Holy impromptu day trip!! This morning I just wanted to ride like 30 minutes away, check out other bikes, and head home. My BF suggested Monterey, ride along the coast, no twisties, and clam chowder. Damn that sounded good! Monterey is about 90 minutes and 75 miles from my house. It was 10am and my brain needed food! Eating really does help me focus and with my first upcoming moto trip in 30 minutes, I ain't gonna mess around! For breakfast we had eggs, sausage, and coffee. PROTEIN POWER!
Geared up and we're ready to go! My usual butterflies started kicking in. It was a combo of nerves and excitement this time. I rode in traffic and the freeway recently, so I'm feeling pretty good about the road ahead. First stopped at the gas station to fill up and check my tire pressure. What?? 14psi?? That's crazy! I could've died! It's supposed to be at 34. After things get fixed, my BF said, "LET'S ROCK!!!" I give him a nervous smile and we're off! We're on the freeway and my bike is going 75mph! I've never felt my bike do that before! It feels buzzy, but I asked about it and that's okay. I'm following behind my BF and I notice he's going 80. Then I start going 80! OMG there's so much wind resistance. On my bike you're pretty much sitting up straight so of course there's more surface area for the wind to knock against. To fix this, I really lean forward. I feel like a racer! Cool! But ouch my back! Okay I can't keep going 80. It's a little freaky and my bike gets REALLY buzzy. I tell myself, "Ride your own ride. Ride your own ride." It's a mantra used a lot by the Two Wheel Females forum. It means, don't feel pressured to go outside your comfort level. Do what feels good to you. I'm positive that my BF didn't realize how fast he was going and wasn't trying to get me to hurry up, but I still went back down to 70-75. Ugh! All this freeway riding is making me tired!!! My triceps are bulging! I practically yell at myself, "RELAX!!!" That's when I loosen the grip on the handles and my arms feel better. Of course 2 seconds later I'm back to super-tense-I'm-riding-fast-on-a-major-freeway arms. Good workout though. 40 minutes later we need a stretch break. Riding tired can be risky.
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| Pulled over to the side to stretch, say "yaay!", and take pics. |
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| BF posing with our sexy bikes. |
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| My first picture with my bike! |
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| Heading further down 101 south. Pretty drive after the freeway ends. |
We got back on the road, halfway there! I saw my BF do the wave to a motocyclist riding the other way. I was so jealous! I wanted to do it too! I felt like a chump when they would wave at me and I couldn't wave back. I was worried that if I lifted my left hand too much, I would lose my balance and crash. So while riding, I practiced my wave. Haha. First I lifted my hand off the handle a couple of inches...whoa that was a little scary! Okay let's be a bit braver. Lifted it off 4 inches...yikes! But it was alright. Okay this time let's extend the arm outward a bit. I slowly lifted my hand off and reached outward, but then I felt the wind against my hand and it freaked me out so I grabbed the handle! Whew that was a rush haha! I'll get the hang of it soon.
No crazy mishaps happened. Just achy hands and back. I gotta make sure to keep the blood flowing in my hands because one time my hand was so used to the throttle position after riding for a long time like that. When I had to brake, my hand forgot what to do and it took me longer to squeeze the brake than it should have. We made it to the wharf and I was thrilled to finally get off that bike. That feels sad to say. I didn't get any rush while riding. I just felt tired, impatient, and anxious. This isn't what I signed up for! I learned to ride to feel tingles, adrenaline, and liberation! I'm feeling disappointed. Maybe riding isn't for me...
Starving for food, we head to the docks and look for...FREE CHOWDER SAMPLES! Probably my second favorite thing to do at Monterey (aww-ing at the sealions is first).
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| "I'm a chowder freak!" Just kidding, he didn't really say that. |
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| Tried chowder at 4 different places. Would've been more... |
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| View of the wharf |
While deciding which restaurant to go to, I wanted to visit my animal friends. I love sealions! I swear I make sealion calls everytime I go to Monterey. Owr owr!!! This time we saw pelicans and seals too!
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| How freakin' adorable!! |
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| Trying to get close to the pelican for a picture. |
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| OMG it walked right past me! |
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| It started to circle around me. It was scary! |
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| What the? Around AGAIN? |
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| Haha. Crazy-ass bird. |
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| I wanted to get close to this one, but the end of his beak looked sharp. Not worth it! |
Okay enough of playing with the animals, I need food! We settled on a place that we've never been to before and had nice outdoor seating. FYI: Eating comfort food after a long and tiring ride is THE BEST.
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| Super thick chowder! Filling enough to feed two. |
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| Close up of the deliciousness. |
We also ate complimentary calamari and fish tacos. But who cares? It's all about the chow-dah!
Part two of the trip is soon-to-come!
Happened on 8/21/11
I'm a chowder freak!
ReplyDeleteGreat first part of the trip. Loved how the pelican would just keep waddling around you.
And I didn't realize how fast I was going. But 80 on a bike is actually around 75. For some strange reason, speedometers on motorcycles overestimate the actual speed. Maybe it's for all those speed demons.