. It's sort of a- yep, ridden that one, yep ridden that one too, oh and that one was especially fun!!! Couple I haven't like Ukiah-Comptche Road which I'll have to get to someday.

The Lost Coast right before Hwy 1 turns inland to Rockport and Leggett.

[pashnit]

When we hit the section of road that heads inland right before The Lost Coast, I was looking forward to riding this. The riders went into two groups, and A pace & B pace and the faster guys went on ahead with the busa leading. There are two up and overs, the first portion was pretty squirrley pavement. Nasty bumpy stuff. The eastern portion though is dreamy. I've often said this is one of the twistiest - tightest sections of road in the state, just absolute great fun, in the middle of nowhere, and cage drivers all day long were kind enough to pull over each time we encountered one. We also passed another group - Ravi and his gaggle of SV Riders headed back the other way after tooling around The Lost Coast and other great roads like Alderpoint Road.

Getting late as we hit Hwy 101 so we hightailed to Fortuna for the night for dinner at the Eel River Brewing Co which Ravi and his crew had just ate at that day for lunch.

I got up before the rest of the group at dawn to go riding, ran out to Ferndale to shoot some photography at sunrise.

[pashnit]

Amazing town, and the entrance to Mattole Road - The Lost Coast . Interesting to note in this picture what you can't quite read is the sign that says "Carry Chains" ing



Ryan relayed a story of riding this road on his SV650 in the middle of a snowstorm and I couldn't stop laughing over that one the night before over dinner.

Then ran out to the ocean on Centerville Road. It's only a couple miles long and really just a bumpy road along pastoral fields of green. Dead end though, have to come back the way you came.



Shot of Centerville Road as you near the ocean. Here you can go walk out on the beach.



Headed up to my old picture spot. Dramatically green of course. Interesting because everthing in NorCal was still a brilliant green where much of the Central Valley is all burnt to a crisp already.

[pashnit]

I visited this road years ago on my FJ1200 and took this self-portrait:



Found the same spot as my picture from years past, but the ocean continues to eat away at the coastline and the road isn't even there anymore more. This is what it looks like now.



There's also some sort of abandoned government installation there, and from the ridgeline, the view alone was worth it to come out here. Simply amazing, barely out of view to the right is the ocean.

[pashnit]

Ran into some riders from Ontario, Canada a week into a 3 week long circuitous road trip around the US. The guy in the middle had just crashed bad the day before on Hwy 116 near Guernville, as you can see from his bike. Oddly enough they knew who I was. d ing

Here's Mike and Tom, myself and Tim. Tim owns 150 acres up in the Sierra Mountains along Highway 88-Carson Pass and is getting ready to launch a motorcycle campground tailored towards dirtbike riders. He had a really impressive dirt track built into the side of a mountain.

I gave these guys a copy or our Pre-Ride Itinerary Booklet which was chalk full of ride options, area history, and maps of NorCal roads that I wrote for all the riders in our group. They had another 2 weeks in their journey. Hopefully, Tom will heal up along the way.



Saturday we made tracks for Highway 299 to ride this amazing road. Stopped at the summit for a breather.



For some odd reason, stopping along the way with a bunch of motorcyclists and just drinking in the views, and kicking tires was the best part of the entire ride. That alone with worth the trek.

[pashnit]

Kicking tires and just a general relaxed time



The views up there in NorCal of course are just stupendous!!! Here’s a closer shot of the road we just came down, fantastic ride! Did I mention the scenery on the way down? The length of Highway 299 is amazing!!!

[pashnit]

What a great ride, this is an amazing road with fantastic curves, great scenery, and couldn't stop grinning the whole way. Nearing Weaverville, mounted the Video Camera on the back and shot video pointing backwards of the canyon portion and all riders in the group.

A stop in Willow Creek at the Bigfoot Museum.

The group: Liju, Steven, Duncan, Pashnit, Tim, Immanuel, & Ryan - Bunch of goofs!



Too bad we missed the Bigfoot Convention- only a year late.



Sadly, we missed the movie too. Nuts!