4/10/12 to 4/14/12 - San Francisco to Eugene

 (4/10/12) SF to Bodega Bay - 94 miles
Tuesday started rainy and hungover. The burlesque show in Oakland the night before treated me well. Thanks Suriani. That was fun.

After getting lost in Berkeley/Oakland trying to find the Bay Bridge, I made my way into SF to visit the guys at KTMtwins.com. They have been one of the only places to find the parts I needed for the 690. When noon rolled around and I haven't eaten yet, It's time for food soon. Ron (KTMtwins.com) suggested "The Pork Store" which was a couple blocks away. It lived up to the expectations. 

The story for the next 4 days was Rain. Rain. Rain. Tuesday night was spent at the "Bodega Harbor Inn". It was cheaper than hotels in socal but I am still over budget. The Australian front desk lady had made for some great conversations over a drink later. 

(4/11/12) Bodega Bay to Garberville - 197 miles

A comfortable bed often leads to a late start. Which was to bad because Wednesday morning had a beautiful sun that was burning off the rain and fog from the night before. This lasted for about a half hour before it started raining again. Then hail. Then sun. Then rain. Then rain. Then rain. 

The French Girls

The "lost coast" is where Hwy 1 splits apart from the coast. My planned route was supposed to take me on  some old logging roads through the lost coast. Unfortunately Everything north of Usal beach was closed so I had to back track. Back to Hwy 1 where I rode it the 20 something miles to Hwy 101. If the roads would have been open, I would have missed the "drive through tree" in Legget. From Legget to Garberville was pouring and wet. No pictures from that stretch. I stayed at the only hotel in town with a hot tub and drank some wine to warm up. Dreams of the next day dancing in my head. 

Planned route (red) vs. Actual route (dark blue 4/11/12 and light blue 4/12/12)

(4/12/12) The lost Coast

Morning brought sunshine for about an hour. Just long enough to get to Shelter Cove. I had a wonderful breakfast of rye crackers, sardines and sharp cheddar next to the ocean. The nice lady at the coffee shop warned me about the high winds north that I might encounter. The roads along the lost coast are quite horrible but very fun on a duel sport. "One lane" roads are common because the other side of the road slid down the hill. 

By the time I got to Honeydew, the rain was so hard I could not see the centerline. Coffee and conversation lead to a break in the rain. The section of road from Petrolia to Furnale had some spectacular views and I even got to watch some lightning. Unfortunately no pics of that. The ride from Eureka to Crescent City was very cold and wet. A $45 dollar hotel had an awning to park the bike under but I didn't trust the sheets so I slept in the sleeping bag.   

(4/13/12) Crescent City to Eugene

This is the first day I would actually leave California (YAY!) and leave the coast for an extended period. Right after breakfast I found some neat natural bridges.

In Oregon, here are OHV parks to play in the dunes and on the beach. I found out a loaded KTM 690 is not fun in dune sand... and as soon as I got to the beach, a park ranger tuned me around for not having a flag. Oh well, no pics of my bike on the beach. Lunch was a Pulled pork sandwich at a roach coach. Pretty uneventful from Florance to Eugene.