Ride to San Simeon? O.K., what do we do after lunch? I was aggressively trying to coerce a couple of my riding buddies, Mike Davis and Doug Merker, to take Friday off so we could do an exploratory loop on Saturday. I proposed a loop consisting of Nacimiento Pass, G14 to King City, G16 from Greenfield to Carmel (with a stop in Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey for clam chowder of course), then PCH south back to San Simeon. Unfortunately, neither Mike nor Doug could break away Friday, so I had to confine my riding plans on the coast to Saturday. Even with this limitation, I was still trying to get as much riding in as possible while also revisiting some of my favorite roads. I ask Doug if he is up for leaving early and seeing if we can incorporate my "loop" ride into our ride to San Simeon. Doug, deprived for not being on a multi-day ride since February is hungry for adventure and, at this point, will agree to just about anything.

We depart South Orange County at 5 am and ride North. Our first stop for gas and coffee is Malibu at the Trancas Canyon Starbucks. From there, it's PCH to Oxnard, Las Posas to Camarillo and Hwy 101 to Santa Barbara for our first gas stop. After gas, we take Hwy 154 to Foxen Canyon Road to Santa Maria. We get back on Hwy 101 to Paso Robles. We are making excellent time. Paso Robles was our "decision point" to determine if we would do the entire route, or cut back to the coast. We're in Paso Robles before 11 am and are feeling great. We both decide to go on. From Paso Robles, we take G14 past Nacimiento Lake. What a wonderful road! Gentle twisties, little traffic and good pavement. What more can one ask I say? We arrive in King City, our second gas stop invigorated by the ride. We ride Hwy 101 briefly until we reach Greenfield where we take G16 (aka Carmel Valley Road) to Carmel. G16 is a is a little tighter on the "twistie" scale, and a lot of fun. We arrive at Fisherman's Wharf just after 2 pm. We have a great bowl of chowder at the end of the pier and are ready for the ride to camp.

The only thing left to do is a hundred miles of some of the most spectacular coastal ride I know of. We ride south through Big Sur and arrive at camp just before 6 pm. 13 hours, 533 miles and with a minimum of Interstate has made for one of the most rewarding riding days I can remember.

The Route - Day 1

Sunday, everyone is packing up, getting ready for the ride home. Everyone except me, of course. I have business just outside Sacramento on Monday morning, so my goal is to get to the motel in Rancho Cordova at a reasonable hour. I check my rear tire and notice that I am beyond the wear bar, but confident that I have another thousand miles left.

I ride north and have breakfast in Big Sur. After breakfast, I am contemplating my route. My goal is to reconnoiter the lighthouse at Pt. Reyes, north of San Francisco for a future trip for Nancy and I. However, as recently as late April, I rode this very route. "Is there an alternative?" I wondered. On the north side of Monterey Bay, I notice Hwy 9 heading off into some beautiful county. My map tells me that Hwy 9 connects with Hwy 35 (aka Skyline Drive) which I am very familiar with due to previous adventures to Alice's Restaurant. Riding solo has it's advantages in that I can adjust my route and itinerary at any moment.

Hwy 9 takes me through quaint villages and thick forests. I just can't stop grinning. What an amazing road! I follow Hwy 9 until it crosses with Hwy 35 and I take Hwy 35 north. This road, for the most part, rides a ridge (hence the name, "Skyline Drive") affording spectacular views from both sides of the road. I encounter more and more motorcycle traffic. Apparently, I am not the first to discover this road.

I arrive at Alice's Restaurant in Sky Londa and take a beverage break. Lot's of bikes here. Sunday afternoon and it's a beautiful day. What do you expect?

After the break, I go north on Hwy 35 where it connects to I-280 at Hwy 92 (hmmm...left is Half Moon bay....tough decision...I go right) and go north to San Francisco.

For those of you who have never been to (or through) San Francisco, a word of caution. While San Francisco is one of my favorite towns, if you're not stopping there, just passing through, it's tough. There is no complete interstate (about the only place interstates are useful is getting through big towns) going north through San Francisco. You must use surface streets. On previous trips, I tried taking the Hwy 1 route, so this time I try the Hwy 101 route, jumping off right before I enter the Bay Bridge. This route is marginally better, but still time consuming. I stop for gas downtown.

After filling up with gas, I go over the Golden Gate (after more than 30 years of being off the USS Enterprise, I can still say I've been under the Golden Gate more times than I've been over it) and take the Hwy 1 exit towards Point Reyes. The traffic on Hwy 1 is terrible. It's 2:30 in the afternoon on Sunday and the tourist traffic is still heavy. I decide to postpone the Point Reyes Adventure for another trip and look for an interesting route to the east.

This is where I notice that I've never crossed the bay using the Richmond Bridge. This area is much more industrial than tourist and, as compared to the Golden Gate and Bay Bridge, the Richmond Bridge looks neglected. My ride east bound is uneventful (except for a noticeable rise in temperature) and I arrive at the motel at 5 pm. A light day at 344 miles and just over 7 hours of riding.

I take care of business on Monday morning and I am packed and ready to go by 8:30 am. I top off my oil and check my rear tire (looks O.K. so far). I ride south on Hwy 99, connecting to I-5 just north of Stockton and follow I-5 south until it reaches Hwy 152. I take Hwy 152 West towards Watsonville and turn off at Hollister. I take Hwy 25 south to Hwy 198 to Coalinga and then Hwy 33 south from there. Although paralleling the I-5, the view is much better from the 33.

I stop for gas at Reef Station (better known as the intersection of Hwy 41 and Hwy 33) where I discover they are out of premium and medium grades of gasoline. I take a snack break and return a call from Jon Taylor.

As I get ready to go, I check my rear tire once again. I can now see some white cord coming through. Definitely not a good sign. I call the BMW shop in Fresno, an hour away (although in the wrong direction), but as most shops are, they are closed on Mondays. I decide to go back to I-5. Just in case something happens, I want to be on a major road and I cut my speed way, way back.

From this point on, it was a long, hot and slow ride into L.A. but the reduced speed significantly reduced my tire wear. I made it home safely. When I got home, I discovered that, not only was there cord showing, but I had also picked up a nail. By the time I got home, my tire pressure was down to 27 psi. But, I'm thinking that the lower tire pressure increased the contact area and actually helped reduce the wear on the center section of the tire. Once again, luck was with me.

Yes, of course, I immediately replaced the tire. And, I'm not even going to brag how I got my money's worth! I made it home by 7 pm after an anxious 551 miles. Total for the trip: 1,435 miles.