It's Ride to Work Day!

For those of you who have a job, you probably already ride to work whenever the weather cooperates. If you don't, today is a day to get out there and join together with riders everywhere who are using their motorcycles for daily transportation.

It takes a little planning and organization if you take items to work with you. Once you find a place to carry everything, (laptop, lunch, extra clothes to change into once you arrive, if needed)
you will find a routine that is quick, comfortable, and a great way to begin your workday.

From Wikipedia:
Ride To Work is a Minnesota-based charitable organization devoted to increasing awareness of motorcycling as a transportation alternative, mainly through the annual Ride to Work Day. The organization was incorporated in 2000 by Andy Goldfine, the owner of Aerostich.
Ride to Work Day started in 1992 as an informal event, before Ride To Work existed. In 2009, Ride to Work Day will be on June 15.
According to a 2006 statement to the National Transportation Safety Board by Goldfine, Ride to Work Day is the largest motorcycle event by number of participants. Ride to Work Day is also run in other countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Israel, Turkey, Ecuador and the Philippines. In the United Kingdom, the Motorcycle Industry Association runs the event alongside National Motorcycle Week.

This year the day was moved up from July. It will from now on be the 3rd Monday in June. This was decided partly because the weather in most parts of the world is milder in June than July, and I guess Europeans are on summer holiday in July so aren't riding to work then.

I, for one, won't be working today. Still looking. I will be riding today, though aimlessly with no destination. That's the best kind of riding, right?

The Victory Arrives in Santa Cruz

Special Note: I promised my son that I would write a new post since I haven't been updating for quite some time. I knew I was disappointing some of my regular readers, but when my son asked me "what's up with your blog, Mom?" I felt really bad. While I promised him a couple of weeks ago, it has taken me this long to actually do it. Nate has grown into a wonderful person and a thinking, responsible adult. I am really proud of him and can't let him down. So this is for you, Nate.

I've been living in Santa Cruz since November and was without my Vulcan until late December. I've ridden alone since then, aside from a couple of rides with my brother and with my Salinas friends. On Memorial Day weekend Dave decided he would ride the Victory from Seattle to Santa Cruz and leave it down here. That way when he is here a couple of times a month we can go for rides together and enjoy exploring the lovely California roads.

According to Dave, the ride south was alot of fun but mostly uneventful. I guess that's a good thing when your bike doesn't let you down. He rode I-5 most of the way, which climbs across the Siskeyous and is a straight ride towards San Francisco. He rode 600 miles the first day and stopped in Anderson, CA for the night. The next day was 300 miles and he arrived here around 1:30 pm. The weather was good all the way through Washington and Oregon, with a few sprinkles as he passed into California. From there on it was great. I felt a little jealous as he kept calling to check in with me along the way. It sounded so fun!!

After riding all that time, the next day he was ready to ride again. We rode down the coast on Highway 1 from Santa Cruz to Big Sur. I can't even describe the scenery as we passed through Monterey and down along the coast south of there. There were no photos taken as it is a winding, 2 lane road with no guardrails to protect you from falling down giant cliffs to the sea.

It was great riding together once again and was another gorgeous day.

This is the famous Bixby Bridge that you may have seen on TV and in movies. This is the landmark bridge near Big Sur.



I can't wait to ride further south one day to explore Hearst Castle, Pismo Beach and other destinations I've never been.

Once Dave got the Victory to California, he looked up to see where the nearest dealer is in case he needs work or parts. THERE ARE NONE. The nearest 'dealer' is in Danville, about 100 miles away. If anyone in the Monterey area, San Jose area, or Santa Cruz area knows of anyone who works on Victory motorcycles, please let me know. I guess there aren't many other Victorys around here so Dave should be getting some good attention when he rides.

I'm Another Statistic

There have been alot of changes in my life in the last 6 months. One of them is that I have found myself blogging less and less because it requires me to stay inside on the computer (I don't have a laptop) when I really want to be out in the sun, walking on the beach or riding my motorcycle on unfamiliar roads.

I moved to Santa Cruz, CA and have a new job which I really love. Until today..... I was laid off as well as a few others. The company is small and so it was a big impact on the number of people still employed there. The downtrodden economy has affected orders for our equipment, so it was necessary to downsize, for now. If orders do pick up in the near future I am assured that they will call me back to work. For now, I am another statistic.

I don't know what the future holds for me. Today, I want to continue living in Santa Cruz and see if there is another job out there for me locally. I did take a quick look at Craigslist and was amazed at the scarcity of job postings, compared to 5 months ago when I was actively looking.

I apologize in advance if I don't post as frequently as in the past. On the other hand, I guess I will have alot of free time on my hands for a while. Sounds like alot of daytime rides in the near future. This unemployed business might not be so bad after all.......

My First Ride to Pescadero

When I first arrived in Santa Cruz the weather was warm compared to the Seattle area I had left behind. One of the sunny weekends my brother decided to ride with me north up Hiway 1 to Pescadero. The town is a tiny crossroads a couple of miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. I found out later that the town has a wonderful bakery that produces artichoke bread, which has artichoke hearts throughout the bread. Now, as a native Californian, I grew up eating artichokes and have always had an emotional attachment to anything artichoke. I will go back one day specifically to find the heavenly bread.

We started out making our way up Hiway 1 by passing through the town of Santa Cruz. Once you head up the coast the towns are few and far between. It is the loveliest stretch of coastline I have ever ridden on, although the Oregon Coast was just as gorgeous.

We stopped and rode up alot of side roads off of the Hiway. My brother has covered all of them on his motorcycles over the years. This day he was riding his '69 Honda.

We stopped at ano nuevo lighthouse for a moment. The iceplant covering the tops of the cliffs is a sight to behold. When it blooms it is a sea of hot-pink flowers.

We continued our round trip back towards Santa Cruz and stopped for a last look at Greyhound Rock. This particular day there were minus tides, which means the sea was much further out than usual. This made the Rock accessable and you can see there are a few people who made it to the top. Any other day you cannot reach Greyhound rock.

It was a fun day of warm temps and comfortable riding. Next time I go north will be heading to Half Moon Bay. I am hoping B.B., Dave, Willy D. and Carol can go along for the ride. As soon as things dry out and warm up again, we are off.

This coastal living is good for the soul.