As The Man rode solo along the back roads of SLO County he made frequent comments about what I was missing and how we needed to figure out a way for me to come along. But first he needed to get comfortable handling the new-to-him bike. As a dual-sport motorcycle (one tire on the paved road and one tire on the dirt trail) it was unlike the cruiser-style HD Sportster he owned in Hawaii. It would take some getting used to.
Last month while we were visiting Santa Margarita's Wildflower Festival on a sunny Saturday afternoon we watched motorcycle after motorcycle drive by. He commented on the fact that bikers come from all over to ride through the Central Coast. I asked him if he was itching to go for a ride and he said, "Yup. You want to come?"
It took us about 15 minutes to get home from Santa Margarita and while he got the bike ready I packed us a late lunch.
The trip lasted less than five minutes: he drove down our steep driveway, made a perfect slow, controlled U-turn at the bottom, and then headed back up the driveway.
Between the gas tank in the front and the hard storage case attached to the luggage rack in the back we were wedged in like sardines. I didn't even have to hold onto him, I couldn't move an inch. Yeah, well, this wasn't going to work.
When he got back into the garage he transferred his tools (just in case), first aid kit (just in case), my little backpack, and my bag of knitting (just in case) into a canvas bag. It took him only a few moments to unbolt the hard case from the rear of the bike and exchange it for the soft-sided bag. When we headed out again with the new arrangement I had some breathing room, literally.
We headed to Santa Margarita Lake. The Lake is part of the SLO County Park system and requires a $10 entrance fee but the Rangers are usually pretty good about waving us through for a quickie visit to the Marina store for a cold drink.
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| Santa Margarita Lake |
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| Launch Ramp - high and dry. |
Later, on the way home, we headed back through the town of Santa Margarita for the second time that day.
Since then we've made a few more trips exploring the back roads of North County - long winding roads, beautiful scenery, hardly any cars.
Or, as The Man calls it, "Motorcycle Heaven".
