Road trip!

[maillotpois]

So the rest of our family scattered for Thanksgiving, and the Family Pois decided to take a road trip - on motorcycles. We rode North to the Benbow Inn. http://www.benbowinn.com/hotel.htm This is a beautiful old inn - great kitchen as well, which is key!

Many of the roads we rode up I've ridden many times on the bike, which was fun. North of Stewarts Point, the route became less familiar - though we traveled a bit of the road I'd ridden between Hwy 128 and Ft. Bragg on the 600k I did last year.

While not as hard as riding a bike, obviously, riding a motorcycle for 5 hours or so on twisty turney roads was definitely physically challenging. And as the sun started to go low in the sky, it got cold! I was very happy to see our destination.



Here's the PP and me on my bike hanging out in the parking lot. (Of course, we weren't actually riding with no helmets, just walking around the hotel and in the parking lot).



On Thanksgiving, we took a ride to Shelter Cove, which was beautiful. The road that goes there is very steep, and climbs a couple of ridges. I can imagine it would be a very difficult ride on a bike.

Yesterday we came home. We rode my favorite road anywhere - Highway 128 from the coast to Cloverdale (I also love it as it continues east as well.) This road was part of my 600k last year and it was fun to see it again - in daylight!

Here is the family on bikes overlooking the ocean.



All in all a very different sort of trip. No bicycles, but lots of familiar bike terrain and some scouting for future bike trips!

[bikerz]

Sarah - what a great trip - it sounds like it was a lot of fun, and you had perfect weather for it this week! Nice photos!

[Pax]

What fun!! And what amazing scenery!

[aka_kim]

How fun! Petite Pois is so lucky to have a mom like you.

[Veronica]

Nice pics! That place in on my list of places I want to go to in my Bed, Breakfast and Bike book. The book is a bit out of date - 13 years old. But it makes nice reading.

V.

[Tri Girl]

Wow! Looks like you had a great adventure. What pretty pictures!! I'm sure it was nice to see what the road and surroundings looked like in the light of day.
Thanks for sharing!!!

[crazycanuck]

You have a triumph..cool..(i know very very little about motorcycles )

That scenery would be wonderful to bike past however as you say it would be on a road bike.

That Inn looks oh so inviting..

Thank you again for sharing your story.

C

[maillotpois]

CC -

I know very little about motorcycles, too. (I have to thank Queen for most of my knowledge!) I do have a Triumph. It is great - not scary fast and it doesn't look like an insect like so many motorcycles do these days.

This trip was baptism by fire. I had about 600 miles on the bike before it and I doubled it on this ride. Always learning. Cycling helps a lot with the "handling" and the "car awareness", but it is still a bit scary. I don't ride with DD yet. Not enough miles under my tires to add a person.

I'll post a few more pictures.

The river by the Inn (it's low now, but they dam it and in the summer it is much higher):



The tide pools at Shelter Cove:



The 1931 bridge by the Inn:

[Veronica]

Thom and I wondered who PP was riding with. It took him about three months of commuting daily before he was comfortable letting me ride with him.

V.

[maillotpois]

I've read it recommended you wait 6 months before you take a passenger. I had no problem taking her on the Vespa, but I can see the logic. I'll give it several more months at least. All I will be doing with her is going to school, anyway. But still....

(It's also recommended you start with an adult passenger, outfitted in ride-gear, just to be safe.)

She's been riding with the Big P for years. Heck, our first trip eons ago was me and him on a motorcycle. In the freezing rain. Crazy kids.