Sunday, 9 June 2013
Markus writes:
The morning started nice and sunny. Arriving a bit late (7:14) at the 92 onramp after getting gas, I wasn’t quite sure if I missed the group. No worries. About a minute later the group passed by with Carl in the lead (Huh, didn’t he say he couldn’t make today’s ride? Turns out there was a bit of a misunderstanding and it is only next week he can’t make).
Carl leading in the front and Dave leading in the back, we made our way towards Tres Pinos. Shortly after turning onto highway 25 the sunny morning turned into overcast and chilly. But luckily not too far to go from here.
When we got to Flapjacks we had a big surprise waiting for us: Jerry had gotten there before the main group! An occasion to mark with a red X in your calendar :) He and Major WWWobble were already sitting there enjoying their nice, hot coffee.
After a good breakfast (strawberries with a side of pancakes for me) we split up in good old SMBC tradition. I had already decided I wanted to make a first foray into the non paved world with my new bike.
So off to “Glora Rd”. Notice the well painted street sign at the turn off from highway 25. The cows sitting in the shade were a sign of what Gloria Road had in stock for me.
The first section was nice and easy. Steadily climbing, very bumpy, but not too steep and nice gentle curves. Almost no traffic at all. On the entire dirt stretch I met one single pickup truck.
But as the Alan Parson’s song goes: “What goes up, must come down!”. Shortly after crossing into Monterey County the decent began.
The first tight off camber right hander taught me a few valuable lessons:
- I can’t take these corners the same way I do the U-turn into my driveway. The lean angle has to stay as close to zero as possible, even (or maybe specially) at low speeds.
- I can pick up “das Biest” all by myself.
- If you have to drop a bike, always pick the side it already has scratches on.
From that point on, everything went smooth albeit at a slow pace. Maybe I learned my lesson or maybe it was just the bike. “Das Biest” already knew the road, so she was ready to guide me down the hillside. Halfway down there was something like a vista point. Perfect for taking a short break and an iphone photo op.
After getting to the asphalt section of “La Gloria” (strange that the road changes names from “Gloria” to “La Gloria” as you cross into Monterey County) I turned onto the long, flat and mostly straight Old Stage Road and from there via Crazy Horse Canyon back to 101. A memorable adventure and a nice Sunday morning ride. I think “das Biest” earned a nice detailing after seeing me safely through these hills.