2022 Pashnit Touring on a Hayabusa

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And Happy New Year!

Morning view from our room, Ready for another day of riding.

We awoke to no fog, blue skies. Perfect day along the ocean!

There's always that one guy who's ready to ride. Where is everybody?

 

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Marco is already geared up, ready to ride. Can we go now?

Headed north along the ocean out of Gualala

 

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Here's the plan, head up the ocean, Head inland on Highway 128, cut north on Flynn Creek to Comptche, and double back to the ocean on Comptche-Ukiah Rd which pops back out at Highway 1 at Mendocino.

 

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This leg along the ocean is a lot of hairpins over and over, Highway 1 sharply turns inland, drops to a creek bed, and hairpins back around and out to the ocean. It's a repeating pattern that's great fun!

Note the light-dark, just part of the experience

 

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We start our morning with this view. I never tire of Highway 1.

Highway 1 North | California Motorcycle Roads | Pashnit

Ride Coastal California Motorcycle Hwy 1 - Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino Counties

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If you can hit it just right with the weather, and time of year. Same fence. Great pics.

 

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Passing through Point Arena

We used to base the group here at a cool hotel, the Wharf Master Inn right on the harbor.

 

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Point Arena Harbor is tiny, but has a very scenic cove surrounded by high bluffs

 

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When we've stayed in Point Arena in previous years, we would watch the fishing boats launch in the morning, we'd ride all day, and they'd come back about the same time we got back from a day's ride.

 

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They'd walk right up into the restaurant at the end of the pier and sell their catch, then we'd order dinner. Can't get any more fresh than that.

Point Arena is a cool place. And a microcosm of life along the Pacific Ocean.

 

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Tom asked me if I knew of a place to get some drone shots for the video he was making of our ride. I might know a place.

Splitting the group up to see who wants to be in the drone shot. Just like a magazine shoot, we gotta do multiple passes and that involves lots of u-turns.

This will work.

 

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Drone shots are a whole new perspective on what we do, and I find the drone shots quite mesmerizing.

 

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We skipped the Point Arena Lighthouse. Most of these riders had already seen it, but it feels like a while since we've been there, so maybe we'll check out the lighthouse next time we run through here in a month. Everybody likes lighthouses.

The Point Arena Lighthouse is super cool as it's open to the public and you can walk right up to the top

This photo is so old, stock rims on the '00, no hump, and that's an actual video camera on the tank.
Remember those?

 

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Rolling through Manchester, a tiny town known for meticulously groomed hedges

 

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You never know what you'll get when you come here. (Life is like a box of chocolates?) Today, the marine layer hung off the coast a few miles out, but that thick fog didn't come inland. I've ridden the length of Highway 1 in some years and NEVER saw the ocean. From the pics, you can see how close you are. The water is right there. Just luck, and summer days are very hit or miss with the Coastal Fog.

At the Navarro River, this is our turn inland onto Highway 128

 

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We get spread out on these sections, some riders are fast others lollygag in the back, but we're always up ahead waiting.

Gary just bought a brand-new 2022 Suzuki GSX-S1000GT

 

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It's a gorgeous bike, and amazing Suzuki put out another brand new sport-touring machine

This is the 2022 Suzuki GSX-S1000GT

You have that option now, or the Suzuki GSX1000F.... or the Hayabusa. Three!

Gary asked if I wanted to ride it, but I've got my sights set on another Hayabusa. I'm good.

 

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Highway 128 through the redwood forest is really magical. We tried to get some drone shots in here.

 

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See that water line on the trees? This stretch of road floods regularly from the nearby river. The redwood trees love it, and prefer to grow in alluvial plains along rivers. The water line left behind on the redwoods in some places is 10 feet over the road.

This was a couple of days ago and right where we are.

 

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Wiggle Wiggle