Raven's Roads
Living an interesting life: the travels and musings
of motorcycling author Linda R. Moore

May 21, 2003

21 May 2003

Filed in Blog

Miles Today: 33.8
Miles This Month: 213.9
Miles This Year: 318.2

Preparations

I have been trying, with some success, to be a day person, getting up at seven in the morning. This mayn’t sound like much, but my usual getting-up is seldom earlier than nine. Around here, though, it’s good to be on the way just after rush hour ends, and it’s good to be home before the day’s real heat begins too.

Landmark #733 - Almost

I set out a little after nine. Already, the sun was shining and it was warm. I picked up Mary Avenue and rode that way to the end, for the first time, then cut across to De Anza. That was busy, but not bad enough to worry me. It’s a big throughfare, after all.

In due course, the big road becomes a smaller road. A motorcycle cop spooked me, riding alongside; didn’t know quite what to do, since his (faster) lane was going slower than my (slower) lane; I know it’s illegal to pass on the inside, but I would have had to drop much lower than the speed limit to not do that. Anyway, he got out of my way, and I felt more relaxed.

I passed the other end of Pierce Road. I’d thought about riding along that road, but didn’t know how narrow and twisty it was. So I rode to the intersection with highway nine, which was an interesting juggle of clutch, brake and balance to keep from going over on a sloped intersection.

Then I rode right through Saratoga, feeling a little hot and bothered, and out the other side. Highway 9 at last! Gentle curves and lots of them. 30 mph limit - which for everyone else but me would have been too slow. I could maintain 30 mph and was glad I did, given the cop I saw lurking in a gateway, waiting for speeders. I’m not one for speed in any case; so it all worked out.

The Masson Winery was easy to find, but an adventure in and of itself. There is a burgundy sign, just like it says online, and even a “historical landmark this way” sign to make it truly obvious. What I didn’t know was that to leave highway 9, I’d have to do what amounted to a switchback, as the road angled steeply up and to the right. It was narrow, and being inexperienced, I bodged it up and went far onto the other side. Fortunately, the car driver coming down at just that moment was gentle and kind, and stopped so I didn’t have to crash into him. No matter where you mess up, there will be an audience.

I really don’t know how to do turns like that.

I went up a narrow, steep road, which wasn’t a problem, then turned left onto the “parking lot”. There were some big posh gates at either side, and a car pulled in some time after me. Apparently you had to call the gatekeeper to get let in. This was where the fun started. This area was steeply angled, and I got stopped, realised that if I put my kick stand down there I’d go over, and had to juggle myself and bike to get the kick stand facing up. It was hard work, but I was proud that I got it done with not too much trouble.

The chap in the car called, and the gates started to open. It was just like in the Munsters - clunk-clunk-CREAK-clunk-groan-creak. By the time I had got kegged up again, it was closing. Great. Clunk-clunk-CREAK-clunk-groan-creak.

Took my lid off. Went to call. Nobody answered, but suddenly the gate was opening up. Clunk-clunk-CREAK-clunk-groan-creak. Lid on, bike started. Clunk-clunk-CREAK-clunk-groan-creak. Closing again. Argh!!!!

I tried calling again, and then I just shrugged my shoulders and gave up. Guy up there must’ve thought I was fooling about. I’ll go some other time, and maybe there won’t be a private party on and maybe the gates will stand open.

Going back, just a few miles of twisties, was nice - so much green beauty out there. So different from the urban jungle I live in. I pulled over a time or two to let faster cars go by; this is the polite thing to do. I went back through Saratoga, and picked up Saratoga Avenue.

Landmark 489 and the Ones That Got Away

Saratoga Avenue starts as a country lane and ends up as a big Silicon Valley boringway. I had three landmarks to pick up along its route, but had no sure idea where the first one was: “Saratoga”, or #435. The guide book said it was at the intersection of highways 9 and 85, but those roads just don’t intersect. I had in mind a park that I thought it would be, and later research is probably going to prove me right. But I couldn’t find where to leave the road to go hunt down my best guess, and couldn’t be bothered in any case.

I was starting to feel fatigued and hot, so I pulled into a big shopping complex. To my surprise, it was where REI was, and I’d been here several times before. So I poked around in REI for a while, had a drink, and enjoyed the air conditioning. I was told it was just about 11 in the morning, and the heat was getting quite high.

Eventually I pulled back onto Saratoga Avenue, and kept my eyes out for what I thought was the cross-street to the next landmark, #447 - Gubserville. I parked right next to a psychic’s house. I should have gone in and asked for guidance. It seemed as I walked in what felt like high heat - it was actually only 80Â°F or so - that the landmark would be on the opposite side of the road. As I have a friend who lives round the corner from here, I decided not to bother and will pick this one up on some other occasion.

I moved on a bit, turned right on Payne Avenue. I parked there, too, and took a hike. This time, I could see the landmark - across the road, but as it wasn’t reachable with my bike, I took a walk. A few minutes later I had bagged Landmark #489, Moreland School, which was surrounded by flowers. Yay!

Landmark 868

I turned from Payne onto Winchester Boulevard. Much quicker than I expected, I came to the turnoff for the Winchester “Mystery” House. I’d been there before, a few years ago, and it’s still just as cool - a really quaint, old-fashioned house in the middle of a grungy city area. The landmark was behind a fence; while I might have rolled my bike there, I found a parking space where I could photograph the bike with the landmark just visible in the distance, then I went and took some close-ups. I was pleased to see that I could go into the gift shop, so I picked up a pin and a postcard.

Riding on Winchester was not as hard as I had expected. I think I must be getting used to traffic and city riding. But my oil leak is getting bad. Maintenance will be required - something to do this holiday weekend, perhaps.

There was a nice breeze in San Jose.

Landmark 249 - Not Quite!

Since I would be passing right by it, I decided to try yet again to find the Old Women’s Adobe Club and Santa Clara Mission. This time, I found the adobe - yay! I parked in the 7-11, got some goodies for Don, and walked across to bag the landmark. ARGH! My camera had stopped working. Everything had simply jammed up.

It was hot. I was tired. It was time to go home. I had a great ride, and was surprised to see that I’d been out for four hours. After all that stop-and-start, 50 mph on Central Expressway was lovely, and I learnt something important: be done with riding by 11 in the morning if I’m going anywhere near a desert. ;-)