Carmel Valley to King City

Sept 18, 2012

It was so cold, I had to knock icicles off the handlebars...or so it seemed.  The fog had settled in with a temp of around 50.  The first couple of miles on G-16 had a lot of traffic to the little town of Carmel Valley on a road with almost no shoulder or, in some places, a small broken up shoulder.

Carmel Valley soaked up all the traffic and G-16 rolled through hills and ranchland with almost no traffic.  Our total mileage was 56 miles to King City on several different roads. 

The morning view from the hotel veranda

The cows were already out when we flew by this ranch driveway.



Jim and Don excitedly attacking the first hill.

Ranch Art...need I say more?

The fog lifts...there is the sun.  Russ and Mose enjoy the scenery.

the scenery.

Jim and Don gathering "chi"after reaching the top of the hill.

California or Bust

Better times ahead

Fine times on the backroads.

Large fields of vegetables near the town of Greenfield.

What vegetable is this?

Greenfield's new Nasa Rocket "Challenged"
 

The Laughing Buddha greeted us at the Quality Inn in King City.

The laughing Buddha seems to be laughing about our ride tomorrow... I think he knows too much.


Santa Cruz to Carmel Valley

September 17, 2012 

After a sunny evening in glorious Santa Cruz, the morning started out with a crispy 55 degree foggy mist.  I put on all my gear to stay warm.  King's paint brightened the morning start with their painted transformer.

Fun with paint.
 

Don drafting behind pannier pedlers headed to Argentina

Brightening the roadways out of town

Char smiling in front of strawberry fields forever or at least until they reach the ocean.

Strawberry pickers with their supplies.

Don about to pick a red one.



My new Bike Friday bigwheel....I'll show them!

Monterey...note the fireplace on the front porch...hot!

17 mile drive in Carmel.  There were some homes along this road.

Our lodging is at Los Laureles Lodge in Carmel Valley where they are very bike friendly.

Sarah and Trevor taking care of my recovery drink needs at the pool bar.

The lodge provided a fine dinner and tomorrow we pedal to King City.

Through Sonoma Wine Country

 

Thursday September 13

Today, we wandered through some backroads seeing miles of vineyards sprinkled amoung the hills that seemed close enough to touch.  We left Cloverdale at 8AM and by 8:30 we were among the vineyards.



Mark, Joe and Jeff setting a fast pace to the grapes.

Vines awaitng the sun

A crisp ride underway.

Good picking but nutty.

Great views.

What Perry Mason does in his off time.

Tree lined roads led us on.

Little traffic made this ride enjoyable.

Is that a hummingbird?

I think so.

Catholic church in Occidental.

Don forgoes the grapes for an organic apple.

Riders cranking up the last big hill of the day.

Eucalyptus trees lined the way

This day was one of delightful low traffic days and soon we were in Petaluma.

Arrival in Fort Bragg from Garborville

September 11-2012 in Fort Bragg

Before chronicling todays ride, I want to describe our ABB book club that was started several days ago by Herb Schon, Don Yost and myself.  Our first book being reviewed is the book "It's about the Bike" by Robert Penn.

Some of the required ingredients of an ABB book club.

At this first meeting, we drew up participation elements for others to join that include arriving at the meeting with a box of wine or cheese and crackers.  The meetings will not generally be scheduled during periods of riding down the highway.

At the first meeting, Leo, Don and Herb are in deep discussion about the first paragraph of the prologue.

The meetings entered a period of dormancy until today when Herb finished the ride to Fort Bragg with a block of cheese and box of crackers stuck on his areo bars.

Impending Discussion

The book club meeting was quickly called to order and discussion of the first paragraph of the prologue immediately continued without missing a word from our first meeting.

 Rather than recount the book club discussion, I now divert to the review of the day.  We started at a cool 46 degrees in bright sunlight on Hwy 101.



On the road again....

With chainsaw statues of Big Foot most every, the chance of a sighting was quite high.

I had just missed seeing him walk down the road.

We all delighted in seeing a statue of St Vino, Herb's patron saint.

Rick climbing upward on Rt. 1 heading to Fort Bragg.

It appears that California deer can read some of the new signs making Hiway travel safer.

Don headed south to Fort Bragg

Pelicans headed north for better fishing.

Yours truly headed for off road adventures.

We arrived in Fort Bragg and proceeded to spend the evening telling tall tales and discussing things that ought not be discussed here.

Tomorrow we venture 75 miles to Cloverdale by way of more roads through the redwoods.