On the ride Saturday I had clear but gray weather and minimal traffic in front of me on the 1 north through scenic Big Sur and into Monterey. Trouble was it wasn’t that scenic on account of the low gray clouds still hanging around. It’s still a beautiful stretch of road and challenging in places too.
A friend recommended stopping at Point Lobos State Reserve. I got there around noon on Saturday, and spent the next four hours walking around and taking pictures:
After a quick breakfast at the Econo Lodge, I headed north again on Sunday. I was looking around some of the estuaries for some bird pictures, but the gray sky again wasn’t helping the photography thing.
Around noon time I stopped at Seacliff State Beach just south of Capitola to take a closer look at the legendary cement ship that’s sunk at the end of the pier there. Lots of seabirds roost on the carcass of the old ship, but you can’t even walk out on the pier to get a closer look. It’s interesting, but a bit of an eyesore. My surfing friends hope that it’ll sink below the surface just enough to make a new surfing reef there.
I stayed with friends in Santa Cruz on Sunday. Monday morning we drove out to Ano Nuevo State Reserve for a somewhat wet hike and a futile search for elephant seals. The seals were on the island, we could hear them … but they were staying away from the beach. The docent told us it was still too early in the season. Come back in November or December, and then the seals are having pups on the beach only steps away from the path.
The ride over the mountain from Santa Cruz via Old San Jose road was definitely a highlight of the trip! I could have gotten into a lot of trouble on that road, except I followed a local driving a beat up truck with skateboarder stickers on it most of the way up. He was moving along at a good clip, but that was enough to kept the bike to a sane pace on an unfamiliar road. It was a beautiful road though with the leaves changing color and falling onto the roadway. It was cold up at the summit there too! But that peaceful revere was soon over and I was back on the freeway. The drive down on the 17 and through San Jose on the 880 through the East Bay was harrowing to say the least. I was glad to see that I got through there fairly quickly and the freeways were just starting to back up when I got to the Mission Road exit. I didn't leave Santa Cruz until 2 pm, so there was no time for the planned route up and around Mt Hamilton and into Livermore, but, maybe next time.
The second highlight on this stretch of the trip was the 160 into Sacramento. There’s no toll for motorcycles over this HUGE single lane bridge that crosses high above the San Joaquin River near Antioch, and then the road twists and turns as it follows the Sacramento River atop the levees. The road crosses three or four old drawbridges back and forth and back again across the river through the delta lands. Very cool and scenic with even a couple of barges on the river. I had to deal with massive bug splatter on the face screen though -- some big yellow and pink splats, and my Thurlow gloves did nothing but smear it around some. Of course, my dad used to always say the sign of a happy motorcyclist was the bugs in his teeth. Thank goodness for full face helmets. I pulled into the hotel in Sacramento just as the sun was going down. Perfect timing yet again.
