Mark in Hollister

I was worried about the heat when I was up there in September a couple years ago. Instead it was cold and rainy the whole time. Even snowed on us going over a 6000 ft pass. Thank god for heated gear. There are also those nice cheap hot springs to stay at in John Day or Crane. That was a good trip. Fantastic roads though around Fossil, Service Creek, John Day, etc. Mile after mile of near perfect pavement with almost no traffic. Roads that remote in California are usually better suited to a dual sport.

The first Monday of each month, is Guzzi bike night at Applebees at McCarthy ranch center at the intersections of 880 and 237. 6 PM till ??? I will have the Relay to the National Rally baton there tomorrow on it's way south. Read more about the rally at Relay to the rally

I don't know Orson but see his Travel threads here and on Pashnit.com. His Tenni has seen many countries. I just read that he was involved in a motorcycle accident while touring S. Africa. Several broken bones, etc. Here is the latest on his condition copied from Pashnit. I spoke to Orson yesterday; he's sounding quite cheerful despite his injuries. He's likely to be in the hospital until "the last week of December". If you want to send him a card, this is the address.. Will Sutton Ward A Paarl Medi-Clinic Berlynstraat Noorder-Paarl 7646 Pos Bus 7267 Noorder Paarl 7623 Western Cape Province South Africa

There are some campgrounds on Nacimiento Ferguson Road between Fort Hunter Liggett and the coast. Being pretty far off hwy 1, you may find space there. Also I've seen people just camp on the side of the road. Since it's national forest, it's legal as long as your not obstructing traffic.

Camping on Fremont Peak? Should be fun. Be prepared for it to be cold and windy at night. If there is a new moon, there will be dozens of amature astronomers up there with their telescopes. If you wander amongst them you'll likely be invited to have a look. I'd also not recommend going up/down that hill at night. It's a pretty technical road and lots of deer in the area. When I went to Cayucos a few years back, I did 25 to G13 over to King City. Then Jolon Rd. Then Nacimiento Ferguson and down 1 to Cayucos As I recall it was less than 4 hours with a few picture stops along the way. Being summer, it'll be crazy hot on the inland side. Be prepared for a 30-40 degree change in temp between when you enter the fort and when you get to the Ocean. Nice route though. An alternative would be to do all of 25 then pick up peachtree/Indian Valley Rd. down to San Miguel then down to 58 and take 58 east if that is where you're headed. Lots of good roads in the area.

Nacimiento Ferguson is a fantastic road. Don't forget you have to have drivers license and proof of insurance (dated) to go through the fort. If you take it east to west, be careful near the end. The views of the ocean are so spectacular it's hard to concentrate on the hairpin switchbacks. Also note that 4 wheelers tend to just cut across the tight switchbacks leaving mass amounts of debris on the pavement. Not a big deal but something to be aware of.

Wow! I'd say you have enough there to make your own Griso 8V Calendar. Beautiful countryside and I'm sure the sun was a pleasant surprise. Thanks for sharing.

Hey, forget that 7 hours. I laid out the route on google maps and it said 10 hours, like 340 miles. You should be able to do better than that, but I think 7 would require some serious hard riding.

Time will be heavily dependent on how fast you want to go and if you plan to stop for anything other than gas. I tend to ride at a brisk pace, but stop for pictures occasionally. I think when I did it, I left Artesia (near 605&910) around 9AM and got to Hollister around 4 but that was a little different than going to Carmel. I figure it's an hour and a half from Carmel to Greenfield but perhaps will be closer to two with all the race traffic. There will probably be other bikes headed to Carmel Valley Rd since it is a pretty well known ride. From Greenfield to San Miguel, perhaps another hour. Then maybe another hour to 33 and probably 2 from there to Ojai. Depending on which way you go, I'd estimate another hour over to Malibu. So that makes 7. With 2-3 gas stops, you'll be hard pressed to do it in much less unless and my reccomendation would be to allow for more if you can spare it. You can also cut some time by substituting a little freeway for some of the backroads. In King City or San Miguel, you can jump on 101 and then get off in Paso Robles to pick up Creston Rd. Look at it on a map and see how it works out. It'll be a fun trip for sure.

If you like a full day of twisties... Carmel Valley Road into Greenfield cross 101 and end up on Metz Rd. Go South into King City. Get Gas unless you can go another 70 miles or so. Pick up LoneOak Rd and go east. It will dead end at Hwy 25. Turn South and continue till it ends at 198. Across 198 is Peachtree Rd, a fabulous 1-2 laner that will take you south to San Miguel. Pick up River Rd which parralels 101. This will take you into Paso Robles. Pick up Creston Rd and head east again. Get Gas before you leave town. Stay on Creston until you reach Hwy 58 and then go east. This will start out as a loooooong straight followed by some fantastic twisties. Eventually you'll get to Hwy 33. Go south all the way and go over the mountains into Ojai. Once in Ojai, find you're way to one of the roads to get down to PCH. Malibu Canyon or another. Take PCH till wherever. I did something similar in the opposite direction. It's a great day of riding with zero freeway and many of these roads will be deserted. The only problem is in the summer, it can get damn hot in these inland areas. Carry lots of water.

I had my Cali done at Hare Racing in Sunnyvale. I don't remember the techs name but he had done some Guzzi's and talked me into using a different AFR than what was suggested by Todd. Said he would redo it if I wasn't satisfied...I was. I'm about due for a re-tune myself as I've developed a little popping on decel.

Since you've already got the heated jacket liner why not get the heated pants liner as well. I used them last year on a trip to Oregon in the late fall and with the dual thermostat was comfortable from the low 30's to around 70. Above that they got too warm even turned off. Hope your trip goes well. should be quite an adventure.

Ah yes, I think I almost stopped there but was having too much fun. I can't believe I hadn't been up there before last weekend. Living over that way sure has it's advantges. Hope you had a good day as well.

So the Not-a-rally ended up being a 3 person ride, but what a ride it was. Steve, Jamileh, and myself, had a great ride up with 2 days of motorcycle bliss before returning home. For anyone that has not been up in the Northwest corner of California on a motorcycle, all I can say is that you need to make it a priority. Hwy 36 is spectacular and there are so many more. Fast sweepers, one lane goat trails and everything in between can be found up in this area. Most with very little traffic. I could easily spend a week up here and not run out of new roads. Here are the pics. View as a slideshow for best resolution. http://picasaweb.google.com/Ogsarg/FortunaTrip907