Ride Report #21

Thanksgiving 2012. The forecast for Saturday November 24th was 70F for the South Bay. I got together with a bunch of friends and we went riding down Hwy 1 and Hwy 25. This was arguably the best ride I’ve ridden in a long time.

We gathered at the Shell gas station on Auto Mall Parkway in Fremont. The sun was shining bright and there was no need of any warm gear (at the end of November).

We were six riders in all: Shobhit, Bobby, Roy, Alan, Tim (who joined at Carmel) and me.

Hwy 1 was superb. I’ve always hated driving on Hwy 1 because most people drive at 35 mph and often stop at the scenic spots. Our ride down there was a GP style spirited ride. We were passing cars left and right, averaging over 60mph and at times certainly going way over the speed limit. The curves on Hwy 1 are fabulous. The wider turns allow for higher speeds and a fun overall experience.

We turned off Hwy 1 and took Nacimiento Fergusson road towards Hwy 101. NacFer is very curvy, goaty and twisty as it climbs up and away from the ocean. In fact it was a little too twisty for my liking. Too many turns and a very rapid elevation change made me tired. After the first 8-10 mile section the road opens up considerably and turns into this beautiful wide open road with scenic vistas and relaxed turns. Traffic was completely non-existent, even as we rode through the army base.

NacFer ends at this very cool looking iron bridge. This was a nice rest stop. We were all pretty hungry at this point.

We returned to the Bay Area using Lonoak Road and Hwy 25. These two roads must be counted among my favorite roads ever. Lonoak goes through completely rural land, desolate and void of any major human developments. It is an extremely scenic ride and made the whole trip worthwhile. Hwy 25 is also very beautiful — not too curvy, mostly flat with wide expanses of farm land. Somewhere between Lonoak and Hwy 25 I felt at ease. I became one with my (speeding) motorcycle and the troubles of the real world disappeared. Pure Bliss.

There are a couple of long straights on Hwy 25, where I took the SV up to about 120mph. It handled flawlessly.

We rode back on 101 and got back a bit after dark. About 350 miles door to door and I was not very tired. My knees were a little sore, but my back and shoulders were fine. I think we all agreed that we should do this more often. With that, I’m already brewing up plans for next summer.

Some more pics from Roy: