Ok, 'inferno' is exaggerating a bit, but it was bloody hot when I rolled into Chico today.
I got an early start today, leaving San Mateo just after 7am to try to beat traffic through S.F. Unfortunately, I didn't see any chesticles as I passed through (apparently today is national topless day) but with my luck I'd have crashed with the distraction.
After crossing the Golden Gate, I headed toward Muir Beach and Mt. Tamalpais. The fog was incredibly thick and the road wet, making progress slow. I kept thinking of Rick Riordan's novels where Mt. Tam it's the new location of Mount Orthrys (the stronghold of the titans) and the fog keeps the mortals from finding it. Rolling past Muir Beach, Axl Rose began singing about the ” cold November rain” but all I could think about was the cold August fog.
Finally, when I made it past Point Reyes, the visibility improved and I was greeted with fresh tarmac. I opened the throttle to the stop and listened to the engine's growl through the intake butterflies. Two clutchless upshifts and I was back up to freeway speeds... until the first 20mph corner suddenly appeared. Clutch in, two snicks on the shifter, and I was tipped into the turn grinning to myself that I seemingly was the only one on this road. This lasted almost until Bodega Bay, where I started to encounter traffic.
I continued up the coast, marveling at it's beauty and puzzled by the small hamlets that were sprinkled along the way. They seemed like very peaceful and romantic places to live, although highly inconvenient. I stopped at Stewart's Point to stretch my legs and take a short break before heading inland on Skaggs Springs Rd. It started off more like a 1-lane goat trail, with dodgy pavement, dirt, pine and redwood needles everywhere. When the sun finally came out, I stopped to snap a photo of an old 1-lane bridge and the huge redwood I had parked next to. ~ 20 miles in, the road finally became smooth and I experienced what Jamie had been raving about for years. Turn after turn of smooth, flowing, constant-radius corners. Good times.
Emerging from Skaggs, I headed to Geyserville and Calistoga (and I thought we had a lot of grapes in S.B. county) where the roads began to become busier with people. I stopped for lunch in Calistoga at Prima Pizza and had a tasty pie with jalapenos, linguica, sweet onions, pepperoni and pesto sauce. While I was finishing up lunch, I noticed this sawed-off, Vanilla Ice looking guy smoking like a chimney and ogling my bike. His buddies that soon after came to pick him up looked like alumni from a cops episode. That's when I remembered what Tara told me when I had visited her in Hopland years ago... Lake County is full of white trash and other degenerates - and that's where I was headed.
Highway 26 reminded me a lot of Palomar Mtn near Temecula. Lots of tight hairpin turns, but with brand new pavement and what's this? Passing lanes! Once over the grade, the road opened up and the temp rose a good 10-15 degrees. Along one of the straights, I saw my second sign of Lake County culture - a ”yard sale”. Only this yard sale consisted of some guy dumping all of his belongings out the back of his box-van and putting up a cardboard sign advertising his ”yard sale”. Classy.
Fighting through the heat, I blitzed up I-5 and headed to Chico. I didn't know there were so many orchards up here. Once settled, I headed over to the Sierra Nevada brewery for a couple of cold beers and a tasty salad. Time to get some shuteye before my date with highway 36 tomorrow.
I got an early start today, leaving San Mateo just after 7am to try to beat traffic through S.F. Unfortunately, I didn't see any chesticles as I passed through (apparently today is national topless day) but with my luck I'd have crashed with the distraction.
After crossing the Golden Gate, I headed toward Muir Beach and Mt. Tamalpais. The fog was incredibly thick and the road wet, making progress slow. I kept thinking of Rick Riordan's novels where Mt. Tam it's the new location of Mount Orthrys (the stronghold of the titans) and the fog keeps the mortals from finding it. Rolling past Muir Beach, Axl Rose began singing about the ” cold November rain” but all I could think about was the cold August fog.
Finally, when I made it past Point Reyes, the visibility improved and I was greeted with fresh tarmac. I opened the throttle to the stop and listened to the engine's growl through the intake butterflies. Two clutchless upshifts and I was back up to freeway speeds... until the first 20mph corner suddenly appeared. Clutch in, two snicks on the shifter, and I was tipped into the turn grinning to myself that I seemingly was the only one on this road. This lasted almost until Bodega Bay, where I started to encounter traffic.
I continued up the coast, marveling at it's beauty and puzzled by the small hamlets that were sprinkled along the way. They seemed like very peaceful and romantic places to live, although highly inconvenient. I stopped at Stewart's Point to stretch my legs and take a short break before heading inland on Skaggs Springs Rd. It started off more like a 1-lane goat trail, with dodgy pavement, dirt, pine and redwood needles everywhere. When the sun finally came out, I stopped to snap a photo of an old 1-lane bridge and the huge redwood I had parked next to. ~ 20 miles in, the road finally became smooth and I experienced what Jamie had been raving about for years. Turn after turn of smooth, flowing, constant-radius corners. Good times.
Emerging from Skaggs, I headed to Geyserville and Calistoga (and I thought we had a lot of grapes in S.B. county) where the roads began to become busier with people. I stopped for lunch in Calistoga at Prima Pizza and had a tasty pie with jalapenos, linguica, sweet onions, pepperoni and pesto sauce. While I was finishing up lunch, I noticed this sawed-off, Vanilla Ice looking guy smoking like a chimney and ogling my bike. His buddies that soon after came to pick him up looked like alumni from a cops episode. That's when I remembered what Tara told me when I had visited her in Hopland years ago... Lake County is full of white trash and other degenerates - and that's where I was headed.
Highway 26 reminded me a lot of Palomar Mtn near Temecula. Lots of tight hairpin turns, but with brand new pavement and what's this? Passing lanes! Once over the grade, the road opened up and the temp rose a good 10-15 degrees. Along one of the straights, I saw my second sign of Lake County culture - a ”yard sale”. Only this yard sale consisted of some guy dumping all of his belongings out the back of his box-van and putting up a cardboard sign advertising his ”yard sale”. Classy.
Fighting through the heat, I blitzed up I-5 and headed to Chico. I didn't know there were so many orchards up here. Once settled, I headed over to the Sierra Nevada brewery for a couple of cold beers and a tasty salad. Time to get some shuteye before my date with highway 36 tomorrow.
Some amazing scenery...and even better descriptions.
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