nice 350 mi loop along Carmel Valley Rd and Hwy. 25

[PongoUSA]

It was Wednesday. I was off work as usually Wednesdays. It was time for another ride with Dan

He picked out a great route again : From Los Gatos along great backroads to Gilroy, Salinas and Carmel Valley Road to King City. Turning back from there going 196 and Airline Hwy. ( Hwy. 25 ) to Hollister and back home. About 340 miles and almost 8 hours great riding at a somewhat spirited paste. A really great way to spent my day off

The route ( click to see details )



We startet off in Los Gatos at Lou's Coffee Shop. The sun was already out, we sat outside, a great start in the day.



Lou's is in Los Gatos for a long time. Great food, and a lot of it.
I've got the bacon - spinach - gorgonzola scramble with potatos



Dan was happy with his Eggs Benedict with Linguiça sausage



Filling up in Los Gatos



Guadalupe Reservoir on Hicks Rd.



Going along Alamitos Rd, we made a stop at Alameden Reservoir to snap some pics. Nice, almost empty roads so far

[PongoUSA]

We continued on Alameden, to a little bypass road, Cinnabar Hills Rd. and turned onto McKean Rd. going south. After turning onto Uvas Rd. we stopped at the next reservoir, Uvas Reservoir. Guess, we just love water.







Passing Gilroy, we took a couple miles slab ( 101 isn't actual to bad in that area ), went thru San Juan Bautista and turned onto Salinas Rd. towards Salinas. A great, one lane, goaty road, twisting and going up and down, with great views, especially right now, when everything is so green.



Monterey Bay in the distance







After going thru Salinas ( not a great experience because of many crazy drivers, white young males in Dodge Chargers ), we hit Carmel Valley Road. I have never ridden it before, but it turned out to be the treat of the day. Great road, somewhat bumpy in the beginning, but great and always changing scenery, non existing traffic and just plain fun. You can't help it, you just get that big silly grin on your face. Only a couple pics though, we have been mainly riding. I'll revisit, I promise.







Almost at the end of Carmel Valley, we turned of the road crossing that bridge onto Co G 16 towards King City, our turning point. If you watch closely, you can see Dan on the bridge :-)



After that, we returned via Hwy. 25, always a treat, this time actually a fast treat. We were flying, getting the bikes to top speed

Well, a great riding day, fantastic new roads ( to me ) , great weather, nice companion. Live is good

Dan took many more pics, I'm sure he will post some

[CRASH]

It was a great day - weather was awesome, light traffic - just a good time.

We start with the food porn. The close up of the Benedict Linguica


And this picture I think helps understand how big Ralph's scramble was.


A few pictures of our stops and the road.

[CRASH]

Salinas Road started out like this


And ended up like this when it turned into San Juan Grade

[CRASH]

View on San Juan Grade


A few more shots going up Carmel Valley Road




I went back home through New Almaden intent on getting pictures. There were more American Flags in this little burg than anywhere I have seen. The picture just does not do it justice


And this one ... this one had us laughing. Yes, we did find a few straight sections to let loose. But I am thinking my GPS may have been a wee bit optimistic on the MAX SPEED calculation. Based on what Ralph's GPS said he was doing and what my Speedo said (factoring in the inherent error) it would appear it tossed up a KPH number instead of MPH?

[puppychow]

Nice pics and seems like it was great fun as well! Seems like you inadvertently switched on the Ludicrous speed mode!

[Turkus]

O.K.....you two are having WAAAAY too much fun.....

Nice little RR, the sun is "supposed" to be coming out here this weekend - maybe I'll get to post something about WA RR #2 if I'm lucky

[PongoUSA]

Originally Posted by CRASH

I went back home through New Almaden intent on getting pictures. There were more American Flags in this little burg than anywhere I have seen. The picture just does not do it justice

That was a truly amazing sight . It was just a little town, but flags everywhere. On many houses, mounted on every utility post. I guess the city had that done.

[Gerrit68]

Hi Ralph and Dan,

great way to spend a day off! I'm just a bit jealous but spring has finally arrived in Germany as well.

[Igo]

I enjoy this as much as anything I saw in California last week. Just beautiful.
I was supposed to ride to Carmel Valley but I found out about a second slide close to Big Sur so I scrubbed the idea. I was staying in Marina. Keep the pictures coming.