Tax relief ride

[Special Ed]

It looks like it is a go for tomorrow, the 15th. Ray and I will be at "Breakfast Only" next door to "Road Rider" on Monterey Road in San Jose at 10:00 A.M.
All interested parties have posted thier contact info, so if something comes up, or you have trouble connecting, give a call. And by all means, keep the rubber side down!
E.Liberty

[xs650mike]

Have a great ride guys, wish I was going. If I was I'd already be an hour from home...

[mro]

I be back

I survived the 2006 Tax Relief Ride

Ray lead the way, Mt Hamilton was pretty much covered w/clouds so decided to head south. After about 100 mile ride we parted ways just out of Gilroy.


Simplyd1 made it home too.
Hope to see a post from Ed and Ray soon.



mro

btw
Ray and Ed have pics

[Pat Kelly]

I started to head up Mt Hamilton from the west side to meet the guys on the east side.
About 20 miles into the foothills it started to drizzle, more of a mist. This was at Frank Raines Park for those that know this area.
A couple of miles after the park the road heads UP, very steep, for another mile anna half. At the start of this climb it started to rain.
The top of this climb is the Stanislaus/Santa Clara county line. I headed down that side and a few miles later arrived at The Junction. This is a T intersection. To the right is Mines Rd and twists it's way to Livermore (and the Nuke Weapons Lab). To the left is Mt Hamilton and the Lick Observatory and San Jose, my destination.
At the Junction is a small cafe with a large parking lot. The cafe opens at noon and the parking lot fills with bikes, hundreds of them. At 9am on a rainy day I was alone. Looking to Mt Hamilton it was not inviting so I decided to turn around.
Going back down the steep grade in the rain was interesting, but I made it. Going past the park the road was still dry so I turned-up the wick on the Black Widow and got "recreational".
<the following is inserted for another reply I just made in another thread>
"While attempting to attend the Tax Relief ride I accellerated (in a heavy mist) and had my clutch slip from 1st through third. I've never had this happen before (and I use plain ole Castrol GTX).
At 60 MPH in third and the tach was reading around 7000 RPM, the back end of the bike started to slightly weave side to side.
I think my back tire was slipping, not my clutch .
Never did that before unintentionally."
I arrived back home just after 10pm, called Ray and told him not to look for me.

Maybe another day will work out. Sadly it's rare for me to get weekends off.

Also, the ride did make my dizzyness worse. Today is a very wobbly day for me. It's good to learn these things, what my limits are.

[DiverRay]

Pat,
Sorry to hear the ride made the condition worse. It is good that you found out now, not on a two day, twisty road trip.
I'm going to let Ed talk about the ride, as he is a MUCH better wordsmith than I. I will report that after breakfast, and looking at the mountain, we went South. Road down Monterey road to Bernal. Got gas, and then got on 101 south to highway 25. road through downtown Hollister, and headed for Tres Pinos, still on 25. We took a right on Cieniga Road, and followed it up past Hollister Hills SVRA, and wound on down into San Juan Batista. We had a late lunch at JJ's burgers, as they have a LOT on motorcycle only parking, and good food.
After leaving SJB, we took 156 on out to 101 North, and E.Liberty and I split off at 129 West. MRO and simplyd1 kept North on 101.
We didn't get any rain, and just a little mist on the ride. I enjoyed the ride, as I'd been in the midwest all week without a bike.
Ray

[Special Ed]

Tax Relief Ride

It was a dark and stormy night. No, this is not a good way for a superior “word smith” to start a ride report, but in fact it was just one of way too many “dark and stormy nights” that we have had here in the San Lorenzo Valley. Apparently my homeport of Felton has been in the news, we have gotten so much rain. In any case, it was a very last minute call whether I would make the run or not.
I awoke to the sound of pouring rain. I turned on the Weather Channel (what do they know?) and went on line. All indications were that nobody really knew what the $%#@ was going to happen. So, intrepid biker that I am, I put on my cheap yellow 2 piece rain slicker and went for it.
Hwy 17 is bad enough in nice weather: add rain, mix with idiots in cages, and stir with CHP radar…
Anyway, I arrived fashionably late, with Ray, MRO, and Simplyd1, patiently awaiting my arrival.
Ray summed up the ride quite well: I really have nothing to add, other than that I was delighted to meet two new riders who reinforced my belief that “you meet the nicest people on XS11’s.”
Also I am more determined than ever to make the ride over Mt. Hamilton!
Keep the rubber side down!
E. Liberty

[mro]

““you meet the nicest people on XS11’’s.””

Well....to know me is to .......scratch that, must have had an off day.

Saturday morning got up and fired up the computer and went to the National Weather site, checked my area and it said “”rain showers” for today, went to the radar page and no rain in Hayward/Fremont area and none across the bay where it would come from. Looked down at Santa Cruse area and just north/east it looked to be raining pretty good. So I did what every weatherman should do and looked out the window.

Clouds overhead but out toward the bay there was a break with some sun shining through. So off to the shop and got on my 80G. Only about 11 miles (my shop to Simplyd1's house) , and he was out front waiting to go when I arrived. In just a few minuets we were on our way to San Jose, “Breakfast Only” restaurant.

Had not ridden yet with Simplyd1 so took it easy. Figured we stay off 880 so went down to Mission Blvd to 680, to Central Expressway and then to Monterey Rd where we were to meet rest of the guys. Closer to S. J. we got worse the weather looked, got piddled on a little on Central Expressway but we were almost there. It’s only about 28 miles, Simplyd1's house to Breakfast Only. So we got there an hour early. Parked the bikes and regular chit chat what to do while we waited. Weather wasn’t looking good and it started to rain. Mt Hamilton looked worse and on the ride to the restaurant I saw rain in the distance over north S. J.. Was not sure if anyone else would show.

With time to kill we went next door to Motorcycles Accessories shop. Looked around and I bought a pair of leather gloves for 30 bucks and still had time to kill. Simplyd1 and I went back to the restaurant and sat on the bench out front. Of course it started raining and Mt Hamilton looked foreboding with clouds covering the top. Rain didn’t last long but still looked “rainy” when DiverRay showed up. About 10 minuets later Eliberty showed and after introductions we went over to have breakfast. After eating we all went back over to the mc/shop. Ray decided we should go south instead of up Mt Hamilton. They all had rain gear and only my jacket was “water resistant” so I bought a 30 dollar pair of rain pants and off we went on the route DiverRay described.

On Cienega Rd Ray pulled in to Calera Winery and we had a pit stop/wine taste. Ray and Ed took a few pics out front. Cienega Rd is a nice gentle ride in the foot hills out of Hollister and I think was the high point of or ride. During the ride the rain threatened but I knew that since I had bought rain pants it wouldn’t.

Total ride for me, 208 miles. Surprise to me was I got just over 40 mpg for this trip, up about 6 mpg. Already looking forward to better weather and maybe a 300 mile round trip ride up north by 650Mike.


mro

[xs650mike]

Thanks for the ride reports guys. Look forward to seeing you up this way mro.

[Special Ed]

WhatEVER!Pat

Pat-sorry I didn't get a chance to meet you.
MRO- 40mpg? We'll have to ride harder next time!
XS 650 mike- One of these days, Dude...
Ray and I might have to make a loope your way to see you guys (or "y'all," as they say in Texas.) Then maybe you will be into letting me take you on a "Redwood Tour." I know the scienic back roads and wineries of Santa Cruz County.
Keep the rubber side down!
E. Liberty

[xs650mike]

Yeah one of these days. If you do get up this way I'll get SWMBO to stuff your tummies for the return ride. I could dig a redwood tour down your way. Up here we could do the 3 winery, 3 brewery tour which is spectacular. Clear Lake from Hopland Grade:


Nice weather last few days. Got some riding in and yesterday got my '81 XS650H, Alcan Alice, up and running again. It had been down for a split fuel line. Of course the fuel line is inaccessable between the carbs. Had to pull the airboxes. Then one of the float needles had crud under it so I wound up pulling the carbs. Bike runs strong with a 750 kit. Best of all the price was right...free! Gonna install a set of cafe/clubman bars today. When I get this thing sorted it'll run away from an XS11 on a tight road...

My dad's people back in Ohio say "you 'uns" instead of "y'all". Being a Hollywood kid, I found my aunts and uncles quaint.