Monterey Run Part Deux

We awoke Sunday morning to a sunny but cold day. After a short breakfast at the hotel we headed out. But first we had to make a stop at Cannery Row for the obligatory picture there.

While we were there we took a quick look at our bikes to make sure everything looked ok. We paid particular attention to our tires and everyone concluded that we would all be close but that we would all make it home. This is an important part of the story so remember this.

Again it was to a back road kind of day. What we like about them is that they might take you out of the way but they are usually not crowded and they offer up nice views.

Here is the group as we started to leave.

We actually came across some other riders a little later on this road. Well, we didn’t actually run into them in the literal sense of the phrase.

The bottom of the road opened up to reveal wide open spaces and we all stopped for a rest. From this picture you can get a sense of how large the group was. This is definitely not typical for me but this was a good group and everyone did well.

Well, we had our first casualty of the day just after this. Nothing big, just a flat tire. Luckily we all had tire kits and Robert had a small compressor. We actually got back on the road pretty quickly. Now, look at Vern’s tire. Looks pretty good doesn’t it?

Our second casualty happened just a bit later when Rick had a bird smash into his windscreen. Now, I won’t publish those pics but suffice to say that it was not pretty.

Miles and I had traded bikes just prior to this point. Actually, we traded just before Vern got his flat. His is a Speed Triple which is made by Triumph. I like the bike a lot and it is a lot of fun to ride. It is a naked bike meaning that it does not have a windshield or any bodywork. The lack of windshield really put a hurting on me at speed. It gets hard to hang onto a bike after a while which I guess you get used to but it was a bit much for me. Especially since my helmet is pretty tight and the shape of it means that it presses against my nose. But, it is always fun to ride another bike.

We stopped for lunch at a place called Parkfield. Please note that Google maps does not even show a road there until you zoom in a bit. That is how you know it is a good road. Besides having a great BBQ place it has the claim to fame of being the most closely monitored earthquake site in the world. The creek bed marks the North American plate.

Luckily there were no earthquakes when we were there because the BBQ place had farm implements above all the tables. Not just any farm implements but heavy pointy ones.

This is Miles on my Multistrada.

This is Vern on his VFR. He was the one who came up with the route this year.

All of us in front for lunch.

Again, after a nice lunch we all went and checked our tires to see how they were doing. Everyone looked just fine and we went on our merry little way. Well, after less than 100 miles my tire looked like this:

And we had to ride through this:

Yup, those are cords and that is ice and snow. Fun, fun, fun. We pressed on to the town of Taft where we took inventory again. This time we noticed that Vern’s tire was only marginally better than mine. It did not appear that either of us would be able to make it all the way home on our tires. So, we made the call to ride to Lebec (just north of where 5 goes up and over the mountains) and make the final decision on what to do. Our options were pretty slim. Our first thought was that Vern would ride on the back of Ken’s bike to his place where he could pick up his truck and trailer. I would hang out with the bikes and wait for him. When we reached Lebec Vern called his wife and let her know what was going on. Then in a moment of supreme coolness she offered to bring the truck up herself. This would save us several hours. So, we waited at the local Starbucks and waited. When she arrived we loaded the bikes up and went on our way.

But, the story does not end there. Miles had called me when we were waiting and offered to come up to Vern’s place to pick the bike and I up. Now, this is a 1.5 to 2 hour drive and it was almost midnight. Talk about cool! I took him up on the offer and I finally made it home around 2am.

Overall it was a great weekend and a great ride. I learned a lot about my friends this trip and was more than impressed by their thoughtfulness and unselfish behavior!

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