This Man is Not Having a Heart Attack

Marie thinks this is really funny. When I’m concentrating really hard on tightening a really inaccessible bolt and she thinks it’s time a fun time for a photo.

There’s one thing I like about working on a motorcycle as opposed to working on a car, you can sit on a box and massage the motorcycle into shape. On a car you are usually contorted beyond all comfort, working to loosen a nut that is tight beyond any torque spec known to mortal man and barely within reach.

Nuts and bolts are really strange things, they have minds of their own, it doesn’t matter if you are working on a motorcycle or a car, they tend to wander off. If you drop one it will roll and bounce like a ping pong ball. Like water, which will seek the lowest point, a dropped nut or bolt will find the most inaccessible point to make its new home.

But once again the exception proves the rule and here I am trying to tighten a really inaccessible bolt in a contorted position, and its on a motorcycle.

Mendo for Me

Saturday I rode to the town of Mendocino. As I was headed north on Hwy 101, I saw some dark clouds at the north end of the Anderson Valley. Sure enough as I pulled off into Cloverdale, it started to rain. It rained from the freeway to Booneville, where I stopped for lunch and to dry out. I stopped just after lunch and I headed out.

Hwy 128, west of Booneville enters the redwood forest. There is little traffic, which makes you feel like you are really far from civilization. Mendocino is a few miles north of Hwy 128 on Hwy 1.

In Mendocino I stopped at Dick’s Bar for a beer. The place was crowded and the bartender who dropped a tray of glasses in the middle of the floor provided entertainment. Dick’s has a lot of dick inspired wiseacre sayings posted around the bar, such as, “there are few Richards, but a lot of Dick’s,” etc.

After leaving Dick’s, I headed south on Hwy 1. It was now clear and sunny, with the afternoon sun turning the water turquoise then hazel and the hours went by. This is truly one of the most beautiful parts of the California Coast; I prefer it to the area between Carmel and Morro Bay. I was especially impressed by the town of Elk. Each house and business looked like there was not one blade of grass out of place.

It was a glorious ride, every time I looked at the ocean I saw something that I wanted to stop and explore. I saw several roads heading inland that I would like to come back and see where they would go. It was very cold and I had my electric jacket turned up, but the cold added to the exhilaration. When I reached Jenner and turned inland it had just turned dark

This was a great ride. There is a lot to see and do around Mendocino, which explains the number of bed and breakfasts in the area. Hmmmm bed and breakfast, Marie, Me and HD, there’s an idea.