Peach Orchard Thief

Caught red-handed! Our mischievous friend, Jorge, couldn't resist the temptation of snatching some sweet and incredibly tasty peaches from an orchard on Del Puerto Canyon Rd, near Patterson California. But, I'm glad he did, because we were starving and hadn't had anything to eat since we left San Francisco.

 There he is... :)

These hills, that have no trees on them, are really interesting. The views were spectacular and the weather was perfect, about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. It was truly a great ride.

 There he is again...

Aradio captured this shot as we were leaving the orchards. We can't thank him enough for the amazing pictures he takes during the trip. I'm on the left, Fernando center, and Jorge on the right. We love these kinds of roads. We spend 90% of the time on these byways. The KRLs make great touring bikes on these roads.

Yosemite National Park, Aug. 12th

Fernando's KLR 650, with The Half Dome in the backdrop. Take a look at our new logo; it's on the sticker posted on the KLR's tank.

Columbia River Highway, Oregon

I love this picture. It embodies what this trip is all about; motorcycles, nature, and friendship. It was taken by Aradio with his Nikkon camera, close to the Rowen Loops on the Columbia River Highway, one of America's most scenic roads.

Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

Mount Rainier, Washington State

Manzanita, Oregon Coast

Here some shots of the Oregon coast. I love the top picture. The view from here was spectacular. This was around noon and we still had a long day ahead of us. We were headed to Seattle.

Manzanita Oregon Video

Sunset Netarts Bay Oregon

What a wonderful way to end a day of motorcycle riding! We stopped at this scenic overlook to see the sunset over Netarts Bay. It was breathtaking!

Lava Beds National Monument, California

Here some pics of Lava Beds National Monument. We stopped at this amazing place right before we entered Oregon. You can clearly see the lava flows on the top of the surface. But I really liked the caves formed by lava tunnels. They have more than 700 of these caves in the area! That's remarkable.

Saludos 

Fernando Ariza 

The Four of us after a Tough day

Stage 5, Day 2

When it rains, it pours!!! Tuesday was a rough day... We left Modesto California and headed to Yosemite National Park. Ten minutes later Jorge's motorcycle chain came off the bike!!! (this is a very scary situation). Luckily, no one got hurt. So, we stopped on the side of the road and I put the chain back on the bike's sprockets. We headed back to Modesto and had a fresh new chain and sprocket installed on the bike. The dealership delivered the bike to us around 5pm, so we had lost most of the day by then. We headed towards Yosemite, again, and about an hour before getting there Jorge's bike gets a flat tire!!! I can't believe it! We had a tow truck take the bike to the nearest camping site (literaly 5 min away) where we stayed for the night. I attempted to fix the flat tire at the campsite, but came a bit short. So, on Wednesday I woke up early and took the tire to the nearest repair shop. They fixed it and we were back on the road again. ;)

Breakfast time !

Del Puerto Canyon Road

Cambiando la Ruta

Saludos 

Fernando Ariza 

Stage 5, Day 1-San Francisco to Modesto, CA.

Ok folks. So, we left San Francisco yesterday and headed towards Yosemite National Park. We didn't get to Yosemite, but we made it half way.

We rode on HWY 130 going east from San Jose, CA. 

What can I tell you? California is breathtaking ;) The Golden, rolling hills made for a spectacular ride.  The windy road, that snakes around the hills and valleys was incredible. A riders dream... I'll keep you all posted and I'll try to publish pictures every day. We're going to be riding for more than a week, so stay tuned ;)

Daniel Perez Liston, PhD

Preparando uniforme.

Butler Maps

Some times I get asked by friends and family how I plan these road trips. I use all types of sources, like Google Earth, Maps, scenic byway books, and more. But one of the most useful resources is Butler Maps! These maps are built specifically for motorcycle riders. The maps highlight the most impressive and scenic roads for bikers.
I've been using these for years and have not been let down once. I strongly recommend these. Unfortunately, they don't have them for every state, but they have a wide selection of them. Enjoy the ride ;)

New Sticker Tour

Stage 4, Day 6--Morro Bay to San Francisco, CA

     I met these two gentlemen (both of them locals) at Morro Bay Coffee Co. while I was eating breakfast. It was great talking to the both of them. The one with the cap is an avid rider. He told me about his stories traveling Alaska on his bike. He gave me some great advice; we will be traveling to Alaska in Summer of 2016, so we need all the advice we can get. He mentioned how in the summer there are huge mosquitos and he also warned us about the wildlife. Apparently, some bears and elk just like to sit on the warm tarmac and won't move for bikes or other vehicles. But his best advice was on how to get to Alaska. He recommended that we take a ferry, that departs close to Seattle and then travel all the way to Anchorage on the ferry (this is a 4 day ferry ride, not for the faint of heart). Then ride our bikes south and back down to the United States (this ride is still very long, about 2,700 miles).

    

I love the view early in the morning of the California hills. The coffee shop was located next to a roundabout, a rare sighting in the USA.

Here are the bikes outside the coffee shop. Jorge is getting ready to go.

It was a beautiful morning and we had a long day ahead of us. As you can see, the sky was overcast and there was some drizzle. A couple of hours north of Morro Bay on Highway 1, we stopped to see the "elephant seals" that were lying on the beach next to the Pacific Coast Highway. It was a spectacular sighting. Seeing these mammals in there natural habit was the first for me. There were hundreds of them on the beach. There was no real barrier that prevented anyone from going down to pet them, but nobody dared tried. The noises they made were unbelievable. The noises were loud and strange, somewhat of screeching sounds. It also seemed like they were talking to each other.

This picture of me is one of my favorites; with the seals and yellow flowers in the background.

We continued our journey on magnificent Pacific Coast Highway. They say this is one of the best roads in all USA, perhaps in the world. I believe them. The views are spectacular. These pictures of our helmets are pretty cool. We're going to take one during each trip.

Here's Jorge on a quick stop to replace the batteries on our GoPro cameras.

We stopped at this restaurant that had some breathtaking views (and some good food as well). As you can see the weather had cleared up and the sky was blue and the road was dry with lots of grip. It made for some fantastic riding. 

This is the last picture I took during the trip, right after we passed the Golden Gate Bridge (the goal line, indicating that Stage 4 was complete). Overall, the California coast is everything it's hyped up to be and then some. We rode some of the best roads and saw some of the best scenery out there. We can't wait to go back and see what northern California, Oregon, and Washington have to offer.

Stage 4, Day 5--Santa Barbara, CA to Morro Bay, CA

Okay, so we woke up and left Santa Barbara around 10:30am. We stopped at Old Mission Santa Barbara and took some pictures, the place is beautiful and well maintained. From there, we headed east and up the hills on Gibraltar Rd. We stopped and took some pictures of beautiful Santa Barbara. The view was spectacular! See bottom and top pictures. I couldn't believe how unbelievably beautiful Santa Barbara was looking at it from the hills. You could see the ocean and the beautiful homes nestled in the hills. It was only 11am and I could tell we were about to have an amazing day!

We continued on until we reached E. Camino Cielo road. This road was nothing short of spectacular!!! Below is a picture taken from this road. You can see the small towns next to the Pacific and the islands far in the distance.

Camino is a winding road that heads north on the ridge of the hills, making for some incredible motorcycle riding and spectacular views. 

Above is another picture on E. Camino Cielo Rd., Fernando is heading north and just having a blast on the KLR.  After more than an hour's worth of memorable motorcycle riding, the road finally ended.

However, we continued on WEST Camino Cielo Rd., which turned into a gravel road. The road became difficult, with very steep grades and rocky surfaces. Eventually, a couple of us dropped our bikes. See picture above. We talked to a local, who just happened to be passing by, and he said the road would last another two hours. We decided to cut our loses and head back and get on an alternate road.  

 About an hour after leaving West Camino Cielo Rd., Jorge's rear tire got a flat. This is quite dangerous, but Jorge had some prior experience with flat tires so he quickly pulled over.

We put some air on the tire and headed to the nearest gas station. As you can see in the picture we took over the gas station, like a bunch of thugs :)

We finally made it to Morro Bay, before it got dark. Here's a picture of us in front of Morro Rock, a 581-foot volcanic rock that is the symbol for Morro Bay, CA.