The "SoggyDog" Reunion Ride
April 14-15, 2007
Glen Coddington, Earl Minkler, & Pete Slote Photos
This ride report contains photos selected from all of the above. Thanks gentlemen for the great shots! And as someone somewhere said, "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story!"
I checked the weather.com radar at Oh-dark-thirty and the approaching rain was still offshore. Didn't look any further south than Santa Cruz, at the time. The ride from Concord to Pescadero was cool with only a few sprinkles; a convincing illusion. I was shocked to NOT find Steve Hursh at Duartes already with half his breakfast eaten. I hoped he was OK. Ordered breakfast & waited for the crowd to arrive. Breakfast was GREAT as always.
By 8:30, we had 17 folks ready to ride; Catfish, Craig Hightower, Laurel Sutcliffe, Lisa Brazieal, Laura Sharek & Scott, Sue Watson, Pete Slote, Allan Paul, Gary Thomas, Chris Cork, Steve Hursh, Gene Ireland, Steve Martinez, Matt Brockway, Scott Flores, and Kari Holmgren. Joel Buck & Beth were with Earl Minkler in the truck heading down I-5, and Glen Coddington was trucking his KLX650 down for some dirty action. The sprinkles were starting again as we left.
We took Hwy-1 down through Santa Cruz and on to Carmel. The rain was getting heavier the further we went. Joanne Ferreira was waiting for us at the Chevron station in Carmel. Matt & almost half the crowd decided to go inland on Carmel Valley Road in the hopes of getting away from the rain. They didn't, but it did make the Hwy-1 group a more manageable size. I was still hopeful we'd get out from under the rain any minute now...
The rain was light, but the traffic on Hwy-1 through Big Sur were heavy. I was looking forward to the stop at Nepenthe's. The coffee shop was CLOSED, so we continued down Hwy-1. Next was Nacimiento-Fergusson Rd. over the coast ridge & through Fort Hunter-Liggett. Fantastic road, but not the best riding conditions. It got COLD over the ridge, and Sue aptly renamed it NAZI-Fergusson Road!
Its down right spooky riding along in the poor visibility of rain & suddenly realize you are riding through a large group of armed soldiers in the middle of a training exercise. I'm glad they didn't shoot anyone. As we exited the fort, Scott's SV650 died. He had to unload & remove the seat, but found a blown fuse & replaced it with the spare. The G-spot roads were wonderful & wet as the rain subsided.
Sheeesh, is this an Aerostich
commercial or WHAT?!?
Got to McLintock's in Paso Robles for lunch as Matt & the others were about to leave. The break & warmth were appreciated by everyone. Afterwards, our group split again with some wanting to go straight down 101 to cross 166 to Songdog.
The few riding with me at this point crossed Hwy-58 as planned. :-) We could tell from the clouds in the distance & the wet road that we were chasing the storm towards Taft. Only had a few sprinkles though, so it wasn't so bad. Hear from those who left Paso Robles earlier that they were in the storm all the way across. The box canyon was fun for being wet, but not quite fun enough to do the triple. I hear Joanne did though.
Stopped for gas & more libations in Taft. It was dry the rest of the way to Songdog. Even with the slow pace in the rain earlier & Scott's road-side repair, we pulled into the ranch at 6PM just as planned. The arroyo crossing was dry, soft, & deep. From the interesting ruts in the sand, it looked like someone had done a little plowing.
Chris Cork coming up the road to the mesa!
Allan Paul on his mighty Vstrom!
Got the tent setup before dinner & it was PARTY
time!
The shooters were busy around back ...
Joel helped Ruby with her first ever target practice,
while Earl helped James with his.
Joel & Joanne plinkin' the targets
The wood stove was surrounded by wet
gear and cold toes!
Hey, you have to be FAST to beat Steve to the head of the food line!
MMM-mmm, Songdog BBQ!
Laura, Scott, Joel, Craig, Sue,
Laurel, & Lisa pigging out!
Craig pulled out the 85-peso "El
Mescalito De Tonaya" from Baja!
This stuff was dangerously smoooooooth!
Here's Kari pretending to sample El Mescalito!
Ahhh... a warm fire, good friends, & Lisa telling
us it was only THIS long!
Matt
Steve
Pete
Gary
Scott
Scott Flores, Lisa, & Joanne, with
Scott & Gene standing
After Lisa gave us a captivating demonstration of her unique
talents ...
Scott started suckin' up to her ...
Sue wanted some of THAT action ...
and Julio "HeadBanger" Sanchez said it was
MY turn!
After the Silver was polished off ...
The Anejo was next. Beth liked that too!
The songdoggies had a howl-fest at midnight, right on cue. They kinda faded into the darkness afterwards...
The rain returned Sunday morning. :-(
Pete was startled from his sleep when his GS unzipped
his tent & tried to crawl in with him! But then he really
woke up & realized it was just the Hair of the Dog!
The rain stopped just long enough for
Steve & Jenny to serve breakfast.
Some were sporting the latest HeftyBag(tm) moto luggage!
Glen got dirty up the canyon, ...
and went to Pismo Beach next!
The rest of us headed north. Although it was wet, we couldn't pass up Midoil Road; the sweetest little roller coaster just outside Taft. The rain had stopped by the time we got to the box canyon on Hwy-58, but the road was still wet. Joanne slowly pulled a disappearing act, and then turned around to do the triple.
By the time we got to the big roller-coaster hills, the road was dry and the clouds were starting to part. Hwy-58 is a sweet high-speed dance and Laurel followed me over the ridges. We stopped at the big oak tree and waited for the group to re-assemble. Everyone but Kari arrived. Sue said Kari wasn't feeling well, and had decided to go up Hwy-33 and straight home.
We continued across Hwy-58 to the stop sign and turned right on Hwy-229. This is another tight, twisty roller coast with dry pavement & more wheelie rises than you can count. WHEEEeeee!!!
Stopped for lunch at Senior Sanchez in Paso Robles with only a few puffy clouds left in the sky. It was turning into a beautiful day! Next came River, Indian Valley, and Peachtree Roads, Yum-YUM!!! Did I mention it was a GORGEOUS Day?!? Re-grouped at Hwy-198, and then took Hwy-25 to Hollister. Droned north to the bay area after the gas stop and was home before dark.
It was a GREAT Soggydog Ride!
Catfish ...