Streetmasters Class photos

Here are some photos that I just got from the May 18th Streetmasters class I attended.  The wind kicked up (of course that is all it does in Lancaster/Rosamond) and I literally rode home in a sandstorm that found its way inside my helmet and swirled around in there.  Nothing could be done other than to close one eye and try not to ride off the side of the road.  I am still finding sand on Dash, inside my toolkit which is tucked under my seat, inside my panniers, everywhere.

Lancaster!

 

Walt Fulton giving instruction

GZ-3’s new look…

During our ride we met Grumpy who was admired for his stylin’ jacket

A very nice Held jacket modeled by Grumpy

After some shopping GZ-3, who was determined not to be upstaged by anyone, purchased this fine riding outfit…

Now THAT is a fashionista!

with a little bit of huggy-bear thrown in for good measure.  Ride safely GZ-3…ride safely.

I ride with the fashionistas!

June 2 began at 9am when two SOHC-4 riders showed up as planned but my two fashionistas were, of course, fashionably late.  They arrived and insisted they were held up because Triumph Dude could not find his keys-which apparently he left safely tucked in the ignition overnight.  He was lucky his lovely bike was still there!  After plying them with coffee we were good to go.

All the beautiful 70’s machines

Proud owners

GZ-3 loves ORANGE!

After parting ways just south of Monterey we were greeted with fog, cold, and rainy mist.  What happened to temperate weather?  Oh, and of course the WIND.  The ever present wind.

Further south we stopped for a picture and to put on more layers.  It was darned cold.

The maiden voyage of my GoPro went fairly well though battery life is horrid.  Here are some pictures as we got closer to Gorda.

All in all an uneventful ride (no mechanical breakdowns thank goodness).  The entire 2 day ride was just over 500 miles.  Not the longest 2 day ride but more weather changes than any other one.  Looking forward to the GZ-4 relay in 2014

The boys of SOHC-4

My ride began on 6/1/13 but the motel I stayed at wanted money for Wi-fi which on principle I refused.  So am writing up my trip a tad late.  This is the 3rd annual ride taking the mascot Godzilla (GZ) through every state.  The first relay (2011) went into Europe and after 2 years GZ-1 arrived back in Florida to rest with GZ-2 (2012) who made it into Canada but not beyond.

Here is the map of the my 2 day ride to Monterey and back.

The day began at 10am and it was wonderful weather.  Not too hot, not too cold, and negligible wind.

We rode the 101>154. No signs of fire and a very uneventful push toward our meet up with the next group of SOHC-4 riders in Santa Maria.

Another view of the 154

Riding along the 154

We reached Santa Maria and could not find one of our riders so we traveled to San Luis Obispo for some fine dining (not really but it was better than the suggestion to eat at a Target–what?).  Finally we were all together and rode a bit further with the group but we were going to split up as they wanted to go to Cambria and we decided to take the 101 into Monterey due to time constraints.

All of us handing off GZ-3 and going our own ways

GZ-3 tucked into my panniers were all his brothers rode as well

Once on the 101 wind and oppressive heat decided to mark our way.  We were hit with 20mph sustained winds and I do not know what the gusts were but at 80 mph they felt treacherous.  I could literally feel my helmet pushing against my head as the wind intensified.  It was unpleasant to say the least.  Add to that my pulled muscle in my shoulder and it was downright nasty.  After numerous miles of rolling brown hills and little to keep us occupied other than not getting knocked off the road by a wind gusts I was thankful for a change of scenery.We decided to pull off in Greenville and take Carmel Valley Road which is a nice ride into Monterey.

We arrived in Monterey just after 6pm.  Total miles was just over 250 miles.  Not the longest ride but certainly grueling.