Ducati Monster Forum

I try not to admit this, but I grew up in Santa Rosa. It was suburban hell, with row after row of conformist little boxes, strip malls, and nothing for an intelligent kid to do but cause trouble. Maybe that explains my penchant for loud motorcycles that rattle the fillings out of the mouths of innocent bystanders as I roar by at felony speeds. But Sonoma County has grown on me in recent years. There's a lot of natural beauty and some interesting little communities. They also make Racer 5 (http://www.bearrepublic.com/ourbeers.php) there. And it's home to some of the greatest roads around...if you're willing to venture off the beaten path a bit.

A friend from high school texted me last week to see if I wanted to go riding on Saturday. Matt's got a pristine VFR 800, and he wanted to know if I wanted to hit up Highway 128 out of Cloverdale with him and his father. Matt's friend had suggested Fish Rock Rd to him, said it was glorious. Anne had to work and I don't exactly have a lot going on right now, so I said yes. I looked up Fish Rock Rd and mapped out a promising route (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Windsor,+California&daddr=CA-128%2FS+Redwood+Hwy+to:CA-128+to:Fish+Rock+Rd+to:Fish+Rock+Rd+to:Fish+Rock+Rd+to:Iversen+Rd+to:Fish+Rock+Rd+to:CA-1%2FCoast+Hwy+to:Stewarts+Point-Skaggs+Springs+Rd+to:Dry+Creek+Rd+to:Dry+Creek+Rd+to:Dry+Creek+Rd+to:38.626165,-122.880735&hl=en&geocode=%3BFU7JTwIdGAOr-A%3BFV7YUQIdTL6m-A%3BFW6iUQIdOgWm-A%3BFaDaUAIdKkyk-A%3BFd96UAIdEfKi-A%3BFYyFUAIdVpai-A%3BFaMYUAIdMjyi-A%3BFSLITQIdwhKl-A%3BFejbTQId6uul-A%3BFT2ITgIdTOWr-A%3BFfwSTgIdhiqs-A%3BFQB3TQIdq9Gs-A%3B&mra=mi&mrcr=12&mrsp=13&sz=13&sll=38.656561,-122.902679&sspn=0.093434,0.154324&ie=UTF8&ll=38.702659,-123.19931&spn=0.74698,1.234589&z=10) from Matt's house, up into Mendocino County, and back to Matt's house...via Skaggs Springs Rd, of course. I didn't have any intel on Fish Rock, but I trusted Matt's intel...that turned out to be a mistake.

I slabbed it to Matt's house in Windsor, avoiding the huge pavement seams on 101 north. We prepped the bikes, then set out north to Cloverdale. After gassing up, we hit Highway 128 west. I managed to mount my little video camera on the Monster, so I'll let the video speak for itself:
Matt & Noah on Highway 128 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HttRLN8COUM#lq-lq2-hq-vhq)

I managed to pass the line of cars that was holding us up, and got a clean run to the turnoff. The bottom of Fish Rock Rd was a little goaty, but tolerable. The scenery was awesome, and we got some good turns in before settling at Mailliard Redwoods State Park (http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=439) for lunch. I'm used to goat trails so I didn't worry too much:
Bottom of Fish Rock Rd (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPY3YP_NBO8#lq-lq2-hq-vhq)

As we climbed in elevation, I was wondering why the state and county would go to so much trouble to pave this road all the way to the coast. The maps all showed paved roads, with lots of ranches and other residences along the way. About 25 miles in, we found out the truth...just a yellow sign saying "Pavement Ends". No indication of just how far we'd be going on gravel, just Pavement Ends. My GPS indicated 14 miles to the next turnoff, so I talked to Matt & Noah and we decided to press on for a few miles to see how much dirt we'd have to ride.

Everyone on this board knows that Monsters are meant to tear up the pavement. With the exception of the 695 dual sport kit (http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2007/03/12/ducati-terra-mostro-dual-sport/), these things aren't meant to see more than a few hundred feet of gravel. And the thought of bouncing my S4R over miles of logging roads wasn't appealing. Still, it would take a lot of time to double back so I kicked it into gear, covered the rear brake, and set out at 20mph hoping not to dump it. The bike was getting a bit hot, so I started climbing hills with the motor and killing it to coast down hills. It was actually kind of...peaceful. Well, except for the ever-present fear of dumping my favorite bike.
Fish Rock Rd - Gravel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQv7O6ZScfM#lq-lq2-hq-vhq)

A few miles became 8 miles. Then we found a bit of pavement...but it lasted all of a few turns. Then another bit of gravel. Then another bit of pavement. Then more gravel. A pair of logging trucks passed me, staring incredulously at the idiot riding a loud fast streetbike on a logging road. They apparently stopped and chatted with Noah and Matt, telling them that paved road was 14 miles ahead. Ouch. We pressed on, reaching the top of the mountain range. Then I saw a sign indicating 13% grade over the final 3 miles...time to practice up on that rear brake. There were a few very slow hairpin corners, but we all negotiated them in style. About halfway down the mountain, we encountered 3 dual sports coming up the hill in the other direction...two guys on R1200GS' and one on an F800. I wish I could've seen the look on their faces through the dust cloud.... We managed to make it to the bottom without incident, dusted ourselves off, laughed about 14 miles on gravel roads, and set off on Old Stage Rd for some high-speed sweepers into Gualala.

In Gualala, we gassed up, got some water, and headed south 11 miles to Stewarts Pt. I had never ridden Stewars Pt - Skaggs Springs Rd...had only been out it in a car when I was younger. I remember when they built the dam at Lake Sonoma and spent a fortune putting in miles of good roads. But I had heard plenty from people who love the place. The first several miles of Stewart Pt-Skaggs Rd is a goat trail, going down to one lane a lot. I was thankful for the sane pace, and ended up following Matt & Noah to get some camera shots.
Stewarts Point - Skaggs Rd - Matt and Noah (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHHGvbEGNuQ#normal)

After 20 miles or so things start to smooth out. You can tell where the better pavement starts, the curves are better engineered, and the speeds get higher. There are 11 miles of utter motorcycle bliss on Skaggs, starting with a long bridge over a ravine and ending at the Lake Sonoma turnoff. It's like they took the Nurburgring, divided it for 2-way traffic with yellow dots, and put up 30mph speed limit signs as a joke...or a temptation. I jumped ahead of the guys, never having ridden this road, and was doing triple digits through many of the corners. About midway I saw a couple of deer alongside the road, so I checked up my speed, only to notice a Honda 919 behind me. I waved him past and watched. This guy certainly knew the road, because he was carrying a lot more speed through the corners. Still, with no runoff, a nasty guard rail, and deer about I wasn't taking too many chances. I had a good run down to the turnoff, waited for Matt and Noah, and rode with them back to Matt's place.
http://www.facebook.com/v/132533159223 (http://www.facebook.com/v/132533159223)

Note: the Skaggs vide was 11 minutes so You Tube wouldn't take it. Click here (http://www.facebook.com/v/132533159223) if you have problems getting to it.

nice  [thumbsup]
You can believe that I can't believe that you'd never ridden SKAGGS! that is the  [bacon] [bacon] [bacon]

Fish Rock =  [puke] Mountain View = ride-able but bumpy and some sketch. 253 =  [moto] tho there are two short sections where they have done some grinding but they are really short. I could ride 253 all day long....  [thumbsup] Put it on your list but don't tell everyone....  [laugh]

Just a little bit further North and you can take the Greenwood road  over to Elk/Greenwood as well. But there are a number of Roads around that make me want to get a F650 or F800. I recently found a number of less traveled but paved roads along the coast from North of Jenner up to Gualala. I was going to make a ride report but it's been low priority I guess.

Looks like a fun adventure! I haven't hit many roads that way and haven't gone much farther than Petaluma, Bodega etc. Now I'm curious to try some new roads. I will avoid Fish Rock, the monster will not ride dirt unless she has nubbies. 128 and 253 sound like good roads I'd like to ride sometime  :)

Desmo, thanks for the Skaggs video - my nostrils flared in excitiment  [laugh]. I recently went there for the first time and headin back next week  [evil]

here is a monster on the dirt

Death Valley on a Ducati (http://vimeo.com/3011503)