Back to NorCal Moto Paradise. Never gets old.

[pashnit]

So to ring in our snazzy new forum software, plus celebrate my five year anniversary on this forum, gotta share a little ride with all of you did the other day. Strap in.


Meeting my fellow riders in Sausalito.


Headed up to a low range along the Pacific just north of San Francisco.


Under that fog is the Pacific Ocean, and that lil land mass out there is the Point Reyes Pennisula. Nifty lighthouse out there too if you have the time. You have to walk down 300 steps to get to it. Trouble is gotta walk back up.

Yes indeedy, you could be here.

 

[raydog]

Nice Tim, hope all is well.....Doyle

 

[pashnit]

The Pano... to the right is Marin County. Unique place. Rolling green hills and few trees. Lot of dairy farms. :goodidea:


Never gets old.

If you're wondering about this rather photogenic road, it's Bolinas Ridge Rd above the Pacific, and near Mt Tamalpias which is one of several low mountains that overlooks downtown San Francisco.

I posted this before, but here's a vid I shot of Bolinas Ridge Rd:

Download file <--Clicky

 

[pashnit]

Experimenting with some fill-in flash.

Two versions. Got a favorite?

Some of our bikes on our ride... Always Pashnit Variety.

 

[pashnit]

A short of Marshall-Petaluma Rd connecting out to the ocean.

The guys...

That's Tomales Bay in the background. Hwy 1 runs along the edge of it. Fun ride!

 

[ozz]

Happy 5th great pics as always the one of the deli is very nice with a rider standing in the portal of light to more great roads in NorCal

 

[pashnit]

A quick stop at the Point Arena Lighthouse, which we found to be undergoing a restoration with a $500K grant from the USCG. They are removing the 6 ton lens from the top of the lighthouse and building a whole new museum & visitor center around it.

Never miss an oppurtunity to take another pic of your bike.

She still looks good, even after all these years together.

That MultiStrada again...

Anybody like Tigers? It's really a sharp looking bike. Triumph did good.

 

[pashnit]

See what I mean about it never gets old?

Yes, that's the road. This is near Westport, way north along the CA coastline.

That rugged coastline in the distance which is commonly called The Lost Coast.

They never built any roads through it ('cept fire roads) and it's largely untouched.

 

[pashnit]

And now for one of the more famous stretches of road in all the state of CA.

320 curves in 22 miles. Pristine pavement. Everyone pulls over to let you pass. Too good to be true?

So for the first time, I scrapped both my kneepucks.

Yes, you can do that on a busa.

Check this out.

If you've picked up a newspaper in the last month, probably heard about all the fires we've been having.

Last week of June, we just rode right up to it like a bunch of tourists.

Same spot... less than 30 days later. And this was one of the really minor ones.

 

[pashnit]

Quick sidebar story for you... bit of a problem for one of our guys...

We were all amazed at the size of this thing!

 

[pashnit]

You always think this sort of thing will never happen to you. But here we were.

This tire was brand new and had less than 200 miles on it too.

Ta Da! All finished! And yes, holding air.

I sell these btw. So here's the pitch. You can buy the Cycle Pump here, <--Clicky, which actually will fit in the rear tail section of the busa.

Plus the Tire repair kit you can buy here -Clicky- which came in so handy and saved the day. And yes, we were in the middle of nowhere when John picked up the nail.

 

[pashnit]

The next day...

Our riders on Ducs...

If you're wondering where in the world this is, it's a 50 mile long goaty road that connects Hwy 36 at Mad River with Hwy 299 at Berry Summit. We just call it Forest Rd 1.

All paved, up to 6500 feet.

The pano. That's the Pacific Ocean in the distance 30 miles yonder.

John & David. John rode on out here from Connecticut, David flew in from Hawaii

 

[pashnit]

Fog?

That's smoke.

Couple more shots of the bikes and then we're off!

 

[pashnit]

I have long vaunted the praises of this road.

The northern half of the 50 mile stretch atop this ridgeline is called Titlow Hill Rd.

This portion just drops straight down off the mountain top in a series of hairpins. Incredible views to boot.

Wanna see?

Pashnit Riders on Titlow Hill Rd

If you look closely at about 1:50 , you can see where I shot the stills above. That's Craig on his Busa that's in front of me, who's also long-time member here.

 

[pashnit]

Anybody believe in Bigfoot?


Picture of the famous picture...

 

[pashnit]

Remember that smoke we saw from atop South Fork Mountain?

This is Hwy 299 headed for Weaverville. Typically, an awesome ride. Smooth mile long curves. Today it was nasty.

We finally got so close to the fire, got stopped here by the CHP. Were told they'd just closed the road.

It was raining ash. Just white stuff in the air floating down on you. Stay there for a minute or two and everything was covered in ash. The smell was caustic. You couldn't breath deeply. Gives you amazing respect for the firefighters that put these things out. Ah well, road was just as fun the other way.

Back in Willow Creek and up and over Berry Summit, no more smoke.

 

[pashnit]

And btw, here's what that road should look like without all the smoke.

After the smoke, a group shot... Always good times.

What was that about never having enough shots of your bike?

 

[pashnit]

Next day... off to explore the Giant Redwood Forest...

Need a sense of scale?

How's this for scale?

See Bruce in the lower right corner?

 

[pashnit]

After 2 1/2 days of riding, it was time to head home.

 

[pashnit]

But first, thought I'd swing by the Point Arena Lighthouse and see if I could get a looksy without the fog.

Sure enough...

See how the lens is now missing...

It's all closed of to the public, but here's some pics from a few months ago on an earlier vist.

View of the coast from the top...