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BARF Spring Rally - 2009 - Central Coast

Enchanter said:
How long was that dirt road across Carrrizo Plain? Buman, Butch, and I decided to skip that on our street bikes. We damn near ran out of gas since we had to turn around.
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I looked at Google Earth and the dirt was 10 or 15 miles long..
 
Enchanter said:
How long was that dirt road across Carrrizo Plain? Buman, Butch, and I decided to skip that on our street bikes. We damn near ran out of gas since we had to turn around.
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Don't have my GPS data downloaded yet, but Soda Lake Rd. from the first sign on the north end of Carrizo to the next gas station on Maricopa/33 was probably at least 30 miles by road (about 25 on dirt). I spoke to the Park Ranger at the Education Center and he said it was about 20 miles to the Elkhorn Rd junction, and another 7 miles from there to Maricopa (via the dirt option, the road wraps around a little longer).

I actually ended up taking Soda Lake Rd south to Elkhorn Rd, then took Elkhorn north back across the plains again to the Hurricane Rd outlet over the ridge in the East towards Taft. I'll post up my track log when I get into the office tomorrow and get a better idea of the mileage.
 
I did the ride on Friday after working a graveyard shift and made a wrong turn and lost the group in Carmel. I rode on to have the single best ride of my life--it became something mysteriously magical, the kind of feeling you get late in an endurance event.

The clouds kept the fog at bay and the views were nothing short of spectacular around every turn. Little traffic. Road a little rough in spots. The foliage still green with flower blooms. Pinch.

Is it possible to fall in love with a road?:laughing



Thanks to Kurt and everyone involved for making this happen. I'm already thinking about doing it again!
 
Hey guys,

Thank you very much for your stay with us here in Paso Robles. I would like to thank you for probably being our best group we have had at our property and would like to welcome you all back anytime! I hope you all had a great weekend and the next time you guys plan a gathering in the Central Coast give me a call ahead of time and I can see if there is anything I can do for the group! Thanks again guys and hope to see you guys again!

Nic Meeks
General Manager
Paso Robles Motel 6
 
Motel61372 said:
Hey guys,

Thank you very much for your stay with us here in Paso Robles. I would like to thank you for probably being our best group we have had at our property and would like to welcome you all back anytime! I hope you all had a great weekend and the next time you guys plan a gathering in the Central Coast give me a call ahead of time and I can see if there is anything I can do for the group! Thanks again guys and hope to see you guys again!

Nic Meeks
General Manager
Paso Robles Motel 6
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Awesome! :thumbup
 
Indeed... 3 days of fun :ride :Port

Kurt.. thanks so much man... you really brought it.. and so many smiles to me and all the folks.

Really enjoyed carving it up with Butch and Enchanter.... and great to see many friends and make some new ones as always is the case. I finished a long Saturday saying this is as much fun as a track day and it really is..

Cannot believe we had lunch in Bwizzle.... but we HAD to get some dino juice for the bikes. I had 5 miles left on my "range" notification when we got gas.. :wow

So much fun.. and such a great group of moto nuts to share the good times with. :hail

:smoking
 
Kick ass weekend folks:thumbup
Great roads, excellent company, whats not to love
Logged over 900 miles in 3 days and ready to do it again:teeth
Big props to Kurt for being a most excellent host!
 
Enchanter said:
How long was that dirt road across Carrrizo Plain? Budman, Butch, and I decided to skip that on our street bikes. We damn near ran out of gas since we had to turn around.
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OK, from where the dirt road started to where the pavement restarts on the southern end of the Plain is 22.7 miles, add another 11.8 miles of pavement via 33 towards the gas station in Maricopa so you were looking at about 35 miles until gas from where you turned around.
 
BTW, by my count we had 56 riders that I know of who participated. There may have been others there who didn't connect with me. Considering how crappy the weather looked on Thursday night - Friday morning, that number is incredible! :banana
 
considering what a great time everyone had, you may have created a new throng of sport tourers.
 
My Central Coast tour ended today, Monday... :laughing

Sunday I decided to go west on 46 and lunch at the Vandenberg AFB Golf Club, then south on 1.

Met an old German guy on a bicycle who was riding from SF to SD, who was having trouble going up that steep grade on 1, so I took out my 100' nylon rope, tied him to it (only 20' between us), put on my flashers, and took him to the summit on the shoulder at 15-20 MPH.

He was so happy, he took a picture of me and both bikes (moto & bi) with the rope attached. :laughing

Continued down 1 all the way down to Goleta, finally came to a gas station on 101 (yeah, they're scarce in that neck of the woods). Came up to the overpass, saw a guy on an '07 K12R (green/black), and we both shared our appreciation of the K12.

Given the K12R only has a 5 gallon tank, I kinda wonder how I got 5.056 gallons in, but I did... :laughing

Went back up 101 to PR, tried to get over the Santa Barbara Mountains for some fun, no luck there. Slabbed the whole way :thumbdown :mad

This is my route: http://maps.yahoo.com/#mvt=m&lat=35...93117&gid8=21180732&q9=Paso Robles, CA, 93446

Yeah, having good maps probably would have helped... :rofl

Had my Sunday night dinner at McLintock's Steakhouse (they have a conference room/large dining area for next time, if Big Bubba's is 'unavailable'. Much better food, IMO. Yeah, I'm a food & wine snob. :laughing

Left the Paso Robles Motel 6 at 0830 Monday, went down to 46 again, then north on PCH. Wow. Just wow. Little chilly, had to use the heated grips... Great scenery, not much traffic, a little road construction here & there, had a ball. Finally had lunch at Watsonville, then 1 up thru Santa Cruz to Half Moon Bay, then east on 92 to Hayward and finally San Ramon at 3:15 PM.

Had so much damned fun this whole weekend I can't believe it. Met some great folks, did some great roads... Kurt, I blame you. :laughing
 
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Great stuff, Peter! :applause

Also, thanks to you and Chill and Afterburner for all your work on the wine tasting. :thumbup
 
Ride and Rallye were great

It put me into a great summer groove. Thanks everyone for such a great time. Thanks to Kurt especially.

Pictures coming. BTW who can I send videos to post up? I don't have a smugmug account or anything similar.
 
I really enjoyed my 1st rally! Thanks to all who participated and made it all happen. Nice to meet the lot of you and riding with good friends. Pictures and videos will be up when I get a chance to upload. :twofinger
 
Thanks Kurt for introducing me to the Rally lifestyle, had a blast, didn't end up talking much to others but it was by far the best riding experience ive ever had. Looking forward to the next one.
Now its back to my boring work life :mad
 
Awsome job, Kurt! I had a blast riding with several different peeps and groups on Friday. Wish I could have stayed the whole weekend... and meet many more of you. Next time!

Stay tuned for 2009 BARF Rydther Rally -- Hawthorne!!! :party
 
You are all very welcome! I loved putting it together, and seeing everyone bring such positive attitudes when the weather looked dodgy, be really cool to ride and hang out with, and have such a great time is hugely gratifying!

Yes, I'm a happy guy. :teeth
 
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