 |
| Back to Rogue's Home |
 |
|
| Back to Rogue's Home |
| Northern California Tour May 2004 Sport-Touring.net West Coast Regional Meet in Fortuna, CA May 2004 |
| Several years ago, I read a book about the northern coast of California. In it was a bit of information about its wild beginnings as well as its pristine condition it has managed to keep all these decades. Being from Southern California, undeveloped coastlines hold a special place in my mind simply because there�s not much of it where I come from! The place that piqued my imagination was called The Lost Coast. It was named that because it wasn�t until the early 1900's when the area opened up to the outside world with the construction of a railroad in 1914, which connected Eureka to San Francisco. Even then, road construction along this area was stifled due to heavy rainfall, the existence of a few rivers that rose and fell a 100 feet overnight depending on weather, and the sheer size of the Kings Mountain Range that shielded the coastline from the inland valleys. Thus, the promise of an open coastline, hardly touched by humans appealed to me.
In addition to The Lost Coast, there was also the attraction of Highway 1 north of the San Francisco area. This road, stretches about 210 miles from its beginning in Mill Valley, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, all the way north to the small town of Leggett, about 70 miles south of Eureka, CA.. For a motorcycle enthusiast such as myself, the idea of riding a twisty road for a couple of hundreds miles along an unspoiled & scenic coastline is enough to include this feat as a must-do ride before I departed this Earth. Now, thinking about a motorcycle trip and actually doing a motorcycle trip are two different things. It�s one of those things in life that�s easier said than done due to demands of a job and other personal reasons. But when the opportunity arose in May of 2004 for an organization of like minded riders to get together in Fortuna, CA, which just happened to be located east of The Lost Coast as well as passes by Highway 1, I decided to jump all over it. It was the best chance to accomplish one of my dream rides along with the company of good people. The following is a chronicle of my experiences when I rode my 2001 Honda VFR800 from Southern California to Humboldt County, CA and back. This trip coincided with the Sport-Touring.net Western Regional meeting in Fortuna, CA. Both of which occurred in May 2004. |
| Day 1: A Lane Splitting Lesson Distance Covered: 530 miles
I rode out from my home in Mission Viejo, CA at 5:50AM to go to my first rendezvous point to meet Ken in Duarte, CA, about 64 miles north of me. It was dawn and was semi-dark. Plus, it was raining! Luckily, I had my rain covers on my tailbag and I was wearing the waterproof liner for my Joe Rocket Alter Ego jacket and Ballistic pants. Even though it was a chilly 50 degree temperature, I was nice and toasty. The ride was all freeways and the morning rush hour was just getting started. Unfortunately, 30 minutes into the ride, being in unfamiliar freeways, I missed my transition ramp to another freeway and I needed to backtrack back. This backtracking forced me right smack dab in the middle of L.A.�s horrendous rush hour traffic. Those who have never experienced L.A.�s rush hour should consider themselves lucky! Imagine a multilane freeway stopped dead cold in its tracks�many refer to it looking like a parking lot. It really is! Cars and SUV�s filled the left lanes and giant bumper to bumper trucks filled the right lanes. I wasn�t about to sit in that so I split lanes for many miles. Splitting lanes is much easier said than done and for the un-initiated, it can be a downright scary experience as vehicles brush by with just a few inches to spare sometimes. Luckily, California drivers are aware of motorcycles splitting lanes and they behave by opening up a gap for me to squeeze through. Even the big trucks do so when they see me. This of course doesn�t make lane splitting any more easier, just less dangerous. I finally found my way and arrived at the first rendezvous point about 45 minutes late! Ken, being the patient guy that he is, waited it out. I personally would have left after 20 minutes of waiting! Our meeting was short. Hi! Sorry I�m late. Let�s go! We had another rendezvous point to go to and we were about to run late to that. |
 |
| Above: Ken waited 45 minutes! What a patient guy. |
| Ken showed me the proper way of lane splitting in L.A. by maneouvering his Moto Guzzi V11 with saddlebags (!) In between traffic at around 60 mph. I followed Ken in awe as we sliced through L.A. traffic like a hot knife through butter!
Once we headed north on Interstate 5, the traffic subsided and it was smooth sailing from there to rendezvous point 2 to meet several riders, Dave, Russ, and Roger. We arrived at Dave�s house late of course but in good spirits. We had breakfast there, met Dave�s charming wife and son, and the cat. |
|