Scotts and Ed's Magnificent Adventure

[Special Ed]

The hour is late, and the only reason I am posting this is because I said you should check this page for more of our exciting adventures. DiverRay and 3Phase are welcome to post their versions here if they should beat me to my version. But please, I beg you to take any of our versions with a grain of salt. I'll post my version of our ride manana after a good nights sleep.
Special Ed

[natemoen]

Interesting, and awaiting the story!

[3Phase]

Man, Ed, Highway 9 was fun but I'm still waiting for all that beer and whiskey to wear off -- beware of imported Canadian whiskey made and bottled in the U.S.A.!

I'm changing out that bad rear tire on my bike this evening and the tire and rim are both a mess. I'm lucky to be alive. The local dealership has definitely lost my tire-changing business and Metzeler is sending me a chit to ship the tire to them for warranty inspection.

Okay, break's over, back to the garage!

[motoman]

Okay........gots to know............would this include an elevated pucker factor?

[DGXSER]

I'd say if it were me, it would take a 10 lb sledge to drive a pin up my arse in after that!!

[3Phase]

Ed handled the lockup with panache but the folks behind us got a little impatient.

At first they didn't know the bike was broken and were waiting for him to turn into the jail. When we started pushing and dragging it to the side of the road they eventually got the idea.

[Special Ed]

I hope this is worth the wait!

Ray and I used to try to get in a Sunday ride every weekend. This is before I parked the bike to recover from my radical organectomy. What with Scot’s arrival, we decided that a putt was definitely in order, but since it was, after all, Superbowl weekend, Ray wanted to do Saturday so that he could have Sunday free to do what football fans do.

We rendezvoused at his place in Aptos (a suburb of Santa Cruz, although an Aptosian would take umbrage at that description!) After “airing up” and a quick riders meeting we agreed on a basic route. We stopped at a gas station to fill up and off we went.

We went up “Old San Jose Road” to Summit Road. The former is a delightful well maintained 2 lane blacktop with center stripe and shoulders for most of the way, although toward the top the shoulder sorta petered out. 45 mph curves, bucolic views, and mixed foliage consisting of Fir, Pine, Manzanita, Madrone, and various other plants too difficult to identify at 10mph over the speed limit!
Ray was our fearless leader, and I indicated to him that I needed to make an equipment adjustment, so we pulled into the parking lot of the rather”chi chi,” yuppie-esk Summit Store. While here we had a cage jockey who approached us and started talkin' bikes. It seems that he is an ex XSiive and has a goldmine of parts, and has a friend with an non-op XS11 that can be had really, really cheap! This happens fairly often when we are out riding. After contact info was secured, we road off north on Summit road.

This road. As the name implies follows the crest of the Santa Cruz mountains that separate the coastal area from the Central Valley. It is very narrow, barely two lanes wide with no shoulder to speak of. One must ride as closely as possible to the right, especially on blind curves, which are the rule rather than the exception. The scenery, when one can take the fleeting time to view it is fantastic. I left my camera behind, but as a biker and a photographer I am always conflicted: do I ride, or stop to try to capture a view which is almost certain to be a poor reproduction of the original. The Lord creates, I can only record.

We rode past Christmas tree farms and verdant vistas, on delightfully twisty curvy roads. We pulled up to a rare stop sign and Ray signaled “you want to lead?” Sure, why not? At this point the road opened up a bit, and it was 45 to 50 mph for the next 10 miles or so to the intersection of Skyline Drive, (HWY 35,) and HWY 9. This is a very popular gathering spot for sport riders and Harley Riders alike. Well, XS riders too, obviously. Now that DiverRay jumped ship and got a Beemer, he has that schmooze/connection too, so a simple riding gear change turned into a social moment with another Beemer rider. We do not know if his MNS was offended: probably not. XS11's are made of sterner stuff than Mortal Man. Witness the abuse mine has suffered at my hand's!

From there we turned onto Hwy 9 South, and the road opened up to a very well maintained, wide, 2lane road with such modern niceties as center stripes, yellow curve speed warning signs, shoulders, and slow vehicle turnouts!. The latter turned out to be a bit of an irritant at one point. I find it a source of frequent amusement and/or frustration, the number of drivers who either: (A) don't think of themselves as being “slow,” (B) never look in their mirror to see that there is a line of 5 or more vehicles behind them, ( C.) or they are maladroit sociopath's and don't give a ****. Or maybe they are well meaning Fathers who are out on a beautiful day, on the weekend, teaching their teenage daughter's how to drive their full sized, Ford F1Gazillion long bed freakin' diesel picup truck! Oh yeah, before teaching them to USE THE FREAKIN' TURN-OUTS when they see a half dozen vehicles stacked up behind you! Yeah, even if the vehicles are bikes! I didn't have the time to see who the inconsiderate so & so was in the a fore mentioned pickup truck doing 35 in a 50 mph zone, because after 5 miles of failing to take several opportunities to pull off, one turnout being large enough for a semi truck, I finally passed on a rare straight stretch, but didn't dare take my eyes off the road, or my hands off the bars long enough to signal my displeasure. Ray informed me later that he had done both, and it was from him that I surmised the student driver angle.

I didn't realize that a couple of other bikes had joined Ray and Scott waiting to pass the slug. There was a stop sign at the intersection of Hwy 9 and upper 236 (AKA Big Basin Rd.) After a very quick California Stop, I was off. I saw Ray and Scot’s headlights in my mirrors along with a couple of other headlights. I assumed that they were probably Harley's, in which case I figured if I just “road it like I stole it,” that I could keep ahead of them. This is a very challenging and entertaining stretch of Hwy 9. From this direction it is downhill, and at times steeply so. The yellow signs advise 25 to as low as 15 Mph. I usually take such warnings with a grain of salt, but on this 15 Mph curve I've learned to take it seriously. It is so steep and sharp that whether climbing or (as in our case, descending,) one must counter- intuitively lean away from the turn. Eventually there was a short straight away where I signaled one of the riders to pass me and I discovered that I had been trying, with some success, to outrun a couple of young lions on motards! “On yer way lads,” it was fun for a while, but thoughts of mortality eventually inhibit mature minds.

After a few miles Hwy 9 opens up to fairly well maintained black top with swooping 55 Mph curves. We let the motards go and stopped at a new restaurant that was under construction. It is literally a stone's throw from our (wife and my) previous address before where we are living now. We stopped primarily to check out a mural that my wife, the artist, is doing for the owner, our previous land lord. After we stopped, our first chance to converse since our last stop, Scot sez “well, that was fun!” My thoughts exactly: and I was pleased to find that we were on the same page! Scott proceeded to complain, with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his lips, about the scuff marks on the underside of his bikes foot pegs. Poor bay-be!
Once again I am allowing what should be a simple two paragraph ride report turn into a two page novella: mea culpa!

From there we road down Hwy 9 through Boulder Creek, and past the Bookdale Lodge. a whole story in itself. http://www.hauntedbay.com/feature/BrookdaleLodge.shtml. On through the redwoods and past Henflings road house, http://www.henflings.net/,http://en....nd,_California, and through Felton, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felton,_California, and stopped in at the Log Cabin Tavern for a brewsky and de-breifing. The last leg of the ride was the 6 mile ride through the redwoods and along the San Lorenzo river into Santa Cruz and my pad at the Tannery Art Space, http://www.tanneryartscenter.org/.

It was altogether a bitchin' ride. The roads were clean from recent rains and the weather was absolutely perfect. I almost felt guilty thinking about my less fortunate brothers and sisters who are suffering through blizzards, floods, and all the other extreme conditions of this historically rough winter. I share, not to gloat but with the hope that the readers will get some vicarious pleasure from my effort, and look forward to better days ahead.
Special Ed

[cruiser]

Great ride report Ed.
From the great white north, extreme pleasures recieved and appreciated.

[3Phase]

Great ride report, Ed! That was fun!

I didn't take very many pictures while I was up in Santa Cruz but here are three that came out best. I didn't include Gypsy's unfinished "work in progress". That would be rude to the artist so folks will just have to ride Hwy 9, stop in and have a Banana Slug Burger while they admire her painting.


Sunset after arriving in Santa Cruz.





Sunset in Santa Cruz at Trader Joe's after the ride.





Wond'rous apparitions, provided by magicians!
Doo! Doo! Doo! Lookin' out the back door!

The San Lorenzo river at sunrise in Santa Cruz.



We have got to do this again!

[Special Ed]

Prologue

Nice shot from my back deck, Scot.
I am disappointed to find that some of my links to websites failed. The little communities along Hwy 9 are very interesting, historically, and I encourage interested readers to do a search for "Brook Dale Lodge," "Ben Lomond CA," "Henfling Road House (or tavern,)" and "Felton CA," or any possible variation thereof. If my muse should inspire me, or kick me in the ass, I may write a ride report on just the lower portion of Hwy 9.
Special Ed

[Special Ed]

correction

Oops, regarding last post, I meant "post script," not "prologue" of course. Just in case some one thinks I don't know the difference...
Special Ed

[DiverRay]

Good writeup, Ed!! I DID get an email from the owner of the parts, and will be driving a car over the hill Sunday morning to pick up some more XS1100 parts. He has an airbox, stock rear shocks, mirrors and gaskets from a 1980 Special. He also has an exhaust system, stock, in good condition. I think Scott needs that for a bike he has.
Parts are NOT real cheap, but not over-priced either. I do NOT know what his friend would want for the bike, but I will try to find out Sunday. I know I can't buy it, as I have NO MORE ROOM! I need to sell a bike or two BEFORE I try to get anything else.
PS, it's raining today, and there is SNOW on the road we rode two weeks ago!