Three days, two bikes and 800 miles later.

The day finally came for me and my KTM owning buddy to head out on the open road. We planned a triangular route that took us to the edge of the Sequoia National Forest, to the Central California Coast and back home. We used our Butler Southern California map to plan the route calling some audibles along the way. We mixed ADV with sport touring and had a blast. We are both still recovering and the FZ needs a major chain cleaning, but both of us can't wait to get out again. Take a look at some of the pics we took and settle in for the tale.

Our first night had us camping at the South Fork Campground by Exeter. Once we picked up some supplies at the village market we headed up the mountain. The road started out as a small, twisty, two lane country road and rapidly devolved into a bit of chaos. For me and the FZ at least. Here was an unexpected pedestrian we managed to avoid during the climb. 

The road to the campground was 13 miles. The last few were rutted out dirt with rocks and bumps. I was beat by the time I took this picture at the camp. This was the second time during the first day we were in foreign territory for the FZ. Earlier in the day, north of Bakersfield we did seven or eight miles of uphill dirt trail better suited to dirt bikes than my 500 lb. street bike. I made it without incident, though I was cursing in my helmet the whole time. My buddy on his KTM was having the time of his life. I guess it was only fair. To get to this road we did 50 or 60 miles of some of the best 80 mph sweepers you could have wished for.

Here are my luxury accommodations for the night. I wanted to go as light and lean as possible so I didn't bring my tent. I just used my sleeping bag with bivy sack and made a little cocoon for myself between the bikes. My buddy had a full tent and twin sized air mattress. That is one of the benefits of having lots of pannier space. I slept well, if a bit lightly. The night was cold, but I was snug in my bag. The stars were beautiful and the night was quiet.

I took this picture when I woke up. The FZ watched over me the whole night and kept me safe from bears, chipmunks and roving tarantulas. We packed up, snacked on cheese and salami and headed out. After my nights rest and the experience from the day before I was positively zipping down the dirt trail away from the camp. I guess I was more comfortable frolicking with the FZ on the dirt after having survived the ADV part of the trip the day before. We unfortunately had to slog 80 miles or so along a straight, flat road to get to the fun stuff near the coast so we wee both eager to get that part of the ride over with.

After filling our bellies on steak and eggs for brunch, we were finally looking at a twisty road on the map and mountains in front of us. The 198 from the I-5 to the US 101 is just an awesome road. It went quickly and we were mostly alone to enjoy it all. We still had some miles to hit before we could see the ocean and some of those miles took us over Naciemiento-Fergusson road. Here we stopped at the halfway point of the road from the Army base to the coast. It is a good place to rest after 10 miles of tight, single lane, tree shaded paved mountain trail as the Butler map likes to call it. The last three miles drop almost 3000 ft to the US 1 on the coast and it is a challenging ride especially with the occasional oncoming traffic to deal with.

When we arrived on the coast, the marine layer had burned off and the day was as beautiful as it could be. The temps were low, but not uncomfortable. Traffic on the 1 wasn't bad, but a few people didn't understand the purpose of a turnout (it means pull over and let the faster traffic by). We zipped down the coast stopping for coffee along the way. This part of the PCH is simply an amazingly beautiful ride and I highly recommend it to anyone that can get out here.

We ducked off the PCH around Cambria and found a road I've never been on before. Day two was my day to plan the route so I wanted to show my friend the roads I've come to love in my solo trips up the Central Coast of California. Santa Rosa Creek road was a little hard to find, but proved worth it in every way. The pic above was about nine miles into the run with another five to go. We had an empty, twisty one lane road with only deer and turkeys to keep us company. At one point we made a left turn that was a 180 degree hairpin left to an eight percent or so grade climb. You can see the road in the center of the pic above. We just had to stop at the top to see what we had just ridden. Smiles all around.

These are some of the glamor shots of our valiant steeds at the top of the run. We zipped on to the hotel for the night. It was nice to have a shower and bed to rest in. By the time we had gotten to our day two stop we had done 600 miles of mostly twisty, challenging riding. Day three was a cruse down the coast from Paso Robles on the US 1 through Lompoc back to Ventura. It has its corner carving spots, but is pretty sedate compared to what days one and two had for us. We didn't stop much except to eat and gas up so no pictures to document the day.

And after all was said and done here is the mileage count. We both had a blast and can't wait to get back out on the open road again. I have to do some maintenance on the FZ to get her ready for my California Superbike School class which is my next big motorcycle event. November promises to be an exciting month for motorbikes as well. Come on around soon for more Motorbike Obsessed content!

Blue