Motorcycle Misadventures

Your Road Trip to the Sacramento Delta Area can include Beekeeping Tour in Brentwood

Attention all road trippers, bikers, and tourists: Here's a great stop in a loop from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Sacramento Delta area on Sunday, July 12.

Did you know that one in three mouthfuls of the food we eat comes as a result of the work of honeybees? These pollinators are in trouble and that's why Slow Food Delta Diablo invites you to spend a day at Knoll Farms in Brentwood touring the farm, eating lunch and learning about honeybees and the important relationship between thoughtful farmers and mindful beekeepers.

Learn about the life of the honeybee, the world-wide threat to honeybee health and what beekeepers and farmers on the urban fringe are doing to sustain the lives of bees. Learn about bee habitat and what the public can do to improve and support the lives of honeybees and other pollinators.

$20 Slow Food members
$30 non-members
$15 students (age 15 and up)

Well-mannered children under 15 may attend at the student price; however, there will not be child-targeted activities at this event.

Activities will include a talk and beekeeping demonstration by Alan Hawkins, beekeeper at organic farms in Brentwood, Tracy, and Marin, a tour of the farm and bee habitat with Rick Knoll, and a showing of Pollen-Nation, a short award-winning film that discusses the threat to bee health. (See movie trailer here.)

Enjoy a delicious lunch that features Knoll Farms honey and produce.

The day closes with a tasting of a variety of artisan honeys from around the country.

Wear light colored clothing and a hat as you will be on a working farm with thousands of bees in the air. Beekeepers are welcome to bring a veil.

Buy tickets here.

Lodging in and near Brentwood.

Map of Brentwood.

(This article also published in examiner.com.)

On the road: If you just need a shower...

My friend Steve Frey, who used to be a trucker, wrote me with this advice about finding showers on the road, which is really helpful because by the end of the riding day it's often too late (dark, cold) to want to shower, and who wants to get their hair wet in the morning and put it in a helmet? So here you go - thanks Steve!

I know you prefer campgrounds, but modern truck stops usually have better
showers with locking doors or hotel-style keyed entry. These shower rooms are
unisex, separate from the restrooms, and are cleaned after every use. They also
have a sink, toilet and mirror.

Typically, a trucker will get a free shower ticket or credit for every 100 gal.
of fuel he buys, so he ends up with more than he needs. Or he can just pay $5 +
$5 deposit for the towels and soap. Women travelers may have to pretend that
they are with a trucker, but usually a female cashier will be sympathetic. You
may want to go in the back and check it out first. You can also get on the C.B.
radio (ch17 or 19) and ask if anyone has any extra tickets or credits. You want
to do this during the day if possible; at night there will likely be a waiting
list, especially during the week when all the truckers are on the road. Most
truck stops allow non-truckers to shower or don't even ask. Just say you need to
get a shower (like you do this all the time) and play it by ear.

The older type of truck stop showers are free, but are located in the restrooms
and may not be secure, private, or even clean. Some resemble the kind we had
in the Army with an open room and several shower heads. I've also seen these in
France and England, on their major motorways.

So the next time you pass a travel center, please stop and investigate!

Other places to find showers

• The beach. (Always take a bathing suit when traveling.)
• Public swimming pools
• University locker rooms
• Military bases. Some are open to the public. Say you want to visit the museum (they all have museums).
• Factories, large repair shops.
• Heavy Truck dealers.
• YMCAs & YWCAs
• Fitness clubs
• Homeless shelters
• Add yours here!

The Alps to Atlas journey through Europe and Africa is over

I'm home in the San Francisco after my Alps to Atlas journey on a Ural sidecar motorcycle. You can read my dispatches and take a look at my twitter page for reports on this 2009 journey from Linz, Austria to the Sahara desert and back. The trip took me through a range of environments from cold, high mountains to hot, flat deserts in Europe and Morocco. I'm updating the stories and photos as I can and will let you know when new material is available. Thanks for following the adventure!

Last day in the Alps - The Dolomites - before returning the Ural and flying home to San Francisco.

Crossing to Morocco Today: Options

Yesterday I thought I might cross into Tangier from Malaga, but today, with the help of Don -- a Uralista -- who lives here have decided to ride past Algeciras, which is supposed to be  a zoo. Twenty minutes down the road at the most popular windsurfing beach in the world lies Tarifa, a much smaller and more sane place to cross. That way I'll be closer to Fez, which I want to get to, and I will go via the coast, not the Rif mountains where they grow pot and make "kif" has. Doesn't sound like a bad place on the face of it but there are apparently zero women there, which is never a good thing.

So I'll go down the west coast after all on the N1 from Tanger, cut inland at Larache, back to the coast at Kenitra, then cut over to Mekenes on the N6, and toodle on to Fes.

From there head a bit southeast to some canyons where rock climbers go, then to Marrakesh finally to lounge about with the Wild Writing Women for a week. I have a feeling I'll be ready!

On the way home I take a ferry from Tangiers to Genova, so I only have to ride 800 km back to Linz.

Well - that's the "plan." Please don't hold me to it!

Over the Alps from Linz to Mandello del Lario

I've been posting dispatches to my site about my journey on the Ural from the Alps to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. No, I'm not in Morocco yet! But I've made it to Mandello to visit with my friends at Moto Guzzi, and to stay at Annamarie's B&B over looking the lake and at the foot of a trail through the Alps. In fact, I took a small hike this morning to a place on the river where the basalt boulders have been worn into bowls by the alpine waters rushing down most of the year. Lying on a boulder shaped like a lounge chair in the dappled sunlight, I needed nothing else in life at the moment. But here are the dispatches and photos from the past days crossing the Alps from Linz to St. Moritz to Lake Como, through Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Read the dispatches. I take off about noontime to the Mediterranean coast and head west toward Spain. I'll probably camp tonight, maybe the next night, too, so dispatches may not be forthcoming for a few days. I will be twittering though, if you care to get micro-updates.

Over the Alps from Linz to Mandello del Lario

I've been posting dispatches to my site about my journey on the Ural from the Alps to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. No, I'm not in Morocco yet! But I've made it to Mandello to visit with my friends at Moto Guzzi, and to stay at Annamarie's B&B over looking the lake and at the foot of a trail through the Alps. In fact, I took a small hike this morning to a place on the river where the basalt boulders have been worn into bowls by the alpine waters rushing down most of the year. Lying on a boulder shaped like a lounge chair in the dappled sunlight, I needed nothing else in life at the moment. But here are the dispatches and photos from the past days crossing the Alps from Linz to St. Moritz to Lake Como, through Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Read the dispatches. I take off about noontime to the Mediterranean coast and head west toward Spain. I'll probably camp tonight, maybe the next night, too, so dispatches may not be forthcoming for a few days. I will be twittering though, if you care to get micro-updates.

From the Alps to the Atlas: Linz, Austria

Hari Swchwighofer of Ural Motorcycles  Europe says he had no trouble identifying me at the Vienna airport. "First I looked at the luggage and then I looked at the woman." Okay, so lugging a 60-inch duffel and a wheeled carry-on stacked with another duffel, I'm carrying more than the average traveler. And believe it or not, I only packed 3 pairs of shoes: motorcycle boots, trail shoes for trekking, and sandals. It's the gear, I swear! On our 1 1/2 hour drive to Linz I get a chance to grill Hari about the motorcycle. "I won't tell you the story of the bike," he says, with a twinkle in his eye, "or you won't like to take it." Needless to say, I dragged it out of him. Read the dispatch, here.

From the Alps to the Atlas: Linz, Austria

Hari Swchwighofer of Ural Motorcycles  Europe says he had no trouble identifying me at the Vienna airport. "First I looked at the luggage and then I looked at the woman." Okay, so lugging a 60-inch duffel and a wheeled carry-on stacked with another duffel, I'm carrying more than the average traveler. And believe it or not, I only packed 3 pairs of shoes: motorcycle boots, trail shoes for trekking, and sandals. It's the gear, I swear! On our 1 1/2 hour drive to Linz I get a chance to grill Hari about the motorcycle. "I won't tell you the story of the bike," he says, with a twinkle in his eye, "or you won't like to take it." Needless to say, I dragged it out of him. Read the dispatch, here.

Flying Out Today for the Alps to the Atlas Motorcycle Journey

Tonight I fly to Vienna. When I arrive tomorrow I'll pick up a Ural sidecar motorcycle in nearby Linz and ride it to Marrakesh. A simple sentence, fraught with possibilities. If you're not already on my mailing list, subscribe now to stay in  touch.

My route will take me through the Austrian, Swiss, Italian, and French Alps, through the middle and South of France, and through Spain and a ferry crossing to Morocco where I ride in the Atlas Mountains and finall arrive in Marrakesh to meet my Wild Writing Women friends for a week of luxurious relaxation in a villa overlooking the city.

Other than my mailing list, you can follow the journey in realtime three ways.

1) For the up-to-the-second micro-blog travelogue follow my twitter feed. We'll see how much can be conveyed in 140-character missives from my iPhone! My twitter feed automatically goes to my facebook page, too. Oh, and I downloaded the GPS MotionX app to my iPhone that will let me automatically put my location on facebook.

2) For more detailed travelogues with photographs subscribe to my blog.

3) Finally, I'll be crafting formal dispatches with photos and maybe even video for my Motorcycle Misadventures site.

As usual I'll be avoiding cities and camping out. If you have any recommendations on my route (see google map), not-to-miss places, or places to stay, please let me know.

Call me a geek, but I really look forward to all this high-tech activity from the saddle of a low-tech (yet new and improved) Ural Gearup sidecar motorcycle. Radtech has supplied me with a bunch of great stuff, including a Voltaic solar laptop bag so I can stay powered up. And Olympia Motosports has provided me with an Airglide mesh jacket and overpants so I can stay warm or cool as circumstances change. I hear there's still snow in the European Alps, but I'll also be skirting the Sahara Desert, so I'll be testing it in all conditions. See more about my sponsors on the Alps to the Atlas web page.

Stay tuned and I'll update you from Austria!
 

Side Stand Up Podcast 5pm PT - Join me live!

Happy Mother's Day! um... week! Tonight May the 12th at 8 pm EDT it's Side Stand Up's second annual Mother's Day special. Grizz "Mike" Newton will be talking about the impact the women riders have made in the history of the motorcycle. Carla "The Dutchess of Ural" King will joing us to talk about solo motorcycle travel for women. Denise Maple is bringing Sue Slate back to talk about choosing the right motorcycle options for newbies, shorties, etc. And Joann Donn will be giving us tips on gear and fit.

Scheduled Time:
    Date: Tue, May 12, 2009
    Time: 08:00 PM EDT

How to participate:
    Call in:
    Dial: (724) 444-7444
    Enter: 64458 # (Call ID)
    Enter: 1 # or your PIN

Join from your computer to join the call and participate in the live chat, or just listen along.
Join TalkShoe (follow the instructions on the screen) to choose a screen name so we know who you are.

Talk with you soon!

Carla

Great Motorcycle Travel Camera: Canon Powershot G10

I got my Canon Powershot G10 yesterday and today took a few experimental photos - after a short tutorial over-the-phone with my friend Brent Miller, who has had his for a few weeks now. It's a very nice, compact body and lightweight, yet the controls feel substantial - I mean, when I click, I can feel it click, which isn't the case with many new digital cameras that feel too light and plastic-y. That's it for my review! For the technical details I defer to Brent's review on Sojourn Chronicles. Here are three photos I liked from the batch I took today. I love taking macro and sweeping photos - this camera seems to do both quite well. (And this is the camera I'll be taking with me for my motorcycle trip from Vienna to Marrakesh, so stay tuned to this blog for more.)

The Richmond Bridge connects Marin to the East Bay

Protea flowers in my neighbor's garden

In my garden
 

Saddle Up for Mendocino: Motorcycle, Bicycle, Horseback, and Surf Riding

Last week I spent a few days in Mendocino to explore the possibilities for motorcycle travel and all the great activities there, with help from various concerted efforts of tourism folks. But I already knew about motorcycle travel on the Mendocino Coast. Well, it's a no-brainer, really. You've got Highway 1 and Highway 128 through Booneville and the Anderson Valley wine area, and a ton of B&Bs of all price ranges with hot tubs and without, with restaurants and without, at the foot of hiking trails and beaches or mountains. (That's me at right, enjoying a glass of Roederer champagne at Raven's Restaurant in Stanford's Inn by the Sea. Photo by Jim Shubin.)

I've often motorcycled through Mendocino on my way to Oregon to visit my sister, and then scooted on up the coast about 25 miles to camp in the redwoods at Legget and then North to stay at various beach campgrounds. It's a ride that one never tires of. But I'd never lingered too long in Mendocino.

So here's what I found out. In Mendocino and Fort Bragg you can stay in a fancy B&B or a hostel like the Jughandle Creek Farm Hostel. The campground at MacKerricher State Park looked like a particularly nice sheltered place in the trees to pitch a tent, with its variety of habitats to wander nearby; beach, bluff, headland, dune, forest and wetland. Tidepools are along the shore, seals live on the rocks, and more than 90 species of birds visit or live near Cleone Lake, a tidal lagoon. If the sea hadn't been so choppy we might  have seen the whales that are migrating this time of year out on the bluffs, just a ten minute walk from Jughandle Creek Farm. But we did bring binoculars and found the bird and sea life watching absolutely spectacular. The wildflowers are also popping this time of year, so it seemed I had my bird and flower book out all the time.

While some of my travel writing friends rode the Skunk Train through the redwoods, I opted for horseback riding at Ricochet Ranch. Owner Lori is a firecracker and riding in the surf was just unbelievable, her horses are extremely well trained and she knows how to choose a good horse for the level of rider. Trading the saddle of a motorcycle to mount a horse is a treat because, after all, you can't ride your motorcycle in the surf. (Well, at least not my BMW K75RT.)

I'm not a fabulous horsewoman like my friend Lisa, or Lori, who has spent her life on horses, so I grabbed a hunk of my horse Nightcap's mane and held on tight as we galloped up through the redwoods, my heart racing. At one point all three horses raises their heads and snorted wildly, their eyes rolling around at the woods, and a few seconds later we came upon a pile of bear scat that was literally steaming. Whoops! Then another and another and another and... it seems that a mama bear and her cubs are living up there now, so we did take care to keep moving and not risk getting between them, wherever they were. But Nightcap's eyes never stopped rolling around until we cleared the forest. 

Back at the ranch we hightailed it south, stopping for a quick lunch at Living Light Raw Foods (they have containers of ready-to-go lunches, and there's free Internet in the complex, which holds a coffe shop and lots more). From there it was only about ten minutes south to Van Damme park where we met Craig of Kayak Mendocino to don wetsuits and life jackets to paddle around  the caves, rocks, and spring wildlife in the sea. Baby seal pups and moms kept  popping up around us, as curious about us as we were about them. Kayaking through the caves was just the best. And Craig showed us the seaweeds that are good to eat--yum! (Mendocino Coast is pristine, and the first place north of San Francisco that's safe to eat the seaweeds) and let us play in the surf near the rocks--well, after all, we were cinched up in flotation devices, what could happen?

The botanical gardens was a real Spring treat, too. The property extends from the sea cliffs inland, and holds an array of plants from succulents to rhododendrons (which were in full bloom when we visited, as you see from the photo, left) to desert and pond plants. There were holding their annual plant sale at the time, and Lisa knew to keep me out of the store since we couldn't fit plants in our luggage. But I live by the bay, and a lot of the plants would have been very happy in my garden. (Next time I'll take my truck!)

Our favorite meal was at the Moosse Cafe for dinner. The apricot pastry dessert was actually a standout of a lifetime--the rest of the meal was great too, but after the dessert I forgot about everything else in my life before then :-) They also rent rooms and so you can stay there, in the heart of town, which is very cute to say the least.

Eggheads for breakfast in Fort Bragg was also a standout, a very friendly place with amazing huge omlettes and good coffee. Locals, tourists, bikers, bicyclists--everyone was there. I also did appreciate the veganizing efforts of Raven's Restaurant (pet friendly, too) with its elegant dining room, tasty and imaginative vegan dishes, and the Mendocino County wines they offered. A true California experience!

While we were there I got a chance to try some very good local, "boutique" Anderson Valley wines.  Goldeneye makes two Pinot Noirs, one a red, the other a rose. I was tempted to turn up my nose at both--I don't normally like rose's anyway, and I'll admit to being an Oregon Pinot snob -- but I must say that they were both outstanding and I'd order them again. Another standout was the Esterlina Cabernet Sauvignon that accompanied our dinner at Raven's. And Roederer's Anderson Valley champagne has long been a favorite aperitif.

Having lived so close to and visited so often, I was frankly amazed at all the opportunities for activities I'd missed in the past, so I want to thank the Chamber of Commerce and my Bay Area Travel Writers group for organizing the trip. I used to think of Mendocino as just a place to hang out by the coast or take a hike, but now I know there's much more to it. Whether you want to soak in a hot tub by the sea (one of Lisa's favorites is the Albion River Inn) or pitch your tent in a campground, or something in between, there are a lot of choices. I know I'll be lingering longer my next ride through.