Bitterwater Rd ended at the junction with Hwy 46 near the community of Cholame. We headed west on Hwy 46 towards the coast to catch the 101 and get some fuel. At the fueling station, Asphalt_Carver's decision not to eat breakfast had begun to haunt him. He asked a couple of times how far before the lunch break. I really wasn't sure but I estimated it to be an hour and half. Althought truthfully, my estimate was based on poor memory of last year's trip out to Hollister when someone else was leading!
We caught the 101 and headed north thinking we were about 15-20 miles from our next jumping off point: Hwy 198. After my tripmeter hit 22 miles I decided to stop at a rest stop to check my map. We pulled into the rest stop and immediately, this scruffy looking guy who looked like he had spent way too much time out in the sun, and who reminded me of that serial killer guy who terrorized SoCal back in the 1980's, Richard Ramirez, caught my eye. He saw us arrive and immediately began walking towards our direction. I opened up my map and tried not to stare at Richard but this guy persisted. He came up and asked us if we were lost and where we were headed. I looked up at his disheveled face and told him we were looking for Hwy 198. The guy's face lit up like a Christmas Tree! "I know someone who can tell you where that is!" He exclaimed. With that, he ran back towards the Rest Rooms, pulled out another guy who was cleaning the place, spoke to him, then ran back to us. "About 20 minutes up the 101 and you will see the exit for San Lucas Rd. That's Hwy 198!" He yelled out. I was a bit skeptical but I thanked "Richard" anyways. I thought that was a little weird.
Back on the 101, my odometer now read 40 miles from Hwy 46. I was beginning to have doubts. Then, just like the guy at the Rest Stop said, San Lucas Rd, Hwy 198 appeared up ahead! I was dumbfounded! That simple looking guy who looked like a serial killer was right on! We exited the 101 and got on Hwy 198.
Hwy 198 was very, very smooth and well paved. It was mainly made up of high speed sweepers. We got behind an older BMW 325 who was intent on moving as quickly as we were. I stayed behind this car for a while and everytime it would accelerate away from corners, I could smell burning oil from his engine. It was only about 15 miles or so, before we hit the junction of 198 and Hwy 25, where we made a left. Right after we did, there was a sign that read: Next Service 57 miles! I stopped to ask Asphalt_Carver how he was doing. He was very hungry by now. I was okay but was eager to get more lean angle on the bike again. Once again, AS asked how much longer to Hollister, which meant lunch, and I said, about an hour or so. Probably close to being true! |
