Junkjeeps and the wife do San Fran

[junkjeeps]

The idea for this trip started when my wife informed me she wanted to run the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco. She said we would have 2 partial days on our own to sightsee aside from the marathon. I started researching things to do in SF and decided renting a bike might be an option. I talked it over with the wife and she was willing to play along. I did a Yahoo search and came up with these folks: www.dubbelju.com They were located about 5 blocks from the hotel on the corner of 5th & Bryant.

After several emails and phone calls, I was set up. The Harley Electra Glide was my steed for the trip. Not my first choice (I was hoping to get a BMW 1150), but I figured since the wife was coming along, passenger comfort was a factor. This was especially important for riding on Sunday after she ran 26.2 miles. It turned out to be an excellent choice for comfort. The Electra Glide is a super smooth cruising machine. It’s a heavy pig in city traffic, but on the open highway, it’s the sh!t. Every machine has its intended purpose and this one was built for the superslab.

I started a thread on DRN asking for route suggestions. I received several suggestions and got pointed in the direction of www.MadMaps.com by FarmerJohn. This turned out to be an excellent source for some good routes. I highly suggest checking them out. Great maps at reasonable prices. They highlight places of interest, good food, etc.

To be continued......

 

[junkjeeps]

Saturdays ride

SATURDAY 10/20/07

I showed up Saturday morning to pick up the Harley and everything went smoothly. I got there a few minutes early and got to hang out with the homeless who were being evicted from the overnight shelter. On a side note, San Fran has a much bigger homeless population than I expected. Being from New Orleans, I’m used to seeing homeless people wandering around, just not in the numbers I saw in San Fran. I guess when you compare population numbers, the percentages are comparable. We picked out some rental helmets, went over the starting and anti-theft procedures and we were on the road.

For the ride Saturday morning we decided to head north out of the city. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped for the obligatory tourist photo.

I missed my turn onto Hwy 1 and continued on the 280. After several miles of second guessing myself, I turned around and started backtracking. I found my error and corrected it. Once we got onto Hwy 1, the traffic lightened significantly. We cruised the coast and the views were unbelievable. We passed through a small beach town called Stinson Beach. While passing through I noticed a small grocery store so we turned around and decided to stop. The camera batteries died shortly after leaving the bridge and I wanted to get some pictures of the coast. While stopped, we saw a place across the street and decided to grab a bite to eat. We chose this place:

For starters we had the Dungeness crab springrolls. They were very good to say the least.

I had the hamburger with coleslaw. One of the best burgers I’ve ever eaten. The coleslaw was impressive as well. I’ve never had a coleslaw of that variety. I don’t know what was in it, but it was different.

My wife chose the chicken and avocado sandwich on Foccacia bread. After getting our food we decided to split the sandwiches. This was an excellent selection as well.

Continued next post.....

 

[junkjeeps]

Saturday continued

Stinson Beach was a neat little town that seemed to move at it’s own pace. We stopped for lunch at 11:30 and the place was empty. By the time we left, there wasn’t a seat to be had. They still have a phone booth! I haven’t seen one of these in a while.

While eating on the outdoor deck, several bikes passed going in the same direction as us. This route appears to be a popular one with the 2 wheeled crowd. We finished up lunch and got back on the bike.

Side note – I witnessed the worst case of OCD I’ve ever seen. After lunch, I went to the restroom and when I got in there the busboy was washing his hands. The entire time I was using the facilities he was washing his hands. There was only one sink in the restroom so I had to wait to wash my hands. I stood there for a good 5 minutes watching him wash each finger over and over and over. He finally moved out of the way and started the same procedure for drying his hands. I used the bathroom, washed my hands and dried them in the time it took him just to wash his hands. I think that he was actually rushed by my standing behind him waiting. I got back to the table and my wife was wondering what had happened to me. When we got up to leave, I noticed the busboy had made it out and had donned surgical gloves. Must be a OCD germ issue? If you ever stop here for lunch, rest assured the busboy has the cleanest hands in town. LOL :)

We continued to head north until we reached Tomales. We stopped for a restroom break and cup of coffee.

From here we headed east through the mountains. We ran into these guys having lunch and stopped to chat with them. They weren’t very talkative so we moved along. The countryside north of SF is very easy on the eyes. Hard to believe you can go from compact, crowded city to sprawling countryside in less than 50 miles.

We hit the 101 south back to the city. The 101 was pretty uneventful - just another crowded superslab. Stopped at a gas station on the way into the city and gassed up the bike. California has this vent system that you have to compress on the nozzle to make the pump work. I finally figured it out and $10.50 later we were full again. 91 octane was $3.71 a gallon if my memory serves me right. Sorry no pic to verify, I forgot. It took me a while to figure out how to work the pump (the vent on the nozzle was new to me) and we were ready to get back to the hotel for the pre-race pasta party. The weather was great – Sunny and in the mid 60’s. Total mileage for the day was 148 miles. Went to the pasta party and got back just in time to catch the last few minutes of the LSU-Auburn game. GEAUX TIGERS!

To be continued....

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Keep it coming! This is GREAT!

 

[junkjeeps]

Sunday

SUNDAY 10/21/07

Sunday started early as my wife had to be at the starting area in Union Square for 6 am. The race started without a hitch and I managed to meet my wife and her running mate a couple of times along the course. They were running for TNT (Team in Training) which benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I forget how many people were running for TNT but they raised $18.5 million at this race alone. They finished 26.2 miles in 5 hours, 41 minutes (chip time). I’m proud of her because I know if it were me, the ambulance would have picked me up about mile 5.

After the race she got her Finishers shirt and Tiffany & Co. necklace and we headed back to the hotel so she could take an ice bath and get cleaned up. We lounged around for a while and decided to go ahead and take another ride. I told her we could just take it easy and lounge around the hotel if she wanted, but she insisted on keeping moving. So we decided to go south out of San Fran for this trip. I charted a proposed route and we took off. We headed south on 280 to 101 to 35. The roads got progressively smaller and less congested. We didn’t stop much and didn’t take many pictures. My wife was just enjoying the scenery and didn’t want to hassle with the camera. We turned west on 92 for a short distance and then back south on 35. At the intersection of 35 and 84 is a small restaurant called Alice’s.

We stopped here for a restroom break and some water. I took a couple of pics and we got back on the road. There were several other bikes here and plenty on the road. I noticed they were all running the route in the opposite direction from me and figured it had to be because of the blinding sun setting on the coast. I talked to a guy who was on a ’96 XR650L that was super motarded. The bike had an Excel rim and tire setup that looked sweet. Black rims and gold hubs. It was the perfect bike for carving the sharp turns on these mountain roads. This was to be a short ride as we had to be back at the hotel for the victory party. 84 took us through plenty of redwoods over the mountain and back onto Hwy 1. In my opinion, the views of the coast in the south of SF were better than the views in the north.

Hwy 1 on the south side is a much wider road and traffic flowed really well until we hit Half Moon Bay. This town has 3 red lights and traffic came to standstill. Sunday afternoon at 6pm and the highway was like a parking lot. It took us about 30 minutes to get past those 3 red lights and then it was wide open again. We stayed northbound and passed through Pacifica then on to Daly City. Hwy 1 turned back into 35 and then we got onto 280 headed back to the hotel. We made it back to the hotel about 7:15pm and headed to the victory party. The food at the victory party was a big improvement from the pasta party the previous night. We ate, watched the crowd for a bit, then headed back to the hotel to crash. The weather was great, mid 60's again, a little cooler on the coast. Total mileage for the day was 98 miles.

The Harley was definitely in it’s element on the 280 at 75MPH. The 6th gear cruises 2K RPM doing 75 MPH. The only real drawback other than the weight of the bike was the top of the windshield fell right in my line of sight. I was constantly looking over or under the windshield to see unobstructed. The seat height of the bike was perfect for my short legs. I don’t know that I would personally own an Electra Glide, but if I was going a long distance on the interstate and could rent another one, I’d look into it. It is much more comfortable than my old CBR for long distance travel. I’d like to go back to SF again and spend a little more time – maybe stay somewhere outside of the city. There is too much to see and too little time! I would like to go further north for sure. Two wheels is definitely the way to travel in California.

 

[Chili]

Great report, thanks for sharing :cool:

 

[mafols]

Good report Mark....Congradulations to Dawn for finishing. :cool:

We got to cruise around on a borrowed EG the year we went to Daytona for Bike Week...it was a great mode of transportation for some 2-up sight seeing.

 

[ChopperDave]

The Electra Glide was not your first choice?

:|

 

[Ol'89r]

I’d like to go back to SF again and spend a little more time – maybe stay somewhere outside of the city. There is too much to see and too little time! I would like to go further north for sure. Two wheels is definitely the way to travel in California.

Awesome thread junkjeeps.

Now you see why we put up with the fires, floods, earthquakes, illegals, liberals, and all the other minor inconveniences we have here in California. It's worth it. :cool:

If you come back, do hwy 1 South. Stay in Monterey and go South through Big Sur to Pismo beach. You will be blown away. :nod: Guaranteed.

 

[junkjeeps]

The Electra Glide was not your first choice?

:|

Nothing personal Dave, but I've ridden a few different Harleys. I've never had the chance to take a BMW for a spin. I've read alot about them and wanted to try one out firsthand. The EG is a great touring bike, it's just a bit bulky for my taste.

:cool:

 

[WaltCMoto]

Mark,
Congrats to Dawn and her training partners.
On a weekend morning, back in the day, Alices resturaunt had several hundred bikes there. Your ride report brought back fond memories of many a weekend spent cruising around on my Goldwing. For a future trip, have Dawn check out the Big Sur Marathon. Its down by Carmel and some of the most senic parts of hwy 1 are just south of there like OL89er said. They shut down hwy 1 and run the marathon right down the coast. Thanks for the write up and pics.
Walt

 

[GETMETOCA]

Great report Junkjeeps! By the way, Half Moon Bay is my home town and that whole stretch going from 92 to 35 to 84 to 1 and back to 92 is my old stomping grounds :) Sorry about the traffic! HMB is also the Pumpkin Capital and everyone comes over to pick their pumpkins up that time of year. Congrats to your wife on the race as well, sounds like she did great!

 

[rickyd]

Great write up!

Congrats and a big Thank you to your wife in finishing and helping to raise all of the money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society :cool:

 

[GETMETOCA]

I forgot to mention that I thought it was great how you posted pics of your chow, too!!! :)

 

[Jaybird]

Looked like some high-dollar eatin' to moi!

Great stuff, jj!

 

[mx547]

good read, i'm jealous.

i didn't know that we posted street bike rides or i would've posted my eureka springs trip last month.

 

[junkjeeps]

i didn't know that we posted street bike rides or i would've posted my eureka springs trip last month.

There's still time, post up! :cool: