With our appetite unsatiated exploring the Western USA on out Route 66 tour, we undertook another 5000km tour of the US covering as many National Parks as possible while taking in the ever changing desert riding conditions, culture and colours of California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. As they say it just kept giving. The Scenery combined with camaraderie and overpowered Harleys was a recipe for an outstanding time. Hydro took it on himself to load up all our routes as well as the special side trips (which are only disclosed on a needs to know basis) and navigated us through the two weeks. We picked up the Bikes in San Francisco while we were acclimating by running the Bay to Breakers, hitting up the Piano Bars and generally doing a reccy on the town. Other riders where Singo, Boxy, Russ, Richo and Mike.
Itinerary
- San Francisco to Oakhurst (Yosemite NP)
- Oakhurst to Bakersfield (Kings Canyon NP, Sequoia NP)
- Bakersfield to Furnace Creek (Death Valley NP)
- Furnace Creek to Las Vegas
- Las Vegas to Kanab (Zion NP)
- Kanab to Bluff (Grand Canyon NP, Monument Valley)
- Bluff to Moab (Canyonlands NP, Arches NP)
- Moab to Bryce Canyon (Capitol Reef NP, Bryce Canyon)
- Bryce Canyon to Ely
- Ely to Carson City (Loneliest road in the world)
- Carson City to Clearlake (Lake Tahoe)
- Clearlake to San Francisco (Napa Valley)
- Testimonials
Video Highlights
Daily Blog
Day One, was twice as long as normal. The extra time was well used. Departure from airport was uneventful and without any spousal support or the refuge of the Chairmen’s lounge. Arrived San Francisco about 9.30am Friday and headed to hotel. Rooms not ready so walked to Fishermans wharf (significant development over recent years) to pick up our Bay to Breakers packs at pier 35. Lunch at the wharf. Then checked in to Holiday Inn and crashed out for a couple of hours. Steve waiting to be collected by a mate at 4.30 so crashed on couch in hotel foyer. His request to wait in our rooms denied (breach of support group rule!). After this refresher we headed out for a quiet dinner (NOT). First stop was a beer at The Saloon on Grant St (oldest bar in SF) and listen to some rockabilly. Dinner at La Boheme on Colombus and, in the absence of any obvious alternatives, returned to the Saloon. “Amy-Lou and the Wild Ones” were in full flight. Great blues/dancing. Weird, everyone is very friendly in these places. Mike and Neil looking good on the dance floor and cleaned up! Bourbons had a little coke but unfortunately in hindsight not nearly enough. The night got away from us and we were still there when the band finished at 1.30am. Time for some pizza next door with our new friends and back to the hotel at 3am. See ya late tomorrow! Lucky we are not riding!
Day 2 Breakfast at a classic diner in Polk St. Coffee, steak & eggs a delight after dry mouths. Walked down to Fishermans Wharf , via Lombard St and caught ferry to Sausolito. A tourist village with expensive shops & restaurants. Not much other than that. Grabbed a cab to scenic lookout over SF/Golden Gate Bridge and back to hotel for beauty sleep. Boxy rang at 2.45 to announce his arrival and enquire as to the plan of action. Russ advised him we were not a support group for him and we are sleeping. Met at downstairs bar at 5, beers and off to Chinatown for dinner. I miss the Celestial! After dinner went searching for live music. None to be found. Went to a funky bar, Rickhouse, for a classy chardy and then called it early. Important race in the morning and fitting for our banana costumes.
Day 3 Back to our classic diner in Polk St for a hearty breakfast before the challenge of the ‘Bay to Breakers’ run this morning. We headed off to the race start for 8.45am only to discover we were in the wrong direction. 5 kms later (running and walking) we found our way to the start of this 12km run in downtown SF. We’d already done half of it before we started! Steve was at the starting line at 7am (over planning I think). Boxy was keeping a low profile. The day was a wonderful sunny 19 deg. The run was characterised by a great sense of vibrancy & many zany people. It was a crowded street party. People dressed in all sorts of costumes, DJ’s playing music in their garages & live bands pumping out rock n roll. The pungent smell of the ‘gracious bud’ was in the air. A disconcerting aspect was the number of completely naked old men participating. Not good!! We saw lots of stunning houses, the classic American town homes. The run took us through Golden Gate Park to the Pacific Ocean. There was a huge security presence along the way. Anyway, we didn’t run much of it but the Foxes mingled with the locals & enjoyed being part of it. We returned to our Hotel to display our medals and enjoy a couple of beers before a relaxing afternoon. Noted that Mike came 22,588th in female division. Well done Mike! We met Andy & Petra at 6pm for a debrief and delivery of our bikes. Dinner tonight at Foreign Cinema in the Mission District. Brilliant. Back to the hotel for a few B&C’s and off to rearrange our packing for the bike and sleep.
Silver Foxes Motorcycle Club Australia 