Another ride to Creston - Ride for a Hero

Running into the weekend of 7/15/07 was hectic. My work started with a 6am conference call, ended at 3pm so that I could bring the entire family to a concert (Ani DiFranco in Grass Valley), and we made it home by midnight. We slept from 12:30 to 4am when I woke to take my wife to the airport. I got back home from that at 5:30 so I slept a few more hours before waking, having a quick cup of coffee, packing and taking off by 9:30 to meet up with Don and Barry in King City.

We had planned to meet so that we could have a day of riding an evening with friends at Don’s awesome motorcycle haven in Creston and then the next day we rode to Camp Roberts to drop off some T-shirts, socks and underwear that are needed by wounded soldiers. It sounded like a good time with friends, riding new to me roads and a good cause.

My ride down was uneventful. Need I say more than I-5? Then I took the Shields Avenue exit and turned right onto Little Panoche Road. The fun began. The fun didn't end until Sunday night. From Panoche I took 25 South to King City Road and into Margie’s Café in Kings City. I didn’t pull my camera out on Panoche because I was running late. If you know I’m English, you also might figure that I hate to be late. I have an excuse!

On I-5 I pulled up to a white Harley Davidson Ultra Classic Super Duper Electra Glide and it was broken down. I could be wrong about the model. The lady was sweating with the heat and the guy was on the phone trying to describe where he was. He didn't know the last, or next exit.

When he asked me I didn't know, so I rode down to I-5 and 132 and found out that the next exit was...you guessed it...132. I doubled back and rode back to the 33 exit, then doubled back again, returned to the couple and gave them the precious information that the tow driver was asking for. They were very thankful and seemed happy to have their problems closer to resolution.

Now I was late so Panoche Road wasn't photographed. It was ridden and done so in an aggressive manner. It was really fun. Do it someday. If you want to see it, look for a write up on Panoche here: https://www.pashnit.com/motoroads.htm (great site). On this road you get a glimpse into a lifestyle that was once more common. Panoche is about ranching. Cows, bulls, steers, goats…it has ‘em all. The people there all waved as I passed. I left the area happy for the ride, and pleased to see this kind of lifestyle still exists. Good people.

All this writing and not a single picture so far. Heck, I even left a story out. I saw a sixty five to seventy five year old man on an older Honda Magna doing about 100 MPH down I-5. He was lying on the tank and had his feet crossed over the rear fender. I thought I was watching something that belonged in the movie, “The Fastest Indian.”

He came up to a more standard seating position and slowed. I passed him keeping a steady 80 MPH and waved. He looked like he just had a fantastic thrill. I smiled knowingly, and glad to know that when I’m 75 I’ll still have fun being silly on bikes from time to time. A few people let me know this fact and I always have thanks for them. Life is good if you know what flowers to smell.

Well, I ate lunch and we left. We headed down 101 for a little while and then took a road up into the hills.



But before we got to the hills we had to cross a river.



Don lead, Barry followed him up and I took sweep position with my camera around my neck, set to action setting with no flash.



We were heading to Lockwood and the ride isn’t too far but there are some nice small farms, some disheveled and cluttered homesteads and a great ribbon of tar in fantastic shape.



The road went flat again in the valley where Hunter Ligett training grounds are.



Barry let me go past and now I was in the middle. Don was taking us to a lake for some swimming. The heat had come on quickly, so the swim was refreshing.



We parked in the shade of Oaks next to San Antonio Lake, and went down to the water. It had been a long time since I went swimming in a lake. I really enjoy water and should go swimming in local lakes/rivers more often! I’m glad Don had this idea. It reminded me of an activity I didn’t even know that I missed until I was doing it again.





If you got this far, see the rest of the ride report here:

https://www.pashnit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12719

for some reason FJRforum is having problems with success posts with pictures.

After our swim we cruised past Nacimiento Reservoir to Adelaida. Here, Don stopped to show me the first school in the area. The surrounding area was like a dream world and I think this picture did pretty well to catch it. I felt like I was reading 1920’s American literature. It just felt like hardship and unbridled hope of a still very young nation simultaneously.





There was a mixture of dust bowl scenery and lush growth in a single landscape.



This tangle of Oak is beyond the complexity of any fractured pane of glass. It took my breath away as I rode under these trees and I felt like I could hear screams of the past as they twisted and turned in growth to capture just that much more sunlight. Do trees scream? If not, why did I feel them?



Green grass has browned as the heat pushes the clouds further from the ground and the trees, roots deep into the water table stand strong and green.



I like old trees and twisting roads. Let’s keep them.



Wineries are very plentiful here. I am sure that many of these wines are world class. They say the harder a grape plant has to work to live, the better taste the grapes have. If this is true, these grapes must be good.



There were a huge number of windmills, old and new. Who wouldn’t like this scene?



Vineyards fence off 2,000 acre plots and provide Don with something interesting to observe from his country homestead: the wildlife have to change their ways with these new obstacles. Previously worn paths countless years old are now gone. Adaptation is the name of the game in an area with a burgeoning Bordeaux base.



That said, vineyards do certainly add their own kind of beauty.

Very nice O'vale. Thanks for posting! What problems are you having with uploading successive fotos?

We got to Don’s house and I parked my FJR in his dirt biking trailer as instructed. All day long I felt I was anywhere but California and I suppose that yet again, California has awed me with her variety of environments. How one area, all within a reasonable day’s ride, can offer such an extreme variety in landscape and flora is beyond me. I guess I’ll explain it my way, you’ll explain it yours and we’ll just go on enjoying it.

We relaxed after a long day. Cool drinks on a large shaded deck overlooking acreage and a view of the rolling hills all lent to a slow and pace to the evening that was just the right pace. I met Shauna and Jean, Don and Barry’s girlfriend/wife respectively. Don has a REAL barbeque that any Midwest rancher would be proud of. He got the coals burning and after he took Jean and I on a tractor ride around his property he put a huge tri-tip on the grate and slow cooked it high over intense heat. Basting as he went, he later added a huge salmon filet. Combined with corn on the cob, salad, baked beans and garlic bread, we all ended up more than satisfied with fantastic food.

The company was better. What a great weekend! I feel like it lasted a week and I only got there two days ago. Thanks Don and Shauna!!!

I suppose I’m getting long in the jaw and not sharing those darn pictures. What is it about Creston that brings out verbosity in motorcycle riders?

Well, maybe it was the hot tub and the shooting stars and the Milky Way fairly well painted across the dark country sky. Perhaps it was all those things, the people, the places, the animals and all the experiences of the entire week that only lasted two days.

As we saddle up, Shauna takes a picture of us.



We rode a round about way to Camp Roberts. I’ll just say this: taking 229 from 46 to 58 and 58 down to Santa Margarita rank in the top ten motorcycle roads I have ever been on. We ate breakfast down there and I regretted taking those roads so quickly that photography was impossible. I was glad when I learned we were back tracking! Now was my chance. I still didn’t get all the photos I wanted of 229. I guess you’ll just have to trust me.

By the way, old buildings have a way of sneaking into my posts.



As do pictures of dogs. This is Harley, Don’s dog.



229



58



Don on 58



Don on 58



Barry on 58





Some other guy on 58

58 shots continued



Barry again



The another some other guy



And that same guy with Don coming too

Then we went along a bunch or roads that I don’t know the name of to get to Camp Roberts. I think I remember that we rolled through Paso Robles. Yes, I am sure of it.



Along the way I took pictures of things I liked the look of.







We arrived and I took Don and Barry’s picture and then Don took my and Barry’s picture.





I hear the turn out wasn’t quite so good this time. They didn’t advertise locally on TV as they had previously. There were still a good amount of bikes.





People came and went quite a bit.

What’s this thing?



It’s a tank!



Here is a view from the turret. Yes, for the first time ever I was on and in a M1 tank. It was pretty cool.



Here’s Don in the turret.



They also had a Bradley there.



A view from a Bradley view port (who knows what they call them?).



Bradley Turret



Barry likes big guns.



Don likes small holes.

Nice! Wish I coulda made it. Friggin' work. :angry:

I'll add some piccies tonight..

Bullet? Rock? I envisioned some soldier screwing around and not dropping the tail gate when others wanted in. One soldier outside didn’t take kindly to the joke and rammed his M-16 into the view port. Anyway, that’s what I imagined.



These are the incredible trucks that carry tanks and stuff like tanks.



The batteries in my camera died and it didn’t capture many of the images that should have been put together to fully illustrate the event. There were many soldiers there checking out the sights, the booths, the food and smoothies. Many seemed pleased to have the distractions. One said, “I saw bikes and heard Bob Marley so I figured it had to be good.” There were people that were obviously veterans, and people like me that weren’t so obvious about the service I gave in my past. Either way, it’s always an emotional thing for me to be intermingled with people from the military. They were my family for 8.5 years, and I suppose once they are my family they always are. I think of all military as my brothers and sisters.

I spoke to a few of them. The little female Lieutenant that was very shy. Butter bars always are shy it seems. The guy from Sacramento; he was down for the weekend training with his Guard unit. All these people, at moments notice can be on a plane and sent to a fight. My thanks go to them for their part of protecting our freedoms. While militaries may be used for reasons that we and they don’t always agree with, the military should always be thanked for their service. Without them, we would not have the life we enjoy so much today.Then we donated T-shirts, socks and underwear for our wounded soldiers, airmen, seamen and marines then ate, drank, walked around then left! I rode home. It was a fantastic weekend!

dcarver said:

Very nice O'vale. Thanks for posting! What problems are you having with uploading successive fotos?

Click to expand...

it was reformatting the messages when combining posts that were submitted within 5 minutes of each other. Slapnpop helped me out and reduced the time between replies required.

Andrew on the M1



Jean and Andrew get a ride around the Hondrosa on JD



Gas is scarce in Creston



Bikes and Babes (and me)



Don ripping on his private MX track

Video of a ex-MX racer Don. I admit that I was impressed. Seemed much harder than street riding! Double click on link to play.

Link

Sorry Link for video should work now. Let me know if it doesn't.

SWEEEEEET

Heck...I should have got lessons while I was down there. :dwarf:

Awesome write up and pix, with video too. Thanks for sharing guys. I felt as though I was almost there with you.

When you put good people on great bikes with fantastic scenery, you KNOW you're going to have fun.

Jill

The ride started with supporting wounded soldiers with ordinary clothing; underwear, tee shirts, socks and the like. Turns out that when wounded, most end up in Germany at a US base / hospital where they are either stabilized or treated the best as can be. Unfortunately, many times the facility runs short of every day items like.. underwear, socks, tee shirts, deodorant. I'll not get political and just say 'nuff said. :angry:

The ride was posted on the forum, and only 3 fjr pilots stood tall; Barabus, Orangevale, and myself. Since I've been wanting to 'test run' a north county back road route, I thought this would be a perfect time to sample the wares and see what folks thought. I think everyone liked the ride and weekend based upon the many smiles and outright giggling heard through some corners.

We started from the Hondarosa in Creston, CA.

Barabus performs pre-flight checks while Shauna and Jean watch.



We rode 58 out to Bitterwater road and found a General Store. Alas, no ice cream here.



and so was this guy, trying to eek out a living after the great General Store collapse of 1962.. he was mowing stubble that was only 6 inches tall. And that was the full crop. I read in a local paper that the number of acres plowed under this year due to lack of rain was the second highest ever.



When we left the Hondarosa, I told Barabus that a really good breakfast was only an hour away.. and he believed me! 2.5 hours later we arrived in Parkfield, earthquake capital of the world, only to find they didn't open for another 3 hours.. So off we went.. "Honest Barry, the next town is only 30 minutes away, we can get food there..." :blink:



Cowboy and Dog

Vineyard drive from Parkfield to San Miguel was a royal treat. Freshly paved, it twists and winds it way up then down a mountain range dividing San Luis Obispo county from Monterey County. I noticed that Monterey roads are in much better condition, even though San Luis county has much more money in the coffers. I don't have any pix because, well, it was too much fun to run at the pace than take pix.

We stopped in San Miguel, just north of Paso Robles. The two towns are an interesting dichotomy; Paso Robles is booming and flourishing, while San Miguel languishes. My bet is that for folks who invest now in SM, you will reap huge rewards in less than 10 years. I'm thinking of putting my money where my mouth is, but, oh, wait, I don't have any money..

Barabus and I did find a local restaurant, it just celebrated 20 years in business, all with the same owner, chef, waitress, counselor, and jack of all trades. She was really neat and Barry and I spoke to her at length on a variety of topics well above the normal level of intelligence.





Due to a rash of lawsuits in our area by a fucking ex-motorcyclist who was parlayed and currently suing every establishment he can for not having full blown handicapped access, many local businesses have simply shut their doors forever. The Country Store had another idea. Shut the bathrooms down, only have 9 seats, and they are good to go, can't be sued. If you need to use a restroom the park is two blocks up, the gas station 4 blocks over.

Guess who had to use the restroom? On the way back, I saw this old brick building and just had to take a pix of it. Turns it has quite a history; a livery back in the late 1800's, a hotel, then apartments, and finally, thankfully, shut down as being not safe for earthquakes. This is for you Andrew.



After a very good, I mean really-super-duper good breakfast, Barry and were ready for anything, so Barabus and the Candy Butt Association president took off for our virgin SS1k ride...

Our ss1k was soon delayed due to local traffic, nothing like rush hour on Indian Valley Road..



We shortened the route to ensure we made the meet point in King City on time to meed O'vale. As it turns out, O'vale was running a bit late due to helping some Harley Ultra folks on I5 who had broken down. The extra time waiting made me happy I'd decided to meet in an air conditioned restaurant and not by the side of the road. When Andrew arrived, I was relieved. I knew that Joyful Girl was out of town, so Andrew was truly solo.

See Andrew's report for the road from King City to the swimming hole, aka San Antonio Lake. And no, I'm not telling where the secret swimming hole is..

Here's Andrew peeling off the clothes.. I had to tell him this was NOT clothing optional! :blink:

BTW - Barry had to pee.



We finally arrived at the Hero meeting place, and Barry was happy to be there..



and Andrew really seemed to enjoy the big tank..

I wiggled into the tank and discovered the main gun is 120mm..

..and the best part, I found the gun viewfinder and took a pix. Imagine my surprise later, when viewing the pictures, that these Harley guyz had set up camp right in front of the 120!



Inside the tank



Since the 1000 mile sign was a lie, Barry and I didn't get our SS1k accomplished.. then when I saw this bike, it make me realize just how easy it is now, what with 800 buck custom seats, fjr's and modern equipment. Could you imagine doing 1,000 on this saddle? Yes, it's metal.



Well, it's now past my bedtime so I gotta get out here, I'll close with this..

The End.