Ducati Monster Forum

Cyrus Buelton is in town and wants to see PCH.  So it's time for a ride.  [thumbsup]

We're going a North Bay loop on Sunday morning (Oct. 4)  Actual route will be depend on when folks need to get back, but it'll be some variation of over Tam, up PCH and either looping back through Lucas Valley or an out-n-back on PCH.  It won't be all day.  If you wanna tag along and make the ride shorter or longer, it's up to you.  Depending on who shows up and how many folks we have, the pace will either be just slow (just cruisin') or divided into two groups--fast n' slow.  The usual "don't fall down" rules apply.  Kickstands up at Tambucks at 8:30a.  Be gassed up, caffeinated and ready to go.  I'll swing by DQ's and then we'll pick up Cyrus at his hotel (SF Intercontinental) at 7:45.  Times are tentative for now.

Route:       North Bay loop TBD
Kickstands up:    Tambucks at 8:30a (Map (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&source=hp&ie=UTF8&q=starbucks&fb=1&gl=us&ei=vWjBSvSqCZKgswPIzJHIAg&radius=0.52&sll=37.879596,-122.525625&sspn=0.008248,0.019248&rq=1&ev=zi&ll=37.883627,-122.525024&spn=0.008248,0.019248&z=16)).  
Date:    Sunday, Oct. 4
Pace:    Slow.  Or Slow & Fast, divided by group.
Ride Duration:   TBD, but not all day.

Roll call . . .

In.

Of course, I think Cyrus will be coming here to get the bike.

Oh, on Sunday morn?  Then I'll either come to your place or just meet you at Tambucks. 

Yeah. He should be coming over for a shot of espresso-fueled courage. You're welcome to stop by too.

I have no time frame to be back on Sunday.

I probably need to be back by 4:00 just to register for the conference and then I am good to go again.

I wan to hang with you guys to watch the GP Race.

I can't stay out all day and will need to split off early (so that I'm back by 1 or 2) if that's what folks wanna do.  I have a trial starting a week later and will most likely have to work later in the day on Sunday.

Re races, DQ will know when Ace and the D-store are showin' 'em.  There's at least 3-4 hours of racing on Sunday (MotoGP, WSBK1, WSBK2 plus 250GP, 125GP & WSS).  I'll probably watch them o Tivo in the evening after work unless we get back early and can get to Ace for GP. 

If we get back by 3:ish we can catch the GP at ACE cafe (bar).
That is unless someone with a HUGE f-ing TV who used to invite us over invites us over after like, Tigre.

Yeah...been a while since we saw it there.

Ace is definitely in the cards. They typically show the races at 3 and 6...if Rob can download them in time. Otherwise they're on according to the Speed Channel schedule.

Is the D-store playing the races later?  Calling BG, calling BG...

PS. Check the freaking weather. How perfect is this? I was afraid we'd be in fog leaving at the crack of 8:30am, but prolly going to be sunny and cool.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/vacationplanner/tenday/USCA0802?from=36hr_topnav_vacation (http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/vacationplanner/tenday/USCA0802?from=36hr_topnav_vacation)
Olema, CA
(http://i.imwx.com/web/common/wxicons/45/32.gif?12122006)


Sun
Oct 4

Sunny
Sunny

Hi   66°
Low 47°

0% precipitation

D-Store doesn't have beer. Let's think of it as a reliable back-up for Ace... [drink]

If the 998 is ready by then (belts... [roll] ).
I'll be there...

Time to put some faces on your names guys... and ladies...  [bow_down]

Edit: be there! Bike's ready. [moto]

I look like my avatar; seriously.

Same here...

I should be in for this one!  Put me in the super slowpoke group.  See you guys at tambucks.

IN, but I'm going to roll off at noonish, Hattar is having Beer and BBQ for all the races, so i'll be hitting that but a nice morning jaunt will be great [thumbsup]

Who do we have so far?

Me
Cyrus
DQ
Desmostro
Le Piou (+1 mebbe)
Itsasickness
mattv
Enzo
Mostrobelle
Drunken Monkey

Remember, kickstands up at 8:30

+1 friend (to be confirm at the very last minute) [roll]

I'm in that is if I can get my S*^T together. I'm not a morning feller. [coffee]
PS-Just got off a 1400 mi tour; Kings Canyon & beyond. Will post pics.

Checking weather again for you out-of-towners. (I'm obsessed with the weather incidentally)
It will be a little chilly in the early AM (50's), and then a perfect 68 noonish. Sun all day. It tends to warm up fast, so don't over dress. Just bring a scarf or something you can bag later <-- my advise

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/vacationplanner/wxdetail/USCA0802?dayNum=1&from=tenDay_topnav_vacation (http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/vacationplanner/wxdetail/USCA0802?dayNum=1&from=tenDay_topnav_vacation)

Won't make it to Tambucks by 8:30, but may see you out and about if your "route TBD" crosses my "route TBD".

Watch yourselves north of Stinson,  [leo] has apparently been out in force lately.  Helmet taps saved me from a couple of tickets between Pt Reyes and Tomales last week.  Two Sheriffs and CHP, and not in the usual spots near Marhall/Nick's Cove.

Prerun the slough just south of Tomales to ensure you don't have to make a donation.

Really good to know.   [thumbsup]  I'm thinking we'll do an out-n-back to Tomales.  Gas in Pt. Reyes, coffee in Tomales. 

Thanks for the great ride guys!

 [thumbsup]

No cops, nice weather, good ride.   [moto]

Nice ride  [thumbsup] What a day. Thanks everyone.
Yo D, (GrendelsTwin ) Good seeing you man. I was very unclear who was going where, and who we left at Point Reyes etc. I guess everyone got where they wanted to go in the end.
cool. cheers!

Good hanging with you this morning cyrus buelton. What did you think? Did you have fun?
 
PS
Are you "T"? Back in the saddle with the Aprilia? Good riding with you finally mang.

Nice seeing y'all.  It was a great day for a ride.   [thumbsup]

I ended up heading back down to Pt Reyes, just spent a while talking with Joe first.  Ended up meeting some other friends and riding back north to Tomales. 

I am T, but my ride is the 998S Fe, not the Aprilia...
It was good riding with you guys! I'll do my best to ride more often with you in the future!
I loved it!

Thank you all for a great ride, especially to Joe for lending me his S4r, which came back in one piece  [thumbsup]


On the way back, the 101 was stacked up before the Golden Gate Bridge.

Got my first taste of lane splitting. Wow, that is a blast, but a bit nerve racking too. People tend to be kind about it.

I had my GoPro on my helmet but for some reason it stopped shooting, so I missed the ride over the Golden Gate and our crazy adventure back to Joe's house.

I love the idea of splitting while the light is read.

Made my first rookie mistake and "slapped" a BMW's side view mirrow. Oops. No damage to the S4r and I presume no damage to the BMW. I am guessing I was not the first nor the last to do that......


We need that in Ohio!


Anyway......if anyone has free time tonight, tomorrow or after 8p on Tuesday, I am at the InterContinental San Francisco on Howard and 4th.

Headed for some pre-opening conference cocktail hour (actually 2.5hrs) at City Hall.

Should be a good time if I knew anyone, but I am sure I'll bump into past associates and of course with my charming personality, I am bound to make new friends.


Thank you again to you all  [thumbsup]

Thanks all for coming out and for keeping it upright.  It was a pretty clear day, which made for some great views.  Sorry it couldn't be longer but a buncha us had to get back.  belle's led a blazin' romp on the way back through the racetrack and then up the cliffs of Hwy 1.   [thumbsup]

Good to meet ya, Cyrus, and glad you got a taste of some Northern Cal roads.  There are even betters ones on the Penninsula, but they're filled with cops and motorcyclists throwing themselves onto the ground.  Lane splitting is fun, but like you said, it can be hairy. 

I got the biggest BS ticket from an SFPD officer a coupla blocks from my house.  Time for trial by declaration. 

That sucks. Care to explain? Or was it the result of one of your publicity rides ;D

One ticket with two citations.  

First:  S. on Guerrero @18th.  Cars were stopped.  I signalled and went by on the right, intending to turn right.  I saw him parked at the bakery.  He looked at me.  I looked at him.  And I turned right.  Citation--failure to safely pass on the right?  

Second:  Next block.  Heading W on 18th, turning left on Dolores.  He said I split pedestrians in the crosswalk, both walking away from me and toward me.  In fact, he said that I just barely missed hitting them.  As a factual matter, that's just wrong.  I checked for peds coming toward me and there weren't any.  There was one ped walking away from me, but he'd almost made the sidewalk when I began the turn and was out of the crosswalk when I entered the crosswalk.  He had to have been at least half a block back, so I'm not sure what the heck he thinks he saw. Citation--failure to yield to pedestrians.

He pulled me over two blocks later on 20th and Dolores (after I'd stopped at another crosswalk to let peds go by) and cited me for both the right turn and the crosswalk.  I told him that I wasn't going to argue with him, but that it wasn't what happened (re the peds).  Re the right hand turn, I told him that I didn't know what I did wrong.  After all that, he told me that it was illegal to have one mirror on the left side.  I told him the Vehicle Code says it's ok and that I wouldn't run it if it were illegal.  He was going to ticket me no matter what, but he didn't cite me for that.  There was some other thing that I don't remember that he pointed out on my bike that he said was a violation.  It wasn't.  Grrrrr.  

There are lots of tickets I deserve and normally SFPD are really cool about what they ticket.  Those two violations are BS.  Time for trial by declaration.

Sounds like utter BS. Like his patrol sgt. told the shift to crack down on bikes or make quota. Now if we could just get them to expend that kind of energy getting rid of the gangs in my neighborhood...

Good luck fighting it.

Warren,

You are an attorney and probably know plenty of prosecutors.

Play your cards  [thumbsup]

Glad you had a good time out here on our turf,  Cyrus.  You should have taken my bike out for a spin.  You aren't a 200 lb. bruiser...I could have taken you pillion for a bit, too.  Not sure you would have liked the trip down 1 from Stinson though...a little bumpy here and there and lots of 600' cliffs.   I love me some goaty roads though.  [cheeky]  Be careful with the splitting.  Yeah, we've all tapped a mirror or two, but sometimes the cars bite back.   :P

That suuuucks about the ticket(s), Spidey.   [leo] 

I think we all agree here that when we get pulled over for doing something stupid we deserve the ticket and take it with no complaints but I hate it when we get pulled over just for the hell of it etc.

Wonder what the odds are of winning this? Isn't it his word against yours? I mean what sort of evidence can you prove otherwise in the court?

Dunno what the odds are.  If it's his word against mine (which it is), that likely does not meet the burden of showing beyond a reasonable doubt.  But that's just theory.  In practice, I assume that they just chuck the burden of proof out the window and take the officer's word most of the time.  But we'll see how it plays out.   ;D  It's just a PITA to deal with.     

I wish I wasn't barred from having the ticket get "lost."   [evil]

Ruined for me by no less than three different oncoming cars crossing the double yellow into my lane. Gave me the heebie jeebies and totally sapped me of confidence  [puke]

Nice ride y'all. Nice to meet Cyrus... a fellow flat lander from Ohio.
Thanks to "Blazin" Belle for a fine sporting pace with the fast group.   

^...he he... the man fighting the man  [laugh]

ooooo, I would have loved riding pillion with you through the section Spidey called "the race track"

damn, I wish I had more time!!

Three?!?  Yoikes.  I read that as a sign from above that it's time to end your ride, go home and be thankful nothing worse happened. 

I just can't figure out why it's so difficult for cars to use the make the beast with two backsING TURNOUTS!!!

I noticed cars were VERY respectful of those turnouts.

wish we had those back home, but asshole Ohio drivers wouldn't use them anyway.

but shit, that would be scary. There isn't much room for margin of error on those roads

In general they are.  But there's a part of Hwy 1 just north of SF that you didn't ride that we took on the way home.  It's a super tight twisties with 500 foot cliff drops into the ocean (talk about no margin for error).  There are no straightaways and it's blind turn after blind turn.  That's where cars are particularly bad about not using the turnouts, mostly because it's a buncha tourists who don't know any better or f'n hippies in Priuses (which apparently don't come with rearview mirrors).  If you get stuck behind one of them, it's nearly impossible to get around 'em. 

Yuck... Sorry to hear that.  I was actually surprised at the lack of oncoming traffic.  There was a Porsche that I thought might be a challenge--that wasn't--to pass and a Prius that drove with the "I'm driving the speed limit, therefore I don't need to pull over" attitude.  That was about it until we were just outside of Mill Valley.  The last few miles into town were a little painful at the pace we were forced to go  [bang]  but it just wasn't worth the risk at that point, and I noticed that we were starting to string out a little anyways. 

I thought the Porsche was gonna a problem too as he was movin' at a decent clip and looked like he wanted to play.  But he pulled over quickly, let us by and then didn't chase us down and blow our wheels off (which he coulda done easily -- the stability of 4 wheels on those twisties inspires a lot of confidence).  Thanks, Porsche guy.    [thumbsup]  And boo to all Prius drivers.  You suck. <middle finger>

BTW, thanks for letting me rope you into leading the fast group, 'belle. 

No problem.  I need to start stepping up more.  Seems like the same guys have all lead for years. I appreciate how challenging it can be trying to keep the quick guys up front happy and not risk the necks of the guys bringing up the rear.  It definitely shaves a little of the fun factor off for me but I hope that lessens as I get used to it.   

Ya that was amazing. Nice Carrera too. Also astounded at the Prius being true to "its" nature as if a bread of dog.
PAIN IN THE ARSE.

Its not easy being in back because the front gets around the cars in the good spots, then the back gets stuck and has to play catch up. Once there's a gap, everyone who pulled over or waited in a driveway, jumps back in.
Its definitely easier in small groups.  [moto]

Thanks for leading belle. That was a blast.


sheet that sucks. I only counted one (PRIUS in mill valley - WAY over the DY) and a Volvo popping out of a driveway in Dogtown.
I got all motherly and concerned about you finding that one after I just barely got around her.
But dude, fix the headlight. fook, that can't help.

Excellent day all in all. Glad the only poo aspect was a sheit ticket. Sorry SPDY. After we chased through the whole village, you get the 3MPH ticket.  [laugh] That's just stupidness.

The Porsche was a bright spot in an otherwise dismal set of cars on that section.

I pulled on the guy relatively slowly (he was hauling ass) but as soon as I got on his bumper he actually used a turnout  [thumbsup]

And I think I got more folks in cars clipping the apex over the double yellow after I got stuck behind traffic and spread out from the rest of you guys.

Large groups of bikes approaching tend to a) make cars move over but also b) rile up the chuckleheads into thinking they can drive faster.

And the headlight's fixed. Because without it how are cars going to notice a bike MADE ENTIRELY OUT OF BLING  ;D

Can someone read the above sentence to me?  My corneas are still bleeding from that ridiculously shiny Chromo that shoed up on Sun.

My horn stopped working on the ride.  No bling for me.   [cheeky]

Are you guys talking about the Porsche SUV that was ripping through?


he passed me.......but that's not saying a lot

I had a great ride yesterday!  Thanks DesmoQ and Spidey for leading and sweeping the slow guys.

Our ride inland was fantastic.  We took a short stop to show Cyrus the view of the valley, which I had never stopped to look at before.  Pretty great, thanks again go to Joe for leading the tour.

No...this was a *real* Porsche.   [cheeky]  It was after we split off.  He was looking like he might know where the gas pedal was--but he didn't.  That or his passenger refused to let him use it.  I would not have given chase had he decided to play. 

It like the guy with the yellow SS... This guy slowed me down almost everywhere!!!!! ;D
 [cheeky]


Seriously, thanks DQ for the lead! [clap]

Hey, they told me to lead the slow group. If you didn't like my wheelies and snail's pace, you shoulda run with the fast group ;D

Anyone notice MM and Solon sweeping past going north while we were going south on 1? Two spanking new streetfighters and a third bike.
I hear MM hit a bird. and then?

If that's true about hitting a bird then the MOB did a pretty good job of slaughtering part of the winged population in N. Bay.  I hit a dove or a quail or something earlier in the day...

hmmmm....   I hit two birds on the 9/19 ride. The first north of Tomales and the second on the way back from Bodega.   ???

No, the birds got their revenge on me.

I was parked in Pt. Reyes Sta., at the curb not far from where Enzo's bike got backed over. The bike was a little upright owing to the heave in the pavement. Anyway, I hear "oh my god" and turn around to see a crow flying away from my bike, and my bike slowly tipping to pavement. You know, that kind of slow-mo where you have time to think, "am I going to throw up now?"  And then >>crunch<<, the SF hits the pavement.  I run over to check the damage. Luckily the frame slider and CRG mirror have taken the brunt. Tank - OK, Termis - OK, bodywork - OK. The total damage: one CRG mirror, one Speedymoto frame slider, the tip of the front brake lever, and the rear brake lever bent a bit inwards.  F'ing incredible.

Note to self: ride with a pellet gun from now on...

I'll start aiming for crows on my next ride out.  I really like crows though.  You sure it was a crow?  I'll take on a crow, but not a raven.  Too big.  That's a lotta feathers to clean off. 

Well, at least I got some great pics out of it, courtesy of Wayne (cstlwtr):

(http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs242.snc1/8917_1134537325836_1299410154_30334948_6502609_n.jpg)

(http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs262.snc1/8917_1134538045854_1299410154_30334952_3437370_n.jpg)

(http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs262.snc1/8917_1134538965877_1299410154_30334964_6836834_n.jpg)

(http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs262.snc1/8917_1134539845899_1299410154_30334970_4366598_n.jpg)

 :'(


I was wondering who you were with.  Nice pics.