Last weekend, I rode with Shobhit from Fremont to the Berkeley Hills.The weather was cool (late December), the sun was shining and thankfully there was no rain.
We rode on Palomares, Redwood, Pinehurst, Skyline and Grizzly Peak. This was my first outing on Pinehurst and I loved it. There isn’t much information on Pinehurst online, but what a treat it was to ride. The initial curves are wide and sweep at a constant radius. This makes for great riding and pushing the bike to it’s limit. As Pinehurst gets into Alameda county, it becomes more winding, more narrow and sometimes more wet.
The last few curves on Pinehurst, before it hits Skyline are brutal. Some of the turns have the radius of just a few feet. Couple this with rapid elevation changes and it makes for very technical riding. A fun ride overall, but full attention and focus needed.
We took a break atop Grizzly Peak where we took in the amazing views of the Berkeley hills. I’ve been coming to these hills dozens of times, for about 10 years now and this was my second time on the motorcycle. My first ever, was also on a motorcycle, riding two-up with Keshav Dani on his CBR929, back in 2001. So there — a bit of nostalgia. How time flies!
Sujit Kirpekar 