Mines/Del Puerto/Hamilton Ride

February 9, 2003

by dgrace:

This sure has been a beautiful winter. We've only had a couple of big storms come through, the rest of the time it's been unusually warm, dry and clear. Perfect conditions for a good ride, like the one we had this Sunday.

The city/peninsula crowd came across the Bay and met up at 11am with folks from the South Bay at our traditional McDonalds spot. A bit of a late start by some standards, but since it takes over an hour for some of us to get there (!) we figured it made sense. Jimil, Chris Williams, Greg Fuse, Glen, a new guy named Louis on a 929, me and Andy Carman loaded up on cholesterol and then headed out. At the Livermore entrance to Mine's we met up with Clayton, Shawn, Steve, and a guy named Jim on a sharp looking R1. Steve took the lead and we attacked Mine's.

Mine's road is in great shape. The surface is clean and dry, the traffic is light, there are a few bumps but no more than usual. Since we're not into heavy riding (squid) season yet the police aren't cracking down on anyone; it's a perfect time to be out riding. You do need to slow down for the 2 creeks which are running over the road this time of year. We made a brisk pace to the Junction to rest our legs and chat, good fun.

From the Junction we headed out on Del Puerto Canyon Rd. It's also in beautiful condition, cleaner than I can ever remember it, with those smooth sweeping corners we all love. Shawn led the way as we snaked through the canyon and strafed the apexes. At the Patterson end there's a new road (well, new to me) which T's up with Del Puerto Canyon and leads off to a new housing development. We headed over to our usual gas stop along I-5 to get a bite to eat and rest. While there I met up with Paul, one of the folks from labusas.org who I've met at previous trackdays. He was also on a TLR and having a blast, and hooked up with us for the return leg. Shawn headed back along I-5.

Paul set a brisk pace in the lead back along Del Puerto, expertly signaling for appropriate slowdowns (like the Sheriff's truck at the park). A couple of miles from the Junction, we came along a group of 3 Harley riders, one of whom was on the ground, a young-looking female rider. She was alert and talking to her friends but they looked like they needed help, so we headed up to the Junction ASAP to inform the folks at the fire station. The truck passed us going back before we got there, so apparently someone else had already spread the word. While at the Junction we saw a helicopter fly in; hopefully her injuries weren't worse than they looked.

We split again with half the group heading back along Mine's to Livermore, and Glen, Jimil, Louis, Andy and myself heading up over Mt. Hamilton to San Jose. This turned out to be a mistake, as the county has recently chip-sealed the entire length from the bottom of Hamilton to the peak. We crept up it in first gear at 15mph, and along the way saw 2 CHP cars heading the other way, unfortunately probably due to an accident somewhere behind us. (though in a way it's a good thing the road was so bad, otherwise we'd probably have been speeding a bit!) At the observatory we shared our disgust at the road and took a few pictures. Luckily that was the extent of the new "paving", the trip down the front side of Hamilton was much better. At the bottom we met up at the T and Louis almost tipped over on his 929 when he locked up the front wheel in the dirt, but Glen was there in time with a helping hand. We bid fond farewells as the sun began to set after an oustanding day of riding.

dave


the McDonalds meeting spot	the Livermore side of Mine's	at the Junction

gassing up in Patterson	gravel from Mt. Hamilton	atop Mt. Hamilton