I just got back from previewing the ride.  Boys and girls, you are going to 
LOVE this trip!  I'm glad I did the route first though-  It turns out that my 
mapping program has deluded me a couple more times.  I'd picked out some 
really good looking roads.  And they were really fun-  At least, the parts 
that were PAVED were fun.

For those Bay Area locals who can't do the whole ride, if you can get Friday 
off of work, I suggest you join us for the first day through Napa.  It'll be 
a great ride, and there's a special treat that you'll have to read further for.

I started out going over Mt. Hamilton.  It drizzled all the way up the 
mountain.  Not enough to bother with a rain suit, but it did keep the road and 
my face shield wet.  Grrr.  It made for slow going up the hill.  Once I passed 
the observatory and headed down the eastern side, things dried up.  I had good 
weather the rest of the trip.

Heading through Livermore, I made a wrong turn and deviated from my map.  Oops.
I think the real route will be nicer; we won't have to spend much time on the 
freeway.  I pulled into the Wine Country, and stopped at my favorite winery, 
Quail Ridge.  They had a great idea-  They can cater a lunch for us.  We have a 
couple of options-  They can do a selection of salads and appetizer-like things
(to keep it light) for around $12-15 a person, or a full-on meal with entrees 
for around $15-18 per person.  They'll send me menus and prices soon.  And yes,
they know that we have vegetarians in our group!  I first thought that a light 
lunch would be best, but maybe a full meal would prepare us a little for more 
wine tasting.

After lunch we'll hit some more wineries for a couple of hours, then head north 
to Clear Lake.  Now we have another choice:  Do we stop 1/2 hour sooner than I'd 
planned and stay at Konocti Resort, or continue north a bit more?  It'll be nice 
to have that extra riding to balance the distance between the days.  But if we 
stay at Konocti, we might have cheaper rooms (I'll check), and Alice Cooper is 
performing a concert there.  I saw him last summer, and while a little ragged 
around the edges, he still belts 'em out.  I'm not sure of the musical tastes 
of this crowd-  So if there's not enough interest in the concert we should 
probably head north to Lakeport.

Saturday I headed out, skirted the northwest side of the lake, and headed up 
Elk Mountain Road.  Wow, what a road!  The asphalt's a little rough, but I've 
gone on worse without worrying.  The scenery was amazing!  The problem was, 
that once I'd gone to the top of the mountain, the pavement ended.  So, it was 
back down the way I came.  The whole side trip took an hour.  Even though it 
won't get us to where we're going, I think it's beautiful enough to warrant a 
side trip up.  I took some pictures along the way, I'll scan 'em and make this
into an HTML doc if someone will put it and the pictures up on a web site.

Since I had to find an alternate route to the Avenue Of The Giants, I went up 
Tomki Road.  I got about a half hour up it, and found my path blocked by a lake.
Well, not really a lake per se, but a creek crossing the road that pooled.  
It was about a foot deep, and there was no way to go around it.  Not an option.

So it looks like we have to head up 101.  It doesn't sound great, but it's 
really not that bad.  It's pretty scenic, and there are some fun sweepers on it.
We'll head up the entire length of the Avenue of the Giants, then back-track 
down it.  I came down halfway, and took a side road to Honeydew.  This road was 
fun, and went through a lot more huge redwoods.  The problem was, the road
from Honeydew to Highway 1 was unpaved, and in BAD shape. *sigh*

I was told I could backtrack to 101, or take a different road back.  This other 
road would join me up to 101 south of where I started from, and I hadn't ridden 
it, so I went for it.  Even though there was 1 1/2 miles unpaved.  I was told
it was in good shape, and it was.  It was steep, though.
(while I was looking for this road, I got in a hairpin turn with gravel, and 
my front wheel slid sideways, and *sob* my GTS went over.  Didn't hurt it badly 
though. %&^%^$%&^$%) We'll go around all this mess and head back down 101 to 
Leggett.  I'd hoped to avoid all the distance on 101, but it can't be helped.  
I ran into too many examples of "You can't get there from here."  For a three
day trip, I think the few hours we'll be on it are acceptable.  And seeing as
how Saturday has the most mileage, the rests from twisties will be welcome.

Once at Leggett, we'll cut across 271 to Highway 1.  Now, THIS might qualify as 
a favorite ride!  You'll love 271.  Tight enough to be fun, but not so tight 
that it's not fast.  And it's perfect asphalt.  After we hit 1, it's a cruise 
down to Ft. Bragg.  The Surf Motel was quite nice, and there were a few decent 
seafood restaurants nearby.  I enjoyed having dinner and watching the sun set 
from inside the Cliff House.

Sunday was pretty much all Highway 1.  I'd planned to make a side trip to 
Occidental for more twisties.  But 1 is already twisty enough, and I couldn't 
find the roads I wanted to take!  So I figure, if I couldn't FIND the roads, 
we'd best stay off of 'em.  With my luck they'd be unpaved.  There was one 
detour around a section of 1 that El Nino had washed out, and it was fun.  We 
might take it whether we need to or not.  It doesn't take us out of our way 
very much.  Only a couple of miles.

There are a couple of lighthouses along the way, and miles and miles of 
breathtaking coastline.  It takes us almost the whole way to the Golden Gate 
bridge.  A couple minutes (really) of 101, and we're there in San Francisco.
I just went around it on the water side today, but I expect we'll stop at 
Ft. Point to get pictures of the bridge.  About an hour later, we wind up at 
famed "Alice's Restaurant", the local biker mecca.  I got there at 2:45 pm,
and ran into yet another GTS owner.  We swapped cards, and no doubt he'll be 
showing up on the list soon.

So it looks like a great ride for you all.  I had a great time as it was, and 
I went a long way out of the way!  Roads dead-ended and I had to spend a lot 
of time finding alternate routes.  With this all figured out, our group ride 
should go off without a hitch.

A few stats for you (remembering that I rode a lot of extra miles):

Money spent on gas for GTS ride preview: 	$28.59
Ave. Mileage for GTS ride preview: 		 46.15
(I think my odometer accuracy has changed since I put the 120/70 BT-57 on)

	Miles Traveled (by Map 'N Go calulations):
Friday		Saturday	Sunday		Total
 232		  349		  227		 808

Note that a lot of these miles are twisties.  Don't expect to cover
60 miles an hour!  And again, we'll ride fewer.  Our trip should be:

    Miles to be Traveled (by Map 'N Go calulations):
Friday		Saturday	Sunday		Total
 226		  310		  233		 769


If you're not yet listed as a definite attendee, please let me know as soon as 
you can.  In fact, if you ARE listed, please send me your Postal address.  I 
think I'll make packets of maps and directions for your perusal ahead of time.
No, I'm not making this a self-guided tour.  But I think you'll find it useful 
(and entertaining) to have knowledge of the route ahead of time.  Maybe some 
can meet us in the middle somewhere.

I think that once we decide whether to stay in Lakeport or Konocti, we'll start 
making our own reservations.  This means that we should also make our own 
arrangements for who shares rooms.  I'm assuming couples will want their own 
rooms, but that singles can pair up.  The Surf Motel has a suite which will 
sleep 6 for $125.  Not bad.

Let me know as soon as possible what your choices are for:
	* Catered lunch:  Light, or full meal?
	* Where to stay Saturday night: Lakeport or Konocti?

Thanks, and I hope you're looking forward to this as much as I am!  I just did 
the ride, and I'm chomping at the bit to do it again!

-K