As planned for this weekend - we did some more road trips so that I could get used to riding "Baby Sue" and would feel step by step a little less like a very newbie. The Bay Area has so many awesome routes that it is not hard for Guido to find something nice, but rather hard to decide which one of the really good trips to do.

Yesterday, we did a "test loop" - Foothills Expressway, Page Mill Road, Skyline Blvd., breakfast at Alice's restaurant, Skyline back to Highway 9, and back along the Steven's Creek Reservoir. This was our test for doing twisty roads again - and Page Mill Road is indeed a really good test at that! And also reminds me of one not so good experience that I have to overcome.

Today, we planned for something longer. The small Suzuki is not the best bike for fast roads, so we stayed away from the highway again - which suits Guido well, too, of course. We did a 92 mile (148km) loop in the Santa Cruz Mountains starting with Foothills Expressway, a good alternative to go a bit North and avoid going on Highway 280, then we turned onto Page Mill Road and Skyline Blvd again. We met Marcel at Alice's restaurant, who came there on his bicycle (Huah!) and had breakfast together. Then he headed back home and we continued West on 84 (La Honda Road). This is a nice and wide two lane (one per direction to be clear) road with lots of curvy parts and there wasn't all too much traffic. Before hitting the coast we turned South on Stage Rd. which goes parallel to the coast from San Gregorio to Pescadero. We avoided old Highway 1 directly at the coast because it's a higher speed road and it's also very windy which is not so nice on the 130kg Suzuki. Not so much of a problem on the 210kg F800GS though ...

From Pescadero we turned East again, up on Pescadero Road to find Alpine Road - one of the tightest and most twisty roads here. We went on carefully and slow and it was a really, really nice ride up there. We deliberately decided to go uphill on Page Mill and Alpine as it is much easier up than down on those tiny backroads with some pretty tight 180 degree hairpins. Back home was again Skyline Blvd. and Highway 9 down to Saratoga, then De Anza and some city traffic as we missed a turn somewhere on Pierce Road.

We were going slow, taking it really easy to practice cornering, balance in the 180 degree turns - which are still very challenging for me -, and overall confidence building. I had lots of fun and am confident that Baby Sue is the perfect bike for me for now. Guido confirmed that for him it was a great day, too: Nice roads, perfect weather, beautiful environment and the warm wind carrying a scent of forest and flowers. A good day.