Sunday, 19 Aug 2018
Pictures of the Marin Headlands on a very overcast morning. This was where Ben and Marc stopped on the way home after breakfast in Sausalito. Lots of riders for breakfast.
Chris reports:
13 Bikes, 14 eat
China Camp
We’re All Here
Bob,Joe Harry
Bayside Cafe in north Sausalito (if you can imagine north Sausalito) is right on the water, bordered by an on-ramp to #101 on one side and pricey houseboats on the other. SMBC rated an almost private room with one table to seat us all. Really good food and at a reasonable cost too.
After breakfast we all watched this ‘south county feller’ on a beautiful Norge (read ‘Moto Guzzi’) slip away while wearing very stylish tassled loafers (not Italian). Others melted away in sundry directions while wwwobble rose to the occasion of elevated leadership. He gave guidance to Harry Bahlman, Joe Steiner and Chris Weld by leading us up to San Rafael then out to bayside and around the SF bay’s Marin shoreline, this with a stop at China Camp State Park.
The question arose, what’s next? I suggested the Fairfax/Bolinas Road out of Fairfax. There was some minor grumbling from wwwobble about it being poorly paved and too twisty (must have something to do with Yamaha’s suspension), but I wasn’t listening. I programmed the GPS for Fairfax and immediately thereafter (within a mile’er so) it showed a left on Peacock Gap. That didn’t work - it’s a trailhead, ergo a ‘wendy’ after 50 yards.
We found Fairfax (it was right where I left it!), and Bolinas Road. I hadn’t been over this highway in years, the last two times I tried you were stopped after about five miles. Today it was open. The county has done some work in places but they have not repaved. One wants to check one’s fasteners after riding this roadway. We rode down to the lake, across the dam and then climbed and climbed some more. At Ridgeway the road changes complexion and width and we dropped down to Hwy#1 at the junction with the access road into Bolinas.
Our intent was coffee in Bolinas - there is a cafe there. However, it was Sunday and it seemed the whole county wanted to go to Bolinas. We had to forgo coffee and opted to pause in a red zone so as to stretch and take-in the beautiful aromas of low tide.
Coffeeless, we wended out way back around the Bolinas Lagoon for Hwy #1 under wwwobble’s capable leadership. At the Panorama Hwy ‘T’, wwwobble went left (well, he leaned that way), while Harry went straight ahead on Hwy#1. What were Steiner and I to do? ‘Tempest Le Droit’ (keep the right), no lefties here… Did wwwobble make it home? Did his suspension finally fail? Did the tailpiece on his FJR fall off? We’ll have to show-up in Minden where Polly’ll tell us the truth.
The ‘Harry led’ trio split-up in Mill Valley when Harry got a jump on traffic; Joe ducked into a gas station and I motored on home.
WWWobble replies:
Turns out “internet advice” isn’t always accurate.
I was told that highway (#1) was closed south of Stinson somewhere around Slide Ranch. I saw an orange “detour” sign pointing left at Panorama Hwy, so that’s why I leaned Left.
Turns out the advice about highway closure was wrong as you guys made it, however Panorama was the faster way to go. Mostly clear road going up and along the ridge, but I did catch up to a clog about midway on the down side that I couldn’t get around.
At about the Dipsea I noticed a motorcycle headlight a few cars behind me, so I slowed up a bit before entering 101 near the Buckeye Saloon and sure enough it was a grey BMW carrying Harry. So off we went onto the freeway, across the crowded GGB, thru the sluggish moving tunnel, and onto 19th Ave when we noticed another bike close behind.
I thought it may be the Captain (Chris) or Steiner. Nope. It’s Markus on his tall Africa Twin. He was returning from a ride with a few of his co-workers at Shutterfly. We stopped at Casa del WWWobbler for some chocolate and to wonder why the entire world wanted to be in Bolinas that afternoon.
Suspension and tail section on JetBlu in tact and ready for a midweek ride sometime to Dillon Beach for lunch. Think that might be arranged sometime this year?