Northern/Central California Tour

I leave tomorrow on a one week excursion through some beautiful parts of California. I'm going to try to get out early to avoid the heat as I pass through Sacramento and the Central Valley (I'm starting in the foothills of the Sierras). I'll go through Napa Valley, then head south over the Golden Gate Bridge, down the coast through Big Sur, and then cut across the state to Yosemite. I'll do a few of the mountain passes over the Sierras, then head north through the mountains, ride the up the west side of Lake Tahoe and head home again. It's just a rough plan at this point and can be changed as I go.

I'll be staying with friends and in hotels on the trip (no camping).

I'll do my best to get some good pics and will post them here for those that are interested. They will of course consist entirely of my NC in front if different scenery.

This is my longest motorcycle trip to date, so I'm pretty excited to get going.

That sounds awesome! Ride safe! Looking forward to seeing the pictures and hearing about the ride. Might give me some ideas of where to travel myself.

So grateful to be on the road!

Went off the beaten path at Davis and rode through some big sunflower fields. I don't recall seeing them grown in CA before.


Made my way to Winters then up to lake Berryessa on 128 then down the other side to Napa on 121. Those are some incredible roads. Fresh pavement and amazing twistees. Some of the most fun that I've ridden.

I made my way though the scenic wine country (and didn't take any photos), and headed to the Golden Gate Bridge....which was totally socked in with fog. So no photo opp there.

I'll continue on down the coast over the next few days and hopefully do better in the pic department


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Hope you have a great time! I stayed a bit north of Winters In Williams night before last, on my way to OR from AZ. My Golden Gate photo op was totally fogged in, too. :-/

Be safe and fill us in with the details when you return. Sounds like an interesting ride!

Sounds like a nice loop. Part of it through my backyard, have a great time.

Well once I returned home I got a little caught up in life and I'm just now getting back on here to post a few pics. But here goes:

I stayed in Silicon Valley with a few friends for a few days before heading up into the Santa Cruz mountains on hwy 84. It's a lovely route with tight turns through redwood groves. I took a left on hwy 35 (aka Skyline Road I think?) which has long sweeping turns and beautiful vistas


then I took 9 and a detour on 236 down to Santa Cruz






Then I rode on down the coast and spent the night near Monterrey

SeaCliff State Beach near Santa Cruz

It was a relatively short day, but it was great. I wanted to be fresh and give Big Sur its own day.

I took a nice easy morning because the weather said the fog would burn off by the afternoon. The weatherman was right and I got a stunning day in Big Sur.

Big Sur is stunning. The legendary highway 1 cuts along the cliffs giving incredible views the entire way. I had ridden through once before (the previous time was actually my NCs maiden voyage). You can pretty much stop anywhere and have a postcard-worthy picture. Here's just a few to give you a taste:









I stayed in Morro Bay for a few nights which is just past the Southern end of Big Sur. A few shots from Morro Bay:
Morro Rock

And one of a surfer chic heading for the waves as the fog was rolling in late in the afternoon

The next day I made my way north east on 41 through the coastal range and into the central valley as I made my way to back to the Sierras for a few days of hiking with friends in Yosemite. The Central Valley was over 100 degrees that day. Because of some creative routing and missed turns I sat in the heat for 300 miles instead of the 200 it could have been. Here's a shot from the central valley as I stopped for gas with the Sierras getting ever closer in the distance.

Needless to say I was hot and tired and ready to get off the bike at the end of that day.

By this point in my trip I was cursing my stock seat. It WILL be replaced. Nothing like cooking in the heat to help you make up your mind on these sorts of things.

Had a great few days hiking in Yosemite with friends. Here's a panorama I took:



Then I made my way home on Highway 49, the Golden Chain Highway, which goes through many of the old gold mining towns in the foothills of the Sierras.

It was a great trip and I didn't want it to end. Except for the seat. I definitely wanted to get off that stupid seat.