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The Clean Living Hoosiers™ Ride Again. The 3rd Annual Trip Of A Lifetime


Indy Dave

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Bill - To quote a quintessential Californian " This is a very complicated case  trip ,  Maude   Bill.  A lot of ins and outs and what-have-yous... A lot of strands to keep in my head. A lot of strands in The Old Duder's head.

                                                                     Jeffery "The Dude" Lewbowski

 

 

 

Edited by Indy Dave
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On 2/6/2019 at 12:13 AM, Bill_Walker said:

Where is this "Santa Anna" you speak of?  I'm familiar with Santa Ana, CA, but that's well south of where you were, in Orange County (south of LA).  Google Maps doesn't know about a Santa Anna, CA.  At the end of the video above, you're clearly arriving in Monterey.  I can see how you might have ended up in Salinas or Santa Cruz.

 

Thanks Bill! Although I've reviewed our routes and itinerary, sometimes things just don't click into place.  It's an honest mistake. A Cali band I like quite a bit has a live CD recorded in Santa Ana. And I have stuck in my head the lead singer greeting the crowd “SANTA ANA..... alright . . . ”.    And when I read Santa ..[anything] .. my mind replays that line from the cd. I think  it overdubs whatever Santa word I was referencing and changes it to  Santa Ana. It doesn't really take much these days to influence and over-ride whatever brain cells I have left. And I say 'these days', but its probably always been that way. :ohboy:

 

Here's the line, so it can be stuck in your head too! (12 sec vid)

 

 

 

 

 

And so we rolled into Santa Cruz, found our lodging  and unloaded. With the ice machine located, we mixed drinks and hit the pool.

 

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The sassy desk clerk suggested we go to the boardwalk 'down by the sea . . ' . So once we were appropriately refreshed and renewed, a Uber van whisked us off.

 

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We ate at a place on the pier - with a great view to write home about; the food, not so much. We had a great time regardless.

 

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There's an amusement park along the beach, and on this night, Rose Royce were playing a free concert. We had finished our meal with precision timing, because as we arrived and mixed with the crowd, Rose Royce played their claim to fame “Car Wash”. Clean Living! How many people do you know who've seen that song played live?

 

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With that behind us, we were thirsty and restless. We discovered that the section of town where the bars were concentrated was a bit further than we wanted to walk. But we were a big group – 5 of us, so finding an Up-Sized Uber was a challenge – especially with everyone leaving the beach area after the concert. The Uber wait time for a van-type was Uber-long. So I took a rickshaw, while the others waited for an standard size Uber.

 

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I had a nice ride and pleasant conversation with my pedaling pilot. As we entered a poorly lit roundabout, we were greeted by the sight of a middle aged woman slightly bent over (rear facing us) with her skirt hiked just enough to allow her to void without wetting her skirt. The driver and I were quite impressed with her rate of flow AND trajectory. She could have put out a house fire! I took that as a sign we were nearing the strip of bars. And sure enough,shortly thereafter and just ¼ block from our destination, the Uber the other Clean Living Hoosier's were in - passed us - with heads sticking out the windows and shouts of victory as they'd beaten us to the bar. Turns out they offered the driver an extra $10 if he was able to beat us to the bar. :burnout:I had a very fit pilot, and had she known, I've no doubt we'd have been victorious. :revit:I was concerned that they felt that was a fair race :shake:.

 

For all of our effort to get to the bars, we didn't really find any place to our liking. We stopped in one establishment and after one game of pool – and I think 2 of the 5 of us got something other than water – we walked back to our rooms.

 

Santa Cruz has the distinction of being the least liked town on this trip, and I think that goes for any of the Clean Living Trips.

 

We had a big day the next day - we would be meeting up with the Silver Bastard just across The Golden Gate, and then we had quite a bit to road to cover to our next stop. Our group would now be complete and we knew the fun was only just beginning.

 

Edited by Indy Dave
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On 2/6/2019 at 12:44 AM, Indy Dave said:

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/aff1192b-bf5c-4ea5-8470-cb0a063bb658

 

Bill - To quote a quintessential Californian " This is a very complicated case  trip ,  Maude   Bill.  A lot of ins and outs and what-have-yous... A lot of strands to keep in my head. A lot of strands in the old Duder's head.

                                                                     Jeffery "The Dude" Lewbowski

 

 

 

 

:shake:  :cuz:  :ohboy:

Edited by Indy Dave
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We were up fairly early, loaded and ready to go.

 

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GSJoe selected a breakfast stop along the way - but we were going to have to be mindful of our pace today. We'd be in Big City traffic and we expected delays - in addition to our habit of meandering; that is, making sure we stopped along the way to 'smell the roses' as it were. 

 

BUT... Notice the separated covered parking areas (above). There were three of four of these in our hotel annex.  We might have been on a tight schedule, but the The Clean Living Hoosiers™ always find time to have a little fun with each other. The only Non Hoosier on the trip, Steve, has a sweet R1150R, and due to congested parking space, he had to squeeze his bike into a less than ideal spot for the overnight. Don - ( who has so much energy he gets up in the morning a half an hour before he goes to bed) - thought it'd be fun to move the light R1150R bike over to the far parking area, which was sufficiently blocked from view and also a ways away from where the bike was originally parked, so that the new parking spot was unlikely to be checked by Steve thinking he may have mis-remembered which spot he parked in. We all played dumb as we watched Steve come down with his gear, only to find no bike to load it onto.  :90:  :3: Steve is a pretty cool customer, and he checked two of the other three parking areas - but not the last one - where his bike was presently parked. We can all dish it out, and fortunately we can take it too - which is why these trips are so much fun.

 

Our route for the day:

 

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On 2/4/2019 at 11:59 AM, Indy Dave said:

 I don't think anyone wanted to be the first break out of experiencing the ride 'as a group'. At this stage of our trip, we're still graciously swapping positions with each other in the riding order at each stop. That works well with us. But how long would it last? And who would be the first to break ranks?

 

 

Not long apparently, and it seems Yours Truly is the initial guilty party.

 

First on this goat path (which I linked to previously in the introduction) :
Oh you like that stuff?!?

 

And again shortly afterwards in Big Basin Redwoods Park.

 

 

It took us three days on this trip to get to the point where if one wanted to go ahead, one did.  Other trips it's not taken near as long, but once one rider breaks out of ranks - it's  freeing for all of us - as everyone will now do so if and when they please. And they did! Surprisingly, only twice has this led to issues for the group, due in both cases to a lack of cell service to re-establish contact. On this trip, this became a fairly serious issue - as one rider had blazed ahead and kept going. And going! He'd found a rhythm and was "in the zone" and was having a great ride - unaware that he'd passed the lunch stop and that the rest of the group had discovered that the planned fuel stop was no longer in business. But more about that later. And the bears. Did I mention the bears?!

 

 

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Just to be clear, we don't have a 'no pass, maintain your position' policy or anything. Generally, we're happy to ride in the order we fall into when we leave from a stop, and it's common to switch up positions at stops. There are times when one (or more) of us might be feeling a bit more zippy than the current pace is providing, and rather than asking that the group speed be increased, the itchy rider(s) will move ahead and blaze their own trail. No egos are bruised and we all have our times when we want something more and when we want to hold station or ease up. With 5 or 6 riders, having all of us in sync at the exact same time seems to diminish as the days roll on. Jerry and Don were on rented bikes, and although they both have R12RTW's at home (same as they rented), they both felt the rented machines felt slightly different. But now on our 3rd day on the road, they both were secure on how their bikes would respond, and now it wasn't uncommon for them to "stretch their legs" on the great roads GSJoe had selected. We all understand the desire to challenge man and machine, and that freedom is the essence of riding. :bike:

 

No matter the pace, we can't avoid the gaps that happen from time to time - even when we're all behaving Like Clean Living Hoosiers™.  For Example (1:24 video):

 

 

 

Today's ride was on so many great roads, the fact that we went through the hustle and bustle San Fransisco is easy to forget.

 

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Jerry, Don and I became friends in High School, and Jerry's brother GSJoe was in College at the time, so Don and I knew Joe as well from  parties   study groups. Another buddy, Ned (who was also a rider) moved out to The Bay Area after he finished school. When we were planning this trip, I'd asked Jerry about trying to meet up with Ned. Jerry said he'd get with Ned, and later reported back that Ned's daughter had a swim meet that day and he'd not be around to meet us. A shame, because we were going to meet The Silver Bastard (who was flying in from Connecticut) just across the Golden Gate Bridge - so we did have a time certain we'd be in town.

 

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As we pull up to our meeting location, we see the Silver Bastard's yellow 'Stich covering a bike20180707_131207.thumb.jpg.9880b3047484d941ae73f84354fb7428.jpg!

 

Our view from inside the the bar/grill:

 

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I lag a bit behind in the parking lot, I think cleaning the GoPro and changing out batteries and sd cards. When I walk in, I notice a piano off to the right, and the man sitting there asks if he can play me a song! I bust out laughing - It's our buddy Ned! He and Jerry had kept his meeting us a surprise. We were all inseparable in high school and through college and could we tell some stories! :16:  :beer:  :whistle:

 

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Trouble waiting to happen.

 

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Too soon, we were back on our bikes, our group now complete.

 

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For the most part, that was the end of our traffic woes.

 

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Edited by Indy Dave
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Origins of Clean Living and prior acknowledgement that woman find me irresistible. TRUST ME, this has relevance to the next installment. This is from the introduction of the First Clean Living Ride Tale from our trip to Colorado [unfortunately, that ride tale was cut up and quartered in the migration process to the new board - and as such, it's missing several segments. I hope to restore it]:

 

On 7/19/2016 at 3:24 PM, Indy Dave said:

Disclaimer and Intro:

 

What follows is what I hope will be a entertaining thread that will highlight our recent trip to Colorado and introduce the board to what I hope will be some new members. For many years I'd been trying to get together a long ride with several of the characters on this trip for a significant ride. I say significant because it had become a sort of habit for many of us Indy based guys to ride to MI for a week or long weekends and to get together to ride somewhat regularly. With 5 of us, someone would invariably have conflicts, so the composition of riders was always in flux. None the less, the 5 of us came to credit 'Clean Living' for our good fortune of riding with friends and this was a phase often uttered that led to smiles and raised glasses.

 

Other times, the phrase was for the amusement of others (as well as ourselves). For example, a year or so ago, Jerry (you'll meet him shortly) and I were on a trip to Michigan and left Glen Arbor and rode up to Good Hart, MI one morning. We had seen standing water in yards and other evidence of storms, but we had dry roads and clear weather all the way up. We'd probably had a late-ish night / early morning, so neither of us had shaven before we left out and we both had a clear case of helmet head when we arrived in Good Hart. We dismounted at the General Store and were stretching and an elderly lady comes out of the store and stops – looking at us in amazement (I'm used to woman stopping and staring at me, but this was new to Jerry). She remarked that some bikers just left who were soaked to the bone and yet we were bone dry - “where on earth did you come from, next door?” When she learned that we'd come from Glen Arbor, she was beside herself that we didn't get a drop of rain. She began to walk to her car and Jerry told her that it was “on account of our 'clean living' that we didn't get wet”. She briefly paused and squinting her eyes, quickly looked us over and proclaimed quite sarcastically “I'm sure”. . . . .

 

 

Now back to the present Ride Tale:

 

And case in point, GSJoe had detoured us to a needed fuel stop, and we found ourselves in a one pump town. Of course, I'm immediately the center of attention upon arrival. :ohboy:  But pictures are worth a thousand words, so with that being said :

 

 

 

There's a lot going on in the first 2 minutes here! The guy in the purple shirt is wanting to talk bikes, but he gets pushed aside by my number 1 fan (who comes out of nowhere) -and his glances at her are priceless! . As usual, I have to point out Jerry so he can get noticed and recognized. But as always happens, no matter how hard I try, the woman can't stay away from me for long, nor keep their hands off me. The Silver Bastard is frustrated in the background at the one working pump; and no scene would be complete without a Sena Pairing issue and exercise. And also note that as we're rolling, Grace Under Pressure is keeping Yours Truly happy with In Flight Tunes.

Edited by Indy Dave
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We had a great ride up the coast, with nice, twisty climbing elevation almost right out of the (golden) gate as we left San Fransisco. Heading into S.F, my lens was pretty bugged up, but we did very little lane splitting - mostly just filtered to the front at stop lights. Not much to see. Here we are heading up the coast.

 

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One thing we all noticed was the regular fragrance of pot being smoked as we traveled up the road. Every 10 minutes, if not sooner. This seemed to be the norm for the rest of our travels in California.  There are lots of places for people to pull over and take in the sights and views, and no doubt some of those folks were probably going for an 'enhanced' experience. Other times, in traffic, one wonders if it's a driver or passenger. Or both.

 

Don had been hustling us up the coast, and with the views of the water and coastline, the miles breezed by. We had little traffic, and when we came upon some, they were easily dispatched :bike:. All those miles can make one thirsty, and we'd agreed quite a long time ago to stop along the water somewhere for a break. Don found just the place, and we enjoyed a beverage on a deck overlooking the water. One could get used to this!

 

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The  Silver Bastard  Dude abides with a White Russian!

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Reliving the great ride.

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Edited by Indy Dave
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We still had a ways to go, and the shadows were getting long and the setting sun was blinding. GSJoe selected quite the burger shack for dinner, but not before a lighthouse stop.

 

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The Dollar menu at our Burger Shack.

 

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And the view

 

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The food was great!

 

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AND we had live entertainment! And it was about as opposite as could be from the previous nights entertainment on the beach.

 

 

You could not make this up! They played for the majority of our meal. The problem was, we'd just had a GREAT ride and had been listening to our own upbeat riding music, and so we were hyped and reliving the day in excited voices that easily drowned out the classical guitarist and vocalist.  I'd been listening to Rush all day, and this atmospheric change seemed like a Funeral Dirge! Honestly, to me, the disparity between our energy and the good folks doing their best to entertain us comical! They were quite serious and we were laughing and joking!

 

We made our hotel in the dark of night, and set forth playing Euchre! Well, most of us. Poor Ernie had been up before dawn EST and now found himself in the midst of a loud, trash talkin' card game late into the West Coast time zone. You've not heard Trash Talk till you've played cards with Steve.

 

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Edited by Indy Dave
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The card game ended and The Silver Bastard got his room back. We had great ride to start us off in the morning, and our destination had a fantastic breakfast, with easily the best Bloody Mary's we've procured on any of the CLH trips.

 

But first we had to get there. Willits road.

 

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This was a road that just invited twisting the wrist and enjoying everything it is that we love about riding. It also held a few surprises, so one had to keep oneself from getting carried away. The road is a perfect riding road, and coming up behind vehicles is a show stopper, so one must take advantage of the limited passing opportunities - both legal and double yellow line-wise. On the way out to Willits, there were certainly enough hold ups from traffic to be frustrating, but nothing that compared to our trip back - as everyone and their trailer seemed to be on the move. Once again, the early bird gets the worm and it pays to get out and up and at 'em first thing.

 

Brief 3 min clip of the ride out

 

 

 

And a 6 min clip from the way back.

 

 

Edited by Indy Dave
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2 hours ago, TEWKS said:

Now that was a Great gas stop! :thumbsup:

That happens every time I ride with Dave, and we stop for gas. 

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4 hours ago, TEWKS said:

Now that was a Great gas stop! :thumbsup:

 

She was an Indiana girl, obviously enjoying herself. She no doubt was enjoying some kind of attitude adjustment, and we all could relate more than she could know.

 

We just need a break

From the headlong race    

  Neil Peart

 

We, too, were getting an attitude adjustment and finding the same kind of joy and thrill to be alive. We were just going about it differently.

 

 

1 hour ago, marcopolo said:

That happens every time I ride with Dave, and we stop for gas. 

 

I Know, right!?! And, as long as we're being honest, this is the kind of females Mark attracts when we stop for anything but gas:

 

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There's no joy or thrill to be alive is this woman's face. The photo doesn't show the broom she rode over on so she could give Mark a piece of her mind  roll out the red carpet  treatment every international visitor deserves. 

 

 

Back to the fuel stop:

 

There is a lake between the sun and moon
Not too many know about
In the silence between whisper and shout
The space between wonder and doubt

     Neil Peart

 

It's funny. We didn't really have time for an elongated stop. We all know how group fuel stops can be, you can get in and out quickly, or it could go sideways quickly and eat up a lot of time. Which was the case here - there were bathroom issues, only one pump (with only regular gas) and it was a S-L-O-W pumper, even with our relativity small tanks. And of course  . . . The Multitudes came. :classic_laugh:

 

BUT - And this may get to the foundation of why these trips are so rewarding and enjoyable above and beyond the great riding - Nobody gets flustered or short with each other. Nobody is revving their engine in a passive aggressive attempt  to hurry one or more of us along. We're all in it together and we take it as it comes. It seems simple and obvious - but in my experience, it's uncommon. And the larger the group, all the more so. I hadn't thought about this before, but this relaxed structure (or the grace that we seem to give each other) I believe has led to many of the very things that make these trips An Adventure and so special. It's the things that happen along the way. It can be too easy to just focus on getting from point A to point B and miss the in-between. Or not allow it to happen at all. We can choose how we react, and our reactions absolutely impact others. It can be hard sometimes to get through just a day ride with folks without tensions rising at some point. Yet I cannot think of one time I've pulled on my helmet on any of these trips upset or distracted from the riding because of tension between us. I think that's unusual for the amount of time we spend together.

 

What's more amazing about this is that I have no doubt that I have contributed to potential divisive issues or made one or two decisions that in most other groups our size would have caused fractures.  Like I said, we take it as it comes. And these issues will come to light in the near future.

 

 

Edited by Indy Dave
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33 minutes ago, Indy Dave said:

 

She was an Indiana girl, obviously enjoying herself. She no doubt was enjoying some kind of attitude adjustment, and we all could relate more than she could know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mary Jane? :dontknow: :grin:

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2 hours ago, Indy Dave said:

 

"I Know, right!?! And, as long as we're being honest, this is the kind of females Mark attracts when we stop for anything but gas:

 

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There's no joy or thrill to be alive is this woman's face. The photo doesn't show the broom she rode over on so she could give Mark a piece of her mind  roll out the red carpet  treatment every international visitor deserves."

 

I was on this ride with Dave and Mark.   We were near downtown Asheville, NC and pulled into the parking lot looking for a lunch place that at one time had been there that had moved to another location.   We spend some time off the bikes trying to decide on where we might go for lunch and this woman came out of one of the shops and insisted that we get out of her parking lot "immediately".  Very nasty woman!  


 

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7 minutes ago, Endobobdds said:


I was on this ride with Dave and Mark.   We were near downtown Asheville, NC and pulled into the parking lot looking for a lunch place that at one time had there that had moved to another location.   We spend some time off the bikes trying to decide on where we might go for lunch and this woman came out of one of the shops and insisted that we get out of her parking lot "immediately".  Very nasty woman!  

 

 

Yes. I didn't have the GoPro running. I had the fortune of riding with four outstanding gentleman that day, so her odds of being treated with respect were pretty good.  This lady flew over on her broomstick and was having an animated conversation with Mark, who still had his helmet on, as did I. I couldn't hear the conversation and assumed, initially anyway, that it was a pleasant conversation. After all, Mark is a Canadian - what's not to like?! It became obvious by her gestures that she wasn't asking for the best way to cure Canadian Bacon. I'm proud to report that Mark handled himself with unrestrained consideration and respect. Once I learned what'd she said and how, I judged that I would have treated her in the same manner she was treating Mark, and while I did give her a small piece of my mind (not that I have much to spare), we were on the move to the parking lot across the street to continue our discussion on where to go next, so our group was saved embarrassment for what else I might have said had we stayed any longer. 

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Some housekeeping: The prior day's ride deviated somewhat from our planned route, and we were all the better for it. At one point, we ended up on a goat path mainly populated by mountain bikers riding in both directions. It was quite tight in several places and we had to ride with extreme care. Some riders absolutely refused to give way, and if we crowded them in making our way by.. well, it was very steep drop with no shoulder or guardrail to stop them. This provided the opportunity for some hilarious commentary as we made our way down. Never a dull moment.

 

The previous day's ride:

 

http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/display/20190209134129-65173-map.html

 

 

Back to Today's Ride

Speaking of others refusing to give way. The same issue was encountered on Willits Road. This is a great riding road - and it has several areas for slower vehicles to pull off and let others by. As often happens, one has to make their own way as others don't realize those areas are for them. On the way to Willits (the town), I had passed a good number of cars and several also used the pull outs to let me by. Anyway, I got it in my head in one particular area, to park the bike and try to get "action shots" of the rest of the group as they came by. Mind you. we were not in Sena range at this time, so they had no idea I had this silly idea.

 

I parked in 'no mans' land at the center of a Y junction.

 

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This was the vantage point

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But then I decided I'd have a better shot if I were on the inside of the road, so I crossed the street.

 

When the boys came by, imagine what they were seeing. My bike parked off the outside of the road. Me crouching off the inside of the road, waving them to go on by. Add it all up, and you get FAILURE!

 

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They were trying to figure out if I'd had an accident, and if so, why was my bike on its kickstand on the outside and me in the inside ditch?! Each of them had slowed to access the situation

 

To add insult to injury, I watched all the cars I'd passed go by - who no doubt were also wondering what was going on.

 

Back on the bike, soon I was behind this 3 vehicle tortoise procession. Since I'd passed them all once already, I didn't want to be a hoon-dog and just rip past them. And so I waited.. .. ..

 

My video shows I was behind these snails for 10 agonizing minutes. I finally reached the end of my graciousness and picked them off one by one.

 

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Once in Willits, GSJoe guided us to a terrific breakfast location!

 

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Edited by Indy Dave
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It was hard to believe that our time together as a group of 6 was growing short. We only had two more nights together before we broke off into two groups. GSJoe, Steve and Don would turn back South - with Don dropping his bike in San Fransisco and flying back to Indy, while Joe and Steve would continue to ride back to L.A. Yours Truly, Jerry and Ernie (AKA The Silver Bastard) would head north to Portland, OR - where those two would drop off their bikes and fly home. Mrs. Indy Dave would be flying out to Portland for a week, and then I'd get back on the bike and head East to the UN Rally.

 

Our route today would take us to the Famous Avenue of the Giants, The Lost Coast, a curvy Hwy 1 that was a marathon nonstop orgasm, a mad dash for fuel and mixed up communications. While the itinerary had been reviewed and gone over for months, I don't think any of us realized how much we'd be taking in today.

 

And it started off on Willits Rd - which is a hard act to follow!

 

Here's our days trip:

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Before we left for Willits, we had a tire pressure check - with one tire needing attention.

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Once back from Willits, CA, we headed North and on our first stop, we encountered a pair of gnarly nomads.

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I was careful to maintain a safe distance in order to avoid a stampede.  :ohboy:

 

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And this was their view:

 

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The gals had originated in Portland, ME! And they were traveling the country in their sweet Rover with the cool bunk on the roof. Not a bad gig if you can get it!

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CA Hwy 1 wasn't necessarily 'busy' as far as curvy roads go, it just went on and on and on. And on. In a relaxing, enjoyable way. After some time, you can't help but wonder when this ecstasy will end, while hoping against hope that it won't.

 

Here's 8 minutes of CA Hwy 1:

 

At Leggett, CA Hwy 1 dumps into the 101/Redwoord Hwy, with the Avenue of The Giants generally paralleling a good section of the 101 going North. There is a "drive thru Tree' in Leggett and we had thoughts of ... well.... riding through the tree. It turns out it's privately owned and once you turn in the drive to the tree, they make it very difficult to turn around. This was decidedly not our style and we convinced Ernie there were better things ahead.

 

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And so we set off, with Donnie leading the way. The Avenue of The Giants was just that.

 

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On 2/10/2019 at 4:30 PM, Indy Dave said:

Don found just the place, and we enjoyed a beverage on a deck overlooking the water. One could get used to this!

 

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Do you remember where this was?  I'd like to add it to my list for the next time I'm up that way.

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Thanks, Dave!  I'm disappointed to find that it's not open for lunch, but there's always dinner.  Or a refreshment stop like yours.

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Bill - It was  5-5:30 when we stopped.

 

The ride from Leggett to The Big Trees was a hot one. We were now (temporarily) out of the shade and the sun had found its sweet spot and was heating things up. We were on the 101 with mild traffic and occasional road damage. GSJoe led us into the Red Wood Grove on CA Route 254 (I was mistaken earlier when I said Donnie was leading). After we had our stop and walkabout, pondered deep thoughts with wonderment, we needed to get back on the road.

 

It's worth noting at this point that Yours Truly was the only Garmin equipped rider (my 595 would later be referred to as Zippy1 ).  There will be more about Zippy later. And so it came to pass that . . . well..... Let me set the stage for the next events by sharing some video from yesterday's ride as Donzi Donnie decided to get the cobwebs out of his Mojo-Motoquest Machine. I'm sorry for the poor lighting in the clip- the sun was low and creating glare. This clip sets the stage for what happens next. :4296:  :90:

 

Edited by Indy Dave
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The CLH boys response this morning to this latest video has been swift and brutal.

 

Jerry: You guys are dangerous! I’m considering not going on trips with you anymore! 😃

 

Donnie (Donzi): Seems to me the guys painting the lines on the road have no idea what they are doing.   Plus, it is plain to see that I was being chased by a Maniac.

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No doubt we were all humbled in presence of the Red Woods and pondered our ultimate significance in the universe, let alone in relation to our own petty Grand Designs. There are a LOT of trees here and plenty of opportunities to make additional stops. Fascinating no doubt, but also more of the same. If we had more time, no doubt we would have spent it here. But as Jerry Reed says "We have a long way to, and a short time to get there."

 

And so Donzi Donnie sets out, subtly quick at first, as we had him in sight on long stretches (of which there were few). And then he simply checked out! Donnie was no doubt having a inspired ride and like all of us in that mode, he didn't want it to end. We are all riders and we all understand and were genuinely thrilled that one of us was having such a ride! The only drawback on this day was that Donnie was flying without instruments. And he had long since passed the turn off back on to the 101. And where ever he was, he had no cell service. We could only continue on, knowing that at some point he would take a breather. As we huddled in the heat at the ramp of the 101, it seemed initially that this might work out -  Zippy1   and The Google both showed a vital gas stop in RedCrest. The GS and roadster were both getting thirsty and the additional miles to Redcrest could be problematic, if not for the ability to fuel up there.

 

Once in Redcrest, what had been a fuel station not only had Donnie passed by, but also time. By the looks of the place, it's been a year of more since it had been open. With the fuel situation now dire, we had no choice but to stop and wait for Donnie to come back to us.

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We found The Eternal Tree house in Redcrest, and while we waited out Donnie, decided to have lunch. We could get a cell signal outside the restaurant, and we left messages for Donnie. But would he check his Voice Mails, and if so, when? GSjoe, Steve and Ernie began to research gas opportunities - which were quite scarce within the radius of miles remaining for GSjoe and Steve.  The waitress confirmed this fact as well. Exactly ONE gas opportunity seemed viable, it was an hour away. The makings of a plan was coming together.

 

The Eternal Tree House was around back.

 

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A triumph rider looked to be having issues getting his bike started and had attracted the attention a couple of well meaning riders who were just pulling in. We watched as we ate lunch and soon, GSJoe jumped into action. Apparently the bike had failed to fire up on first attempt, and now it wouldn't turn over. The bystanders were telling the guy to pull his plugs and who knows what else.

 

Two years ago, one my first CLH Trip of a Lifetime, we found ourselves in Crested Butte after a days ride. What a town! :beer:  After taking in the Town, The CLH had to mount up and return to Gunnison. We were parked somewhat scattered about in relation to each other, so we were going to meet a block down the road. I fire up and arrive at the designated area. The next thing I see is GSJoe being pushed down the street by two other CLH! He'd left his PIAA's on and had to be pushed to get the beast back to life. I'm sure GSJoe wondered if he'd ever use the small battery booster pack he bought once he got home from the trip, but that didn't stop him from carrying it.

 

GSJoe whips out his battery pack and Vroom! The Triumph comes to life!

 

The stricken Triumph and GSJoe strutting back to his bike, his work there complete, and the seeds planted for more Clean Living!

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Don finally called, he was somewhere up near Alaska or something, and it took some time for him to get back to us. GSJoe called the Honey Dew Country Store to be sure that they in fact had gas, and they did! But they would be closing soon. When Don arrived at the Eternal Tree House, we were geared and ready to go. GSjoe called the store back and let them know we were on our way and to please wait for us. Google said it'd take us 1 hour. The store closed in 45 minutes. :bike:

 

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I'd been riding an RT long enough that fuel stop considerations on trips were never an issue for me. That would change later in the trip for me while riding solo, but for now, GSJoe and Steve (and therefore, the rest of us) were facing a significant challenge. It was the second time in two days that fuel was an issue (but the first time it was a critical issue), and a mid distance fuel stop would be critical on tomorrows ride. Donzi Donnie, who was traveling at a high rate of fuel consumption way on up ahead, was piling on miles without a care in the world about  fuel or the additional miles he traveled.

 

To Steve and GSJoe, Donnie's flamboyant fuel use must have seemed like this: (42 sec video)

 

 

 

Edited by Indy Dave
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As we killed time waiting for Donnie to return (and not finding any more bikes for GSJoe to jump), we checked out the Eternal Tree House, and general small talk ensued. At one point, someone had checked in with their Significant Other and in reflecting on the conversation, expressed frustration at being peppered with a NUMBER OF QUESTIONS. “What time will you arrive? What's the name of the hotel? When are you stopping again?”, etc. And the famous and most often asked – generally made while we are riding and in the middle of NOWHERE - “Where are you NOW?!"

 

And the flood gates opened! We all had shared the same experience/conversation. Again and again. Mind you, we all had left our routes and itineraries with SO's at home, as well as contact info for everyone on the trip. Other than a set destination each day, we had NO PLAN. We stop when we stop. We get there when we get there. We are ON VACATION. Not that any of us have ever been accused of being Alfred Einstein to begin with, but we're on vacation! We do not want to think! The questions being asked of us were not important at the time, so the answer is . . . I DON'T KNOW!

 

As Jerry Seinfeld once said "Do you want to know what men are thinking? NOTHING! We're thinking nothing!"

 

I mentioned earlier that it's the in-between that makes the journey, not the destination. Zippy1 (as my Garmin 595 became retroactively known as when Bernie coined the phrase “Zippy In The Box' for it's replacement(s). ...Zippy for short.) seems to abide in that notion as well. First put into service for START 2018, Zippy1 would lose track of the current route... mid route. For instance, shutting off the bike at a fuel stop would cause it forget that it was in the middle of a route. I didn't pay much attention to this at the time, as I was following Bernie or other BBR's, so it was never an issue and I just figured it was a random anomaly.

 

Which of course it wasn't! As I headed off on the first leg of this trip, traveling from Indiana to Burbank, CA, Zippy1's Alzheimer's fits became more frequent. The Bumbling BackRoad Riders were consulted regularly, with tests and reworked routes to try and determine what was causing Zippy1 to lose its mind. While keeping the unit on at stops was a temporary fix, Zippy1 would sometimes just reset on bike startup or all on its own in-route, rolling down the road. For non gas and meal stops, I let the bike run when possible when taking photos, etc.

 

Zippy1 seemed to be saying "I DON'T KNOW!”

 

 

Edited by Indy Dave
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GSJoe: DID YOU GUYS SEE THAT BEAR?!? It was BIG.

 

And later that evening, over drinks, GSJoe reflected: ..... As we were climbing.  I was leading, as I entered a left curve, the bear climbed a tree on the inside up about 12’.   Scared the shit out of me.  All I could think of is where is the mama??!?!?  With a great amount of concern for my fellow riders, I accelerated quickly. :shake:

 

 

For the record, I did not see the 'Big Bear'. I have gone back through my video, and I haven't spotted it yet. But with the changing light through the trees and the bikes changing direction, the camera probably washed out either heading into the shade or coming into the sun. Ernie and Steve also saw the bear, and one of them saw it cross the road.

 

Mattole road is rated at 25mph, and at 27 miles, The Google said the trip would take us an hour, and the store closed in 45mins. We were fairly confident we could make that. But... Mattole road is not to be underestimated. It starts off in it's own Red Wood area, with quite narrow roads and tress jutting out - add  approaching vehicles, and a large dose of caution is advised.

 

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As often happens with these roads, you encounter some smooth sections that tempt one to pick up the pace . . . (somewhere as we climbed that mountain in the background is where the bear was sighted)

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And then . . . .

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We arrived at the store at 4:59. However, it looked like there was a big party going on and we had no problem getting gas, and I don't believe it had closed by the time we'd got back on the bikes.

 

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1 hour ago, Indy Dave said:

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GSJoe: DID YOU GUYS SEE THAT BEAR?!? It was BIG.

 

And later that evening, over drinks, GSJoe reflected: ..... As we were climbing.  I was leading, as I entered a left curve, the bear climbed a tree on the inside up about 12’.   Scared the shit out of me.  All I could think of is where is the mama??!?!?  With a great amount of concern for my fellow riders, I accelerated quickly. :shake:

 

 

 

 

It was this comment that stood out. GSJoe could very well have meant exactly that. But nothing is as it seems with this crew, and soon GSJoe's sincere comment had been twisted to mean: "I'm looking out for number 1 and getting outta there - YOU guys are on your own!!"

 

And the conversation took a sudden left turn. . .

Donnie: Ideas for Joe's Stone:  “His caring was only matched by his unending generosity”

Jerry: "His unselfish nature carried over into every aspect of his life"

Indy Dave: "Affectionately known as Buddy Joe"

 

Donnie: “Joe is back in the hot lava”

 

 

Edited by Indy Dave
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Although we're now in Honeydew, CA - Here are some shots from the Avenue of the Giants:

 

Lot's to keep an eye on . . .

 

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Even after carefully making sure the path is clear to pass . . . .

 

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Something always seems to be hiding . . .

 

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Obviously, this is a well traveled road by all kinds of vehicles with unending opportunities to them to pull off - or back into traffic, often with very limited sight lines.

Edited by Indy Dave
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So far we'd had a great day of riding, and I think all of us would have been quite satisfied if the ended In Honeydew. The never ending curves of CA1along with the awe of the Redwoods and the excitement of the Grace Under Pressure run to Honeydew for gas was fulfilling. We didn't know that we were about to be amazed yet again. We only had 71 miles left, what more could we see that we hadn't already?

 

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What we didn't know at the time, is that for the rest of the day and all day tomorrow, we'd be in Humboldt County - which is known for it's weed production and outlaw growers. And has the largest number of missing persons in all of California. We would see evidence of this, but not realize it at the time. And tomorrow, GSJoe and I had planned an longg trip on gravel and dirt for the group.

 

Tomorrow, wayyy out in the mountains and sticks - we would have an encounter.

 

 

Edited by Indy Dave
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After a 40 minute stop, we got back out onto Mattole Rd and headed for the Lost Coast. Honeydew just had regular gas, and while I know that will work, I opted to wait for civilization to get gas. As I recall, Donzi Donnie was the only RT to get gas there, as he'd piled on the miles that he rest of us hadn't.

 

This section Mattole rd started out a little scruffy, but scenic.

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You can see I'm trying to get Zippy back on track . . . again.

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Edited by Indy Dave
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And then . . . everything changed again . . .

 

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I'd picked up a bug in my helmet that had been crawling around for a good while. Now on flat ground, I had time to release it.

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It was as if we had the whole coast to ourselves - the amount of activity was just so little for the views and closeness to the water. I get it, the area is isolated - and that was just fine by us!

 

All too soon, we had a steep climbvlcsnap-2019-02-19-23h48m30s967.thumb.png.f6cd860bfb851c0d4f774a0be113465a.png

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Looking back as we enter the Lost Coast . .

 

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This was a favorite spot of ours, and imagine my surprise when I also saw this spot in an episode of Murder Mountain Now for the record, The Lost Coast is not "Murder Mountain". But we unwittingly flirted with the area.

 

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Edited by Indy Dave
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Once we tore ourselves away, it was off for gas and our home for the night, Arcata, CA.

 

We stayed in a old hotel downtown, and we'd be here for two nights, then we'd split up with 3 of us heading North and the rest heading back South. I spotted these gents on BMW's and they were frantically trying to find accommodations. Wires got crossed apparently and they were scrambling.

 

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We carried our luggage upstairs and quickly showered. The Sushi restaurant in the hotel was about to close, but GSJoe and Donnie convinced them to serve us. 

 

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10 hours ago, LBump said:

lOvE this ride report!! :thumbsup:

 

Great photographs and commentary.  Really like this view...

 

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Thanks very much for the feedback!

 

Reflecting back on the day - early on, after the endless curves on CA 1 and the hot slog up the 101 to the Avenue of the Giants - a couple of the guys were quite sleepy when we stopped at the Red Woods in the shade. One of the guys mentioned that he'd drifted off mentally at one point on the 101. As I said, we'd had a great day of riding and I don't think any of us had any idea how majestic The Lost Coast would be. While I've not taken a poll, I think it would be the highlight of our trip together. You can see on the video, the area between the road and water is fenced, so we didn't have much to gain from stopping again by the water. And then the climb was severe - I was concerned about stopping on much of the steeply climbing road to take pictures - as I felt the chance of a toppled bike (probably mine) was too much to risk, let alone trying to get a bike upright again on that incline.

Edited by Indy Dave
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Just when you thought it was safe to move onto the next day, I back things up! AGAIN! :4607:

 

It's the video. It takes a lot of time to weed through it, and the video serves two masters, so what to share isn't as straight forward as one might think. First, there's trying to document parts and pieces of the trip so we can look back and remember. But no one wants every foot of traveled road. The second is to share here and provide a view to our rides and also provide an idea of what some of the more memorable roads are like - in case others want to ride them. I'm trying to keep anything I share here down to 5 minutes - which is a vast improvement from the first videos I shared.

 

I felt Mattole Road on out of The Lost Coast was worth sharing, as it was super choppy, more gravel, fog, a free range Moo-Cow that I'm embarrassed to say I did not slow down for! :shake::16: 

 

I. Don't. Know. Why. Foolish and very lucky. The Moo-Cow looks sedate enough, but you and I know that can change in a nanosecond.

 

Anyway - The Climb Out Of The Lost Coast:

 

 

 

Edited by Indy Dave
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Monday would be out last day of riding together. GSJoe had done all of the leg work on our routes, and living in CA, had actually ridden about half of the roads closer to L.A. While GSJoe is the only one with a GS on our trips, Yours Truly has been known to have an itch to take the roads less traveled and often that means gravel and dirt. It's not that I'm skilled at it, I generally just like exploring. More than once I've found myself in some muddy mess wondering WTF I'm doing and asking myself why I didn't turn around when I had a chance. :ohboy: I've been lucky that I've not been bit yet - but we all know every good thing comes to an end.

 

And so I was a little surprised when GSJoe asked me about a couple of . . .  dirt/gravel roads back when routes were being planned. Well - OF COURSE I'm all for it, and so is he. The questions were:

1) Were these roads ride-able for all of us ?

AND

2) Could we convince the others to ride them?

 

The first road considered we decided was not going to be doable on an RT. But not to fear, GSJoe had a back-up plan and it was a good one! The road he found would be dirt and gravel no doubt, but that would account for no more than half of the road, as near as we could tell. And maybe even less. Armed with that information, the rest of the CLH agreed they would give it a go. :shake:  This was no small consideration on their part. They are on rented bikes and going up and down some steep inclines on gravel is risky on any bike, let alone a RT! And if a RT goes down, it's getting damaged and the paint ain't gonna look so good. And it's not that the others can't ride gravel, they can! It's just a lot more work. And we're on vacation.

 

There was another important concern. Tenured readers who have read the CLH Colardo Ride Report may remember that GSJoe and Steve ran out of gas as they trailered their bike to meet us in Colorado. They discovered too late that they were in a no gas for 10,000 miles zone and that their fuel economy was anything but economy. They wisely pulled into a scenic rest area and awaited a gas delivery.  And the previous two days, the gas challenged R1150 bikes had presented both a small and a serious need for gas. Now to GSJoe's has always had gas stops in mind and planned out when critical - yesterday he had a stop all lined up - but the place was out of business. Monday would present a similar challenge. IF we took the gravel/dirt/mountainous road we wanted, there was only ONE place to get fuel before we went off road where the 1150's could get enough gas to get home.

 

This was going to be fun!

 

Our first leg for Monday:

 

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Edited by Indy Dave
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It was going to be a hot day - a really hot day. We tend to be more mindful of each other when it heats way up. If we stop, where we pull over needs to have shade. Our stops tend to be quick and purposeful.

 

But the first stop of the day was nice and cool.

 

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Once the river was sighted, the chatter started about getting to the water. It was heating up, and the river looked refreshing. But easier said than done.

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We'd been looking for a spot (by the water if possible) to pull off for quite a while. This spot would have to do, despite not offering any shade. The guys are looking at the river over the edge and conjuring up Grand Designs.

 

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Edited by Indy Dave
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