it's insane...and insanely fun...and i think i'm more surprised that i followed through with this than many of my family and friends.
i bought it a couple tuesdays ago, drove around the neighborhood tuesday night, ventured up central expressway wednesday night for dinner...and saturday we loaded up and headed over to highway 1 for a day-long adventure. too much too soon? probably, but what the heck...
it was freaking gorgeous! we started out early enough that there was limited traffic on 17 - which was good, 'cause i wasn't quite comfortable, yet. riding got easier as i relaxed and thought less about what i needed to do (more natural instead of forced). we drove south a bit on highway 1 until i needed a break and some breakfast - minh found an awesome place on his gps - the cadillac cafe. there were already a bunch of bikers there, so it was perfect. (i don't fit in with harley chicks)
we continued down highway 1, stopping every 30-45 minutes to enjoy the scenery or take a break. my bike isn't really made for loooooooong rides, so i get tired and sore and need to rest for 5 minutes. not a big deal along the coast - there's always a view.
we started out around 8am and arrived in Morro Bay around 5:30 - it was perfect. we parked our bikes, checked in and headed downtown to find some dinner. we ended up at a little bar for the whole night - ordering in some pizza. we're friendly folk, so we shared some farmer's market kettle corn, which led to being best friends with everyone in the bar for the night. my favorite guys were a dad & grandpa who flew out from michigan to bike with their son down the coast. the dad had raced Triumphs back in his day, so he was THRILLED that i'd purchased a Triumph. plus, we had our midwest connection. needless to say, it was a night of fun, laughs and pizza. the next morning we actually ran into them on the way out of town and rode for about 20 miles together.
sunday was suuuuuuuuuper foggy and chilly all day - i'd brought the clothes to stay warm, but it wasn't nearly as pretty of a drive (though fog rolling up the hills is somethin' beautiful to see). we stopped at the Hearst Castle for a tour, which was fantastic. we then continued up the coast, making it home around 6:00. i was beat, but what a great weekend!
i learned a lot on this trip - it may have been too much, too soon - but i think it was worth it. we hit traffic, so i learned how to ride in first for a while, i'm better at shifting, can handle a corner and, overall, feel much more comfortable on the thing. granted, it's a bike, so i'll never feel that safe and understand how dangerous it is...but i can also see why people love it. as mccarthy said, it's like i have a vacation in my garage, ready to go at any time!
one of my favorite lessons - bikers wave at each other as they pass. i've joined a friendly little cult and i love it! harley drivers aren't always friendly and only wave to other harleys, but most don't care...the dad & grandpa told me it's just a special two-finger wave when it's harley-harley...everyone else gets the full hand. we decided i should do a pointer-finger wave as a Triumph rider.
i like my new hobby. as a matter of fact, i hope i get to ride again this afternoon.
i can also relate this hobby to golf - i hate putting because it's slow, detailed and hard to do...much like riding in town or in first on a bike - it's slow, harder to control and detailed...but those pieces are oh so important. practice, practice, practice!
