BMW Motorcycle Club of Northern California Ride January 10, 2016

I decided to do a ride today with the BMW Motorcycle Club of Northern California. We met up for breakfast at Dean's Cafe in Downtown Pleasanton. There were about eleven of us riding today. After breakfast we had a short rider's meeting. Next we headed over to Mines Road to the Junction Restaurant. What a ride. Nobody was holding back and was a very fast ride with wet conditions. It was raining off and on and the tight twisty road was wet. Glad I did not go down. We stopped at the Junction to regroup before heading up to Mt. Hamilton from Mines Road. Was pretty nice with chunks of ice on the side of the road up at the top. From here we headed down the other side to San Jose. Very nice start to the new year.

Short Ride Around Town the Day After Christmas December 26, 2015

I decided to take a short ride the day after Christmas. I did not have any plans so I went around the San Pablo and Briones Reservoirs to Highway 24 which led me to Highway 680. I decided to stop and take a picture of John Muir's old house in Martinez along the way. There was quite a bit of frost on the back roads. The temperature was around 40 but lots of sunshine.

Mount Tamalpais Ride December 5, 2015

I have ridden two of the three high peaks in the San Francisco Bay Area - Mt. Diablo and Mt. Hamilton - so I needed to get to the third high peak Mt. Tamalpais which sits at an elevation of 2,572 feet. It was a little cold out but once rolling everything felt fine out. This is a great ride and you can see the San Francisco Bay, the Pacific Ocean, and Muir Woods. You might think you are up in the Sierras the way things look riding up to the summit.

Mt. Diablo Ride November 28, 2015

I took a ride up to the summit of Mt. Diablo which is at an elevation of 3,849 feet. The road climbs fast and has a lot of tight turns making it a fun ride.  It is almost December but still nice riding weather so I was surprised to see only one or two other motorcycles out.

Pacific Coast Highway Ride from Stinson Beach to Bodega Bay November 19, 2015

I decided to take a ride out to Bodega Bay. Instead of riding directly to Bodega Bay I went through Muir Woods to Stinson Beach. From there I stayed on Highway 1 to Point Reyes and next I rode along Tomales Bay until I arrived at Bodega Bay. I also wanted to see Bodega the town where the Hitchcock movie "The Birds" was filmed. There are two remaining structures left - the church and schoolhouse - so I took a couple of pictures with my bike in front of the buildings. Overall was a great day and nice and warm for this time of the year.  A great day ride on PCH so close to home. You can't beat Northern California for riding.

Alice's Restaurant Ride November 14, 2015

I decided to ride up to the famous Alice's Restaurant where "you can have anything you want at Alice's Restaurant." Was a nice Fall day out and instead of paying a toll and going over one of the San Francisco bay bridges I rode down the 680 around the bay. At the end of the bay the 680 connects with the 280 which heads back to SF on the opposite side of the bay. I got off the 280 at Sand Hill and headed up the mountain to the restaurant. The restaurant is off Skyline Boulevard in the mountains and what a place - motorcycles everywhere. Heading home I took the 280 to the San Mateo Bridge to get back to the East Bay. Overall very nice ride and day.

San Francisco Ride to Pick Up Sargent Seat November 7, 2015

I had a Sargent seat on my BMW 1150GS and loved it. I have been looking for a used one for my BMW 1200GSA. I found one on Craigslist for a good price in San Francisco so I took a ride over to San Francisco Saturday morning to pick it up. I took the Bay Bridge over to San Francisco since I was trying to get there and back quickly before the traffic started to back things up. It was a nice day so while in the city I decided to play tourist and ride over to Ocean Beach, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and over the San Rafael Bridge to get back home.