Highway 1

---

It was a slow start to the day for obvious reasons. Fog. Definitely nothing to do with the wine consumed the night before. The fog had rolled in across the bay early evening and was still hanging around in the morning. No point getting up early to hit the road when we couldn't see where we were going. And today we wanted to see where we were going: we were riding the famed Highway 1 which runs along most of the Pacific coastline of California.

We were planning on doing a couple of hundred kilometres up to Monterey, just south of San Francisco. Our mates in Guadalope had warned us of a fog event on the coast and recommended we layer up. Surely not. This was summer in California.

The morning started well, and it was a joy to ride the sweeping bends of the coastline along this part. Not too far in to the start of the day we stopped to view the Elephant Seals that lumber about on the beach and bask on the rocks. I hope they look beautiful and graceful in the water, because on land they look like a naked, drunk Mr Creosote searching for his last piece of wafer thin chocolate.

We start to gain altitude from here as the coastline rises and the road becomes increasingly twisting and turning. Andrew is in his element. There are still vast patches of fog rolling in, and at times the ocean and cliffs are obscured and we feel like we are riding in the clouds. At other times the fog clears, and the view is dramatic as the cliffs fall straight down to rocky beaches and crashing waves. There is a bit of a traffic on this highway, but it is easy to get out in front and have the winding road to ourselves. If we see a Highway Patrolman we will tell him that in Australia, double yellow lines are motorbike passing lanes.

After about an hour we succumb to the inevitable and stop and layer up, even swapping out our summer gloves for winter ones and adding leather vests over our jackets. I knew at some point I'd end up whinging about the cold, I just didn't expect it to be only two days after I'd been whinging about the heat. Of course there are a lot of motorbikes on this road, and it is novel to pass them on the left hand side and be able to wave. In Australia where we pass on the right, it is generally a good idea to keep your right hand on your throttle. I start off with an enthusiastic, full five-fingered wave at each rider until I notice that they do a more subtle, drop the left hand down by the leg manoeuvre. The really cool ones have a two-fingered peace sign type thing going on. I have it mastered now and feel all Peter Fonda, circa 1969.

At some point we stop to fuel up and warm up. My back is aching from bracing from the cold. We sit in the sun at an open air cafe and have hot chocolate and apple cake. I may have had a power nap. Andrew declares it the best road he has ever ridden in his life, but he is to make similar declarations of love over the coming few days so we should wait and see.

As we get closer to Monterey, the scenery disappears and we are back on a freeway with traffic going mad around us. It isn't the cute bayside town we had thought it would be, so we decide to cut out and head east. We had met a couple in the wine bar at Morro Bay last night who had recommended a route out to Yosemite and up to Lake Tahoe. Sure, why not? We ride east for another 140kms to the small town of Los Banos. As soon as we turned off the coast the temperature started rising again, and there was still some major traffic out this way. Everything came to a complete stand still at one point and I had a tussle with my need to follow the rules versus my need not to sit on a hot motorbike going nowhere for an hour. I followed ARuss down the inside shoulder. By the time we get to NYC I may very well be a complete outlaw.

We checked into a roadside motel at Los Banos, and with a steakhouse right next door it seemed perfect. It was only $60 a room, so a bargain. Andrew did the manly thing and cleared the cockroaches. The dead one on the bedroom floor didn't bother me too much, but I wasn't real keen on the one scurrying around the inside of the toilet bowl.

We studied our maps over a good steak dinner, and found some nice back roads to take us out to Yosemite. There wasn't a lot going on in downtown Los Banos, so we got an early night ready for a good start and some great roads tomorrow. A tip for young players: Google Maps doesn't differentiate sealed and unsealed roads.

---

Comments

[GregCath]

Way to go friends!
Hello LA and Andrew. We finally caught up with the fact that you are using TravelBlog and posting through FB. Loving it. Ride safely and we will be on your shoulder. Best GregCath (Catherine and Greg)