Bucket List ride

[the Ferret]

About a year ago when I retired, a riding buddy of mine Jim who had also just retired, asked me if I was interested on joining him on a "bucket list" ride down Rt 66. I said I had no real desire to ride 66 but did have a dream about riding the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) in California and dipping a toe in the Pacific Ocean. I proposed joining him on his dream ride down 66 if he continued on and rode with me on my dream ride to the PCH. Plans were made. We would take off June 1 this year and return whenever...... I would be riding my Honda ST 1300 and Jim a Suzuki Vstrom 1000.

Well, we made it home safe and sound. It was a great trip. I accomplished my goal of dipping a toe in the Pacific Ocean. The trip ended up taking 11 days. We went through 14 different states (5 states twice). Total ride distance was 5,424 miles for me, a few more for Jim who lives in Columbus, Ohio. This is a huge country! Highlights? …. Rt 66 from St Louis, Mo to Barstow Ca, Pacific Coast Highway, elephant seals, Big Sur, giant red woods, Monterey Beach, Pikes Peak, snow, Bonneville Salt Flats, Donner Pass, hardwoods, prairies, deserts and mountains and missing a slew of Tornados. Took over 1300 pictures (mostly on the fly with one hand..."ferret style") Except for a two afternoons of rain, the weather was great. Lowest temp was 30 degrees at mile 13 on Pikes Peak, highest temp was 100 in between San Jose and Sacramento, California. Both bikes ran perfectly. Jim lubed the chain on his Suzuki 1000 V strom everyday, but it never even needed adjusting. We both averaged 50 mpg. Lots of saddle time. We averaged 493 miles per day. Shortest day was 336 miles on day 9. Longest was 569 on day 3. Hard to say best part, it was all pretty cool.. either PCH from San Luis Obispo to Santa Cruz or Pike’s Peak. Worst part is easy … traffic jams in California (in excruciating heat) and near Denver (in a thunderstorm).

I picked out 40 pics that may show some of the flavor of the trip. Will post up a few at a time, so if interested please keep checking back. Here we go

Leaving my driveway for the trip at 6 AM on June 1

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rolling thru New Mexico

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Road Kill Café old Rt 66 in Arizona

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Arizona

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California

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Cali desert

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Jim following on Rt 58 between Bakersfield Cali and San Luis Obispo Cali

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Elephant seals on PHC north of San Luis

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Big Creek bridge on PCH (in background center of pic)

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Big Sur on PCH

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