After much delay and what seemed like an insurmountable attempt Nineteen Nineteen proved to be quite an adventure. Lots of super fun roads today including Tunitas, Kings, 1, 9, 35, 84, 236, Smiths, Gazos, Pescadero, Bonny Dune, Empire, and more. Massive twisty action. We also stopped in Bolder Creek to lunch at the
Red Pearl where Jenny served us some awesome food.
On my way out of town I made a quick pitstop to say hi to Kent at the
Moto Garage. He couldn’t make the ride due to having to keep the shop open.
We met up at the Daly City Chevron and Burger King. I chose pump #9 as we would be riding
The Nine.
From Daly City we rode down 1 turning in at Tunitas. We made a quick pitstop at Tunitas and Lobitos for a couple of photos.
From the top of Tunitas we headed down Kings. There were a some bicyclists out, but fewer than usual, however, lots of SUVs where all over Tunitas. Thankfully the road road was dry and relatively clear of debris. This time of year Tunitas can get quite dirty.
From Kings we jumped on 84 which took us up to
STP. We saw
Joker Rio hanging out, but he wasn’t on a bike time. Always fun to see him though. I hope we can go riding again as he knows these roads amazingly well. There were a few bikes up at STP today, and the folks were jazzed to see some two stokes, but the rider population seemed to be pretty low. On a nice day like this the parking lot should have been teaming with bikes. Where is everyone?
Then it was down the west side of 84 which was full of Audis and SUVs with clueless drivers. Soon enough though we were on Pescadero. Usually I ride this rode from west to east, but today were were riding it down hill. This presented new challenges, and a more novel experience of a very fun road. I highly recommend Pescadero as it is one of the better rides in this area.
We connected from there with Butano to Cloverdale where we met with more SUV action. As we entered Gazos from Cloverdale there was a sign warning bicyclists not to enter. I found this humorous as supposedly they were the reason why Gazos had been reconditioned a fews ago. It use to be one of
Doc Wong’s torture roads. After the repairs it became a Replica delight. Sadly Cloverdale and Gazos have just been treated to fresh chip-seal. There was a lot of gravel—the traction through Gazos was pretty good, but nowhere near what it had been just a few weeks ago. The chip seal was disappointing, although we were still able enjoy Gazos due to the unique curves it presents following the creek bed.
From Gazos we headed down HWY 1 again past Davenport to Bonny Dune. We turned down Smiths which true to form still has the gnarly invisible bumps that launch you out of the seat. We both suffered some abuse via this road. From Smiths we connected to Empire. The bikes seemed to have a hard time climbing up Empire—which is one heck of a grade. Even with the struggle before we knew it we were riding past the Christmas Tree farm, and ready for Jamison.
I don’t know what it is about Jamison, but it just destroys the brakes on my little bikes. The Mito is sadly in need of a new front disc so I took it easy with it, and employed more rear brake this time. Which unsurprisingly went soft, but at least I didn’t lose the front. At the bottom of Jamison we were down to 236 which we rode into Bolder Creek arriving at the Red Pearl.
I hadn’t had any breakfast so by this time I was famished. The food that Jenny offers at the Red Pearl is delightful, and great for riding. I should have snapped a shot of it before we began to eat, but I only remembered by the time I was nearly finish. Apologies! As should be obvious my Chinese sign is that of the Tiger, and Calvin, well he’s a Monkey!
We left Bolder Creek, and headed up 236—which is the jewel of the Santa Cruz Mountains. I’ve yet to ride the Dragon, but the 8 miles of twisties through Big Basin have to be right up there. The curves are rather tight so that puts off some folks on the bigger bikes, but for the Replicas this is Heaven on Earth. I still don’t understand why this road isn’t crawling with youngsters and their bikes every weekend like the
biker boom videos out of Japan.
At the top of 236 it pops out back at
The Nine. There has been a fair amount of repaving going on with 9, and it is again a dreamy experience. These curves, and twists are renown and revered in the Bay Area. At the top Nine intersects with 35 via Four Corners where we headed north.
On our way out we made a quick stop at STP again. Then it was up 35 which turned into very heavy fog all the way up to 92. Eventually we’d escape the fog by jumping onto 280 for the ride home.
Not quite ready to end the day I took the time to visit Jeff—I didn’t find him at his
shop, because he was hanging at the cafe down the street. He too would have liked to join the ride, but had to work. A running theme for lots of folks today. Still we had a nice chat while he enjoyed some his chai, and I some Gator-Aid. The bikes did really well, and there were some challenges to keep the day interesting adding to the fun. Every time I go on one of these rides I think about how ee are so very lucky to live in an area with such fine riding for the Replicas.
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