Rain. Hmmm. -- Hun_Run 2014 -- Ride Report

[budman]

The trip launched on Tuesday Sept.23st. My report started in advance of the ride just because I was so damn excited!!
6 days ~ over 1400 miles.. stay tuned if you wish!

**********************
We are now just 5 days from going and I am getting excited.
Today (Thursday) I went to CHP HQ for a CMSP Advisory Committee meeting. Don't want to get into it because it is frustrating, however I did pick up some 2014 vintage Lanesplitting brochures! Went I got home I got a surprise as the wife was worried about our middle dog being very lethargic. She said she was a bit that way the weekend I was at Hawthorne, but she was so happy to see me and seemly returned to normal when I got home. Now she was totally just laying around and not eating. She decided we were going to take her to the Vet in the AM.

Friday AM I stayed home from work and we took Roxy in. It is a bit of a deal because she is a bit freaky with other people. She was checked in being short of breath and seeming weak. He pointed out that the Xray showed an enlarged heart and he was planning on doing some tests and take some fluid off her heart. We were both worried.

Well welcome to Saturday. They took fluid off her heart on Friday, but her heart was so enlarged it really did little. We spent a while with her and knew she could not come home. Roxy passed about 1:30 PM. I love my dogs like members of the family and Roxy's quick slide turned out to be a tumor in her heart. She is gone and I have a hole in my heart. Life is always pushing forward. Godspeed, Roxy. We had ten good years together.

Back to trip planning: 2-1/2 days to launch.
Got my new camera. Sony Cybershot RX 100.
Ducati is ready and will be picked up on Monday -- New sticky Pirelli's ready to rock!


Well Sunday was not great, 9ers sucked!! And I really do miss my dog.

Monday brought more news.... The weather up north is going to suck. Instead of a chance if rain on Wednesday and Thursday it now shows a deluge on Wednesday and rain every day. F@ck!! Heading out to ride in the rain for 5 days is not appealing to me so I started to look at weather around the State. Butch stopped by office in the AM and I had found all of NorCal was going to have some wet weather. Bay Area was kind of the end point of the bad stuff until Friday so I approached Kurt about a change. Turns out we have to eat some hotel costs, but being miserable to save a few hundred bucks is not in the cards for me.

So we have decided to head south. Not sure where, but we are going to chase the sunshine and that is where it is at. The plan is meet at Alice's on Tuesday AM, look at a map and .

[budman]

I dig HWY 1 South and Butch and I had an epic ride down a couple of years ago as I mentioned above. It is truly beautiful and feels quite removed from 21st century California. I will be pitching that in the AM. We will kick off our ride at Alice's Restaurant so that is kind of cool. In the AM we will let the epicness begin!!

Tuesday September 23rd:
I got to Alice's early and ate some of an omelet and checked on work email. SLO showed at 9:29 after an exhausting 6 mile ride. Butch was 9:31 and Hun was 9:35. So far so good.
Maps reviewed and the HWY lay ahead.
Time to saddle up and ride...!

Pics:
Butch looks at his little Map..!
Stefan looks at his little Map...!
Here is the group ready to Roll..!

[budman]

Today's route was 35 to 9 to Bear Creek to Summit to San Jose Soquel to 1. A few bikes out and about made me feel special to be out riding on a Tuesday and such a beautiful day. Gas stop in Carmel and down the coast we went. It always is beautiful on a sunny day and this was not different. Traffic was not too bad and got better after Big Sur.

We saw a couple bikers and waived of course. They waived back and as they passed we realized they were CHP. The new fully faired motors were a surprise. Good to know. Kurt led the way and the traffic was enough to disrupt the flow. It was OK though as we mixed in a fun pace and the exhilaration passing cars kept us entertained.

We blew thru Big Sur and beyond and stopped for lunch at Lucia Lodge and enjoyed chatting, the fresh air, a hummingbird and the monarch butterflies. Food was good, but from the patio we could see the fog layer was moving in further south. We went thru the new man made tunnel / falling rock road protecting castle and it looked like a chill waited.

Nope. Hun turned left on Nacimiento-Ferguson Road. I pulled up next to him and Kurt said “How do you feel about the fog” and I said “FUCKED” He asked about the bypass and I said “Hell yeah, let’s do it!”. The two gents behind agreed and off we’d go.

Tight, uphill, a bit dirty and narrow Kurt was in his element. Cool ride!! We stopped and took a photo op of the fog bank beyond and the twisty road below. Saddled back up we continued. A few camp spots littered the road and 3 cars and a fire truck passed the other way. Kurt said it was the first time he saw the river next to the road dry. Go figure, huh?? Kurt is great on these roads and his lines are as safe as possible and of course his body language and directional changes can be easily read from behind. The road demands attention and is a fairly physical so as we descended into the valley things were heating up.

[budman]

After an hour or so a double yellow appeared and the road widened and smoothed.
That announced we are now on military turf. Fort Hunter Ligget, an Army base. Sure not worried about being cold anymore, as the temp was getting up there. A cool ride in terms of the visual stimulation.

When we left the base the sign said 4:04 PM. And 102 degrees. So much for getting cold.!! We stop in Lockwood at the general store. The only store. The only building. Water/Gatorade and we are off towards Lake Nacimiento. The break was much needed though!

Flowing two lane roads thru the country. Awesome. We rode past the lake and on towards Paso Robles. A lady driving an old pickup truck threw out the finger at us and that was the last surprise on this leg. 250 miles made for a damn good day.

We checked into the Black Oak Best Western showered up and then it was time for some grub and drinks.

We grabbed some Mexican food and then hit Bubba's BBQ** for a beer. Then we spent the late evening hours sitting around the pool talking a little bit about a lot of stuff!!

** Bubba's is a Pit Ho Rally regular dinner spot.


Map of todays route:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Alic...0958!3e0?hl=en


Picture
Kurt and I enjoying life with Stefan taking a pic of the road and fog bank behind us.
Stefan and Butch hanging by the pool --- great chats!

[flying_hun]

Today is such a beautiful day! I wanna GO BACK!!!

[NoGall]

Niiiice!

[budman]

Wednesday morning we do brekkie and we are on the road by 8:45. We head down 101 south to 41 and on to Rossi's driveway. Shit started early as my left saddlebag fell off on 41. Dr_SLO is once again tasked to pick it up and wait for me to turn around (happened on the Rydther Rally a little over a week earlier). Turns out the plastic clip that attaches it to the mount is broken. After a bungee cord , zip tie, a strap and a scarf found on the side of the road seems to be secured, but I still did not attack Rossi’s DW with the regular gusto.

So to be sure the bag will stick around we adjusted our plan and headed into Santa Margarita and Walmart to buy some more bungee cords. My God, all those “People of Walmart” emails are true!! 2 more bungees put on and away we go!!

We continued down 101 as the sun shone on us and the ocean. We then hit the166 exit towards Bakersfield and then a right turn Tepusquet Road, which led to some real beauty in the Santa Maria Valley. Tepusquet is damn fun.. sort of goaty in width, but with good pavement and some decent engineering. Some fine riding for sure!!! Then we took a bumpy ride two lane to Fess Parker's (Daniel Boone TV fame) Winery. This weekend is the 10th Anniversary of the movie "Sideways". Kurt and Butch said the movie featured Central Coast wineries and launched this area as far as wine sales. Whatever.

So we ended up in Los Olivos after a nice ride. Varying roads of non-divided /two lane /tight / sweeping/ bumpy / smooth / desolate awe inspiring beauty. An iced white chocolate mocha and flatbread pizza at the coolest Peet’s Coffee ever, made chilling on the patio more than cool. Seemed like it was time to play movie memories, Saturday Night live memories ....Old Guy stuff. Awesome fun. Maps were reviewed and decisions made. It was so nice hanging there and not working.. my my.

Next up Kurt takes us up this supposed dead end road up Figueroa Mountain Road. “40 minutes up and back” he said. He had heard it was good, but was a dead end. The road did not end in twenty minutes.. nor 30 or 40 and in typical Hun fashion he kept going and going. Well over an ½ hour into the ride we stopped for a photo op. Beautiful view of the valley below. We then saddled back up and continued on into the unknown. I knew Hun wanted to know where this road ended so after a couple of ridge lines we were all in!!
We finally saw some structures after three campsites and two ridges. We came to a sign that said HWY 154 --->. No distance. Just --->. Quick chat we are in...! A couple of small water crossings greeted us and watching Butch getting all sideways on his R6 was quite the delight..!

The road was very narrow and had a lot of rocks and dirt, but there was a clean line where the car tires go. After a while we see the sign. Intermittent dirt next 3 miles. Once again we're in. Turns out the guy who owned that land did not pay his property taxes and the County refused to pave his property frontage. Learned that at Santa Barbara Ducati. (Stay tuned).

We continued on and after another 45 minutes we saw a stripe in the middle of the road and then a ranch ... And then another. Wow... Humans!!

We found out the road was not a dead end, however there were a couple of gates that could have been closed. We finally jump on HWY 58 and head south intending to hit 33 and End up in Ojai. My bike disagreed and I needed some bits to have a working tail light. A bungee had stressed the rear fender and it cracked and needed some love. At least I wanted to see if we could fix it. So to Santa Barbara Ducati instead.

We called in advance and they said they were open until 6PM and would be able to help us out. That was good because the fender and taillight were bungeed to my seat. We checked in at the dealer about 5:10 and the boys went to work. The only fix ended up to pull a new fender off another multi on the floor and then order a replacement. This was after checking out an aftermarket fix, but that did not work with the bags.

It was now close to 6 (closing) and some guy named Carlin Dunne said "No worries, we will get you on the road". Sweet. A walk thru things at the shop told me my memory was right. This guy wrote some records at Pikes Peak on a Multistrada. Fricking awesome!!!!. Lots of trophies, news paper articles, flat track pics and a team photo from Pikes, which I snapped a pic of.

So.....Fix it they did and at 6:30 we hit the road. Too late for Ojai so we settled in for a high priced night Santa Barbara. La Qunita got the nod and we checked in and were in for a shower at 7pm. Now clean and refreshed we had an awesome Mexican meal at Carlitos and another chill time by the pool talking the about the day’s fun and life. Part of the fun of the ride is sharing those times...and other experiences.

Hun ride. F'ing eh!!

Map: https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=b...ia=1,7&t=m&z=8

Pictures
Butch at a Figeroa Mt. Road outlook
Budman and Butch salute Figeroa Road
Flying_Hun's Caponord -- He digs it!
The Thinker - Butch exercising only his brain
Pic of the Valley below
Butch, Kurt and I at Fes Parkers Winery
Stefan, Kurt and Butch -- Same
Stefan looks to confirm no service bitch
My Multi with straps o'plenty on the bag

[budman]

Really have to thank Carlin Dunn and the staff at Santa Barbara Ducati.

They saved my bacon for sure. Staying to finish it up was really appreciated and without their help I would have been riding without a brake light....because I was not going to quit!!

Pictures
Carlin Dunn on the left in his Team Photo
I think he will always have the record for the Peak run in both dirt and pavement as it is now all paved.

His winning number plate.
and one of me trying to scarf up my saddle bag..

[budman]

We indulged in a simple brekkie at the Hotel and packed up. I admit I hit the sack earlier last night.. a bit more worn I guess. We quickly hit 101 and man it was beautiful. The sun was out, the ocean was a gorgeous blue and the oil rigs danced on the horizon A short jaunt gets us to HWY 150 on the way to Ojai.

We gassed up and then we jumped onto HWY 33 and up we went into the mountains once again. A lot of 33 has no room for error really, but the curves entice you to wick it up. Not all of it is noticeable cliffs, but there are a few!! Nearing the summit we came up on a pack of 20 or so sleds. 5 were easy to pass.. the next 10 were in tight flying formation… not so easy while maintaining some respect for them. Finally hit a straight and ripped by! Thought to myself.. that is horsepower boys… Now there was a gap to the next group which no longer included the lead dude. He was out front giving Hun a good view of what a Harley can do on a twisty road with a good rider…!!! Nice work man!! Kurt was impressed for sure and made mention of it at our drink stop.

We had all cleared the sleds including the quick one, but they stopped across the street from the store and regrouped. We were still in the high desert of Los Padres National Forest.. man the forest stretches across a large area of the state!

The Bikers soon all gathered up and with a quick wave off they went on their way. We stuck the ear plugs back in, put back on our lids, mounted up and motored away. Before our stop I was amazed at the several road crossing where they were labelled “Flash Flood Warning”. Hell you could see the dirt strewn across the road and even though everything looked still and dead on either side you knew this was no joke!! Hardly any traffic had been seen going the other way. We finally started to see a couple of Ranches and I thought to myself.. man just going to the Dentist from out here had to be an all-day expedition!! We ran across a Fire Facility just before town and they had a Helicopter poised.. no doubt they need it as they are pretty damn remote!
First a quick left on Lockwood Valley Road then left on Mil Portrero HWY, which quickly became some sticky black virgin!! My God this was the bomb.. so smooth.

Quickly Bear and Deer signs appeared and I thought to myself hitting a Bear would suck!!! That Bear would probably be mad as hell and maul me as I laid on the road.

Kurt said he saw a huge black furry rear end chugging into the forest and assumed it was a Bear or the biggest black dog every seen..!!.. I was following him and did not see it.

The road flowed thru the hills and was really fun. Moderate to high speed sweepers mixed with tighter turns and elevation changes. Then a right on Cerro Noroestra gave more of the same except not so virgin and not so black. We continued the fun as we headed towards the Valley. This went on for a while as we descended out of snow country. Temps were once again heating up and some high speed passing led us to a quick gas stop and then towards Taft.

Pictures
Flying Hun
Butch fly by
Dr SLO fly by
Budman's multi with custom bungee set up

[budman]

Taft provided high desert oil rigs o’ plenty…! Nodding Donkeys as Kurt said the locals called them. After a little drone in 80 plus temps the road brought us to HWY 58. Whehoo!!! Last time I road 58 it was a very epic experience both ways. Butch was there and that day we tested our gas range. This time it was a bit closer. Also I was riding my BMW K1300S last time so I was looking forward to the more nimble Multi.

58 quickly provided a great section of tighter curves with good pavement and a very sporting pace!! All of us were just a few bike lengths apart and while that is not smart for some areas it was a blast here and one of my favorite parts of the ride..! 58, in sections, offers some well-engineered and produced pavement!! It is a fun road. Little in the way of traffic or driveways or anything really.

We ended up stopping for a late lunch at the Loading Chute restaurant in Creston. The food was good and we were all pretty hungry. I read the history of the Restaurant and town and would advise doing the same if you ever get down there. Pretty cool cowboy stuff!

This was after a snappy ride up Rossi's driveway. If you mind your location for both oncoming traffic and the sandy /fine gravel on the inside of turns you can really rock the roller coaster. Very quick lefts to rights, plus with uniquely pitched asphalt makes this a favorite. We cruised it back into Paso Robles and the day hadleft us feeling good!! We landed back at the Black Oak in Paso Robles as we all agreed the room was spacious at a good price and there was no reason to look around!

Dinner was a jaunt to another Mexican restaurant Sports bar that left me going eh?? Food was dull and they only had a couple kinds of beer. Should have got a burger!! We picked up a 6 pack and hit the pool area again to discuss the best parts or the trip so far and the plan going forward.

I really have come to enjoy our time sitting around the pool having a and chatting.

Map: https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=L...ia=5,7&t=m&z=8

Pictures
Rossi's Driveway... let's ride it!
Bud, Stefan and Kurt
4 Bikes one cool road
The Loading Chute restaurant

[CrazyGenius]

Looks like an awesome trip on good roads with great company, good time spent.

Will read thread & report later... to enjoy !!!

[budman]

It sure was G.

Part of the reason I write these is I will forget so much and this reinforces a great time.
Barf is my journal at times.

[Ahab]

Subscribed
Thanks for sharing!
I went up north on Monday 9/22, and started going east after breakfast on Tuesday. I changed plans and kept going east to evade the rain until it finally caught up with me the night Wedneday/Thursday at Lake Almanor. You would have gotten wet going north on Tuesday for sure.
Still have to write up my trip report ...

[SD Hornet]

Sounds like a great trip! Hope you enjoyed Figueroa Mtn/Happy Canyon. My preference is up Happy Canyon and down Figueroa.

[flying_hun]

Originally Posted by SD Hornet

Sounds like a great trip! Hope you enjoyed Figueroa Mtn/Happy Canyon. My preference is up Happy Canyon and down Figueroa.

We'll try it the other way next time!