1st Annual CROV Rally

[Ron_McCoy]

 The weekend of May 1st and 2nd saw the 1st annual California Riders of Vision Rally in historic San Miguel,California.
Greg and Matt Branche and Don Miner arrived Friday evening.Glen Walker,Ron and Sharon McCoy,and Brian and Naomi Moffet all showed up Saturday.
After introductions and some time getting acquainted and admiring the bikes,all of us but Brian,who hadn't yet arrived,
rode on a curvy,somewhat bumpy road through oak covered foothills to Parkfield,earthquake capitol of the world,Pop.18. The town motto is "Be here when it happens."The annual
rodeo was taking place but we had no problem getting a table
at the Parkfield  Cafe for a glass of iced tea. From there we
were off to Chalome and the James Dean Memorial.James was
killed in an auto accident(he should have ridden his Triumph)
about a quarter of a mile east of Cholame which is just a wide spot in the road with the Jack Ranch Cafe where we had lunch
and more conversation.After lunch we rode to Shandon,
another small town to refuel but the gas station had burned
down so we took Ca.46 and headed back toward San Miguel.
We turned off 46 on Estrella Rd,which was very scenic for the
final leg.We came upon Brian with his rustic Vision as we entered San Miguel. After refueling and more conversation,we
headed out for highway 46 again,west this time toward the coast.Greg was kind enough to treat Sharon and I to trading bikes so that we could ride his GTS 1000A Yamaha.A real treat as it turned out as his forkless beauty is an extremely
sweet ride.Following Glenn's suggestion we turned on Santa Rosa Creek Road.This was a narrow,extremely twisty,little road through a canyon with the road running through a canopy of trees in and out of the sunlight.There was
significant eathquake damage from the December San Simeon
Earthquake resulting in buckled roadway in several places.We
saw an eagle ,vultures and wild turkeys in the first few miles after leaving hwy 46 which was enough in itself to make the ride worthwhile.When we stopped to regroup,we were approached by a gentleman who lived where we were waiting.
He wanted to know if we needed any help and was very interested in our bikes.He then asked if we would like to see his bikes.He did warn us that they were dirty.A short walk up
a small hill (how's the legs Brian?)and we entered what was an amazing collection of vintage European motorcycles.Just to name a few,Nortons,BSAs,Ducatis,more Ducatis,BMWs,a
lovely Bultaco Metralla,a Nimbus sidecar combination,an NSU ,a Parilla,and many more.With a twinkle in his eye,he asked if we would like to hear the Nimbus run and proceeded to fire it up for us.It is an air cooled OHC inline four cyclinder with exposed valve train.Very nice sounds were emitted for our pleasure.Besides the bike he also had a beautifully restored
vintage machine shop.When we could tear ourselves away we
continued on our way to Cambria on the coast and returned to San Miguel back over hwy 46 through green valleys filled with vineyards and beautiful estates.
We dined that night at the lovely 10th Street Cafe in San Miguel.It took a while to get our food but the refreshments
were flowing along with the conversation around the picnic
table under the trees.Altogether a very enjoyable,cool, coastal
evening.
Don left early Sunday morning,having easily captured the Iron-Butt award with his journey from San Diego and his long trip home.The rest of us had breakfast at Hoovers Truck Stop on
hwy 101.Then, after returning to the Western States Inn in San Miguel,we all said our goodbyes and set off on our trips home.It was a great weekend with excellent companions,and
riding(not one breakdown)and we look forward to next year.
I'm sure Greg and Don will follow with pictures of our
adventures.Many thanks to Glenn for getting the ball rolling
and Gregg for finding accommodations and the coordination of
the weekend and to everyone for attending.
 

[glennw]

Thanks Ron, excellent report.... I'm still thinking about that Ducati single flat tracker (and the Diana) that guy had tucked away in the upper deck of his "shed"
A most unforgettable week end.
GlennW

[Ron_McCoy]

His collection was amazing.There had to be around a million
dollars worth of bikes.

[Brian Moffet]

I was going to say, there were probably 40 bikes in the small barn, along with a couple o cars, on the ground floor and the upper loft (with a forklift to get them up there)  He had his own sandblasting setup, (next to the taken apart Norton on the workbench).  Jamie was his name I think.  From his place out the road was pretty good.

Ron, I don't think you did the road justice.  It was rough enough that I was not sitting the entire time, (thus the remark about my legs) I was standing up on the balls of my feet.  We went through about a mile of this fairly rough rode when we came upon a sign... 'Rough Road'.  Now they tell us!

It's been years since I took my bike out on any length of ride, so I'm glad I was able to get down there, even though I did have the dirtiest bike. :-)

If anyone is up in my area, let me know and I'll take you up in my Stinson.

Brian

[Ron_McCoy]

You're right about the road Brian.We were on Greg's bike so
we had the benefit of excellent suspension.I'm sure the ride was much rougher for everyone else.

[glennw]

My hips have not moved that much since the 70's. ;D
Next time YOU guy's can pick the road. :-X

[admin]

now thats cool, thanks for sharing that guys!
nice report, makes me wish I could've made it.

-Ron

[gbranche]

now thats cool, thanks for sharing that guys!
nice report, makes me wish I could've made it.

You should start planning now for next year... :)

After introductions and some time getting acquainted and admiring the bikes,all of us but Brian,who hadn't yet arrived, rode on a curvy, somewhat bumpy road through oak covered foothills to Parkfield, earthquake capitol of the world, Pop.18. The town motto is "Be here when it happens."

The route that we used (for anybody else that would like to experience it) is Cross Canyons Rd to Indian Valley Rd to Vinyard Canyon Rd.

I'm sure Greg and Don will follow with pictures of our adventures.

Don wrote to me and let me know that not one of his 27 pictures survived the trip home. When he hooked up his camera, none of the pictures were properly recognized. I guess I should have taken a few more than I did.

Those that I took can be seen at http://homepage.mac.com/gbranche/Cal%20ROV%20Rally/index.html. Enjoy!

I don't think I have anything to add to Ron's excellent description of the weekend, other than our return trip. Matt and I spent an hour or so wandering around the San Miguel mission (at least, those parts of it that haven't been restricted due to the earthquake), and then headed home. We left San Miguel and headed south on 101 until San Marcos Rd. From there we headed west to Nacimiento Lake Dr, and then north on G14 to King City. Along the way, we were surrounded by hundreds of bicyclists participating in a race, which slowed us down somewhat. It was tempting to cruise past one of the many water stations and grab one of the water bottles being handed out. :) After refueling (both the bikes and ourselves) in King City, we headed north on 101 to Arroyo Seco Rd, where we left the freeway for some back road cruising. We used Ft. Romie Rd to River Rd into Marina, then Hwy 1 to Watsonville, then 152 over Hecker Pass to Watsonville Rd to Uvas Rd to Bailey Rd to San Jose. We arrived home just before 5:00, after a very enjoyable experience throughout the weekend.

Thanks for making it memorable, y'all. It was certainly a pleasure meeting you and spending some quality time with you.

My only regret is that this is an "Annual CROV Rally". Maybe we should do it a little more often...

;D

Greg

[ArrrGeee]

on the subject of digital pictures not being recognized,
I had a similar experience myself,  after our trip to europe
I went to download the pictures from my digital camera cards, we had taken close to 800 ! pictures. 2 of the cards came up unrecognized. well my wife was panicked, I figured they'd gotten messed up through the customs xray machines.
so  I did a little research before giving up. It turns out that it's not that uncommon for that to happen and there is a program that can rescue pictures from a corrupt memory card.
I checked it out and it found all the pictures still there.
I think the program cost me 20 bucks (well worth it in my opinion) it did an awesome job, marraige saved, the whole nine yards  ;D
so you may want to tell Don to check it out. if he hasn't already erased the memory card.

its called (appropriately) photorescue.

the link is here:

http://www.datarescue.com/photorescue/


-Ron

[Ron_McCoy]

I think Greg is on to something.  Maybe we should do a fall
(pardon the expression), I mean autumn,ride.

Ron

[glennw]

Pick a date!

I'm ready

[Back_in_the_Saddle]

What an awesome time. Great ride, great company, and an impromptu visit to a personal collection. Let me say I'm jealous and look forward to joining you for the next one. If I could only get this bike to start. LOL! Thanks for sharing.