Hi all! Time to set up another Ninja 250 ride. I'd like to make these a monthly event, typically shooting for the 3rd Saturday of each month. I'm otherwise engaged that day this month, so for this month only lets shoot for Saturday, May 23rd.

I'd like to start this off with a Mines Road ride. :thumbup: Mines is a terribly fun road, away from much of the population and unfettered by driveways or even other traffic. We can meet at the Starbucks on South Vasco Road in Livermore at 10 AM:

Starbucks at Las Positas & Vasco - Livermore
223 South Vasco Road
Livermore, California 94550
925-371-0539
google maplink (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=223+South+Vasco+Road,+Livermore,+California+94550&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=50.644639,113.90625&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=16&iwloc=A)
and we will ride out of the parking lot at 10:30 AM. There is gas a few blocks from the *$, so make sure to come with a full tank. The route will take us all the way down Mines to the Junction (http://thejunctionbarandgrill.com/), and we should be there by 11:30 - 11:45 at the latest for lunch. After lunch at the Junction (http://thejunctionbarandgrill.com/) we have 3 options, all of which are on the table.

Option 1: Those who want a bunch more miles can head east on Del Puerto out to Patterson. Del Puerto is a terrifically fun road! From there we can just double back west to the Junction, or some can head back via I-5 in Patterson if they are short of time.

Option 2: We can continue south on Mines from the Junction to head up Mt. Hamilton Road, which will take us down into San Jose on the other side. From there people can get right to 680 to head home.

Option 3: Folks always have the option to just turn back and head north on Mines, heading right back to Livermore.

There's no need to decide now, or even that morning; we can all decide what works for each of us while we're eating at the Junction. I hope a bunch of us can make it, I always enjoy these Mines group rides and it's a simply perfect road for our ninjettes.

I suspect I will be there :) Sounds fun Alex, thanks for organizing.

Hope you can make it Ryan! :thumbup:

Alex... For June... Can you shoot for the fourth saturday??? Cara says I can borrow her new bike (though she has painted it pink!! The horriors I know but... Anything to ride! )

I will try and make this and see if I can get other 250s to join

Alex... For June... Can you shoot for the fourth saturday???

I think so, but let's see how this first one goes first... :thumbup:

Ah well I can't miss out on this one...I'll take the day off from work on that day. And I know a guy from school with an 08 - I'll try to get him to show up too.

I need to move to CA :).

We will try to make it. Livermore is quite a haul away for me and we might be helping my mother-in-law move (in with us.... *shudder*). And in June we'll be in LA the weekend of the 26th for the West Coast Spyder Owners event for the premier of Transformers. :D

Hope you can make it! Where would you be coming from? (I somehow got the impression that you were in the Livermore area, but I must have mixed you folks up with somebody else...)

We're going to try. I'm mapping it out now. We are clear on the far northern end of Vasco Rd. We live up in Pittsburg. We're about 40 miles away. It looks like a great ride. Is it overly twisty? We're newbs.

Ah, got it. Yup, just like you said, it looks like 40 miles or so to the ride start. The way the bay area roads go, you have to go all the way west, south then east again. Would be much closer if there were just a road straight to it for you. :p I'm about 30 miles south of the ride start.

Mines road is moderately twisty in parts; it's not a particularly straight road. But you don't have to go that fast either, and there isn't any traffic on it. If you continue on south after lunch past the Junction up Mt. Hamilton, then it gets really twisty up and down that mountain. Here's a pic looking down south from the top of the mountain:

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/304297067_ZUgbA-M.jpg

Here's the first part of the ride; starbucks --> Junction. It's about 32 miles long.

<iframe width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;source=s_d&amp;saddr=223+South+Vasco+Road,+Livermore,+California+94550&amp;dadd r=San+Antonio+Valley+Rd&amp;geocode=%3BFWyNOgIdNDTC-A&amp;hl=en&amp;mra=ls&amp;sll=37.479217,-121.626892&amp;sspn=0.990623,1.675415&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=37.547844,-121.610413&amp;spn=0.522626,0.878906&amp;z=10&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;source=embed&amp;saddr=223+South+Vasco+Road,+Livermore,+California+94550&amp;da ddr=San+Antonio+Valley+Rd&amp;geocode=%3BFWyNOgIdNDTC-A&amp;hl=en&amp;mra=ls&amp;sll=37.479217,-121.626892&amp;sspn=0.990623,1.675415&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=37.547844,-121.610413&amp;spn=0.522626,0.878906&amp;z=10" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>

Here's the optional route out to Patterson from the Junction, it's about 27 miles long (so 54 miles round-trip):

<iframe width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;source=s_d&amp;saddr=San+Antonio+Valley+Rd&amp;daddr=37.467501,-121.140404&amp;geocode=FWyNOgIdNDTC-A%3B&amp;hl=en&amp;mra=dme&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=12&amp;sll=37.457963,-121.181259&amp;sspn=0.179869,0.296631&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=37.429615,-121.297989&amp;spn=0.261727,0.439453&amp;z=11&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;source=embed&amp;saddr=San+Antonio+Valley+Rd&amp;daddr=37.467501,-121.140404&amp;geocode=FWyNOgIdNDTC-A%3B&amp;hl=en&amp;mra=dme&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=12&amp;sll=37.457963,-121.181259&amp;sspn=0.179869,0.296631&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=37.429615,-121.297989&amp;spn=0.261727,0.439453&amp;z=11" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>

Finally, here's the portion from the Junction south, up and over Mt. Hamilton into San Jose (37 miles):

<iframe width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;source=s_d&amp;saddr=San+Antonio+Valley+Rd&amp;daddr=37.380525,-121.81778&amp;geocode=FWyNOgIdNDTC-A%3B&amp;hl=en&amp;mra=dme&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=13&amp;sll=37.358151,-121.792374&amp;sspn=0.090055,0.148315&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=37.357605,-121.642685&amp;spn=0.261979,0.439453&amp;z=11&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;source=embed&amp;saddr=San+Antonio+Valley+Rd&amp;daddr=37.380525,-121.81778&amp;geocode=FWyNOgIdNDTC-A%3B&amp;hl=en&amp;mra=dme&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=13&amp;sll=37.358151,-121.792374&amp;sspn=0.090055,0.148315&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=37.357605,-121.642685&amp;spn=0.261979,0.439453&amp;z=11" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>

Yeah, Mt Hamilton looks a little too twisty for us newbs, I think we'll take the route out towards Patterson and head home up through Tracy. I think we're going to do this. Do you mind if my hubby comes along on his Rebel?

Of course not, all are welcome! :thumbup:

Ah, got it. Yup, just like you said, it looks like 40 miles or so to the ride start. The way the bay area roads go, you have to go all the way west, south then east again. Would be much closer if there were just a road straight to it for you. :p I'm about 30 miles south of the ride start.

We are just going to take Marsh Creek Rd to Vasco and head down that way. I plan to avoid the freeway. :)

Of course not, all are welcome! :thumbup:

I figured as much. :)

By the way, I experienced Mount Hamilton Road for the first time a few weeks ago...pavement not super great on the south side, but still an amazing road!

We stopped at the observatory and looked around at a sea of clouds - great scenic lookout too. :thumbup:

By the way, I experienced Mount Hamilton Road for the first time a few weeks ago...pavement not super great on the south side, but still an amazing road!

We stopped at the observatory and looked around at a sea of clouds - great scenic lookout too. :thumbup:

I bet it's a great view. I've been on top of Mt Diablo before.

I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to be getting myself in over my head by going down the southside. I think I'll stick to going to other direction for now. Maybe later I'll tackle Mt Hamilton. :)

Probably a smart choice. I only went uphill on that side and thinking about going down that side scares me a little...which is probably why I'm likely to try it, haha. I remember at one point going wide in a turn and thinking to myself "Seriously, I have to be in first for this one?"

Probably a smart choice. I only went uphill on that side and thinking about going down that side scares me a little...which is probably why I'm likely to try it, haha. I remember at one point going wide in a turn and thinking to myself "Seriously, I have to be in first for this one?"

Yeah, I've got about 500 miles only on a two-wheeler under my belt. I may try it on the Spyder though.... have 13K+ on that baby.

The down-hill twisties look too scary to be any fun... at least right now.

It is 1hr 45min away from me and on a saturday (which I never have available). I will try to make it someday.

:bump:

Help me decide... should I take Vasco Rd down or Morgan Territory Rd? I've never done Vasco before on a bike but I know people like to drive like asshats through there.

Either one would be fine, but of the two I'd just take Vasco all the way down. Morgan Territory is much twistier, much slower, and will seem more like a full ride just getting to the ride start, while Vasco will be much more of just a transit road getting you to where you need to be. I think you may have more energy leftover to spend on Mines and Del Puerto if you take Vasco in the morning.

This is true. There shouldn't be too many idiots out on the road at that time of the morning anyway.

Is this still a go for this coming weekend?

Abso-freaking-lutely! :thumbup: Should be a great ride!

Excellent. I'm doing my 600 mile service early to get it out of the way before the ride. It's supposed to be a little cooler next weekend so that should be perfect. Looking forward to it. :)

Yeah I'll definitely be there...can't wait. :D

I'm still on. I'll probably opt for Mt Ham route as it'll get me home quicker and I've got plans later in the day (go Machida!).

As of the current weather report, next Saturday will be sunny with a high of 80 degrees. Should be perfect conditions for this ride, not too hot, but no worry about being chilly either. :thumbup:

I will be with you guys in spirit. I cannot make it. I will be packing, grocery shopping for my in-laws and getting ready for my trip to Hawaii. Please post pics so that I can look with jealousy...

won't be there sorry guys. going on the SD ride posted on the local forum. have fun everyone

Sorry to hear that you guys can't make it. Maybe some of you want to come up and participate in the Bikers for Boxers ride in Lakeport on the 6th? :D

Heading out to the garage now to move some bikes around and shine up the ninjette!

Did my first oil change today. Looking forward to tomorrow. Hope you don't mind, I invited one of my riding buddies along. :)

Bike given the once over and shined up, helmet shined up, tankbag packed and ready, looking forward to tomorrow!

Cops seem to be out in force for the Memorial Day weekend, a good reason to take it easy tomorrow :)

I hope you guys all had a great time. Sorry I couldn't make it. I hope the insurance company is on my side. It took us almost an hour to get it off the mountain cuz the winds just wouldn't let up. Had to get CHP assistance.

Here are the photos:

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs038.snc1/4341_1152515846746_1043132690_30453092_305218_n.jpg

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs038.snc1/4341_1152515886747_1043132690_30453093_8106130_n.jpg

Where did you go down at?

Fun day today! Was a little bit chilly on the highway getting to the ride start, but as soon as I started heading east on 580 things were warming up even before 10 AM. When I pulled into Starbucks there were already some folks there, including a ninjette who politely saved a space for me. :)

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544080127_ZXDGd-L.jpg

Other folks made their way to the ride start, and we were soon up to 10 or 11 bikes, a good chunk of them honest-to-goodness ninjettes. :thumbup: Unfortunately the one incident of the day happened even before the ride start; SpyderGirl was hit by a large gust of wind coming in and had a low-speed tipover. She and hubby came the rest of the way to the ride start 2-up on the spyder, but they unfortunately had to turn around and go deal with the bike rather than joining us for the ride itself. Here are some pics of their spyder along with one of their friend's similar machine:

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544079468_RZfmP-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544079803_euQU3-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544079976_gv9Vj-L.jpg

We were on our way right around 10:30, and headed south to Mines. Road conditions were pretty good. There was some gravel here and there, but no really sandy spots, and there was almost no traffic on the entire road. The group kept a reasonable yet fun pace, and there were a few quick stops along the way to make sure everyone was still with us. Soon enough, we were at the Junction for lunch.

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544123408_RYuS4-L-1.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544080463_hFZJm-L.jpg

A good number of bikes were there when we arrived, and a pile more showed up while we were eating.

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544080646_ftyKg-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544081210_t5xj9-L.jpg

I had their pulled pork special, and while it was fine, I should have probably gotten my usual cheeseburger. I did of course order a root beer float. I don't think I've ever been to the Junction without having one of those, and I certainly wasn't going to stop that streak today. :smile-drink4: After lunch some folks headed back from whence we came, and one headed directly south over Mt. Ham, but five diehards were up for the whole enchilada and we made our way east on Del Puerto toward Patterson. For the first time I can ever remember, there was a string of cars making their way down Del Puerto right in the beginning. We made our way past courteously, but it still took awhile as that section is pretty twisty with few safe passing zones. Once traffic opened up the road did as well, and we were soon zooming through the cows. At the end of Del Puerto, we took a quick rest before heading back, realized it was now officially freaking hot, and got back on the bikes to get some breeze going. I think the group enjoyed that road even more the 2nd time, as it now was a little more familiar.

Soon enough we found ourselves right back at the Junction:

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544314444_tztZd-L-1.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544083777_T8LxE-L.jpg

We were now onto the last leg of the ride, up and over Mt. Hamilton into San Jose. Before the peak I stopped at a turnout to try and capture some action shots. I was mostly unsuccessful, but got 1 or 2 :p.

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544085400_xjpzj-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544127230_ZHFHt-L-1.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544086193_66NCD-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544088529_BFmcY-L.jpg

Once at the observatory I stopped to point people in the right direction up the short driveway...

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544089288_fy5vt-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544125989_W7imV-L-1.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544090230_KQTqE-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544090839_ZLsgA-L.jpg

One of the folks with a big-ass camera and a heck of lot more photography skills than I possess was kind enough to take a whole pile of shots of our bikes up in the observatory lot, and I'm really looking forward to seeing some of those. I didn't take any more shots the rest of the day, it was time to concentrate on riding. :thumbup:

All of my pics are up in this gallery (http://www.ciurczak.com/gallery/8307146_aWr22#544079468_RZfmP), in full-resolution and geocoded.

Really enjoyed myself, and hope that folks that made it out did as well. 125+ miles of thoroughly fun roads, + any of the fun roads people took to get to the ride start and back home again. I'll post another one of these up for June within the next few days... Here's a pic of the full route, and I attached a .gpx file for those that want to zoom in using Google Earth or similar tools:

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544079420_AjPjg-L.jpg

Where did you go down at?

There were high winds on the top of Vasco Road, I was about 5 miles north of 580 going southbound. I was being blown all over the place, I tried to stop and I actually did until the wind blew her over on the side of the road.

Alex, great pics. Looks like you guys had a wonderful time. I hope to catch up with you guys on the next ride. I was really looking forward to the trip and I am so bummed that we didn't ride with you guys, but there are a lot of nice days ahead of us and I learned that I will NEVER ride on Vasco Rd ever again. EVER!

Gary (drift king on BARF) took some great pics of the ride as well, here's a link (http://www.flickr.com/photos/garycheng/sets/72157618699605730/) to his flickr collection for the day. Here are some of my favorites:

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544333047_EYPRi-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544333013_sJjJr-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544333169_RzQD7-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544333170_gCARa-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544333297_S665C-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544333554_qotUg-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544333418_ffbSa-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544333533_eLaFn-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544333585_2rURs-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544333803_xfQCA-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544333745_zBzBA-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544333775_fFpoJ-L.jpg

http://www.ciurczak.com/photos/544333879_ckDFj-L.jpg

Very nice pics, a shame I couldn't be a part of the 'Jette group shot. I had to get home in time to get ready for tonight's UFC PPV (it was awesome) but got to enjoy Mount Hamilton and the observatory before you guys. Great views, thanks for the recommendation, Alex. I'll have to check out Del Puerto another time.

My photo contribution, sorry so many are post-separation.

http://www.jadedgamefans.com/ninja250blog/media/mountham_02.jpg

http://www.jadedgamefans.com/ninja250blog/media/mountham_03.jpg

http://www.jadedgamefans.com/ninja250blog/media/mountham_04.jpg

http://www.jadedgamefans.com/ninja250blog/media/mountham_05.jpg

http://www.jadedgamefans.com/ninja250blog/media/mountham_06.jpg

http://www.jadedgamefans.com/ninja250blog/media/mountham_07.jpg

http://www.jadedgamefans.com/ninja250blog/media/mountham_08.jpg

http://www.jadedgamefans.com/ninja250blog/media/mountham_10.jpg

http://www.jadedgamefans.com/ninja250blog/media/mountham_11.jpg

http://www.jadedgamefans.com/ninja250blog/media/mountham_12.jpg

http://www.jadedgamefans.com/ninja250blog/media/mountham_13.jpg

http://www.jadedgamefans.com/ninja250blog/media/mountham_14.jpg

http://www.jadedgamefans.com/ninja250blog/media/mountham_16.jpg

AWESOME photos!! I almost feel like I was there with you guys. I am so glad you guys had a safe and wonderful ride. Can't wait to ride Mines Rd myself.

Glad you all had a good time! Looks great!

Awesome pix!

Looks like fun! Hoping I'll be able to make the next one. Nice pics...

Sorry to hear about the bike Katlyn. :( At least you weren't hurt.

Looks like fun! Hoping I'll be able to make the next one. Nice pics...

Sorry to hear about the bike Katlyn. :( At least you weren't hurt.

Thanks. I ended up on the better end of the situation. I could have been blown over into oncoming traffic instead. I should know Monday what the estimate on the damage is. My guess is close to $2K. That's a lot considering the bike wasn't even really moving when it went down. Glad I have comprehensive insurance.

I'll catch up with you guys later this summer... I really wanted to do that Mines Rd route. :)

alex, what kind of camera did you use? what lens? picture so gorgeous!!

Hi John -

My camera is a just a point & shoot Sony N2. 10+ megapixels & Carl Zeiss lens, but it's still a pretty small lens. Gary's pics and Ryan's pics in this thread were taken with different cams. Both of those folks were using DSLR's of some sort, and the post-processing that Gary was able to do with the color really blows me away on some of those pics.