Summer vacation part 3
(Parts
One and
Two for those interested)
I've never done Hwy 1 so why not now?
But first, new shoes!!
Now we are ready for an adventure!
The plan was to head north towards the Redwoods and then take the coastal highway down as far as my tolerance of other drivers would allow - hopefully as far as San Francisco to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. But first, I have to head north!
Gee... I feel like I was just on Hwy 395 heading towards Fredonyer Pass...
Construction zone scenery..
Took Hwy 36 across from Sacramento towards Fortuna. If you haven't heard of this road, starting in Red Bluff and continuing on for 140 miles is solid twisties. Some broad sweepers, others tight and technical, but more curves than straight stretches and limited traffic. Perfect motorcycling road! Except the "Curves next 140 miles" road sign was missing!! ARGH! poop.
Once I reached Eureka, it was an easy cruise up towards the redwoods. I hadn't really looked at a map, so was winging most of my plan. All I knew was that the State and National Parks were "north" so, go north!
Unfortunately, I was too far north for the famed
Avenue of the Giants, so at the suggestion of a helpful ranger, rode through
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
"Big" doesn't begin to describe these ancients!
Took a side road up Cal-Barrel Road to see some of the out of the way old growth.
After I left the park, I headed south. Silly Ranger made the "Oh, the Avenue is over two hours away" sound like it was sooo far! He did not know who he was talking to!
The coast was actually really scenic even if I'm not into the whole "water" thing.
I found an exit onto the Avenue of the Giants at Pepperwood so rode it just at twilight. Too dark for photos or videos, but super surreal in the dying light. I found lodging at a really neat roadhouse in Phillipsville at the Riverwood Inn. They even had indoor bike parking!!
The next morning, I woke up early and headed back up the Avenue to take pictures of what I had seen last night.
I even rode through a tree.
Then I continued on down Hwy 101 until Leggett where I turned off to take Hwy 1 towards the coast. The sheer number of bikes gave me a good hint - this section of road is stupid twisty! WHEEEEEEE
Before you know it, you come over the mountain and suddenly, the world just ends. No more land.
Going south along Hwy 1 reveals more of the same.
Hwy 1 along the coast was both breathtaking with the scenic views and is also "Pay attention, idiot!" twisy as it wraps around the contours of the land.
One stretch got so tight and twisty, I kept telling myself "Don't look over the cliff, it's just a mountain pass, don't look over the cliff, there's no ocean down there really, don't look over the cliff" as I skated through going the speed limit while everyone else was doing about 30 under (limit is 55 through most of it, everyone seemed to be enjoying the 25-30 range).
This guy was lost...
I made my way all the way into San Francisco. Unfortunately, my camera battery was on it's last legs and so this is the last view I got of the point of going this far south...
The battery burped to life once more as I went across the Bay Bridge as I got to live my first experience of Bay Area rush hour traffic. I did brave splitting up to 40 mph but had to do so in spurts as my hands were killing me from that much clutch and throttle work!
Made it home safe and sound around 11pm. Boy am I tired this morning, but it was truly an amazing ride. Now I just have to pick up Hwy 1 again (and get my Golden Gate Bridge picture!) and head south towards San Diego to say I've ridden the entire length of California Hwy 1!