by Dave McGinnis
I'm not sure that it follows correct club convention, but Saturday night after the meeting it was suggested that I, New Guy Dave, write the tour summary. Here goes...
I arrived in Castro Valley at about 8:50 am, gassed-up and ready per the instructions, and a bit tentative. I went inside, introduced myself, and was handed a small stack of paper. Thinking it was some sort of club paraphernalia, I stuffed it in my pocket not knowing it was the tour directions. After all, how hard could it be, I had committed the freeway route to the meeting to memory! I followed everyone outside, and we fired up our mounts. (There aren't many things in life more stirring than the warming-up of seven motorcycles with good mufflers) Before we departed, I was approached by a member in full leathers, weathered by the road. Expecting some sort of advice like, "Try to keep up," I was a little surprised when John smiled and said, "You're gonna be cold."
We left Doug's Place at 9 am sharp and headed north on Redwood road through Moraga, then into Tilden Park via the Berkeley hills. As I'm new to the area, I can honestly say that these were some of the most beautiful, green, wooded hills I've ever been unable to look at. Friday night's rains had left the roads wet, and the decomposing leaves and pine needles left this new guy fixed on the asphalt or on the line of the bumblebee in front of me. (Thanks, Rick!)
Out of the park and down into Martinez, more dry pavement and less tiptoeing. I must confess that when Martinez popped up, I was quite surprised. No tank bag left me unable to follow Bob's trip-tik, and my ordinarily accurate internal compass told me we should have been pulling into San Luis Obispo. I can only attribute this to some strong sources of EMF near Pleasant Hill. Anyway, across the Benicia Bridge, up 780 to Columbus Parkway into the back of Vallejo. We then continued north on 29 toward Napa, then into Sonoma County to Boyes Hot Springs for lunch at Paddy's. (Note: Not hot, saw no springs.)
After lunch, we headed northwest through the hills and valleys toward Santa Rosa, then back into the Napa valley via St. Helena/Spring Mountain Rd. When we arrived in St. Helena it was nearly 3 o'clock, so the group decided to take the direct route to the meeting up Hwy. 29. In Calistoga, we found Bill Jarvis on his 100-miles-new Funduro 650 (very shiny) and he joined us the rest of the way.
The road up from Calistoga was perfect. Nice surfacing with lots of passing lanes and very little traffic, except for the rookie on the orange R90S! Coming down into Middleton-town, the straight stretches gave everyone a chance to get the carbon off the valves and air it out a bit before the short hop to the campground, just in time for the meeting.
What a great ride! As a new guy, I can proclaim without hesitation, "Best tour ever, Bob!"
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