2 Days 120 Miles, Con't

After leaving Big Basin, there was some concern on whether or not we would make it to Boulder Creek to get gas. Luckily BC was on only 12 miles from where we were at. I think Andrew actually went through his reserve and had to coast into the gas station. For some reason on our way up to Big Basin, we skipped stopping in Saratoga to get gas. I think it might have been because it was getting late in the day and we still had a long way to go before BB.

Once our tanks were filled we rode the rest of the way into Santa Cruz. I've done this ride a couple of times before, on fast bikes even, but this day I just couldn't shake my anxiety. Much of the road was still wet from the storms just a few days ago. I was on a bike that I was not use to, but also had very little tread on the back tire. It wasn't until we rolled into SC on River St. that I finally relaxed a little bit.

We stopped at Caffe Pergolesi for some coffee and then headed down W. Cliff Dr. to Natural Bridges. I remember when Iused to live in Santa Cruz and I would often go to the beaches along this street to relax and have fun. The view and ocean, I think are the best in the state. Now that I think about it, I really do miss being a hop skip and a jump from the ocean. From there we
cruised back down W. Cliff to E. Cliff and rode almost to Capitola. On the way back into SC, we stopped again on Water St. to fill up, then headed over to the Santa Cruz Mission.

This lumber yard is down on River St. The mission is on top of a hill and from the parking lot you can see out pretty far. I just though the lumber yard looked cool anyway. I was checking out their forklifts and started reminiscing about when I used to work for a plumbing supply warehouse. Lots of fun..

The way back was pretty smooth most of the way. By this time the roads had dried out significantly since the morning. I had a few problems around the summit of Hwy 9. For some reason, if you fall off the pipe on Felix, especially on an incline, the bike would has a real hard time. Perhaps all the times this happened on this trip was a prelude to something worse. At the time though, I still didn't think much of it. After all, I was Andy's bike, and he's a pretty solid mechanic, so I just figured it had something to do with the kit and the pipe.

Another milestone. The top of 9, on the way back. Yay, we were almost home. These rides always turn out to be pretty grueling. At this point it was getting, hell it was already cold again. And the sun was about to go down. Rad.. Oh yeah and the road was wet here still. Coming down 9 into Saratoga is kinda hectic. But I blasted nonetheless. I was probably hitting between 35-45 in some parts, freezing and to scared to pull over and let 6+ cars pass me. Oh well I figured that I was riding at least the limit if not over, so hopefully I wasn't holding anyone up. I always get paranoid when I have a cars behind me. It makes me really nervous, of course that's somewhat normal. People in cars are always trying to punk us mopeders. Fuckers..

We had hoped that our last planned stop in Saratoga, would actually be our last stop. Probably 3 minutes after leaving the 76 Station, Felix started making a horrid noise and died on me. We pulled the head to find that a chunk of the piston was missing. Well that would explain why Andy had noticed that throughout the trip the engine was losing compression. This was something that was gradually happening until finally a big piece broke loose. From here, we sent Andrew on ahead with some phone numbers to call. Luckily I memorize my friends' numbers. I don't have a cell phone, so I have to memorize most people's numbers, otherwise I have a list at home. I wrote down three numbers to possibly call. Most likely, Gabe would be able to pick me up for some gas money. Luckily Gabe's a nice guy and he has a truck. Thanks for the lift Gabe! I was just gonna try to peddle my way down into Los Gatos, but Andy wouldn't leave my side and actually towed me most of the way into town. I don't like to get towed or tow anyone to much cause one time I was towing Andy while he was on my bike and I was on my ped, and we got pulled over. I try to think and ride smart to avoid any un-necessary hassles. However sometimes, you gotta do whatcha gotta do.

About 45 minutes later, Gabe rolled up and I was able to get a ride back downtown. I can't say that I was bummed about not riding the rest of the trip. I was exhausted, hungry and cold and when Gabe rolled up, it had started to rain, again.

Update: So in the beginning of this epic ride, my moped was having some big enough issues that we ended up not taking it. Since then I found out what the problem was, points. My points were worn all the way down. After getting new points, the bike fired right up.

Since taking this trip, Mopedhead has acquired a group campsite at Big Basin and is already well into the planning of our third rally, Stinko de Junio: Return of the MopedHeads.

For more details, please email me at zofeone@gmail.com.