Bay Area Run - July 9th, 2011

Nician

And with the show judging complete at 1:00pm, those who go could still join us in Saratoga for the second leg of the trip.

Nician

Wow, that was amazing...

Starting with Mines road was great. Nice warmup for some of the later sections. And just when we got a little tired of all the blind turns, it straightened out and we actually got to test some "top speeds" before the climb up Mt Hamilton.

Mt Hamilton was frustrating because it was so twisty that I needed 2nd gear for the turns, and couldn't get enough speed on the in-between bits to get up to 3rd gear. But what a nice problem to have...

I'm told there are regular tours of the observatory on top of Mt Hamilton. We stopped to admire the scenery, but didn't take a tour. The view of Silicon Valley spread out below us was amazing.

We took it "easy" on the way down the mountain and lunched at Wienershnitzel.

Stopping for Starbucks in Saratoga let us catch some breath before the next big drive.

Skyline drive was fun, and then the truly technical bit came. Alpine drive was the trickest part of the day with a narrow road, with a high hump in the center, tight turns and large redwoods waiting to make you pay if you make a mistake. The scenery was stunning under the trees, but I didn't see any of it, I was paying too much attention to the road... [grin]

When we reached the coast, the sky was grey but it was clear and not fogged in. It was beautiful in a strange way. Had to tell where in the distance the sea ended and the sky started. Very memorable.

After a too short drive up the coast, we turned inland and home, picking up Skyline drive for another spirited set of twists and turns before taking to the highways for home.

A great ride by all accounts.

I'll post pictures later in the week.