High Tech Highways
Rideamotorcycle.com is the newest motorcycle Internet web site, one that takes a totally fresh approach to catering to the street-oriented two-wheeled enthusiast. Rideamotorcycle.com is focused on 3 groups; the established street motorcycle rider, new motorcyclists, or those who do not currently ride motorcycles but are curious about learning to do so. Rideamotorcycle.com LLC Editor at Large: Bill Heald Webmaster: Mark Lesselyoung Publisher: Dean Adams High Tech Highways Silicon Valley's not so hidden secret by tim huntington the clue is behind the building Silicon Valley, land of geeks and nerds, pocket protectors and taped eye glasses, not the first place that springs to mind when you think of cool locations for motorcycling. The first clue to the valley's suitability comes from its name. The (online, of course) dictionary definition of a valley is An elongated lowland between ranges of mountains, hills, or other uplands, often having a river or stream running along the bottom.
In Silicon Valley's case, to the east is the far south end of San Francisco Bay. Going north/south within the built up area gives you all the amenities you could wish for, coupled with accommodations hardly anyone can afford. Head west for 5 miles and you enter the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains, home to some of the best motorcycling roads you could wish for.
hey, this is California The Santa Cruz mountains separate the heart of Silicon Valley from the Pacific Ocean. Rising from sea level to around 3000', they are criss crossed with roads to suit all motorcycling tastes. The types of bikers you see out on these roads reflect the roads' varied nature, with just about every bike you've ever heard of making an appearance somewhere or other on a sunny Sunday, and with this being California, a sunny Sunday is the norm, not the exception.
On the western edge of this area, running between the towns of Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz, is a very cruisable section of the world famous Highway 1. With the pacific ocean on one side of the road and the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains on the other, you're in for a visual treat as you travel along Highway 1.
highway 1 meanders along the coast There are plenty of other distractions along this piece of highway too. At the northern end, Half Moon Bay is home to Mavericks, an unusual piece of geography just off pillar point that creates some very large (as high as 50 feet tall!) waves in the right conditions during the winter months. There are a few world class surfers who take on these waves, and if you catch them on the right winter day, you can witness these top surfers taking on the Mavericks as part of the "Men who Ride Mountains" surf competition.
Another winter and early spring activity along Highway 1 is whale watching. About 20 miles south of Half Moon Bay is Pigeon Point lighthouse, one of the tallest lighthouses in America. Besides being a tourist attraction all by itself, the lighthouse also sits on a spur of land that juts out into the ocean a little way. This makes it an excellent place for watching the migration of the grey whales. Whilst their spouts and occasional tails can be spotted during most of the winter, the best time is early March, when the mothers and their young calves are making their way back north, as the mothers like to stay close to shore to keep their calves out of danger. If you get particularly lucky, you can see pods of whales go past almost underneath your vantage point.
Slightly south of Pigeon Point is Ano Nuevo. This is largest mainland breeding ground of the elephant seal. You can hike out into the dunes and see these massive creatures up close, with docent guides keeping you safe. Access is restricted during the breeding season, and at this time you need to book in advance to view the seals, but at other times, a self guided tour will get you out to where the seals (and docents) are.
At the southern end of this section of Highway 1 is Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz has a pier and a boardwalk. The boardwalk has an excellent old wooden roller coaster and plenty of other amusement rides. A rather unusual tourist attraction just outside of Santa Cruz is the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot. If it weren't on a steep hillside, this might just be the ideal location to practice those wheelies and stoppies, as this place seems to defy gravity as well as defy explanation.
enjoying highway 9's turns Connecting Highway 1 with Silicon Valley itself are a number of roads that cross the mountain in a east/west direction. Two in particular make great motorcycling roads. Firstly, leaving Santa Cruz for a twisty route over the mountains to Saratoga is Highway 9. This road is a sportbike rider's dream with its smooth surface and hundreds of corners.
The first few miles are taken at a slow pace as you pass through various small towns eventually ending up at the town of Boulder Creek. Here, a slight detour takes you into Big Basin Redwoods state park, where stands of giant redwoods can be seen.
Once out of Boulder Creek on highway 9, the road twists and turns its way up the hills all the way up to skyline boulevard. Amongst the many twists and turns on the way up are several locations that offer spectacular views back across the hills down towards the ocean. Once across skyline, highway 9's nature doesn't change as it descends to the town of Saratoga, though the views are now of Silicon Valley itself.
The other road that takes you from highway 1 to Silicon Valley is highway 84. Its junction with highway 1 is about 10 miles south of Half Moon Bay at San Gregorio. From here the road initially starts out with wide open sweeping bends and straights for the first few miles. As the road starts to tighten before you reach the town of La Honda, another small diversion takes you to Heritage Grove, another stand of giant redwood trees. Although this stand isn't as extensive as the one found at Big Basin, it's proximity to the road makes it an ideal stopping point if you're wearing lots of motorcycle gear and want as little hiking as possible in your day.
Once through La Honda, highway up the hill to skyline, though the smooth surface makes it once again an ideal sportbike road. Across skyline, the road again descends in a similar manner to the way it rose from the pacific ocean, with spectacular views of the northern end of Silicon Valley, in particular Palo Alto, Mountain View and the Stanford University campus.
Skyline boulevard itself meanders along the ridge tops of the mountains, with spectacular views off both sides of the road. At the junction of skyline and highway 84 is the small town of Sky Londa. This location is very popular with motorcyclists. Here there's a gas station, a small market with a deli for sandwiches and snacks and Alice's Restaurant for a proper meal. It's the main meeting place up in the hills for the local bikers, and on a typical Sunday, a great place to check out all the other bikes whilst they're standing still for a few moments and chat with your fellow riders as they take a quick break from all the roads.
motorcyclists served here bench racing central from superbikes... ...to cruisers almost new Royal Enfields Bee Em sandwiched between generations of Ducatis
Once you're ready for more action, there's still the many smaller roads to explore. They intersect and connect the already discussed main roads. Most of these smaller roads are nearly deserted, narrow and not as smooth as the main roads. They often have the most spectacular views of all the roads, which is saying something given the roads we've already covered. These roads, such as Page Mill Road, Alpine Road, and Pescadero Road and are the ideal playground for Supermotard style bikes.
the last wisps of the morning fog burn off above skyline Things are not all rosy for bikers in these hills though, early morning pacific fog can take a while to burn off on some days, providing a chilly start to the day and damp patches under the trees, particularly in the middle of summer (as with visiting San Francisco, the locals know the best weather in the hills usually occurs in the spring and fall).
Talking of San Francisco and tourists, riders need to keep a weather eye open for said tourists venturing further afield in their rental cars during the summer months - they're often lost and the most likely to make erratic driving decisions when you least expect them to.
Another aspect of motorcycling in an area with quite a few motorcycles is the waving. Most riders will wave at each other when going in opposite directions. You either love the camaraderie of it all or cringe whenever a bike approaches you, but whatever your views on the waving, it can be a license saver in these hills.
Most weekends, and often during the weekday summer evenings too, you'll come across a small police presence somewhere or other up in the hills. Thankfully, more often than not, oncoming riders will warns you, with a "slowdown" wave that you're either approaching an accident (unfortunately, all too common, and no doubt the root reason of the police presence) or a speed trap.
Once you're done with the hills, which in my opinion will take a lifetime of riding, or you'd like a break from the hills, Silicon Valley itself has some cool distractions. A couple of noted ones, in San Jose, are the Tech Museum, where you can learn all you want about the geekiness surrounding you, and the Winchester Mystery House, a 160 room architectural anomaly created by the heiress of the inventor of the Winchester rifle.
So, as well as Silicon Valley being the current center of the tech universe, it is also the heart of a piece of motorcycling nirvana. If you're ever in the area with your bike, give yourself some time and figure out for yourself why many motorcyclists have already made Silicon Valley their home.