Once again, I'm dealing with a stationary front. I'm learning that as the air masses battle it out, it means gusty winds for the bike.
The interesting part is that if I were going straight down 5, I'd be in thunderstorms; but, by going the Pacific Coast Highway, I have mild temperatures and clear weather ahead. My hope all along was that as I start making it further south, this would be the case and that I'd only be in the higher temperatures once I started going east from Santa Monica. At this point though, I may not go all the way to Santa Monica on the PCH. I'm debating going as far as San Francisco and running down the Interstate the rest of the way to get back and have a day to decompress before work. We'll see!
Dear weather guesser, You couldn't be more wrong. Sunshine? How about overcast the whole way with fog and mist most of the way. Also, you were overly optimistic about the temperature.
I wasn't inspired to take too many pictures; but, I did take some. Here they are with comments.
Many of the coastline pictures are like this one. I'm sure the coastline is fantastic with sun; but, it's like potential energy. It's not real energy until something makes it that way.
I took these next two pics hoping the public works department would pick up my blog. I imagine you won't see the solution to the trash problem right away, so I'll post it after I give you a second to look at the next two pictures, which I only turned my body 90 degrees to photograph.
Wait for it....
People are just to damn lazy to swim 30 yards in the cold air, in the cold Oregonian coast to deposit their trash in the trash barrel you have anchored out there in the ocean. You'd have much more success if you brought the trash barrel on land and asked the people that have to go out there to bring their trash back with them. I'm just sayin'
The ocean views on 101 (PCH) from Seaside, OR to the Crescent City California look much like this. Very tall (100' - 150' pines) slope down from an enormous mountain to the road, followed by a shear drop to beach and ocean. On the beach, not photographed, are crazy people that think 55 degrees is plenty warm enough to put on a bathing suit and go swimming. These people are either crazy, hearty or stupid. I think you can pick any two.
I sat in this construction site for over half an hour. Two people from Germany are in the car in front of me. He's an economics teacher and she never got out of the car. He spoke great English and we talked for awhile. You'll also note in this photo the pickup truck with the yellow light. This is a pilot car. It's a very cool idea. The car leads traffic through the construction zone. It keeps everyone moving at a safe speed and probably saves construction workers lives. Guaranteed, if it were just a flagman, everyone would be racing through the construction site to make up for lost time. I saw this in Yellowstone also; although, there it was more like a scene I saw in a movie with 3 Italians and a couple donkeys navigating a narrow mountain pass. Big bikes on uneven gravel paths aren't really compatible; but, I made it fine.
I had my first mechanical failure this morning. It's not resolved yet. I plugged in my compressor to put a couple extra pounds in the tire. Initially, it came on; but, immediately stopped. I was no longer getting power to it. The fuse on the compressor is unbroken. I'm imagining that the fuse on the bike blew. I'll have to look later to see. My guess is that the compressor draws more than the fuse on the bike will permit. I'll look later this morning. All other electronics are working fine.
I also have been using my traffic time to practice slow jam - riding at 1 - 3 MPH. There is a lot of technique to this. When you see the cops leading a parade at those slow speeds, you really don't appreciate what it takes to keep the bike straight in the lane and that slow. You have to feather the clutch around the friction point while holding increased throttle and rear break. It takes practice!
Finally, a note to the Oregonian Department of Transportation (ODOT). It is not acceptable to put a seam in the pavement. You have about a hundred miles of 101 where there is a seam in the middle of both lanes, almost like it was paved in thirds and nobody bothered to smooth that out. They make trucks that do that kinda thing. Also, if you're going to patch pavement, try to use asphalt that doesn't end up with a glass like finish. Fortunately, I saw it and slowed down; but, ended up drifting in my lane anyway. It was wet and looked like black ice. In my case, my bike only slid about 2 feet to the left while making a curve to the right. It's a good thing I was transitioning to the incide of the curve at the time. Had I been on the outside of the lane, I could have been hit by a car coming the other way! Don't know what drifting is? Here's a video of it to the extreme. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20XsaHpRQC8
