End of the road

I ate too much at Margie's before starting out on some all-new roads.

Creston Rd. starts from 13th St. and the 101 in Paso, winding south and a little east. In the quaint (no, really) town of Creston, it turns into SR-229. Wow.

SR-229 winds south under a canopy of oaks, past horse ranches in the rolling hills. It only runs for ten miles, but it's some of the best ten miles I've ever ridden. They were running an annual Wildflower Bike Ride on the same road, but I was early enough to avoid most of the riders.

SR-58 gets compared on Pashnit to the best of California's motorcycling roads - Angeles Crest, SR-36 - impressive company. It's broken down into thirds: twisty and hilly on the west, followed by a straight and fast section with fun whoopdees, followed by more twists and hills on the eastern end.

It was all it was made out to be, and maybe even more with the green hills and massive wildflowers on display. My back was yowling after three long days in the saddle, but the ride was still very cool. The bugs were out in force, though.

SR-33 is pretty dreary through the Kern County oil fields. Cerro Noroeste was fast and fun, as always. I-5 was harsh without the V-1. My back was screaming all down the I-210.

Bug city

When I found out the McDonald's next to the motel had no sugar (as in none - at all), I wasn't sure how the day would go, but things turned out fun, if not messy.

After gassing up, I started out for Carmel around 9:00am. I always enjoy the last 15 miles of SR-46 on the way to SR-1, and the green rolling hills looked especially inviting today. The first forty miles of SR-1 were fun and fast.

About halfway, I was passed by a guy on a Harley. I've never paid much attention to the various models of Harley's, so I couldn't tell you, but he passed me over a double-yellow while I was waiting to legally pass a slower car.

For a variety of reasons, I choose not to pass over a double yellow. First, the obvious: it's dangerous. I'd hate for my kids to have to tell people that their dad was killed while passing over a double yellow. It also reinforces the widely held view that motorcyclists are a bunch of crazies that make everyone less safe on the road. I make only a few exceptions: if a motorist on a lonely stretch of road slows down and moves to the right (but not into a turnout) and invites me to pass, I'll do it - as the safer option. Refusing this offer causes confusion at best, and hard feelings at worst, and it just makes sense to go for it.

Between the dead bugs and the smears from me trying to clean off the dead bugs, by the time I reached Carmel I could hardly see through my shield. I had a mocha and a muffin at my coffee place, decided to wait on more gas, and made my way to Carmel Valley Rd.

After a few miles of residential traffic, Carmel Valley Rd. (G-16) turns into a superb motorcycling road. Medium-length straights mixed with tight turns and wide sweepers, all under a canopy of oaks following a small stream. Late in this section I peeked up the stream heading into a turn and saw a small deer taking a drink. Very cool.

All the rivers and streams I came across were flowing strongly.

I stopped for gas and a sundae in King City. I called my friend Connie to wish her a happy birthday.

G-14 is less twisty than G-16, running from King City back to Paso by way of Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio. Lake Nacimiento looked a lot higher than I remember. (I talked to my boss about it, and he says the lake fills up almost every spring, and gets nearly drained for agricultural use every fall.)

I had a carne asada taco combo from the Mexican place next to the motel. They've changed owners, but I still enjoyed it. I was somewhat dehydrated by the end of the day.

Road closed

For a variety of reasons, I got a late start on my three-day ride up the coast, but left around 10:40am. Based on a suggestion from my boss, I took a different route to Camarillo, with mixed results.

In the past, I've always slogged across the 101, and always get bogged down going through the Valley. My boss suggested the 210 to the 118, then surface streets from Moorpark into Camarillo. The freeway section was fast, but some high wind gusts added some unwelcome drama. Once on the surface streets, the construction delays and farming truck traffic slowed things considerably. Next time I'll stay on the 23 down to the 101, which is still way past the worst of the Valley traffic.

Early on, I was getting the false power cycles on the V-1, and I tried to fix it by twisting the fuse block, but wound up pulling the positive lead from its spade connector. After breakfast I found a Radio Shack, but was unsuccessful in making even temporary repairs. I was without radar detection for the remainder of the trip.

The combination of the late start, unplanned traffic in Moorpark, and 45 minutes trying to make electrical repairs with 50mph wind gusts, I had to make changes to my route if I was going to get a decent room and make my 6:45 movie time in Paso Robles. The first change was to skip SR-154 and Santa Rosa Rd. Instead I took the 101 to SR-246, then west to Drum Canyon. The wildflowers were in full bloom throughout the hills into Los Alamos, and further on up Alisos Canyon to Foxen Canyon.

I had skipped Tepusquet Rd. the last time I was up this way, and was looking forward to it. Unfortunately, the recent rains had wiped out the roadway that crosses what I think is the Santa Maria River. The detour to get back to Tepusquet was 8.5 miles, and I didn't really have the time.

I made it to the Motel 6 in Paso Robles at straight-up 6:00pm, but still didn't get as good a room as I'd hoped. Upstairs, mid-way between the two sides of the parking lot, with a lot of freeway noise, but it worked out okay.

I made it downtown in plenty of time to see the 6:45pm showing of Hostage. I loved the original story by Robert Crais, and the movie came close to the overall feel of the book.

Off to the Central Coast

I'm running late (meds and a long phone call), but am on my way up the coast for a few days of R&R. Today is SR-154, Santa Rosa Road, Drum Canyon, Aliso Canyon, Foxen Canyon, Tepusquet, and Old Creek Rd. into Paso Robles. Tomorrow is SR-1 up to Monterey, Carmel Valley Rd, and Interlaken Rd. back to Paso. Saturday is SR-58 eastbound, south on the 33 to Cerro Noroeste (one of my favorite local roads), then a cruise down I-5 from Frazier Park.

I should be back around 2:30pm on Saturday.

Goodbye to an old friend

I took the V-star out to Bert's today to see if they'd take it on consignment. I waited a half-hour for Scott, the buyer, to finish up with something else, and went over the details once he was free. It seemed to please him that I had clear title and good paperwork - registration, service records, and all.

Scott asked me to ride the bike down to the service department for an 'evaluation', which he expected would take 30-45 minutes. I browsed the Parts department for a while, then spent more time looking at all the cool bikes on the sales floor. I found a cool little dual sport in the back - it would be fun on the trails up in Big Bear.

Sooner than expected Scott tracked me down, and we went back to his desk to review the evaluation. Service said it was rough at idle (it has been since I first got it...) and needed a valve adjustment and carb work. I showed Scott the service record for the carb work that Pasadena Yamaha did back in January, and we quickly agreed on a price - $3,500. I probably could have gotten a few hundred more if I tried to sell it myself, but decided long ago that it wouldn't be worth the hassle. (Considering the fantastic deal I got when I bought it, I think I did pretty well anyway.)

Scott wanted to buy it outright, so he cut me a check right then and there. Who's to argue?

The V-star got me back into motorcycling after a 25 year layoff, and served me well. I took it up the Coast Hwy many a time, and last year's trip to the Sierra was very cool. Without the V-star, I never would have been ready for the FJR, and for that I'll always have fond memories.

Personal Land Speed Record

On a particularly flat, straight, dry section of I-8 in Arizona between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, I set a new personal land speed record. There was no traffic visible, in either direction, and the V-1 was on the job.

135mph.

There was plenty left in the bike, too.