Saturday, May 26, 2018

Morro Bay

Mark and I met up with Dave, Mark and Matt for a ride from San Carlos to Morro Bay.  We headed off after Dave got the tire pressures corrected on his Vespa Sprint 150.

We rode on Skyline drive under overcast skies,then headed to the coast.  When we entered a huge fog bank, with my windshield and face shield getting wet, making it difficult to see where I was going, in addition to being uncomfortably cold, I decided to change my plans and take the fastest route to Morro Bay.  My route was 280 and 110.  Highway all the way.

It was fun to let Vanessa stretch her legs a bit, hitting speeds of up to 77 mph.

We held our own on the highway with the great benefit of arriving just after 1:00 instead of 4:30, when the others rode into town.

I got to see Ken, Walt and Scott, in addition to Shane, the newest member of Squadra Lumaca.  I had lunch with Shane, then toured around seeing many of the old Cannonball friends and meeting some new runners.

I dined with Dan, Patsy and Mark at a fine restaurant just outside of town.

Getting those tire pressures up to spec.

Dave following shortly before I changed my plans

Along 110

Unloading Scott's and Walt's scooters 


Dan and Patsy

Otters and the power station

Friday found me hanging out for a while, then getting serious about preparations.

I had to go through all of my stuff, get the GPS sorted, fill the 5 gallon tank, wash clothes, have lunch with the team and John Jones and his wife Chris.

The kick off party followed with me then hanging out for a short time before coming back to get the blog updated.

A few of the Cannonballers

At the party






2 comments:

  1. Watching the run up to the Canonnball here and on the Modern Vespa site. Exciting stuff. I'm envious of you and all the riders participating. A wonderful adventure.

    I see on the Cannonball site that you finished 4th on the first day. And a huge elevation change during the ride. How does the carb on the GT200 handle that?

    Be safe and good luck on the days to come.

    steve

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Steve. The GT is weak climbing and at altitude, but makes up for that going down and on the flats.

      As for the good luck part, I went down on a rough dirt road on day two. Got up, rode 15 miles to a small grocery store to prepare to continue when I noticed how quickly a knock on my shin started to swell. I called Ken, who came and picked me up. We rode together in the truck to the finish. I went to the ER and they found nothing terrible, but it is a multi colored, swollen, painful mess. I doubt I will be riding any more on this run.

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