We headed out of San Simeon onto Highway 1 northward to Monterey. 100 miles of one of the world's best twisties. Smooth, well marked, with breathtaking views, many people from around the country and the world come to ride and drive on this road. It's that good. The northerners can have Hwy 1 north of San Francisco. We have Hwy 1 from San Simeon to the Monterey Peninsula. The rain continued its steady drive and it was what I would characterize as light. But it was steady and kept everything wet, including ourselves and kept a thin layer of water on the roads. It wasn't enough to create floods, which was a good thing. But it was enough to put our rain gear, our tires, and our mental abilities to the test.
Highway 1 began as sweepers and long straightaways. But as we approached the Santa Lucia Mountain Range, the road climbed to maybe a thousand feet and it switched gears from sweepers to 30 mph, then 25 mph, then down to 20 mph decreasing radius turns. Sometimes 15 mph! Due to the rain, some corners were littered with rocks that had fallen from the cliffs above. At one point, there was a real boulder-size rock on the road and we had to ride around it into the opposing lane. There was already a CalTrans worker there signalling people to avoid it.
We passed by Ragged Point, the point on this section of Highway 1 where it is the tightest as it twisted and turned and changed elevation quickly in the middle of a turn. I think my concentration level was about as high as it had ever been on this trip. My Pirelli Diablos never slipped, nor gave me any hint of trepidation. I could have probably gone a bit faster, which I did later on when I gained more confidence in them. Wonderful tires. I was aided by the smooth, snatch-free power delivery of my Firebolt coming out of the slow corners. Great stuff. |
