Apr 17 - Cantelow Road

Apr 17 - Cantelow Road

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Today's Ride started out as a NCTRF Ride, but I decided to invite the NorCal VROC folks.
There were four VROCers. NiteLite, Makini and two members of both VROC and NCTRF, me and Phil T. In total we had 10 bikes including one guest of Eric B riding a Harley.

And we had a pleasant surprise at the start point in Dixon. Lockup formerly known as David J. stopped by to say Hi. David is a brand new Correctional Officer who is working long hours up in Susanville. His home is still in Woodland, but he had to get back to work later this afternoon.
Lockup and I think that NiteLite is doing his mind reading act

Lockup, NiteLite, Makini and Stan K

Eric B, Jess H Eric's Triumph Legend and my Triumph Legend

Here is today's planned Ride Route:

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The weather is perfect cool and partly cloudy. The first nice road we ride is new to all but Makini. It is Cantelow Road in Vacaville.
This is the wide part of the road

Too bad it is only 5 miles long, but four of those miles look like this

Then we head north on Pleasants Valley Road to Hwy 128 to The Corners. The General Store is closed again.
Well there are well watered bushes behind the building now

At least there is a big parking lot

One more pit stop where Knoxville-Berryessa Road and Pope Valley Road intersect.
Stan decided to ride his Valk with the bald front tire today rather than his Triumph. And Makini's distinctive Vulcan.

Tom P. was late as usual, but not the last one today and Jess is checking his cell phone.

Pdub, Eric's friend from work and Eric B

Phil T. and NiteLite

We continue to Pope's Valley then to Angwin and along Silverado Trail to Buster's Southern BBQ.
Now the Ride gets a bit confused. As I ride through the parking lot the tables are full and there is a long line waiting to order. So I decide to continue the Ride and eat in Glenn Ellen. But ......

Anyway NiteLite and I are the ones that continue the Ride Route.

I have only ridden Brush Creek Road in Santa Rosa a few times, but the homes up on the hills continue to amaze me in their opulence. Brush Creek Road goes through a residential neighborhood but much of it is along Brush Creek and the road is very rustic and a thorough fare.

NiteLite and I decide not to eat at Glen Ellen and head into Sonoma to eat at the Black Bear Diner, instead.
My small portion Chicken Fried Steak

NiteLite's French Dip

Getting ready to take a bite

I had NiteLite take my picture in front of the bears to show off my new Joe Rocket mesh jacket

NiteLite and I part company since he is heading west back home and I am headed east.

I gas up across the street and said "I may as well make the last two stops on the Ride Route". So I head over toward the Chocolate Cow. As I turn into the parking lot entrance I notice that Phil's Nomad, Pdub's V-Strom and Jess' Sprint are parked on the street just at the entrance.
Sure enough they had ridden Hwy 29 to Hwy 12 to get to the Chocolate Cow from Calistoga

There were a few others that were suppose to make the Ride to the Chocolate Cow, but they either lost touch or decided to head back home along with some others that needed to head back.
I get my gelato although I really did not need to after my big lunch

The only on road shot today as I lead the group back to Hwy 12

The scheduled end point of the Ride was the Jelly Belly Factory. So I stopped there as the other three continued along I-80 back to Sacramento.

I accosted someone in the parking lot to take my photo under the sign

This one is for Cranky. Six dollars worth of licorice Jelly Bellys. {I had the cashier take this photo :-) }

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March 26, 2010 - Yuma

Sherm leads the First "Lettuce Ride".
At 9:00 AM this is Sherm heading out for a brief tour of Old Town Yuma and then over to visit the Territorial Prison State Park.

The second wave of riders.

The third wave.

The fourth wave.

Cranky and the stragglers.
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Here are three pics of the afternoon Lettuce Ride.

Where are the Lettuce Fields???

People snap pictures from the weirdest places.
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After the Ride Macguy, Sledge and I ride over to Algodones, the Mexican Border Town about eight miles from Yuma.
Sledge and Macguy walking toward the border

Looking for the nearest Dentist :-)

We wander around the village looking for stuff and just checking out the place.
Sledge crossing the Main street

We had to wait in line for about a half hour to get back into the US. Macguy and I have no problem as we show the officer our Passport/Passport Card. Sledge on the other hand is taken to the Interrogation Room. He is delayed for another half to 3/4 of an hour for something he is not sure of. Eventually, he is allowed back into the country. Meanwhile after waiting about 15 minutes, I has asked if he minded if we left. I could bet no closer than about 30 feet of the Interrogation Waiting Room which was pretty crowded. But he waved to say "Go Ahead".
He told the story of his questioning, but I will wait to see if he wants it in print.
Almost there

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Saturday morning, March 27, 2010
It is really quite windy out as we head out for our Saturday morning Ride.
I had planned only to go to the first stop and then return to Yuma.
It is a short Ride to a Date Grove for a Date Shake and to pick up a Yuma souvenir.

Here is a 40 second long video of Sherm setting up his Group Photo at the Date Store.
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....

Feb 15 - Little Dragon

Feb 15 - Little Dragon With Canadian Visitor

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Today's original Ride was ambitious for February, but we had to modify it since we were down to two Riders, me and John from BC. And John was stuck in dense fog in Chowchilla whereas I in Stockton only had light fog with visibility around three miles. In fact it was not until Delhi that I encountered fog where the visibility was down to a quarter of a mile.

So I changed the meet time to 10:15 AM at Delhi, which was my mistake. Since Hwy 99 finally bypassed Livingston and Delhi, there is not an obvious meeting place in Delhi. Why Delhi? Because we could get on back roads immediately and head toward Snelling. We rode the Hwy 49 section known as the "Little Dragon", a 16.5 mile stretch of Hwy 49 just south of Coulterville, CA. For photos of the road see Tim Mayhew's pictures at: The Wow Factor, a Pashnit Motorcycle Tour.

The road is described by Tim Mayhew {Pashnit} of California Motorcycle Roads thusly:

Probably what makes this ride so well-liked amongst motorcyclists is the wide open spaces. Imagine if I could offer up a endless dose of curves, yet give you the see-through you've only dreamt about.

So our first pit stop {we are old guys in need of finding a "wash room", as the Canucks call them} is in Snelling.John's better side :-)

Our first real stop is to see the remnants of the building where Ghirardelli Chocolates got their start during the Gold Rush Times. {the company story now says Stockton, but the General Store was in Hornitos}

We parked in front of the Post Office and the bar owner next door was in his yard. He was kind enough to tell us some things about the big gold mines that used to operate around the area.
He also opened his bar to show us the interior.
Opening the metal doors

Great old bar and cash register

This is the remnants of Domingo Ghirardelli's General Store.

A close up of the plaque

From Hornitos we head to the southern Vista Point of the Little Dragon. Today I did not take any photos from the Vista because there are many in previous Blogs.

As we reach Coulterville we decide not to stop for lunch. But traveling any further north would make lunch too late. So I turn back toward the Valley onto Hwy 132 and head to La Grange. We stop at the La Grange Saloon and Grill for a tri-tip sandwich and a beer.
Heeeerrree's Johnny

The plaque outside

The tri-tip served French Dip style with fries was $10, tax included

A couple sitting and eating and drinking at the bar

There is also an outdoor area and stage through the back door

After lunch we get to the west end of La Grange and turn south onto La Grange Road to head back to Snelling and gasoline. There was no gas at La Grange. Basically Snelling is the end of the Ride. From just west of Snelling I will turn north and John will head south.
We gas up and say our good byes. It was a short 100 mile ride with many stops to BS and view the scenery. The weather was great as the fog lifted just as we left Delhi. There were a bunch of motorcycles on the road today.



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Feb 12 - Lunch With Canadian Visitor

Feb 12 - Lunch With Canadian Visitor

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A link to Cranky's Blog of today


Today Cranky and I had lunch with a Canadian visitor, John Sharhon, VROC# 16834 from Kelowna, British Columbia, a retired firefighter. There are three couples with John the only motorcyclist staying in Chowchilla, CA which is about 32 miles due east of Los Banos, CA.
So where else would I meet him for lunch. Of course the Wool Growers.
Cranky and John and my 1997 BMW R850R

We had to have a posed shot.

We met at 11:30 AM which is the time that the Wool Growers opens for lunch and were the first customers of today.
The soup and beans

John's first time at a Basque restaurant. He ordered the lamb chops.
My half a baked chicken is barely dented

Cranky had the pork chops so we had one each of today's choices.
Notice where the fries are

After lunch we did a front end pre-ride of Monday's Ride. The full ride will go the length of Hwy 25 then over to King City. Up Hwy 101 then over to Carmel Valley Road. Along Hwy 1 in Carmel and Monterey and then back over Pacheco Pass. Today we croosed over to San Juan Bautista via Union Road and had a short visit at the Mission San Juan Bautista where Hitchcock filmed Vertigo.
John at the Gift Shop at Mission San Juan Bautista

A coke break at the Windmill Market where we said good bye to Cranky. Then back to the Valley. A short 270 mile day for me.

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Jan 31 - Polar Bear Ride

Jan 31 - Polar Bear Ride

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Cranky also has a Blog of today's Ride: Click for Cranky's Blog

The six bikes from Sacramento, Stockton and Manteca ran into some Pea Soup Fog this morning. I left early but had an hour delay as I could not see a thing in front on me. While I was at the Lathrop McDonalds I am sure that Valdez and Biggtwin and crew rode right past me on I-5. So I was the last person to reach the Start Point. :-(
This is what it looked like about 150 yards from I-5 which is dead ahead but not in sight.
And the camera lens picked up much more detail than I saw with my eyes.

Capt. Redbeard had made up a bunch of Polar Bear Ride pins and was handing them out at the McDonald's in Hollister.
Capt. Redbeard on the right with the baggie in hand. Redeye receiving his PBR pin.

This was my attempt at a Group photo, but two were missing. Six of these eight actually own a Vulcan, but Valdez' and Redeye's Nomads were still in the garage. Each was riding their Wing. We did have five Vulcans, two Wings, two Beemers and two Harley's for 11 bikes for this Polar Bear Ride.
Valdez, Redeye, Cranky, Capt Redbeard, Mike and K-ray all own Vulcans as does Biggtwin missing from this photo

Biggtwin was one of those still in the restroom. :-)

The other missing person, Les. He was riding a BMW K1200LT.

No road photos today. Too cold. I had my Gerbing jacket liner turned on full bore for the first part of this ride. Panoche Road was in pretty decent condition considering the recent weather that we have had. There were a few "Flooded" signs along the road, but the low spots had dried out in the dry weather yesterday.

Our one and only break was at the Panoche Inn, which is in the middle of absolutely nowhere.
If you want to Google the location put in this address:
29960 Panoche Rd Paicines, CA 95043-9760
A few other bikes are parked in front

Mike taking a load off his feet

The owner and his wife

It was a really great day after getting passed the FOG. We did not lose a Rider. Of course there are NO cross roads along Panoche Road or Little Panoche Road. BUT if you do not make the left turn about 200 yards east of the Panoche Inn from Panoche Road to Little Panoche Road you will have about 15 miles of dirt road to get to I-5. {route map at bottom}
OR if you stay on pavement, about 25 miles from the Panoche Inn is the Ghost Town of New Idria. Click for Info on New Idria

There have been rumors that the Wool Growers in Los Banos was getting ready to close. I asked the owner and he denied any such thought.
The Wool Growers owner tending Bar

Cranky, Capt Redbeard and I were the only ones to have eaten here before today. The other eight were "first timers". It was interesting that instead of giving us a choice of lamb chops, pork chops, tri-tip or chicken. Nicole our waitress was going to bring tri-tip AND pork chops for everyone except Capt Redbeard who had half a chicken since his doctor's took him off red meat.
Waiting for the food

It was really busy today and they also had a party in the separate room, so with only two waitresses the service was a bit slower than usual. But the first timers thought that the service was really fast. That is because compared to other restaurants today was quick. But not instantaneous as I have become accustomed to at the Wool Growers. :-)

It was kind of neat as we were served two platters of tri-tip and two platters of pork chops and just passed the platters around.
Soups gone, salad, chicken and rice, and fries still on the table. We even polished off a lot of the house wine today.

We got the chocolate syrup for our ice cream today.
Cranky needs to peddle for an extra 50 miles this coming week

I stole this photo of me from Cranky's Blog.
Me eating dessert

The sky was clear and weather sunny albeit a bit chilly. But this is our Polar Bear Ride. We have two groups heading out. One led by Cranky will take folks to Monterey, San Jose and Fremont.

The others headed north decide to take Hwy 165 to Turlock and Hwy 99 north from there. I decide to ride the country back roads over to Hwy 33 then I-5 back home.
We found enough room in the parking lot for all the bikes
Cranky and Capt Redbeard getting ready to leave



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