Tag: Quaint Towns

One of my favorite motorcycle rides in the Sierras is a loop from South Lake Tahoe to Downieville to Donner Lake. The 260-mile loop not only includes scenic beauty but some of California's most historic areas. You'll pass the east and west shores of Lake Tahoe, the beautiful Sierra Valley, the old mining Town of Downieville, Nevada City, Old Highway 40, and Donner Lake. Read on for a description of this route, photos, and video clips of sights along the way.

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Envious is the first word that comes to mind when I think of anyone that lives, breathes and rides the surrounding areas that make up this vast state of California and has the pleasure of experiencing first hand the trifecta that is Monterey, Carmel and Big Sur, on a regular basis. For those who may not know, these (at least for me) are three of the most charming points in the shortest distance that line central California’s curvaceous Pacific Coast Highway and are truly spellbinding, each in their own way, in either direction.

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Rarely do you find a place so inviting, so welcoming, that you declare it the perfect place to land after a fabulous day on two wheels. After spending many a weekend at The Elk Cove Inn and Spa in the town of Elk, it's become the only place I want to land after wandering the Mendocino Coastline. It was voted one of the most motorcycle-friendly inns in California not only for its motorcycle-only parking area, but for its last-minute specials for the riding crowd. With its stunning views and bountiful homemade breakfast buffet, The Elk Cove Inn and Spa will soon become your favorite as well.

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Friction Zone's got a great article with tankbag tearsheet in the October issue about riding to Grover Beach in the Central Coast region, a spectacular destination for Fall motorcycle touring. Editor Amy Holland writes, "California's coastline is 840 miles long, a distance equal to 375 laps around Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca or a main-road ride from Seattle, Washington to Salt Lake City, Utah. (California's tidal shoreline is far longer at 3,427 miles — the riding distance between Seattle and Florida's Key Largo.) About 75 percent of those 840 miles can be explored via California's SR1 which runs from tiny Leggett in the redwoods of northern Mendocino County down to the sandy beaches of Dana Point in southern Orange County. And all along the way, that spectacularly beautiful and winding coastal highway is dotted with quaint towns and villages that beg for further exploration. Because of this, any ramble along SR1 usually results in firm promises to pass this way again—and stay awhile next time…" Watch the video!" And pick up Friction Zone at your local motorcycle shop, or subscribe to get it delivered to your mailbox.

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Having moved to Davis from Sonoma County over 13 years ago, the drudge of Highway 80 became unbearable, especially when fighting SUVs in peak Lake Tahoe tourist seasons. There had to be a more scenic, motorcycle friendly route to visit family in Healdsburg and to the beaches of the Pacific Coast where I spent many a weekend as a kiddo. It didn't take long to discover that Highway 128 was going to be the two-lane adventure that would to save me from the four-lane monster. After 10 years of happy exploration I've found the perfect path to the ocean with only 12 miles of freeway to land you in the quaint seaside town of Elk, transforming a freeway grind into a day of twisties through wine country and redwood forest to experience all that makes Northern California so very special.

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If you need an excuse to motorcycle to the Mendocino coast, check out Paul Bunyan Days in Fort Bragg this Labor Day weekend. Named for the bigger-than-life logger and his giant blue ox, Paul Bunyan Days celebrates the history of Fort Bragg and pays tribute to the strength of the people who live here. This year marks the 74th anniversary of the annual event, held Labor Day Weekend, September 1–3.

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Riding to Bodega Bay from Sebastapol on the Bohemian Highway, my group zoomed right by Freestone and Wild Flour Bread but I came to a full stop and stood in line with about 20 people including a tough-looking guy on a Harley who said he rides two hours here every weekend to stock up on bread.

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Rising 14,179 feet out of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest and just 50 miles south of the Oregon border, the almost 600-millennia-old stratovolcano known as Mt. Shasta is an imposing, grand, and intriguing sight. It is the second highest peak in the Cascade Range (Mt. Rainier in Washington tops it by 232 feet) and the fifth highest out of a dozen California ‘fourteeners' (mountains over 14,000-feet tall). This dormant northern California volcano with its four overlapping volcanic cones, seven named glaciers, and fumaroles (steam or gas-emitting holes) is expected to erupt sometime during the next ‘several hundred years.' While it would be cool to explore this multi-faceted hunk of rock by climbing to the top, let's explore the terrain that lies below the snow line, at the 5,000-foot (or so) level—you know, the part of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest that is amenable to dualsport riding… Download the map and GPS waypoints and get the rest of the story by Amy Holland in Friction Zone's August 2012 issue.

A weekend's journey beach-bound to Mendocino, Caspar, Fort Bragg, Gualala, and Point Arena becomes a cornucopia of ride-to-eat destinations. But, the real delectable delight would be our last-minute detour inland, riding the twisties through Comptche and Booneville to Mountain View Road, becoming the unexpected highlight of the tour.

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Summer's solstice brings the sun and heat to the Napa Valley to ripen the abundant multifarious varieties of local vines, and also cultivates the visiting crowds. Rather than watching my temperature gauge go up and burn out a clutch cable, I prefer to take roads less travelled. My objective for the day: to leisurely make my way to the charming little town of St. Helena in the Napa Valley by intersecting mountain ranges, valleys and scenic roads that are fun, challenging, and practically car-free!

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