J
JWHITE518
Guest
I went on a little two-day trip the first weekend of the year. My wife and daughter were in Iowa visiting her parents, and I was a bachelor. It was tough being alone during the week, but I sure did take advantage of the weekend time. Tossed a few clothes in the saddlebag, powered up the Star Traxx, and hit the road.
I rode the big roads down to Monterey, then connected with Highway 1 south of Carmel. Here's an indication that I was in for a good ride.
There are two landmark bridges built in 1932. I think this one is the Bixby Bridge.
The weather was gorgeous. Clear skies, blue water, a little cool but not uncomfortable. I could have stopped every mile for beautiful shots of the coast. Here is a sampling of what I saw.
I liked this vista with the mountains fading off into the mist. Unfortunately the photo doesn't really capture the sight. If I were better with Photoshop Elements I could darken the background and lighten the foreground. Help anyone?
Here's a similar view but looking the other direction. Exposure is better.
I stopped in Cambria for lunch at a good deli. The town was a little crowded but everyone was friendly and enjoying the beautiful day. Back on the bike, the coast highway merged into US 101. I rode south in traffic for awhile. Then I turned east on CA 166. This starts out as a really sweet canyon road loaded with fourth gear turns and plenty of passing opportunities. Then it opens up into a farming valley. That's where I stopped for this photo.
At CA 33 I hung a right and rode south to Ojai. The northern part of the road is farmland. Here's an orchard where I stopped to put on my gear for the snowy pass ahead.
The road narrowed and climbed. At the top there was a light dusting of the white stuff on the side of the road, and a little sand in the corners, but nothing to be worried about. I was having too much fun to stop and photograph it. Then the road dropped down into the resort town of Ojai. This was the southernmost point of the trip.
I went to visit the Widder factory, even though I knew it was closed. It had been a checkpoint in the 99 Iron Butt Rally, and Pat Widder is a great supporter of LD riding. I peeked in the window and looked at the newest styles of heated gloves on a shelf. He has a license plated mounted on the wall: WYB COLD.
I headed back to the coast along Lake Casitas. The sun was just setting as I reached the ocean. I got back on the freeway and rode north to San Luis Obispo. I checked out their cool downtown area, which was lively on Saturday night. Had a really good dinner at Mo's Barbeque. Saw a movie (For Your Consideration, save your money.) Slept at the perfectly adequate Motel 6. Here's my route for the day. It looks like a buttonhook.
Next morning, same beautiful weather, and not as cold. I had originally planned to take CA 25 back home. But the coastal route had impressed me so much yesterday, both in beauty and in riding joys, that I decided to reverse my steps. So from SLO I headed back to the coast. This time I stopped at Morro Bay to get some photos of Morro Rock. Yeah, it's a tourist place but hey, I was a tourist. Here's an arty shot of the little harbor. I liked the name of the boat - Morning Light.
Couple more shots. A friendly local took the one of me.
Continuing on up the coast, I stopped one last time near San Simeon. This little turnout was very close to the water. The seagull on the garbage can never moved, even though I parked quite close to him.
Here's a lovely shot of a great blue heron. It was the last shot on the roll (gasp! film!)
It's a good thing that I was out of film because I was able to concentrate on the road for the rest of the trip. That 74 miles of curvy roads from the first photo? Yeeee-haaaaa!
This time I decided to stay on Highway 1 up to Santa Cruz, then take Highway 17 over the mountains to San Jose. That was kind of a dumb move because Highway 17 sucks. So does Highway 1 north of Monterey - it's just four lanes of traffic through commercial farmland. The best part was actually when I got stuck in road construction in Soquel (just south of Santa Cruz. Roadwork on Sunday?) Anyway, my GPS found a detour called Soquel San Jose Road, which was a twisty little bypass. Sweet banked curves near the top, but it's residential so you have to be careful.
Here's the map of my route home. If you're ever in California, ride the Big Sur Coast.
I rode the big roads down to Monterey, then connected with Highway 1 south of Carmel. Here's an indication that I was in for a good ride.
There are two landmark bridges built in 1932. I think this one is the Bixby Bridge.
The weather was gorgeous. Clear skies, blue water, a little cool but not uncomfortable. I could have stopped every mile for beautiful shots of the coast. Here is a sampling of what I saw.
I liked this vista with the mountains fading off into the mist. Unfortunately the photo doesn't really capture the sight. If I were better with Photoshop Elements I could darken the background and lighten the foreground. Help anyone?
Here's a similar view but looking the other direction. Exposure is better.
I stopped in Cambria for lunch at a good deli. The town was a little crowded but everyone was friendly and enjoying the beautiful day. Back on the bike, the coast highway merged into US 101. I rode south in traffic for awhile. Then I turned east on CA 166. This starts out as a really sweet canyon road loaded with fourth gear turns and plenty of passing opportunities. Then it opens up into a farming valley. That's where I stopped for this photo.
At CA 33 I hung a right and rode south to Ojai. The northern part of the road is farmland. Here's an orchard where I stopped to put on my gear for the snowy pass ahead.
The road narrowed and climbed. At the top there was a light dusting of the white stuff on the side of the road, and a little sand in the corners, but nothing to be worried about. I was having too much fun to stop and photograph it. Then the road dropped down into the resort town of Ojai. This was the southernmost point of the trip.
I went to visit the Widder factory, even though I knew it was closed. It had been a checkpoint in the 99 Iron Butt Rally, and Pat Widder is a great supporter of LD riding. I peeked in the window and looked at the newest styles of heated gloves on a shelf. He has a license plated mounted on the wall: WYB COLD.
I headed back to the coast along Lake Casitas. The sun was just setting as I reached the ocean. I got back on the freeway and rode north to San Luis Obispo. I checked out their cool downtown area, which was lively on Saturday night. Had a really good dinner at Mo's Barbeque. Saw a movie (For Your Consideration, save your money.) Slept at the perfectly adequate Motel 6. Here's my route for the day. It looks like a buttonhook.
Next morning, same beautiful weather, and not as cold. I had originally planned to take CA 25 back home. But the coastal route had impressed me so much yesterday, both in beauty and in riding joys, that I decided to reverse my steps. So from SLO I headed back to the coast. This time I stopped at Morro Bay to get some photos of Morro Rock. Yeah, it's a tourist place but hey, I was a tourist. Here's an arty shot of the little harbor. I liked the name of the boat - Morning Light.
Couple more shots. A friendly local took the one of me.
Continuing on up the coast, I stopped one last time near San Simeon. This little turnout was very close to the water. The seagull on the garbage can never moved, even though I parked quite close to him.
Here's a lovely shot of a great blue heron. It was the last shot on the roll (gasp! film!)
It's a good thing that I was out of film because I was able to concentrate on the road for the rest of the trip. That 74 miles of curvy roads from the first photo? Yeeee-haaaaa!
This time I decided to stay on Highway 1 up to Santa Cruz, then take Highway 17 over the mountains to San Jose. That was kind of a dumb move because Highway 17 sucks. So does Highway 1 north of Monterey - it's just four lanes of traffic through commercial farmland. The best part was actually when I got stuck in road construction in Soquel (just south of Santa Cruz. Roadwork on Sunday?) Anyway, my GPS found a detour called Soquel San Jose Road, which was a twisty little bypass. Sweet banked curves near the top, but it's residential so you have to be careful.
Here's the map of my route home. If you're ever in California, ride the Big Sur Coast.
