Day 9 - Like a Harley? Not like a Harley?

Today is the final run back down State Highway 1 to San Francisco, drop off the bike and taxi to the airport.  So this leg of the journey is coming to an end.  I'll add more thoughts about my time in San Francisco and the area to this blog later cos I have to get a move on now to avoid panic and stresses later in the day.

Thanks for the note Michael, here is the vid of the cheese grater without the music so should not be blocked now..

See:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwhkJ3g0kWo

The visit into the USA is now over, done, dusted, just a figment of my fragile (and becoming moreso as I get older) memory.  Over the last 2 days I have completed the jaunt up highway 1 to Gualala, had the steak and bits, stayed in a flea bag motel and watched the sun set into the pacific.  And then taken the Harley Numb Bum Davidson back to the dealers exactly on time.  Everything has gone like clockwork so far.  The  sailing done and dusted and met and spent time with Michael - thanks Mike for putting up with a Yorkshireman for 5 days!  I've got thoroughly wet on the bike and scraped foot boards up and back down the coast road which truly what a great place to bike for a day or two, especially of you like twisties!

See : (to add later today) for some of the spectacular riding, some of the best I have had in recent years.

So what do I like about a Harley?  The sheer presence of the bike for one and the way it glides around corners, but only when taken at the right speed (slow).  For sure had me thinking again about biking skills and how to ride again with me making noises like the Ooh Ahhh bird (named after the sound it makes; it is the only bird in the World to lay square eggs) during fast moments on the occasional tightening bend.  Fog and damp patches on newly laid tarmac also did not help with the confidence of a fat man and a fat boy getting around hairpins every time.

The run up to Gualala was about 120 miles and like I have said before, for all of the fun of riding a Harley, by Jove!, at the end of the day defo had enough and wanted, nay needed to get off it!  Sore bum, aching lower back and hamstrings stretched to the max.  Its the ridiculous riding position you see… high hands, feet forward means that all weight is on yer rear end and lower spine with your knees stuck out in fresh air taking all of the wind.  Kinda water torture for middle aged middle management types with a mind for expensive fun but bodies made out of blancmange and string.  HD's are made for city cruising or short runs out.  Be warned, for goodness sake do NOT get one if there is any intent in your life to use the bike to do any long distance touring at all.  Unless you are a masochist Yorkshireman or an Ape; Both are similar in mind and stature and both ride Harley's rather well.

Still - it brought a smile to my face on every bend.  It also brought a grimace when the fog descended.  A misted up visor and glasses and sun in my eyes for sure means a puckered arse which makes it difficult to part from the saddle, therefore bike, if you know what I mean...  I was gripping it like a sat nav mount stuck to a car windscreen.

It is now midnight 30 on the 2030 overnight flight from San Francisco to Auckland.  I am sat in a darkened cabin looking at, for all the world looks like, deep space hibernation capsules, all white and plasticky with blue backlit buttons eerily adding a flavour of 2001 a Space Odyssey to the cabin and am contemplating just when I should stop messing with this blog and pressing the blue button to get the hibernation capsule into gear for a couple of hours shut eye.  It is a 12 hr flight and arrives into Auckland at 05:30 NZ time.  And then there is a 250 mile ride ahead of me for the day.  So sleep is the number 1 priority for fear chucking me and a Yamaha Tenere 1200 and my dirty laundry at the scenery - now that would be a mess for me, the emergency services and the laundrette to deal with for sure.

Night Night Baby

Speak soon