Thursday, May 17, 2007

2007 May 17 - sayhey's celebration ride

CLICK on any photo to view the full size image.

Text and photos by Cranky. {comments in brackets by VSP}

Steve (sayhey) Stansberry was about to have a shoulder replaced,
a grandkid was well into the "wing" and wanted to go for a ride!!! The
shoulder replacement was put off and the kid was born, big and healthy,
and we still went for a ride!!!!!!!

The ride started out with Sayhey meeting Cranky at the Bailey overpass
for the ride to Santa Nella. We also had a surprise guest, Jest Rick came by to wish us a nice trip. He was off to see his mother and couldn't make the ride but wanted to stop by for a visit. He has a real nice VN 900!!!

So Cranky set up a route down south around the dreaded 152 thru Gilroy,
and over to Santa Nella. Seven bikes and one was 2up, showed and
we headed to Wool Growers Inn...

Parking lot at the Wool Growers


Jack and Mary are from Bakersfield. Bill "Wham Bam" and Fred are from Coarsegold. sayhey from Fremont. Cranky from San Jose. And Bob and VSP from Stockton.

The front of Wool Growers...
Inside of the bar.
We then fed our faces!!! All in anticipation...

Ate our hearts out.... beans and soup, great stuff... then the salad....
then the lamb stew... then what we ordered and real old fashion French Fries, sigh.... with some
wine.... I was stuffed by then... GBG then some ice cream..

I'M STILL FULL!!!!! GEEZ!!!!!

{Left to right: Mary, Cranky, sayhey, Fred, Jack, Bill, Bob and VSP}


In front hitch'n up to go, right after Don fixed his front left turn signal.

So off we went to Hollister and out Hwy 25!!!!! {Minus the CMC bike who headed back to Coarsegold.} {Now the original route had sayhey heading off to Roseville, so it was a criss crossing to Livermore - Tracy.} {Jack and Mary and Bill were planning on riding all the way to Gustine with us - about 12 miles.} {But sayhey was going to return to Fremont, so we changed the Ride to do Hwy 25 with Cranky and sayhey heading over to King City and back home via Hwy 101.} {The other four bikes rode Hwy 25 to the end at Hwy 198 and turned east to head to Coalinga.} {Bob insists that I somehow manage to turn these Day Rides into 400 milers.} {Wrong today was only 392 miles for us.}

{two funny looking Vulcans from Stockton in foreground}



This is an interesting shot. The group standing by the road in the middle
of NOWHERE!!! Our leader is a smoker, we WILL take breaks!!!
And that is GREAT!!!!!!!!! If you look in the background, there's a
big pile of gravel.

Stay with me here..... this is out in the middle of NOWHERE!!! and
I remember a story about a lost treasure!!!! And I knew it was behind
that pile of rocks!!!!!! GBG

Shucks, all I found was a bunch of wet gravel, whew!!!!!!!!! GBSEG
{note: the gravel was dry before Cranky went to seek his treasure :-) }
{This is a wide spot in the road about a mile or two before the King City turn off. It was time for a break. We had been riding since Los Banos with only one short stop at Tres Pinos, engines stayed on, where VSP checked to make sure everyone had enough gas.

Little did VSP realize that when you head to Coalinga on Hwy 198 from Hwy 25 there is NO GAS for about 95 miles. There is NO GAS on Hwy 198 west of Coalinga. Hwy 198 ends at Hwy 101 and no gas there. The nearest gas is 12 miles to the north on Hwy 101 at King City.}