This was to be my first ride with the Cal HSTA group, having had  recently joined by invitation from Brian Wood.  I had previously  met Brian from the District 37 "Best roads" link.  He had listed all of my favorite roads as being the "best roads" to ride on.  I emailed him to agree and he emailed me back with the HSTA information and web site.  One look and I was hooked!  I happily mailed in my membership that day.

Friday, May 9th, was a beautiful day in Wrightwood (but then so is every other day!).  I planned my route to Paso to include every twisty road I could possible find that took me in a northward direction.  I won't bore you with naming every road and canyon, but suffice to say it was a ride beyond words.  Only those that have lived those epic "bike moments" can understand a little of what I experienced that day.

I traversed over 330 miles of beautiful curvy, twisting roads which blissfully had NO TRAFFIC!  I managed to only spend 10-20 miles on the freeway the entire trip there. The air temperature was a perfect 70-75 degrees, the flowers were in bloom, the pavement was mostly clean and smooth, and the VFR was predictably perfect!  I left Wrightwood around 9am and arrived at the Adelaide Inn, in Paso Robles, near 4pm after stopping to gather some local "fruits of the vine"...

The Inn was nice and comfortable, and lacked for nothing in my opinion.

The group met for dinner that night at McLintocks Steak house, and this is when I finally got to put names with faces!  Good food, good company, great conversation. After a nice walk back to the Inn and a very nice glass of local vino, the night was over.

Saturday began with a little cooler temperatures, and with much anticipation!  After a brief rider meeting, it was time to get a sample of the local roads.  I really enjoyed the variety of bikes and riders that presented at this event.  From a brand new CBR1000 to a BMW 650GS, the bikes were a wonder to behold!  I especially enjoyed Glenn and Caroline on their GSXR1000, two-up!  What an amazing duo. They moved together with the bike like poetry in motion.  Beautiful!

With the spirited GS650 leading the parade, the group traveled well together with everyone finding their place in the pack where their riding styles blended with the others around them.  I found myself riding at the rear of the "faster guys", behind a beautiful red Superhawk. I absolutely loved watching the guys (and Caroline) flow over the beautiful curvy roads, through farm land, canyons, woods and vineyards. The bikes all moved very well together like a choreographed ballet. After a sampling of some amazing roads and breathtaking scenery, it was time for a break.

Lunch was at the restaurant in Creston (there was only one restaurant in Creston I think!).  Good food and good conversation.  Not soon enough, it was time to get moving, the roads were beckoning!  Off and running we hit some insanely fun roads after lunch, one of which I have now labeled "my newest favorite road", hwy 229. A few short miles of rollercoaster fun!  I found myself actually laughing out loud!  Watching the bikes ahead was ALMOST as much fun as maneuvering this fun fun fun little road.

Too soon the ride came to an end.  At the final gas stop I managed to become separated from the group, which was ok as I wanted to explore these amazing roads a bit longer.  I wasn't ready to reign in the Viffr, and she wasn't ready either!  A few more miles, a few more beautiful roads and I was finally back at the Inn.

Some of us from the group had an impromptu poolside party, where the frozen Guinness flowed like a 7-11 slurpy (how was I to know that the little itty bitty hotel "it's almost like a fridge, but smaller" refrigerator could freeze a Guinness?!).

Dinner was at Big Bad Bubba's BBQ and was very close to the Inn.  We had a private room at the restaurant so our loud revelry would not bother other patrons.  The wait staff wearing their spotted "cow" black and white matching shirts, even treated us to a song and a private dance!  Our fearless leader MC'd a really great raffle give away with lots of great gifts.  After a great dinner with good fun conversation, and a myriad of wonderful caramel apples (provided by Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory of Paso Robles), the night was still young so a few of us headed into town for a bit more inebriation (who knew that the "Crooked Kilt" would be a hip hop club??).  Sorry to see the night end, we walked back to the Inn.

Sunday morning, time to go home.  Sad to see this great weekend come to an end, but eager to get one last taste of the Paso roads. I had previously planned to take another route home via the coast, but with the memory of the great roads I traveled to get to Paso, I decided to do almost the same roads in return, with a slight variation when I reached the Lake Elizabeth area.  When the day was over and I was finally home, I had ridden 380 miles with less than 20 miles of freeway, all beautiful roads. Total miles for the weekend around 900. I was able to take some photos from the saddle, but they can not possibly convey the beauty of the roads, the bikes, the scenery, or the people.

This is one ride I will definitely do again, but I don't know if anything can ever compare with the absolutely perfect weekend that this one was.  Totally EPIC!!

My many thanks to everyone that was a part of this event.  You ROCK!!

Tracy Payne
Wrightwood, CA
2000 VFR800
 

More pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/rydred/20080510HSTARidePasoRobles