My experience on the 4-day NorCal Tour !!

[edpet]

I participated in the Pashnit NorCal 4-day tour this past Memorial Day weekend (26th to the 29th of May, 2006).

What an awesome, unforgettable, exciting and exhilarating tour!!! This was like a great vacation where that really good feeling stays with you, even as I now return to work.

This was no cakewalk however. It was work. Demanding. Draining. Your utmost of concentration at all times to do the things you must do to assure your safety. But then, that's sport touring. And that's what my motorcycling experience is for me: an exercise in concentration, focus, technique. That's why I enjoy motorcycling. And yet, never did I feel pressured to go faster than my comfort zone dictated, never did I approach the limits of my abilities for any road conditions we travelled that made me feel was too risky. Yes, of the 8 riders in this group this past weekend, I might have been the slowest, but omigosh, how much of a better rider I now am, thanks to this tour, and thanks to the criticism of riding buddies that was always qualified by positive suggestions.

If the tour alone was a great experience, if was capped off by being in the company of 7 other strangers who I now count as my friends, who welcomed me to be a part of the group experience, who allowed me to be the person and rider I am. To all you gentlemen on this tour, as strange and weird and quirky as you may individually be - my hat off to you all.

And to Tim & Tim (Pashnit), my thanks and appreciation for a well run, exciting and safe tour. I'll post my pics in the near future. And I'll try and not be too wordy.

Ed

PS And my apologies to the group, for having gotten lost within the 1st 10 minutes into the start of the trip!!!