Leo_jb
City boy
These reports take way too much time for me to put together, but I wanted to share some of the photos from a trip I took with Neeraj (sainineeraj this past weekend.
Neeraj is due to start a new job soon, and he wanted to field test some new luggage he bought for his almost brand new KTM1190. I was able to get a weekend pass from my wife (love ya babe) and agreed to put a route together. I knew that there was a chance of rain, so picked the Big Sur coast reasoning that at least we wouldn't have to deal with any possibilities of snow.
Neeraj and I met at 8am and blasted down to Carmel the quickest way possible (280-85-101) and stopped for a late breakfast/early lunch. After lunch we headed down the coast and took the Old Coast Road, which I haven't been on in a couple of years. Really a gorgeous road that everyone should take at least once. Manageable on a street bike, but certainly more fun on an adventure bike. My original plan was to take Nacimiento-Fergusson up to the South Coast Ridge road, but because I was a little worried about gas I decided to continue down the coast to Gorda, where they sell gas at rip-off prices ($7/gallon for premium). I felt bad for people filling up their cars, but since we only needed a couple of gallons I didn't care about the cost.
After gassing up we headed up Los Burros road. The weather was pretty crappy on the coast, but by the time we got to the intersection of Los Burros and the ridge road we were above the clouds - really gorgeous. My plan was to travel south almost to the end of the ridge road and camp at Lottie Potrero campground, but as we went south the road keep dropping in elevation and we ended up in the thick fog again. The road was pretty decent overall, though Neeraj was sliding all over the place with his stock Trail Attacks. Really fun in a few muddy spots. My worn out Mefo rear wasn't really much better, but the full knobby up front definitely made life a bit easier for me.
About a mile short of Lottie Potrero we stopped and decided to head for higher ground to hopefully get above the fog again. Back up the same road, past the intersection with Los Burros, until we came to an unmarked campsite that was partly clear. Good enough! Dinner consisted of backpacking food for me and some noodles for Neeraj, followed by some Greek brandy that Neeraj brought with him.
After we set up camp the wind must have died down, and all of a sudden we looked up and found ourselves above the clouds again. There was still a touch of red in the sky from the sunset, and Venus was blazing in the west. Uranus was also faintly visible (Identified by smartphone app). After maybe 10 minutes the fog engulfed us again, cleared one more time, then back for good. Very cool.
Morning dawned partially cloudy, so we packed up all our wet stuff (it drizzled all night) and headed back down Los Burros to the coast. We headed south on the coast and stopped for breakfast in Cambria, where it started raining pretty hard. Still, I had a route to follow, so we put on full rain gear and headed out on Santa Rosa Creek road, which was really a single lane with (hardly any) traffic in both directions.
About 10 miles out on Santa Rosa Creek we came to a road I found on Basecamp called Cyprus Mountain Rd. Dirt road up and over the mountain. Neeraj was a bit leery of attempting it in the rain with street tires, but was pretty easy to convince. Great choice. Really pretty road, decent shape, no traffic. Continued on past Lake Nacimiento & Lake San Antonio, then Jolon Road back to 101. I had another detour planned, but it was starting to get late and the rain and hail were wearing us down a bit. Still, a great trip.
Neeraj on the Old Coast Road (I think)
Looking down on Highway 1
Neeraj on the 1190
Above the clouds on Los Burros
The South Ridge Road
Fog spilling over the ridge
Neeraj is due to start a new job soon, and he wanted to field test some new luggage he bought for his almost brand new KTM1190. I was able to get a weekend pass from my wife (love ya babe) and agreed to put a route together. I knew that there was a chance of rain, so picked the Big Sur coast reasoning that at least we wouldn't have to deal with any possibilities of snow.
Neeraj and I met at 8am and blasted down to Carmel the quickest way possible (280-85-101) and stopped for a late breakfast/early lunch. After lunch we headed down the coast and took the Old Coast Road, which I haven't been on in a couple of years. Really a gorgeous road that everyone should take at least once. Manageable on a street bike, but certainly more fun on an adventure bike. My original plan was to take Nacimiento-Fergusson up to the South Coast Ridge road, but because I was a little worried about gas I decided to continue down the coast to Gorda, where they sell gas at rip-off prices ($7/gallon for premium). I felt bad for people filling up their cars, but since we only needed a couple of gallons I didn't care about the cost.
After gassing up we headed up Los Burros road. The weather was pretty crappy on the coast, but by the time we got to the intersection of Los Burros and the ridge road we were above the clouds - really gorgeous. My plan was to travel south almost to the end of the ridge road and camp at Lottie Potrero campground, but as we went south the road keep dropping in elevation and we ended up in the thick fog again. The road was pretty decent overall, though Neeraj was sliding all over the place with his stock Trail Attacks. Really fun in a few muddy spots. My worn out Mefo rear wasn't really much better, but the full knobby up front definitely made life a bit easier for me.
About a mile short of Lottie Potrero we stopped and decided to head for higher ground to hopefully get above the fog again. Back up the same road, past the intersection with Los Burros, until we came to an unmarked campsite that was partly clear. Good enough! Dinner consisted of backpacking food for me and some noodles for Neeraj, followed by some Greek brandy that Neeraj brought with him.
After we set up camp the wind must have died down, and all of a sudden we looked up and found ourselves above the clouds again. There was still a touch of red in the sky from the sunset, and Venus was blazing in the west. Uranus was also faintly visible (Identified by smartphone app). After maybe 10 minutes the fog engulfed us again, cleared one more time, then back for good. Very cool.
Morning dawned partially cloudy, so we packed up all our wet stuff (it drizzled all night) and headed back down Los Burros to the coast. We headed south on the coast and stopped for breakfast in Cambria, where it started raining pretty hard. Still, I had a route to follow, so we put on full rain gear and headed out on Santa Rosa Creek road, which was really a single lane with (hardly any) traffic in both directions.
About 10 miles out on Santa Rosa Creek we came to a road I found on Basecamp called Cyprus Mountain Rd. Dirt road up and over the mountain. Neeraj was a bit leery of attempting it in the rain with street tires, but was pretty easy to convince. Great choice. Really pretty road, decent shape, no traffic. Continued on past Lake Nacimiento & Lake San Antonio, then Jolon Road back to 101. I had another detour planned, but it was starting to get late and the rain and hail were wearing us down a bit. Still, a great trip.
Neeraj on the Old Coast Road (I think)
Looking down on Highway 1
Neeraj on the 1190
Above the clouds on Los Burros
The South Ridge Road
Fog spilling over the ridge
