Jimbo and Dan's 3 day road trip

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We had a great trip. In the end, it was only two of us (suckers!). [laugh]

The AMA Superbike event was really just an excuse, and while it was cool to see Mladin and Spies duke it out, the real adventure was the riding. Awesome roads, and lots of 'em.

My recollection of the route here. The way down:

Day 1: ~13 hours on the road.

I left Berkeley around 7:30 am to head over to Danville. I think I had woken up by the time I got there, and Jim had coffee ready. Then we slabbed it to Salinas, and surprisingly there was zero traffic on the way. We were cookin' so far.

We gassed up, then headed over 68 toward Laguna Seca, then split off south on Laurels Grade Rd through Carmel Valley. Really freaking beautiful. I was wondering when the Sound of Music was going to start - it was movie perfect. It seemed like streams of cherry blossoms fell out of the sky through rays of sunshine, with perfect twisties. (Really, I'm not shitting you). Then, a yellowjacket somehow flew into my jacket and bit/stung me 6 times. That part sucked.

After Carmel Valley Road and Arroyo Seco, we entered Greenfield. We gassed up, then hit the 101 again for a bit. I *think* we got off at Lockwood San Lucas, then took that to Interlake. We must have taken that to Nacimiento, then ended up in Paso Robles for lunch.

To be honest, I can't remember how we got to 166. We probably took 101 down, then 166 east. 166 is ridiculously fast. Really, really fast. Faster than Bear Creek, I'd say. I think you would have to take it at 120 to even break a sweat. This is where we met our really nice CHP officer, who did NOT cite us. Whew....lucky.

We took 166 to Cerro Noroeste, then down to Pine Club (wow, really beautiful place I had no idea existed), then Frazier Park.

Then we crossed over 5 and took Pine Canyon Road and Elizabeth Lake Road to Palmdale.

At that point, we pretty much slabbed it to Pomona where we stayed at the KOA. We got in at about 9 (almost 14 hours after leaving my house), and it wasn't too bad.

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Packed up and gassed up in Salinas:

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Carmel Valley (man, life is rough!):

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Sunday we headed out to Fontucky (I hear that's the proper name?) for the superbike races.

I have to say, I was slightly aghast at the huge number of riders in shorts and t-shirts, with their girls on back in shorts and tank tops. The fan lap?!? Wow. "Bring whatever you've got - your dripping-oil-out-of-the-crankcase beater - and try to pop wheelies down the back straight!" They'd have to pay *me*....

Anyway, the stunt show was crazy. I loved the little kids racing (next pic). It was cool to see Mladin and Spies come into the back straight absolutely side-by-side and see Spies take the inside and make Mladin go wide and off-track. And it was HOT and WINDY.

I couldn't wait to get some miles under us, so we headed to Ojai on the slab as the sun set.

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Fast preschooler:

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Mladin and Spies:

[SL_Don]

ah man please tell me you took a jaunt on 229... it's between 166 and 53...

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We made it into Ojai, and found a really nice inn. Cleaned up, and decided to squid it down the main street to find some food (read: flip-flops and shorts).

About 1/2 mile away, we found a nice bar and restaurant named Jester. The owner was super cool, and we ended up meeting up with him later.

My favorite 60 seconds of comedy from the trip occurred upon leaving the Jester:

I walk out of the place, and there are a couple of people ogling the monster. A younger girl, helping to set up for the high-school prom after-party, sees me and asks "is this *your* bike?!?"

"Yeah"

"Wow, I *really* like your bike"

"Thanks"

"I *really* like your bike"

(...so the great thing about being married is that your goal is only to maximize the comedic value at this point....)

"You should go for a ride on the back"

"I should be on the front, I think"

"Here's the key"

"Are you from around here?"

"I could be. Should I be?"

At this point, another dude walk up...

"Hey, is that a *hooligan*?!?" [laugh]

"Monster"

"What?"

"Monster"

"Oh"

I start the bike up, with full choke. It's loud. I suppose I'm pretty cool at this point (kidding). I "gear up", which means putting my jacket and helmet on.

"Are you *really* going to ride that in flip flops?!?" [laugh]

I get on, pull in the clutch, and put it in gear. Stall...

Damn kickstand was down.

I laughed pretty hard after that one....

We went home to park the bikes, and then went and shut down both bars in town...

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We got a late start on Sunday, like noon-ish.

We took 33 north out of Ojai. What a freaking awesome road. We passed some guys going the other way on I4s doing at least a buck twenty. We took a right on Lockwood Valley Rd, then looped through Pine Mountain again. Then we hit 166 and figured, "hey, this Soda Springs road looks pretty cool!"

Well, it turns out it isn't quite paved all the way. Like, not paved for 40 miles or so:

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From there, we hit 58 out to Santa Margarita, then out to Morro Bay.

Then we took 1 north to Carmel and then slabbed it home from there on 101.

Hwy 1 was fantastic. It was so @#$# hot inland, the coast was a dream. There were actually very few cars, and we easily passed them. It was sweet. I kept thinking around each turn "You have got to be shitting me. Why would I bother to go to the Napali coast or drive the road to Hana?!?"

Total: ~1200 miles.

Good times!