We all met in Cordelia at the junction of hwy 680 and 80 at 8:30am. I had met up with Cisco and Big Dan earlier in Fremont and we arrived late, but not last at 8:47am. 5 minutes later Mike rolls up. I introduce myself to Christy and her boyfriend Vince. Unfortunately Vince can't join us on this ride and promises to make the next one. Since I had been on first 3 roads we were about to hit I decided to take "sweep" just to make sure we didn't lose anyone. Something that can happen very easily when you have differences in skill levels. We have a quick discussion as to where the next meet spot is and then we are off down Suisun Valley Road which takes us through some pretty wine country and vineyards, it eventually becomes Wooden Valley Road which then tees into Hwy 121. Hwy 121 to Hwy 128 is a fun little stretch that has some tight turns and LOTS of elevation changes. The road surface was in great condition and we were out early enough to avoid most of the boat and lake traffic. At the junction of 121 and 128 we make our first quick stop. Just to regroup and take a few pics. There were a few other riders there and they were surprised when they asked where we were headed and we said Eureka. This wasn't just a day run buddy. We were out to ride!

From the junction we take Knoxville/Berryessa Road. If you are into goat trails this is the road for you. For the first 3/4 of the road its a tight, bumpy, pot hole ridden, one laner that has several dry wash stream crossings. I had a blast! Up on the pegs and put myself into MX mode. One interesting thing that I noticed as well as several of us was the sign that said "Road Narrows". This being in the middle of a road that already was one lane for at least 10 miles....we thought it was pretty funny. The road suddenly opens up into a beautiful wide stretch of sweepers that you could easily take at speed, it almost reminded me of Skagg's. We then ended up at the little town of Lower Lake off Hwy 29. Here Ryan takes off to go see his father who lives in Fort Bragg. We were to meet with him the next day for the 2nd leg of our 2 day ride.

And then they were seven.

We take 29 north and then quickly make our way over to Hwy 20 heading east towards I-5. We hit I-5 at a small town called Calusa where we all gas up and get some grub at Burger King. So far so good and we were all having a blast. Weather was perfect and we were all amped for more. After lunch we do some super slabbing on the I-5 and we get off at Maxwell and take some backroads that loop through Stonyford and eventually drops you onto 162 and the backside of one of our favorite racetracks, Thunderhill. Back again on the 5 at Willows we drone again up to Red Bluff where we make an extend break to gather our strength for the last leg of the first day. The famous Hwy 36!!!! 140 miles of sportbike heaven. From Red Bluff along I-5 this road takes you almost all the way to the coast. This road had a little of everything. Sweepers, tight twisties, VERY few straights, LOTS of elevation changes, just miles and miles of endless curves...over and over and over....almost to the point where I was thinking, does this road ever end? The first few miles were like a roller coaster! Constant ups and downs, lefts and rights. I was screaming at the top of my lungs!!! And this was just the first few miles!!! There were more curves and twisties to be had!!!! SF bay area roads look pitiful compared to 36. I don't think it can get any better than this. Hwy 36 is THE best road I have EVER been on...EVER.....hands down. Its not open for discussion. Its the BEST. Period.

Not only is the road awesome but it takes you through some breathtaking scenery. Forests and meadows, hills and mountains, rivers and streams...nature as its best...not nearly as majestic as the Sierras but very close. The road condition was clean most of the way. There was a section where there was spots of gravel in every right hander but we all passed through without any problems. Although most of us had an "Oh shit!" or 2 in some of those blind corners. It also didn't help that we were riding into the sunset so cruising through the trees gave you this ligh/dark/light/dark blinking effect. Very unerving when the sun is shining in your face but the apex of the corner is lost in shadows.

We eventually make it down to the small town of Fortuna where we stayed for the night. Mike made the great choice in choosing a motel that was right next to a local brewery/restaurant. Yeah boyee!!We were all tired and hungry and ready for a nice relaxing dinner and a hot shower after. The brewery was called the Eel River Brewery and the food was pretty damn good. Christy orders something called a Ravenbrau Porter that just happened to be over 9% alcohol. Cisco and I both sample some of their local brews. These things are practically malt liquors, heavy, dark and strong! We were soon laughing our asses off (good thing cause they hurt) and the whole place kept giving us looks. We didn't care. We just conquered Hwy 36!

After dinner we got more drinks at the local minimart and tossed a few more back at the rooms. Shared a few motorcycling stories and laughs and then went to bed to get ready for the next part of the ride. The Avenue of the Giants was on the menu and we were all excited about that.

After the Avenue of the Giants we hopped on 101 for a short stretch. This far north 101 is not the same 4 lane freeway 101 you are used to in the bay area. 101 up here is more like a mix of Hwy 17 and 84. Not as boring as I thought it would be. When we reached a small town called Legget, we headed west on 1 which was to take us to the coast. Unfortunately a few miles in Christy had a small mishap on the ONLY major gravel patch seen on this WHOLE entire ride. I was riding sweep at this point and was getting ready to move up to the front. If I had been behind Mike when we came across the gravel I prolly would have gone down. Christy's bike was stopped from going down a ravine by a tree. Cisco and Scott found Christy a few more feet down the ravine and pulled her out. She was shaken and still in shock and the only thing that came to her mind was "The BIKE". Fortunately she was fine. Her gear held up very well and after relaxing and calming down she was ok to ride. Damage to the bike was all cosmetic (thank god no levers broke). Cracked uppers and front fender. I was carrying duct tape and patched the bike up best I could. The 2 Dan's did their best to fix a broken instrument cluster mount. After checking the bike and also making sure Christy was ok we decided to continue on the ride. However, Christy and Mike were to head home via 101 cause Christy was not in the mood to continue on the ride. She made it home safe and sound.

And then they were five..

From Fort Bragg we headed south on Hwy 1 towards 128. Hwy 128 is another great stretch of road, unfortunately its also a major connector from Fort Bragg to Hwy 101 and Cloverdale. Most cages moved out of the way but near the end of the road, right at the most twisty section of the hwy we come across a cage train of about 10 cars moving at about 25mph and the lead car would NOT budge. We pass many many turnouts and passing lanes but she wasn't having any of it. The road is so tight that there is almost no place to pass and by the time I was able to get ahead of here we were near the end of the road and close to our lunch destination.

After a lunch of rib-eye steak sandwiches (Bigger Dan had a burger) we TRIED to find the road to the geysers. We missed it so we just headed south on 101 and took 128 towards Calistoga. Not wanting to go through the heart of the wine country cause of all the weekend traffic we cut over to Hwy 29 and then got on Silverado Trail which eventually passes by 128 again. From there we took 128 along the shore of Lake Berryessa and eventually ended up at the junction of 121 and 128. Another quick break to rest up and get a drink. From there it would be back the same way we came in and then gas up in Cordelia to prepare for the final stretch home on the freeway. Unfortunately Bigger Dan went wide in one of the right hand turns that connect the straights in the flat lands. Turns out he had a flat front tire. Good thing no one was coming the other way. Luckily both Bigger Dan and I were carrying patch kits and CO2 so we were off again in 30 minutes. Scott took off from Cordelia as he lives in Manteca. The rest of us were all from the south bay so we decided to all ride home together

And then they were four.

From the junction of 680 and 80 there is a road that parallels 680 almost all the way to the toll booths. By now the sun is down and traffic is VERY heavy on 680. Luckily we were on that cool road and by passed some of the traffic. After getting on 680 we headed south towards dinner, a hot shower and some sleep. Traffic was heavy but moving. Dan peels off first at the Mission Blvd connector.

And then they were three.

I exit at Capitol Ave.

And then they were two.

Cisco takes 101 south towards Hellyer Ave.

And then they were one.

Bigger Dan continues on to Cupertino.

Overall one of the best riders I've been on. Great company and even greater roads. Temperatures were very mild. The road conditions were almost flawless. Aside from Christy's little crash this ride would have been perfect. I hope you are doing ok, Christy.

Thanks to Mike for putting the route together and leading us on this ride. Thanks to everyone who showed up. I had a blast and I know you all did too.

Scott's Write Up Of the 2 Day Ride

We started by meeting in Fairfield area, where 680 and 80 meet. Eight riders, 5 inline-four 600_s, one 650 v-twin and one 1000 inline-four as well as one 1000 v-twin. Seven guys, one woman. From there we took Susuin Valley Road, a nice twisting preview of what is to come and turns into Wooden Valley Road. That intersects with Highway 121 for a few miles and then we turned onto Highway 128, which leads to Berryessa Knoxville Road. This is one crazy road. The road starts out fine, but after about 10 miles of regular roads, some bumpy spots, it gets narrower and bumpier. The road conditions leave a lot to be desired. Then, you get to the really bumpy section! There are these concrete spillways that have a huge bump as you drop down onto them and then a bump at the other end that can launch man and machine if you are not careful. A few strategically placed turns can send you into the side of the hill if you are not careful. At this point, I decided being fourth in line (out of eight) was fine, but there was no way I was feeling comfortable going this fast on these crappy road conditions! I slowed down and made it through, no problems. The Berryessa Knoxville road smooths out and turns into a really nice, wide two lane road with really fast turns and lets you get into your groove and see what the bike can do, without breaking the sound barrier and then drops you off in Lower Lake, at Clear Lake. From there, we lost one of the riders (1000 v-twin) as he was going to go to visit his father from there.

From Lower Lake, we took Highway 20, which is pretty much an easy, well-traveled highway to get to Interstate 5. We stopped for some people fuel at Burger King, and talked about the crazy bumpy road. Some of these guys loved it! We got on 5 for about 5 miles and at Maxwell took a turn-off and were on Sites Lagoda Road. We followed that nice fast twisty road (watch out for the rocks in the road) to Stonyford and after getting behind a slow moving truck, realized that was a good thing, since the Sheriff was right in front of him! When we got to the next little intersection, don_t remember the name of the town; we stopped for a break, since the Sheriff was going the same way as us. After a 15-minute break, we got back on, and from there, it was a fairly easy ride back to 5. We got on 5 and took it up to Red Bluff, where we gassed up, got some caffeine and relaxed a little, before the long haul.

Highway 36 leaves Red Bluff and gets twisty in a hurry! This is the best, longest motorcycle road I have ever been on! Remember, that Highway 36 goes from the upper central valley of California, all the way to the coastal area of Eureka. That is 139 miles people! We planned to stop about 55-60 miles into it, at an intersection of sorts, for a re-group and mental break. So, anyway. We leave Red Bluff and if you like roller coasters, but love motorcycles, this road is for you. It was described to me like this. _Picture a road that was designed by a streetbike rider in a 2-D plane. Now, turn it into a 3-D road, by having a motorcross rider tweak it!_ Literally, there are some sections, where you are watching the head of the guy in front of you, so you have an idea if you will be hanging off the left side of you bike or the right after you crest the hill. This is a section of road where, if you didn_t have to hold on to control the bike, you would have both hands in the air, screaming at the top of your lungs, like a regular roller coaster! What a blast! This is the way all roads should be! So, after the roller coaster, it smoothed out and we got into some straight sections that lasted all of about 5 miles total, and then back into the turns again. This whole section has turns that are meant to be taken at between 50 and 75 MPH. If the sign says 35, double the number, hang off the bike and lean. Smooth throttle response, sliding your butt back and forth from edge to edge of the seat is a must. There were a few rocks in the road, but they are easy to see, since they were mostly larger rocks. Don_t fixate on them, unless you want to hit them. I got to experience my first ever rear end slide on this section of road. Luckily for me, it happened rather quickly and I didn_t have time to react, I just held my current position and it corrected itself. I think it was either a small patch of gravel or some of that black crack-fix crap that Caltrans seems to like. Strange feeling to have the back end try and pass the front end. Good thing it didn_t go very far, or I would have been limping my bike and body home the 400 miles. We stopped at the designate point and re-grouped and talked about what we just went through. At this point, we all knew where we were riding, based off comfort level compared to one another. I was in fourth position, following the Yamaha R1 that Big Dan was riding. Every so often, I wish I would pass him but that means I would have to keep the pace, no matter what. Kristy on her 2 week old GSX600R was right behind me, keeping pace and seeming to be happy there.

After a near tip-over because of some monkey business at the re-group spot, we started off on the second half of 36. Funny thing, the very first right hand turn caught almost every one of us off guard. I think three of us went wide and crossed the double yellow. There was very little traffic, so that was no big deal, and we all got back into the groove of things quickly. This section of the road turned out to be the faster portion of the road, and more diverse than the first section, as far as scenery goes. It is in the Shasta Trinity National Forest, but is nothing like the Sierra_s as far as elevation changes. The highest point is something like 4000 feet. After what seemed like an eternity of turns, the weather started to get grayer, as we were getting closer to the coast. This also means redwoods. Those are some big trees! Don_t want to hit one of those, they don_t move! It started getting colder and I just kept looking at my trip odometer thinking that we have about 12 more miles until we can stop and gas up and put some layers back on! We made it out and stopped at the first gas station we saw. Three of the bikes were hurting for gas, so they gassed up, even though it was only 5 miles to the hotel. The Pashnit site says that highway 36 takes about 4 hours, but we did it in less than 3, not including the stop in the middle. Average speed was probably about 60.

That night, we stayed in Fortuna and had dinner across the parking lot at a Brewery. 7am came early the next morning. We were leaving Fortuna at about 9am, headed for the Avenue of the Giants. Jimil was leading the pack and had never been to the Giant Redwoods. He was looking for the really big redwoods and kept on going, all the way through the Avenue, without stopping. Oh well. Never did the drive through tree or anything. Too bad. We got on 101 south for a while and turned off at Highway 1. This doesn_t feel like a highway, but I guess that is to be expected of highway 1. About 5 miles into it, there was a really bad turn. Lots of gravel and dirt, and the first two riders went through no problem. Kristy was the third, and watched Big Dan go wide because of the dirt and then she did the same thing. She freaked out, and ended up (from what it looks like) doing a small high-side. The bike ended up stopped just before a tree, she was about 8 feet down the side of the hill. Cisco was right behind her and watched the whole thing and I was behind Cisco. I was the first that came to a stop and found out where Kristy was. I asked if she was O.K., and she said _MY BIKE!_ She was fine, that was pretty obvious, she had landed in a very soft patch of brush, and had her leathers on anyway. We picked up the bike and made sure Kristy was fine, which she was. She cared more about the bike, because it was only two weeks old and didn_t even have a license plate yet. So, after some duct tape, some zip ties and removal of a few parts, her bike was ride-able, but she was shaken and didn_t want to do the rest of the trip as planned. Her and Mike took off back for 101 to get home in the easiest fashion. The rest of us kept going on the same path, and as it turns out, that was the worst turn, debris-wise, out of the whole day. Two more after that one had crap in it, but that was it for the rest of the day. Too bad her day was cut short like that, but she was lucky it was just the bike that was hurt because she missed a tree by probably only a few inches.

Well, we kept going on 1 and hit the coast, then followed it down to Fort Bragg, where we gassed up and then a few miles later hit Highway 128 and took that down to Cloverdale. This was a nice road, but we had to contend with many cars on this stretch, so passing was done many times. We were able to stop before we got too far inland at a nice spot that was dense with redwoods, so we did get some nice redwoods in some pictures. As we were riding, you could tell we were in Mendocino County by all the vineyards. It started to get warmer here, and as we got to into Cloverdale, I was ready to stop and shed some layers. We stopped at this little BBQ restaurant at Cloverdale, where they have an awesome rib-eye steak sandwich. Highly recommended. From there, we hopped on 101 and headed south, to 128 once again, and took that through the Alexander Valley, where one of my favorite wines is made (Silver Oak). We didn_t have time to stop though, since we were running late at that point, and we all wanted to get home, since it was starting to get colder, and we were still a long ways from home. We took 128 all the way back to the junction of 128 and 121, back to Susuin Valley Road. We were about 3 miles from the gas station where we all met when Big Dan took an easy turn wide, and went all the way across the road, and the other Dan passed him on the inside, wondering what was happening the whole time. As I passed Big Dan, I saw why he ran wide, he had a flat front tire. We stopped and were able to find the hole; Dan had a plug kit, since he has had a flat on a ride before. He also had CO2 cartridges and an adapter to fit to a tire valve. About 20 minute later, we were back on our way.

Back at the gas station where it all began, we all gassed up, put layers back on and headed home. I got in at 8:45pm Sunday night. Long day, since we started around 9am.

I am walking funny, because my thighs hurt so bad from shifting my weight from side to side in the seat, but it was a great ride, and one that needs to be done again, at least parts of it. Too bad we cannot put all these roads in line with one another and take the Highway 5 sections out of there! Oh, and while we are at it, put them right in our neighborhood, so we can do these rides whenever we feel the need, the need for speed! I will send more info to links of the pictures when I get them.