We finally reached a long enough straightaway that allowed us to pass safely. As I passed, I was curious to see who this moron was holding the whole world back. So I got next to Hans Schmukpuker with his stupid looking golfing hat and he looked as if he hadn�t a care in the world as he puttered along at 20 mph! This just infuriated me and when I got in front of him, I gave him the Rossi salute. Apparently, CWS felt the same way and gave him the same signal after he passed. About 10 miles later we stopped at Ragged Point, which had a large hotel and an even �larger� scenic view. The ST.net group gathered around the parking lot talking about that idiot in the motorhome that wouldn�t pull over when guess who arrives at the parking lot too? That�s right! Hans and his big-ass motorhome puttered to a stop in the same parking lot. When he pulled over into the Ragged Point parking lot, about 20 cars appeared behind him. I�m sure those cage drivers wanted to wring this guy�s neck too. We were all giving Hans the evil eye when he started walking towards us. I was ready to put my carbon fiber gloves on and give this guy a knuckle sandwich if he even gave us an attitude! Alas, he didn�t give me the satisfaction as he kept on walking by. Dave yelled at him and told him to use the turn offs next time. Hans acted surprised that we were talking to him. He walked up to us to say he couldn�t judge if he would fit in the turn off (with a heavy German accent; that�s how we knew where he was from) and that was why he didn�t pull over. Dave, noticing Hans was German, spoke to him in their language but this guy would not reciprocate and continued to speak in English. Hmmm��.somehow I just didn�t buy Han�s bullshit story as he never even tried to use a turn off, and some of the turn offs he passed (and there were quite a few of them) were way big. His motorhome wasn�t that big. I guess we�re not much for International Relations.
We sought to forget that ugly incident by kicking back at Ragged Point to catch our breath and enjoy the beautiful rugged coastline 200 feet below. As we were relaxing a couple from Southern California (again) came to chat with us. They had trailered their Harley Davidson all the way there so they could ride it around in shorts and T-shirt, then trailer it back home. The guy wasn�t even shy to admit his bike was too uncomfortable to ride that far. They were nice and pleasant though and we enjoyed talking to them. I personally felt they were missing the point of motorcycling but hey! Happiness comes from not knowing any better I guess.
Blowing Off Some Steam
For the final 22 miles back to San Simeon, Ken agreed to lead the group this time. I was getting a bit winded and after that incident with the German guy, I wanted to relax and enjoy the view a bit more without having to worry about riders behind me. Little did I know what Ken had in mind.
The first few miles, Ken lead CWS, Dave, myself, then Goldy and Red at a fairly good pace. The turns were still quite tight and many of them were blind. But once the road opened up the three lead riders took off like a Bats out of Hell. The last I saw them was when I got stuck behind a slow cage they had just passed. For the next 15 miles or so PCH flattened out and the road straightened up with just a few long and fast sweepers. I tried to catch up to the group but they were moving at about 140+ mph in the straights and my Bandit simply didn�t have the legs to stay with them. Nor did I have the nerve whenever those long sweepers came up. I�d slow to about 90 mph in the sweepers then speed up to about 130 mph in the straights only to get to the end of it and not see the lead group anywhere. When I finally reached our hotel in San Simeon, Ken and CWS where already waiting in the parking lot with smiles from ear to ear. What a blast! Geez guys. You missed the sunset you know.
The Remains of Our Day
After taking showers and freshening up, we met with Bluepoof, Grizzelda, and Taliskar for our final dinner together. They had a blast too with their tour of Hearst Castle, as well as their short ride in Santa Rosa Creek Road and Highway 46. It was a short dinner since we arrived from our 300 mile ride around 8 PM and we didn�t eat Dinner until close to 9PM. So by around 10:30 PM we knew it was time to break for the evening. Ken and Redcliffs were to ride further North on their quest for the Iron Butt Saddlesore 1000. The Bay Area group was to ride back north. And Dave and I were to ride south. I said my goodbyes to everyone as I wanted to get started very early the next day to avoid the Traffic from Hell in Los Angeles.
I have to say that having never met anyone in this group in the past (except for Ken) we still all got along so well. Every rider was a quality rider and a nice person. It�s my hope that a future ride with this group w be possible since I had a great time with wonderful company. Thanks to everyone.
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