California Ride Report

The bike was ready, Rob waiting in the parking lot with a plan for the day…42 degrees but dry. Let’s go riding.

We headed to Skyline Drive - a twisting upward climb to a road that would take us north into San Francisco. At the crest, Rob pulled over and produced coffee! It was very welcome. On a bike you can take the air temperature and take 5 to 10 degrees off to determine the wind chill factor while riding. We drained the thermos and headed down into San Francisco.

In San Francisco Rob lead the way up this crazy road. It went almost straight up, and then straight down. The sort of road you see car’s flying over in the movies. I would have loved to stop and take a picture but there was no way I could get off safely. As it was, I was riding a sport touring bike (more on the bike later) and leaning forward. Not very comfortable position going up or going down. At the bottom the road curved onto the Golden Gate Bridge.

Two things surprised me about the Golden Gate Bridge. One, it was asphalt all the way across. I was expecting metal grate across but it was three lanes of asphalt. Two, the wind. I had planned on it being very windy across the middle but soon realized I was below the rails on the side and there was virtually no wind. We pulled over on the other side to take some pictures and had a great view of Alcatraz and the city.

Back on the bikes, we head back over the bridge. Rob got through the toll ($6!) first and as I was paying I lost site of him. A cop pointed me in a direction and I just started riding. After about a 10 minute search I found him and we headed to US 1.

US 1 runs along the coast and is just spectacular. One moment you are at sea level, the next you are up on a cliff looking at a very long way down if you make a mistake. We rode down to Santa Cruz, stopped at Subway for a late lunch, and then headed back to San Jose.

The highway back to San Jose is one I don’t care if I ever ride again. It is a very fast, twisty, 2-lane highway and the California drivers must be some of the worst I have experienced. They drive consistently at 20 miles over the posted speeds, right on your tail. The 10 miles up and then over the mountains was nerve racking. I am sure some drivers were yelling at me to go faster, but I have ridden enough to know you ride you own ride at your own pace. Besides, I had no desire to return the rental bike in pieces. Oh, and just as the drivers are bad, the roads in California are just awful. Talk to the locals about the roads and they all respond with ‘hey, we are bankrupt; we cannot afford to fix them”.

We arrived at the rental place with about 20 minutes to spare. A detailed inspection of the bike and I was clear to go. 195 miles for the day.

Bike Report.

I rode a 2009 Honda ST 1300 with 7,700 miles on it. In general it is a sport touring bike. A lot faster and agile than the Wing redlining at 8500 RPM. The more I rode it the more comfortable I felt, but towards the end of the day realized that it never let’s you rest. You are learning forward in a sport bike position with the constant need to shift. As the day wore on, I was missing the opportunity to just site back and enjoy the ride. The gas tank is positioned high, much like a BMW RT or LT, giving you the sensation the bike is top heavy. Straight-line speed is excellent and the electronic windshield is a nice feature. The seat? I think the same person who makes the BMW RT seat makes the ST 1300 seat. In short, more sport than touring. No question the Wing is a better bike for my style of riding.

In summary, a great day, good company and an experience worth posting to the blog.