Colorado Cruiser: 2019 Pacific Coast Highway

2019 Pacific Coast Highway - Day 9 - Santa Cruz to Lancaster

So last night, Larry asked me to ride with him across the desert to Lancaster rather than taking the PCH and all the twisties. After consideration, I said yes.

Yesterday's ride was super technical and exhausting, In order to ride yet more twisties, I had planned on skipping the blog, or just doing a minimal blog and going to sleep early. But now that I wasn't doing that I could go ahead and finish the blog, so I did. Until 1:00am.

I can't tell you how good this mornings shower felt on my stuff shoulders and back after all that technical riding.

While I was packing, Ross also said he was going to ride across the desert with us. He was also ready to skip another day of twisties.

Then at breakfast, John talked about Big Sur. He said it was the best part of the PCH and really wasn't very technical. There are motorhomes and busses on the road, so it can't be that bad.

After breakfast Ross changed his mind and said he was staying with the pack. That got Larry thinking as well. He walked over and asked if I would mind if he didn't join me crossing the desert. Sigh....

We all talked to Larry to be sure he wasn't just caving to peer pressure and that he really felt up to the ride. He said yes, he felt up to the ride.

Suddenly it was 10 minutes to departure and I still had 30 minutes worth of prep. I crammed stuff here and there and was ready on time, but I never washed my windshield. I only had a small amount of ice in my hydration bag, and a few other annoyances. but we all rolled out at 7:30.

Yesterday, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, then taking Highway 1 out of the bay area traffic had seemed bad, but today was even worse.

We hit an 18 minute backup (according to Google) and had to almost walk the bikes for a couple miles to get through the traffic. I decided to try lane sharing, but after passing just 4 cars, a car ahead deliberately pulled to the left to block me, so I settled back in line and moved as slow as everyone else.

When we finally made it through the traffic light that was causing all the backup, we found ourselves on a 2 lane road with no one else around us. The traffic ALL turned off on that stoplight.

Pretty soon we were on the oceanfront, swerving back and forth as the road followed the coastline. The cool ocean breeze, the trees, and the light filtering through the occasional trees made for another memorable session of riding, but it wasn't to last long.

Just a 20 miles in, we hit a construction zone. It was the dates single lane type. We could see the last group going in our direction climbing up a hill away from us and they were moving at a crawl.

This was going to be a long wait.

We were on a downhill section of road, and the road was tilted pretty hard to the right, hard enough that I couldn't put the kickstand down.

So I turned hard left and pulled forward, then backed to the right. I did this a couple of times until I had a good angle to put the kickstand down. I was turned nearly perpendicular to traffic for the time the bike was stable. I turned off the running switch and hopped off the bike. Took off my helmet and put on a hat, then got a good long drink of water.

Several people started looking around to see if there was any sort of bathroom facilities nearby. They didn't like the suggestions about hiding in the grass or hopping the barbed wire fence. We stood around for 20 minutes before the traffic from the other direction started down the hill, so we all got on our gear, took last drinks and got on the bikes.

I got on but just sat on it waiting for all the traffic to end. It eventually ended, but the sign guy just stood there. He called on the radio a few times (he was about 100 yards ahead of us), but no movement. Eventually we got back off the bikes and started joking again.

It was another 20 minutes before a truck finally came down the hill and turned around to lead us. We got back on the bikes again and by the time I was ready, the bikes in front of me were starting to roll. I hit the starter and got nothing. Probably didn't have the key on, but yes it was. Turned it off and back on, nothing. Kickstand down? Nope, put that down and back up, nothing.

By this time Scott behind me was just waiting for me, and so were hundreds of cars. I waved Scott on, and the car behind me. They went out and around so all the other cars started streaming past as well. Remember, I was turned sideways to traffic.

I pulled the clutch, turned the wheel hard left and backed down the hill and back into line with traffic, now they didn't have to swerve way out. Then I duck walked the bike forward and closer to the curb but it was hard while holding the clutch, so I put it in neutral and walk the bike forward a dozen yards to a flatter spot. I hit the starter again, nothing. About this time I realized what had happened.

I had killed the engine when we stopped, but left the key on. With the key on, my big dual headlights were still on and it had run down my battery after 40 minutes of sitting. OH CRAP!! I'm hosed.

But wait!! I'm a geek!!!

A year ago I bought a cool jump starting setup. It's called a super capacitor. You hook it to your battery and it takes the little bit of charge left in your battery, performs electronic wizardry to pump up the voltage and slowly charges the capacitor up to a point where it can actually start the bike or car.

So I get off the bike and start to open the side panel where the battery is, but as I tug, the bike started to roll forward off the kickstand and fall over, remember we're on a downhill. From my knees I catch the bike before it falls far. I struggled to keep the bike from rolling forward and falling on top of me, all while trying to stand up. I couldn't reach either brake from the left side of the bike so I was just pulling back on the bike while lifting the handles.

Finally I stood up enough to grab the brake, then put it into 1st gear, put the kickstand down and get the bike stable.

I opened the side trunk, pull out my clothes bag and rummaged for the super capacitor. I plug it all together then get it hooked to the battery and start it charging. 2.4 volts, 2.8 volts, 3.2 volts, 4.5 volts, etc etc.

In the mean time, cars are still zipping by, maybe I can get going and still catch this group of cars. I certainly don't want another 40 minute wait, so I'll put stuff back away while it's charging. I cram my clothes bag back into the side trunk and push hard to close it. Remember than not only is the road down hill, but its heavily sloped to the right. So I'm pushing on the side trunk and the bike starts to fall over to the right, and this time it goes, thump into the bushes along the road. You have GOT to be kidding me.

After crying a little bit, I scramble around the bike through the bushes. I turn my back to the bike and sit my butt on the seat. I grab the handlebar in my left hand and the passenger grab bar in my right hand. I squat way down, knees bent, back straight. I push with my left while pulling up with my arms and stand the bike up. Then carefully I make sure the kick stand is still down and sit the bike back on the kickstand.

I Scramble back around the bike and now the super capacitor has two big beautiful green lights saying it's ready. I hop on, put it in neutral, check key, etc and hit the starter. VROOOOOMMMMM!!!!!! it starts right up.

I still can't leave it sitting here in neutral or it will roll forward off the kick stand and fall, so I hit the reverse button which locks the rear wheel.

Back off the bike, disconnect the supercharger, toss it in the trunk and slam it. Tie the side panel onto my hydration bag. Grab the helmet and just cram it on my head, hop on, turn off reverse, clutch, 1st gear, signal, don't even look and start riding forward and merge as I go.

Traffic has been passing me this whole time, probably 10 minutes as I fixed one fiasco after another.

The road sign guy is watching me as I approach and gives a little nod. He shuts down the traffic about 5 cars after I go past. What a saint.

The single lane was very long, several miles with lots of construction and bumps all over the road. My helmet is on, but the buckles and straps are tucked up inside and jamming my ears. I rode through the construction and about 2 more miles to find a decent spot to pull over, and turn off the bike . . . WHAT??? YOU IDIOT!!!!!

I pull the clutch and hit the starter and it starts right back up, thank heaven. I put it in neutral, kick stand down, nice flat gravel, then get off the bike and just stand there for a few minutes. Man am I stupid.

I put my panel back on, re-arrange the stuff I crammed in, put my highway peg back in place (it got pushed way up when the bike fell over). Then I take a nice long drink of water. It wasn't very cold but it helped allot.

Finally I felt human again and started down the road. Just a few more miles and I happen to glance down off the road to see a bunch of screaming waving people under some trees. I recognize those characters! So I turned around and rode back to the park they were in.

I'm going to break here for the night so I can get some sleep. I'm going to try to get up at 3:30 to cross the desert in the cool. I'll finish the story, but really wanted to capture all those details while they were fresh. Keep checking the blog and I'll just update this page. If you get emails, you won't get a new email, you'll have to read the only blog.

By the time I got to the park, everyone else was very ready to go. They had been waiting for me for 15 or 20 minutes. So I double checked everything, used the bathroom, and saddled up because we still had a long way to ride.

The roads were much less technical (twisty) than the north part of highway 1. It was a much easier ride. We also spent allot more time right by the war, so it also kept the temperatures down to reasonable levels. Every time we went inland the temp would zoom up to 85 or 90, then back down to the 70s once the ocean breeze would reach us.

We had several more one lane construction zones, but none as bad as that first one, and any time we stopped, I remembered to turn off the key.

We passed over a big bridge and after a minute John pulled off to a scenic turnout. He told us that the bridge was the icon for Big Sur, so we all got pictures. I used my tripod to get a group photo with the bridge behind us, but the bridge was so far away that you can barely see it.

By this time it was just after noon and we were close to the bottom of Big Sur so we started thinking about lunch. John turned us off of the PCH into a little town to get gas and food. Even being near the beach wasn't helping as much anymore and the temps had risen to the high 80s.

Some of us went into a grill to eat, but they only accepted cash. I have a habit of sticking an extra $20 here and there on the bike or in my wallet, so I had enough cash to loan out to the people that didn't have cash. The food was good, but it was very warm. A few couples walked across the street to get fresh deli sandwiches, I think they had the better deal.

By this point, I was just realizing that we were nearly done with the "Ride". We only had a few miles of coast left before people started heading their own way. I've learned to say my gootbyes early because often the break comes with no warning and suddenly there's a wave and SWOOSH, they are gone.

We got back on the road and soon found ourselves in Morro Bay, but John had one last surprise for us. He warned everyone that we were taking a hard right off the PCH and he led us back into Morro Rock Beach. We parked the bikes, then walked out to the beach for pictures. We stood around for a while chatting and saying our goodbyes. Drew and Penny are headed to LA to spend time with their daughter, Brent, Barb, Scott, and D'nette are all riding past Lancaster and to get closer to Phoenix before stopping.

So this time when we got on the bikes, we knew it really was the end of 8 bikes and 14 riders.

Just a few miles down the road Drew waved goodbye and headed off, but the rest of us turned West. Down to 7 bikes.

We wound up on highway 166 (I think). It was a little 2 lane road out through the hills. It wasn't bare dirt desert, but it was brown grass as far as you could see. We rode for over 100 miles at 65+ mph without a sight of anything but grass (I might be exaggerating).

Eventually we stopped in the town of Maricopa for gas and a break because Ross was nearly out of gas.

Brent and Scott kept going because they have plenty of gas left and they were going to ride farther tonight than the rest of us. They waved as they went past.

And then there were 5 bikes left.

We gassed up, then pulled into the shade of the building to take a break. I bought a full liter of water to pour all over my mesh jacket. It was hard to put the jacket on after it was wet, but man did it feel good.

We got back on the road. The evaporation of all that water felt fantastic. The wet jacket lasted about 45 minutes but wasn't doing much after 30. I might have to figure out how to constantly spray myself while riding, or better yet, stop riding in such heat.

We rode through allot of orchards between Maricopa and Interstate 5. The greenery around us lowered the temperature by 5 degrees which also helped.

Once we were on I-5, the miles started flying by. We climbed a small pass which lowered the temps down to the low 80s and brought a smile to my face. The one last stretch of 2 lane road brought us into Lancaster.

We checked into the hotel, then met in the lobby to find dinner. We were near a mall so we thought there might be some food close by. I looked up a restaurant on yelp and put it into my GPS just to be safe. Sure enough, after wandering for a few minutes we came up with nothing that everyone could agree on.

I suggested my mexican restaurant, then led the way to it.

It wasn't too bad. Good chips, salsa, and bean dip for appetizers, then chicken Fajitas for my dinner.

We sat around talking longer than we normally would, but it was the last meal together and we all knew it.

Back at the hotel, I grabbed a quick shower, changed into my last clean clothes, then packed almost everything up and took it down to pack the bike. All I had left was my cpap, computer, and riding gear.

It's taken me 3 days to finish this report because I was travelling home and doing other things, but here it's finally complete.

Group photo with a cool bridge behind us