Angela's leathers were a bit dirty, but she checked out OK otherwise. I walked to the outside edge of the road & there was Zeek some 15 feet down the side of this steep embankment in a rather upright position.

John, having a beautiful new ST4 with almost empty hard bags, the only empty/open pillion in the crowd, & being a chivalrous Canook, volunteered to escort our damsel-in-de-leathers into Grass Valley to a towing service & then a ride home. Why, he even took her to his house 1st & had his wife feed her a great dinner.  Angela & I own you a big one, John.  Thanks!

Knowing Angela was OK & in great hands, Steve & I continued on with our ride down the foothills.  The rest of Pleasant Valley Rd. was an incredible piece of pavement. Wheelie rises & steps, between the tight switchbacks, were only 5-10 seconds apart & this went on for a couple of miles as the road climbed out of the canyon!   This little gem earned a Must-Do designation!  We crossed Hwy-20 & did Indian Springs Rd, Courtney, Kiln, Duggans, & Wolf Rds back to Hwy-49 just above Auburn.

South of Auburn, we took Hwy-193 to Georgetown for lunch. Steve picked a new, little place that didn't even have a real sign up yet. While ordering a couple of turkey sandwiches, we were informed of the freshly-baked brownies. In honor of whats-his-name with "dessertfirst" in his email address, we had brownie samplers while the sandwiches were being make. Mmm Mmm MMM!!! The sandwiches were outstanding too! I've got to see if Steve remembers the name of this place as it should be remembered.  What?  You didn't think I was going to remember, didja?

We continued down 193 & 49 through Placerville, & then took another Pleasant Valley Rd east from Diamond Springs. Next was Buck's Bar Rd, Mt. Aukum Rd, and Omo Ranch Rd. to Hwy-88. Down 88, we turned on Defender Rd, & then took Hwy-26 to Valley Springs. Hwy-26 is one of my favorite hidden gems in the foothills. We got gas in Chris Carr's hometown, but didn't see him anywhere. Down 26 to Stockton, Hwy-4 to Byron, and finally Marsh Creek Rd. to home.

John Munger is back in the Bay Area now & hopefully will show up on a ride soon.

Earl Minkler told us about a DP Safety School day at Laguna Seca on his R1.  Sounded like great fun til 2 instructors tangled in the last session & closed the track with the only ambulance leaving.  He also reminded everyone that he has an R1100GS FOR SALE.  The new R1150GS stirred up some conversation, but according to Earl, its still Butt-Ugly™ with its 5 or so fenders.

Russ Johnson talked about an old '74 Kawasaki Z1B he's acquired with a nickel-plated frame, 12.5:1 compression ratio, and lotsa performance parts.  He also related a trip to the Marriage Counselor's on it; where he was late, got pulled over by a cop, told him he was late to the marriage ..., and got OUT of the ticket!  Only Russ . . .

President René started a discussion about shifter carts and a group of folks with 'em that went crazy during a rental of ThunderHill.

Patrick Moriarty mentioned that new members John Mulvihill, Steve Schurman, and guest Roozbeh Chubak were all recently bitten by the Dual-Sport bug and were each looking for a 650-sized toy to get dirty on.  There was much discussion about this before & after the meeting.  Late breaking rumors have it that Roozbeh just got a new XR650L, Steve got Mark Boyd's old KTM 620, and that John is waiting for something to land in his lap.

Matt Brockway low-sided his GS on the Sunday Morning Ride last month.   He sez he got caught up in the moment when Kim Clark on his KLR appeared in his mirrors.  Matt & the GS sustained minimal damage.