2011 CaliRally

[3Phase]

I got back home this morning at 3:30 AM. Roo made it home okay and he helped me fix a broken left front turn signal ground wire in the fairing before I headed home.

I had a great time at the rally - thank you again, LoHo! - and the ride out to Monterey Bay afterward with Ray, Jerry, Roo, and Ed was a blast,too.

Roo and I stopped and had few cups of coffee at the Denny's in Salinas before we headed home so I'm tired but still wired for sound -- Happy time! (ding!)

[GARTHXS]

some pics

here are a few pics

the rally sign , nice work loho

the santa margarita view
heres roo pre sunburn


hanging out at the pozo saloon a must see joint

special ed enjoying a "pozo martini"

and a blustery san simeon

[3Phase]

Not dialup-friendly ride video

Almost none of the pictures I took at the rally are any good. I thought my mobile phone camera was going bad but it turned out I had left it in the "Macro" setting for taking pictures of XS11 parts. Oops ....

I did make a 13 minute ride video for part of the trip over East Carmel Valley Road and it turned out okay even after uploading it to YouTube.


Riding East Carmel Valley Road


The road was very rough in some spots and there is some wind noise but it's not too bad.

Diver Ray is on point with his '80 Midnight Special followed by Jerry on his Kawasaki Concours; SpecialEd on his '79 Special; Bobber (Roo) on his '78/'79 'bobber, and I'm on my '80G.

[motoman]

Talked with Jerry a bit ago.....just had gotten to Vegas and was at Circus-Circus gettin' ready to eat some dinner. Said loaded trailer a bit differently and pullin great with no sway. Says all is good and will cover the last leg tomorrow to home.....just passin it on.....

[3Phase]

Thanks for the heads-up, motoman, say hello to Jerry next time he calls in!

You know, after watching Smash's video and listening for valve train noise I just noticed that I can hear Columbo's Venture tensioner singing its little heart out in the ride video I posted too. It seems to be a happy little gizmo.

On Saturday morning before the group ride I thought the engine was low on oil so Jerry and I went into Atascadero to find a quart and get some supplies like: ice, Gatorade, a gallon of tea and some bagels because we were supposed to be riding to Soda Lake out in the middle of nowhere.

When we got back and hooked up with the group the plan had changed into a better, cooler, ride up the coast for lunch in Cambria so the ice and the iced tea wound up sitting in the saddle bag along with the bag of bagels.

I checked my oil this morning with a level on the engine this time and it was only down a half quart after the entire 1,000 mile weekend -- not bad, really, and a lot better than I thought it was doing during the trip.

[Jerry]

Made it home OK

I arrived home this evening about 6:45 PM Mountain time. No issues, other than it got into the upper 90's around Las Vegas and I went through about 3 quarts of Gator Aid today.

My thanks to LoHo, Kelli, and Cail for sponsoring this rally and putting up with my bad blonde jokes. I'll be putting up some photos in this thread and an entry on my blog page (www.appleattic.net/blog) in a few days.

Tired, but had a good time!

[3Phase]

Welcome back, Jerry, glad you made it!

[DiverRay]

Glad you made it home safe, Jerry!! I'll see you in about a month on the "other ride"
I hope to have some photo's up buy tomorrow night. I've been working on the '79 so I can sell it to a friend! We ALL know that means working 100%!

[motoman]

Glad to hear you covered the "last leg" with no issues........makes for a short-hop in a few weeks after that haul. Bet that RusselDayLong was a pleasure after watching you do everything but side-saddle two yrs. ago on that stock "showroom" seat going out there.

[Special Ed]

My report

Gypsy (SWMBO) and I arrived at the Santa Margarita KOA about 10:30 Friday night with just enough time to say “hi” to the folks at the tent camp and locate our own kabin and settle into it for the night.

Saturday morning we met the rest of the gang at the XS11 Cali Ralli headquarters at the Loho family kabin where we were treated to a pancake breakfast. DiverRay arrived later since he had to rent a motel room in Paso Robles, some 25 miles away. It took some doing getting everyone assembled and headed in the same direction, a process that Gypsy likened to herding cats. We had initially thought that we would head inland to a “soda lake” that someone knew about, but thoughts of riding through inland heat, uncertainty about a couple of route details, and memories of a really killer lunch stop in Cambria from the year before turned our thoughts to a coastal ride. But nobody wanted to lead. Garth drew the short straw.

Fearless leader took us down “the 101” (as folks in southern California say,) to San Luis Obispo to Hwy 1 over to Morrow Bay. There the pack got split up by traffic. Garth, unaware apparently kept going with half the group in tow and the other half scattered out far behind. I learned latter that he had seen a couple of riders catch up and thought that was all of us. Note to self: next year call for a riders meeting to review pack riding rules and etiquette.

I somehow wound up in front as we approached Cambria and thinking that I knew which exit to take for the eatery. I was wrong. But Ray took over and straightened us out. Canbria is a really quaint and colorful little tourist town just off of PCH We cruzed the main drag of downtown lookin' real cool 'til we came to the restaurant. Maybe Ray or somebody can remember the name of the joint. I'm embarrassed to say that I can't. It's too bad, because the food is of a really good quality and for a very reasonable price. Gypsy and I had a combo plate of 2 beef ribs and 4 pork ribs with ranch beans and Texas toast. I think it cost under $20 including a couple of non-alcohol drinks. A good burger and a huge basket of fresh cut fries cost around $5. I cannot recommend Cambria, in general, and this eatery in particular too highly, as a biker tour stop!

We rode north a little ways to a “pull out” on “the 1”. (I'm sorry guys, but I'm amused by the regionalism here,) This was for a photo op which I hope Ray, and perhaps others may post. I have pretty much given up on trying to combine riding and photography. At least on group rides. Too complicated. I'm too picky. Picky, picky, picky!

The return plan was to ride back to “the 46” and over the hill to”the 101” about halfway between Paso Robles and Atascadero. This is a very nice two lane black top with swoopie curves and very very nice scenery: verdant valleys, vineyards, and panoramic Pacific Ocean views. After a brief rest at camp a few of us rode a few miles over a narrow sholderless road to an interesting tavern in the middle of nowhere. There used to be a town there way back when. Now there is just the tavern left, but it books some top name performers such as Willy Nelson, who will be there soon.

After breakfast and farewells we went our separate ways. Gypsy had to get to Monterey to work, so she took off ahead of Ray and me. The so cal riders headed south while Roo, Jerry, Ray, Scot and I decided to head to Monterey. We headed north on 101 to Greenfield where we gassed up and had lunch at a delightful, very authentic hole-in-the-wall Mexican tacoria. We then headed west on a local street until we connected with Arryo Seco Road which in turn eventually connected with Carmel Valley Road. This 40+ mile ride was the highlight of the trip for me. It was a ribbon strip of asphalt sans shoulder or center stripe for most of the way, but well maintained. The view of canyons, remote vineyards, and old abandoned wooden farm buildings, while fleeting, was memorable. Ray and I agreed to revisit this ride with cameras and a slower pace.

As one might expect, Carmel Valley Road eventually brings one to Carmel. First comes Carmel Valley Village: a yuppy shopping mall serving the yuppie denizens of the Carmel Valley. There are probably more Prius’s per capita than anywhere else in America. The “smug factor” is high here. 12 miles down the road is Carmel By The Sea. There are probably more Art Galleries here per capita than anywhere else in North America. But we didn't go there. No money. No time.

Instead we went to Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey. Gypsy works there doing quick sketch portraits. Jerry got to buy some souvenir tee shirts for his daughter. I gotta close. This is my back yard. Gotta lay down before I fall down.

This is my story, and I'm sticking with it!
Special Ed

[Jerry]

Trip recap

Thought I would add my $.02. it was a good rally.

My trip: 2,920 miles start to finish. "Local" mileage, after arriving at the KOA up to the time I departed back to Colorado, was 990.

i had 4 rides: First was on Thursday night after I arrived; could not see wasting daylight sitting in my camp, so I drove out to Moro Bay. 2nd was with Ralph and Vicki; we took off Friday morning (after a breakfast at Denny's) to visit The Pinnacles, a park along the San Andreas fault. Great ride, particularly up hwy 25. from there it was up to Hollister, back to 101, then south to Santa Margarita. 3rd was the Saturday group ride, with lunch in Cambria, followed by a short ride up PCH (Hwy 1) and some group photos. From there I split off and continued up Hwy 1 for a bit before returning to camp. I took an alternate route home, Santa Rosa Creek Road, mostly 2nd and 3rd gear work and a bit rough, but scenic at the top end. 4th and final ride began Sunday, when 5 of us decided to head north on 101 and turn toward the coast on Elm Road, then Hwy G16 through Carmel Valley. Very nice route. The group split off at Monterey Bay, with the others heading for home and me heading back to Santa M down the PCH.

I was fortunate enough to get some clearing on this last leg, and stopped to get photos of the Rocky Creek and Bixby bridges. I stopped for some sunset photos; I had not done this 2 years ago and regretted it, so I pulled over on a vista point and watched the sun go down over the Pacific.

Trip back, like the ride out, was routine. I arrived home late Tuesday afternoon.

Here are a few photos:

Sunset over the Pacific from Hwy 1.


Seacoast north of Moro bay.


LoHo cooking breakfast for the crew.


Rocky Creek bridge.


L to R: GarthXS, Jerry, Vicki, Tkat, 3 Phase, Reffi, Special Ed, Gypsy, Roo, and Diver Ray.

I'll be creating a gallery page at my site, www.appleattic.net, within a few days, I hope! These and other photos will be available to view in larger sizes and have more extensive captions.

My thanks again to LoHo, Kelli, and Cail for sponsoring this rally, and to Ralph and Vicki for an excellent ride on Friday. i hope to see many of you in Colorado this 4th of July weekend.

[Special Ed]

Nice bridge shot, Jerry!

No, more than nice: artfully done.
I logged about 550 miles with an average of 38 mpg. Musta been all those 80 mph stretches and the spastic right hand. My first car got better mileage than that. But it had a smaller engine. It was a Morris 850 "Mini." Somebody, Garth I think, mentioned smelling gas while riding behind me. I hope he meant gasoline. otherwise: hey, sorry dude! Maybe I need a tune-up. I mean my bike.
Say "goodnight," Ed.
Goodnight Ed