The Breakfast Club: Paso Robles

Pictures start here

Sunday–Monday, 10–11 Apr 2022

Rob writes:

Sunday

I felt like riding by myself so I did. Departed SF at first light and headed south on my BMW R1200RT . Bought this bike last summer from a Harley dealer no less in Cotati. Since then I have put on over 8,000 miles . It’s a pleasure to ride. Rode 101 past San Jose and saw the steam and smoke still coming up from the 4 alarm fire at the Home Depot on Friday. It was a big loss.

At King City I rode over to the small town of Lockwood to see what was there. Not much but I proceeded on G14 to get to an overlook of Lake Nacimiento. The locals apparently call it lake Naci. See the photo. The lake is quite dry and I saw only one boat on the water on a beautiful sunny day. Continued on G 14 which ends up on 24th street and intersects the main drag in Paso Robles which is Spring Street.

Bought some cigars at a great smoke shop located just a few blocks from our motel. Checked into the Melody Ranch motel and got a room for under $100.00

That works for me. Looked like I was the first to arrive so I smoked my cigar at the pool and went in for a dip. Carl Tyler, Tom Martin, (beemers), and Russ Danielson (Moto Guzzi) showed up next as they came all the way from Death Valley that morning. The other group that went camping on Saturday night in Morro Bay consisted of: Chris Weld on a beemer, Harry Bahlman on a beemer, Rich Penrose on a beemer, Jag Patel on a beemer and Mike Geggie on his Honda 300 which as it turns out kept up with the group the entire weekend.

Noticeably absent were Todd Kennedy who had recent surgery and Joe Steiner who decided to go to Italy that weekend. Chris Rand may have been working and Marc Hyman is still laying low due to Covid. No Neil either. We walked over to the square and all had dinner together at Pappy McGregor’s Gastropub and everyone enjoyed the dinner and atmosphere. Some beer and bourbon flowed but nobody got arrested.

Monday

All up bright and early. Mike made some of us a good cup of java to get started. We all packed and went to breakfast at Joes up the hill. 3 groups departed going different ways and all trying to avoid anticipated rain in the Bay Area. Need I mention that good ol Russ did not join us for a meal and took off at first light. He did find the rain and should have dined with us.

I left with Mike and Jag to go over 46 west to the coast. The weather was cool but clear with great views. See photos. Headed up highway one and saw the impending front moving east over the Los Padres National Forest on the coast. I hoped to make it to Gorda before the rains but no such luck. Had a large coffee and waited for the clouds to pass but they did not. The three of us proceeded up the Pacific Coast Highway north with almost no visibility, rain, wind, and lots of twisties. We rode with our flashers on to be seen. Good call Mike! Our goal was to stop at Nepenthe lodge and have a bite. We made it and we were drenched. They had a fire inside the dining area so we thawed out and dried while waiting for our table. After lunch the weather cleared as we were heading north once again. At or near Sand City the wind gust almost blew Mike’s bike into another lane as he was hanging on for dear life. It was a bit of a challenge for us to get through it. Stopped for the last break before Gilroy then booked it home. Overall, great fun. We are so fortunate to have such a good group of people in SMBC and scenic roads in California!