Marin Ride to Breakfast - Sunday, 03/29/2009

[Alex]

Hi all -

Wanted to invite folks on a Sunday ride up in Marin. The ride start is at the Big Rock Deli, 1500 Lucas Valley Rd, in Marin County about 2 miles west of the junction with US101. (Here's a link to the ride start on Google Maps)

Meet time is a little before 8, and we'll get on the road just a few minutes past 8. The ride goes through all of those fun roads you've heard about (Lucas Valley, Nicasio, Hicks Valley, Chileno Valley, and much more), lasts about an hour, and we'll grab breakfast in Occidental just a little past 9. After breakfast, the ride back includes Coleman Valley, a large chunk of 1, and some more fun roads out near Dillon Beach. The standard route will have you back down Lucas Valley and at the freeway around 11:30 - 11:45 AM. Pace is moderate, but no matter what your preferred speed there will be someone waiting at the next corner (as long as you've let somebody know that you don't know the route). Total mileage is about 55 miles prior to breakfast, about 70 miles after breakfast. Helps to come with a full tank, as there aren't a ton of gas stations en route (though there is one in Bodega Bay about 15 miles into the after breakfast route).

Weather looks to be phenomenal this weekend, with a projected high into the 70's. May be a little chilly before breakfast, but with the sun out it will be plenty warm after breakfast.

Here are some pictures from the same ride awhile back.

[paterick4o8]

this is a possibility for me if we can get more riders. Did you also post this on BARF and/or SBR?

[Alex]

It's up on SBR. There will be 10+ riders there minimum; it's a standing ride every week. The weather looks so nice this weekend that I wanted to open it up to my ninjette brethren as well...

[BlueTyke]

I suggest this ride!! (I personally cannot make it due to location issues) but I do recommend it!

[sometimesido]

That looks like fun!

[Lurkable]

Hey Alex I've really been wanted to get in on one of these Sunday rides but I get off work at 12am and have to be back at work at 12pm in Sausalito - this is every weekend. Looks like I won't have a chance to ride with you guys until my semester is over in a couple months.

Anyway, have a great ride! And take pics.

[zartan]

****Sigh******

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Lurkable

Hey Alex I've really been wanted to get in on one of these Sunday rides but I get off work at 12am and have to be back at work at 12pm in Sausalito - this is every weekend. Looks like I won't have a chance to ride with you guys until my semester is over in a couple months.

Hi Andrew - I'm up for rides during the week as well, just let me know if you ever have a free day and feel like a motorcycle ride.

[Beast]

1500 Lucas Valley Rd, in Marin County

Hehe oh Lucas Valley Rd I went to Skywalker Ranch to pick up some materials for a freelance gig back when I lived in Nor Cal. Beautiful area!

I miss fog :/

[Alex]

I've been out to the ranch a few times myself for work; neat place! They moved most of the interesting stuff out of there a few years back to the Big Rock campus down the street, and then to the Presidio in SF.

[SV-Mark]

Unfortunatly I won't be able to make this ride, I would like to give it my big stamp of approval, These guys ride a nice pace and the roads and food are excellent If you can get out and ride tommorow, I would suggest this group, get out there before traffic and crowds, these guys do it right, good bunch of guys

[rceezy]

Man, could you "Bay Area" riders come to Indiana and bring some nice sun with you? Have a great ride tomorrow!

[paterick4o8]

ahhh not able to make this ride anymore.. stayed out too late last night.. I'll be on the mellow ride instead for some Thai food..

http://bayarearidersforum.com/forums...d.php?t=288096.. ironically, it passes by the area where I low-sided while still an ultra noobie.

but have fun and ride safe! I really wanna do the Marin ride another day since I've not done it yet.. next time for sure!

[Alex]

Fun ride! I posted up the full ride report on the MSMC site, but figured I'd cross-post it here as well...

Link to original post.

What a great day to be out on the roads! Weather was clear and bright all the way up the highway, but it was a little nippier than I had expected. At the last minute I decided to bring the electric liner, and it definitely came in handy. Was at the deli just a smidge after 8, with the trusty ninjette ready to go. 9 riders at the deli, including 1 guest (Brian) who had seen my posting up on SBR.

I led the group out of the parking low and down lucas valley on the screaming 250. Heck, I'd be screaming if I had to carry me around with a whopping 25 hp. Every time I take that bike I wonder exactly how long the group will stay behind before they get impatient. Today I didn't even make it to the Cheese Factory before I heard Colin's KTM zipping by. Oh you kids and your overpowered machines. Who needs more than 25 hp to have fun? Anyway, it was a fun ride all the way out to breakfast. The group stayed reasonably close the whole time, with no scares from animals, traffic, road conditions, LEO's, or just about anything else. Just a perfect day on the roads of west Marin.

Howard's was a little crowded, and we weren't able to get a large table together, but they did find us 1 table of 4 and another of 5 without too long a wait. Breakfast was up to their usual standards, with good service & good food. George told us a bit about his trip to Vietnam, he just got back Friday night. I wanted to discuss the F1 race that I watched late saturday night, but some folks at the table are exactly the wrong type of diligent fans. They care enough about the race that they wouldn't let me spoil the race for them, but they didn't care enough to actually watch it when it was on last night. Anyway, I hope they were able to see it this afternoon, as it was a simply phenomenal race; I'm really looking forward to this season of F1.



After breakfast some folks planned to head west out Coleman Valley, but 2 or 3 did head directly south to get home. In the parking lot on the way out, I saw what I think is the nicest looking Multistrada I've ever seen. I know, that's sort of like the tallest of the 7 dwarves, the classiest box wine, or the most compassionate Republican, but still, it was a neat looking bike.



Check out the permanently mounted camera between the two spotlights:





It had warmed up a bit after breakfast, so I opened up the jacket vents before setting off. Here's a shot of the group getting ready before heading back out:



I had a little more luck keeping the group at bay while heading out to Coleman Valley; it's one of those tiny twisty roads that really seem to suit the ninjette. I doubt I'd be able to feel as comfortable at the same speeds on the the 10R. We made it to the coast and stopped for a moment at the overlook. The weather was still crystal clear and sunny, but there was a surprising amount of wind on the coast. I made sure to park the bike in such a way that it wouldn't blow over; I've already had one bike blow over in the wind and I didn't want to scuff up the ninjette the same way. Rick mentioned that he saw that our guest had an exciting moment on Coleman Valley, losing the rear and sliding quite a bit before getting things gathered up and back in the right direction. We were waiting for a reasonable period, but when he did show up we were glad that he had made it OK, identified the issue, and in fact slowed up a bit to limit the chances of it happening again.

Unfortunately, he had an even more exciting moment on Valley Ford road. We were waiting at the intersection of Dillon Beach road for awhile, and I eventually turned around to make sure he was OK. When I headed back, I saw he and Doug at the side of the road. The good news is his bike never touched the ground. However, it sure touched a fence pretty well. They tell me that it was originally in a bit further and they'd already managed to partially extricate it before I arrived with the camera.









It happened at what I think is probably one of the toughest corners of the whole ride, a downhill, right-hand, decreasing radius blind turn, that I've seen folks blow before, including some of us who should know better. Here's a map link to where it was. The good news is that Brian was OK, his bike was in good shape, with only some minor scratches and a bent handlebar (and perhaps a tweaked tripletree, but the forks themselves seemed fine). He was grateful for our help, and I could tell he felt quite badly about going beyond his limits and running off the road. He is not a newbie to this sport, and he appeared just fine earlier in the day all the way out to Howards while I was following him for quite awhile. He had a minor cut on his hand from where the fence must have gotten him, but other than that he was perfectly OK. Doug and I helped to get his bike back out of the fence, make sure it was still mechanically sound, and then we worked to repair the fence. It was quite obvious that this was not the first incident at the fence, as it already had a number of other repair jobs on it right in the same spot, with some twisted wire and other chain used to hold it in place, so we worked to make sure it was once again secure and cow-proof. Doug and I followed Brian all the way out to Tomales, and he cut left toward 101 soon after; he was still a little shaken up and with the handlebars slightly bent he was no longer in the mood for any twisties; probably a wise move. He sent me a nice PM on SBR, so he made it home safe and sound with not much more than a bruised ego and a slightly scuffed machine.

Doug and I were not able to catch up to the rest of the group (Steve and George had come back as well and saw the incident, but as things were well in hand they headed back south on Valley Ford road), so the two of us enjoyed the rest of the ride all the way back down to Lucas Valley and out to 101. Hope to see a bunch more of you folks next week, the weather report looks absolutely phenomenal once again!

All of my pics are up in full-res right here...

BTW: That incident happened on the same Valley Ford Franklin School Road that Lurkable was talking about a day or so ago. I couldn't get the bike out of shape over those bridges, even topped out, but I gave it a shot.

[sometimesido]

nice scenery!

I see they repaved the road since this,
Street View

[Alex]

Yup, they repaved almost that entire road within the last year. It's pretty much perfect at this point. You can see that the turn might be somewhat challenging, but what doesn't come across online is how steep it is; it goes downhill pretty significantly right about the time you're bending in to the turn and it definitely can wake you up if you weren't ready for it.

[Lurkable]

LoL @ 650 in fence. Glad it wasn't serious. Howard's looks nice....alright, I gotta get out on one of these rides soon.

[SF-Dug]

Alex if you plan to do this again hit me up man. I'd love to ride down there with you guys.

[Alex]

I'm out there pretty much every Sunday; here's the invite for this upcoming Sunday's ride (04/05/2009).

Hope you can join us!

[SF-Dug]

Originally Posted by Alex

I'm out there pretty much every Sunday; here's the invite for this upcoming Sunday's ride (04/05/2009).

Hope you can join us!

If I can't get there this Sunday then I'll see if I can make it next Sunday. Your start time is kind of early for me considering its a weekend but I see that it can be to advantageous to avoid traffic if any on the freeway.