Ferndale Tale
by Greg Hutchinson
Now where is that @#%$#&*! bracket? Great minds have
wonderful thoughts when they're trying to get their stuff together!
It's Friday afternoon about 4:00 p.m. and my new/old bike is in
pieces. This was to be the inaugural ride of the resurrected '81 R80
G/S I bought from Lowell. New shock, bags, bottom end, brakes and
a rider who keeps telling himself that "dirt will be fun!" I don't have
to worry about losing a gazillion dollar fairing when I hit a stretch of
"unpaved" highway. This is my chance to have fun.
I had planned on being in Healdsburg for the Friday night
campout and leave with the tour Saturday morning. But let's tweak
one more little thing, then another ..... all good plans, etc., etc.
It's 8:00 p.m. and the beast gets buttoned up ad tested.
Wonderful sound of the torquey old twin calls back fond memories.
Now I have to think of the an appropriate bike name that would
make Noemi proud. Still thinkin'. Gotta keep these 80 G/S's on the
road. I call the motel suggested in the Newsletter; no vacancy and
none in the surrounding area. Of course, wine country on a perfect
weekend: Duuuuhhh! Brains are showing again. All right, next plan:
let's pack and head up to the apartment in San Francisco and get a
head start on this adventure. Eleven o'clock in bed and I'm 45
minutes closer to the start.
Day begins. Time to find our valiant leader and his pack of merry
followers. Out the door and across the Gate. The fog is thick and
cold. Time to try out the heated grips. Ahhh, hot ..... real hot, too hot!
Only one setting and that's "broil." Must remember to cycle the
switch or figure a way to flip my hands over and get the other side.
The fog finally clears around Santa Rosa and I arrive just in time
to join the tour. See lots of familiar faces and bikes. Jonathan
describes the intended route across to the coast and off we fly. I
haven't been on a group tour in a long time because I usually leave
on Friday afternoon to get to the meeting early. A long ride and a
new bike dictates the need for the tour support system, just in case.
Jonathan falls into form and the group is off behind Captain Quigg
on his red "sail-bike" to the Far North. Out of Healdsburg on Dry
Creek Road to Stewarts Point/Skaggs Spring Road to the coast. Been
years since I been here and I forgot how much fun this is! And on a
G/S! Gnarly sections with tight corners and great scenery. This light
bike is great. The riding is fantastic ..... until I really get cooking
around a tight corner and have an adrenaline attack. Oh, the
wonderful surprises of a new bike. Seems the center stand had been
shortened and is now hitting the new exhaust pipe. The stand is
sticking down about 3", giving me "feelers" on how far over I could
lean. And I was scraping big time. Discretion overcomes the fun
new bike feelings and I back off and enjoy the tour to Stewarts Point
and the coast.
In my opinion, Highway 1 north of Bodega Bay is the most
beautiful and fun part of the California coast. Minimal traffic,
minimal CHP, maximum fun, and maximum beauty. Everything was
going Jonathan's way today. Except he kept losing people ..... and
finding them again ..... and losing them again. The laments of a tour
director. Like a mother hen who loses chicks and adopts the ones
along the way.
I remember the first time I rode Highway 1 up here. I dept
trying to run off the road looking at all the sights. The scenery is just
as beautiful as then but I must be taking it for granted. I envy the
tourist we pass for their "first look" feelings.
Lunch at the Ft. Bragg Grill was a very high point of a very good
day. Pleasant, happy people and great food. Everyone walked out
stuffed and smiling! Got to hear some interesting music across from
the cafe; a fiddle contest. Thought I was back in San Francisco!
The tour enjoys the last stretch of oceanside riding and heads
inland through the Redwoods to Garberville. Garberville is always a
trip in itself. You read about the local happenings in the Chron every
two years or so. As you fill up at the Shell and look around, you sort
of wonder which person is a narc, or lumberjack, or "harvester." The
entire town is in slow motion and laid back; real laid back. It fits.
A few of us decided to boogy up the four-lane to Ferndale while
the rest of the tour took the Lost Coast. Funny, I never knew it was
missing. It's always there when I leave Honeydew!
Got to the campsite and started hawking the new Club t-shirts.
Enjoyed a nice club meeting about money and such, and later lost a
few riders when I forgot which bridge to go over to get to the Samoa
Cookhouse ..... but that's another story.
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