The bike is together and we are on the road. Warm day and nice ride out of Napa through Clearlake and then east to the I5, thereafter a freeway slog. The next morning I found a good motorcycle themed coffee place before departing. It is a simple modern layout with excellent coffee and as it turned out a fine waffle!
The name is the Kickstart cafe and Jim the owner is a motorcycle enthusiast and rider, with several vintage BMWs that he rides. A good place to stop for a cup of joe.
It’s been a long time between postings, mostly because its been a long time between motorcycle rides! Too long. Since this last posting we have done a few things like: sold a house, bought a house, moved 3 locations to one, renovated the house and built a garage shop so I can work on my bikes.
Tomorrow I ride north to meet Klaus for a few days of riding. The first bike on the lift in my new shop is my ducati for a 6k tune. Its taking a bit longer than I expected with some distractions, so it might not get done for this ride in which case I have a very capable GS to take north!
Stopped at Limstone coffee in Medford, right downtown. Great coffee and worth a stop.
Last day was another put the head down and go, well after a good coffee at the French Press of course. Took 101 all the way to San Mateo, only stopping for gas. A few scheduling challenges surrounding A-dog required an early start and making good time, so back by noon. I have already ridden the good roads between Santa Barbara and home many times, so not a big sacrifice. Besides, I will certainly be riding them again.
The bike was great for the whole trip, started every time, no mechanical faults and dealt with anything we were handed along the way. A solid companion. Now for a good wash, tuneup and new back tire and we could do it all again!
When in Santa Barbara the French Roast is a great choice for coffee! Even better they opened a new location closer to the hotel!
This was one of those “lets get there” kind of days. J and I left the hotel together at around 10, she for the airport and me towards home. Already getting up in the 90s I knew it was about putting my head down and getting through the heat. Stayed well hydrated, dealt with the LA traffic and at Santa Clarita, decided to go on to Santa Barbara. Three reasons: good coffee in SB, nice to get a few fun motorcycle miles every day, and good food. Highway 150 goes through the Ojai valley and is worth the trip. Arch Rock Fish for dinner is always a good stop.
Hwy CA150
Hwy CA150 – view of lake casitas
When in central Phoenix and in need of a coffee LUX is an excellent choice. Not only fine coffee, but the best oatmeal I have ever eaten. J and I sampled many fine savoury items here and the drip coffee is pretty much off the charts as well. Go here!
A relatively short ride to Phoenix, on highway 60 through Globe. I got a pretty early start this morning, at least for me, which speaks to the dearth of good coffee in Show Low. Highway 60 north of Globe is spectacular and needs to be on any riding list for this part of the world. After Globe and the closer you get to Phoenix the road gets less interesting, the altitude drops and the temperature rises. By the time I got to the hotel it was in the high 90s and time to get out of some leather layers!
J is coming into town tomorrow and we are going to chill here over the weekend. Chill might be the wrong word but it feels good to say it right now..
Roads on Hwy 60
Canyon view from hwy 60
A good day of riding staying off the interstates for the most part. Took hwy 14 out of Santa Fe, through Madrid, NM where some of the town scenes in Wild Hogs was filmed. No hogs in sight today.
Onto highway 60 and came across the VLA – very large array radio telescope in the middle of nowhere. Very impressive, suddenly felt the need to keep saying “good to go!”… Most of the road is over 6000 ft, reaching up to 8000 ft., I guess a bit closer to the stars. THEN to make it better the whole Pie Town experience made my day!
A steady strong side wind for the last 60 miles settled my decision to stop in Show Low and see if I can find a hockey game on TV!
VLA radiotelescope in NM
Wild hogs cafe – Madrid, NM
One of the things that I like to get done on every ride of any distance is to have a good piece of pie. Something about making a road trip I guess, maybe it harks back to the days of riding with my Dad when he was working. So you can imagine my joy at coming across a town called Pie Town, with only two restaurants both specializing in pie!!! Put highway 60 West of Socorro on your to do list!
