A.J. blowing out the candles of the cake Mike Ofiesh made for him …

Traditional A.J.’s Birthday group pic in front of Mike’s Airstream … Road Captain Ben lead about twelve street bikes into the campground at around 5 p.m. on Saturday after a 200 mile club ride to Hollister Hills, which is only 100 miles from San Francisco …

And the traditional club ride picture taken just before the ride … Kalle, Cary, Bob, Fred, guest John, Darryl and Road Captain Ben … Suzie taking the pic!

This year we were joined in the camp ground by Jason B. and the Vampires … they had Prospect Doug with them and eight or ten members … lots of fun to meet Vampire President Lon, a member of that club for seventeen years …

Purple Barry’s DRZ gave up while the club ride was still in town on Saturday morning, but Kalle towed him to safety, and we soon had him mounted on Brian Holm’s worthy DRZ …

Nicole, Sarah Jane and Tegan …

Ryan …

Cary …

Kalle …

Our campground …

Camping supplies …

Singing around the camp fire …

Mike O, rockin’ out …

Dave Simpson and A.J. trying to kick start Ryan’s WR 400 … good luck with that …

Chuck and Belle …

Suzie tearing up the dirt on her Yamaha FZ6 over the Parkfield Grade … She and Kalle and Fred took off Sunday night on a long ride to San Miguel and Parkfield to head ultimately to Mercey Hot Springs where the soaked and camped out on Sunday night …

A great time … thanks to A.J. and the Murphy’s for another wonderful time at Hollister Hills!

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Nineteen members and a good handful of guests showed up by 8 am …

Prospect Jason showed up with by far the coolest bike I’ve seen in a while … A 1985 Yamaha RZ 500 with Toomey pipes … sounds and smells great … about 11,000 miles on the odo … super clean.

We went out Ygnacio Valley Road to Marsh Creek Road … making the left onto Deer Valley Road our guest on a Sportster tipped over in the gravel outside of the turn … no harm done, and he was a good sport about it … a few zip-ties and some ibuprofen had Robert (?) rolling again …

Kalle, Cary and Tucker …

Captain Chuck Wagon …

Mr. Road Captain Ben … herding cats …

Mr. Santa Bob …

We wound up at a cool place somewhere out in the Delta … Lots of neat power and ski boats to watch …

Ken “Holeshot” Hunter entertained us by fixing his snapped handlebar in the parking lot … He managed to get the throttle cables exposed so he could sort of pull on them with his thumb, and get the bike rolling … I was impressed, anyway …

After a two hour brunch (the restaurant had trouble with their high-tech ordering system), Kalle and I managed to get left behind by Ben and Suzie, despite the fancy communication gear they were using to herd us cats … we lost the group in the delta and made our way back to the city the way we’d come …

So a typical SFMC ride … we may not be organized, but at least we’re flaky … ha.

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Sixteen souls showed up at our clubhouse at 4 am … We probably had fifty people for last year’s ride … the difference? Rain this year … Acting Road Captain Dave Simpson had us rolling past Zeitgeist at 4:30 am, but there was no-one there this year …

We initiated our friend Page into the club …

The Mill Valley Chevron …

Kalle and myself headed back early to start the after-ride breakfast … I scrambled sixty eggs and Kalle made lots of bacon and French toast …

Tammy and Kevin … Tammy is the sister-in-law of our friend Rob. She wanted a ride up the mountain this year, so she could join the fun, and Kevin volunteered … thanks, Kevin!

Becky and Rob … Becky is Tammy’s sister …

Niles …

Windsor …

Rob D’s über-cool 1977 Ducati 860 … Looks like Paul Smart’s signature to me …

Turns out not to have been much of a sunrise this year … hope to see you on the Easter Sunrise Ride with the San Francisco Motorcycle Club next year!

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That mostly prevented us from riding with the SFMC on the sixteen club rides put on each riding season between March and October for the last few years … so we were psyched to make this ride.

We met Road Captain Ben at the club at 8 am, and were soon on our way to Belmont to attend a Doc Wong riding clinic, a Bay Area motorcycling institution. Doc has been teaching people to be better riders for over 20 years …

I think we had 21 riders show up …

Kalle taking a photo while Doc welcomes us …

Doc’s office is set up well for his motorcycle classes …

Brian, Barry, Tucker, Caroline, Fred, Lisa, Kalle, Kevin, Darrell, Dave, Bob, Prospect Mel and a guest …

Cary enjoying the moto-talk … Slow Race King Page over her right shoulder, guest Brian and Road Captain Ben in the right of the photo …

Doc then lead us all up to Alice’s Restaurant … Lots of cool stuff to ogle …

Mustangs …

Mo-Pars …

Lots of nice motorcycles … Barry’s clean RZ 350 …

The scene, with Alice’s Restaurant in the background … a nice day …

And a crazy BMW thing …

We saddled up and Kevin led us a merry chase on his six-cylinder BMW Galactica to the San Jose Dons Motorcycle Club’s Spring Run at a beautiful family ranch in Gilroy …

Great food, as always at a Dons’ run …

Page covered us in glory, winning the slow race …

Cary in the slow race …

We all ate well, and bombed home before dark … a good time and thanks to Doc Wong and the San Jose Dons Motorcycle Club for a great Sunday … and to Road Captain Ben for planning and leading a wonderful ride …

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About ten of the San Jose Dons showed up, too … Ernie brought in a roasted turkey and Jim and Laura helped feed everyone, while Page and Kevin tended the fountain …

By the time I had to leave I think we were leading by a couple of pool games, and the guys were getting ready to play foosball … we usually win at pool, while the OMC always beats us at foosball … we’ll see about this year …

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There was a winter storm going on when we loaded up the bikes in the Lower
Haight on 12/22/2012 … it took us four days to ride south, finally crossing
the border at Tecate on Christmas day … we spent a couple of nights at the
hotsprings at Guadalupe Canyon Oasis …

We found some sand on the way from the low road to the Guadalupe Canyon Oasis
… the sand was actually fun after we picked Cary’s bike up and was only a mile
or two …

After enjoying the oasis for a couple of days we headed south for San Felipe …

We stayed at the palapas at Kiki’s … where we ran into the famous Coco, from
Coco’s Corner …

Coco at Kiki’s … mandatory Coco ADV RR photo … :D

From San Felipe we went to Gonzaga Bay and then on to Bahia de los Angeles …
on New Year’s Eve Slim Jim and I rode up to Mission San Borja …

The stone church was finished in 1801 by the Dominicans … you can see the scar
on the mesa above the church where the stone came from … it was carried by
hand to the building site … by 1818 the mission was abandoned …

We returned to BoLA and met the Ena Riders, who were also staying at Guillermo’s
… fun guys from Japan who didn’t speak any English, and we didn’t speak any
Japanese … an issue until we all pulled out our cell phones and showed one
another pics of our racebikes …

Then it was all party hats, lobster dinners and fiesta dancing …

The whole town turned out for the fiesta and the band played til 4 am … fun.

We had big plans to hit the road and make it back to San Francisco by Thursday
night … I’d been elected President of the SFMC in my absence at the last
meeting of the year, and felt it was important to be at our first meeting of
2013 … Baja had other plans for me …

More proof we don’t take ourselves too seriously … world’s ugliest club
jerseys …

We said goodbye to Christine and Jim, and headed north … the most poignant
part of any Baja trip …

They soon ran us down on the cold, windy run to Coco’s Corner …

So we had coffee, Coke and Tecate, and said good-bye to Christine and Jim again
… The plan was to get to San Felipe tonight, the Grapevine Wednesday night and
San Francisco on Thursday … how do you make God laugh? That’s right, make a
plan …

We picked up a nail … Twelve miles north of Gonzaga Bay … we got the wheel
off and the tube replaced, but in the cold I could not get the bead of the tire
back onto the wheel …

Frustration and failure … sometimes, that’s Baja for you …

It is better to be lucky than smart … only twelve miles from help, we strapped
the wheel to my bike and Cary rode back to Gonzaga Bay where our hero Jim took
it into his room and had it mounted in five minutes!

Man of the hour, Slim Jim, and our fixed flat …

All this was going on while I contemplated the sunset, and maybe having to walk
home because I’d ruined the tire butchering the bead trying to mount it …

As I was getting ready to set up the tent (we’d sent Cary back as it would be
less of a loss if banditos abducted me) she returned and we soon had the bikes
rolling back to Gonzaga Bay, a good dinner and a warm motel room …

Helpful friends close by, and another sunrise at Gonzaga Bay … Priceless …

Baja, one; our plans, zero! Cary and I rode to Tecate, Palmdale and finally
Parkfield, CA making it home in the rain the following day …

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Our friend Ernie’s last wish was a memorial and spreading at sea. He deserved exactly that.

Rest in Peace Ernie Hanschman. I know you will be missed by many.

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Well, it happens every year. Scooters, bikes. Mods, Rockers. Saturday. 2PM. You know where to go.

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Member Mike Ofeish sends us this ride report:
Sunday April 2nd, 2011 was the Sawmill Enduro. Hosted by the North Bay M.C.. Phil Bowman, Mike Ofiesh, and David Peckham were greeted with a cool, clear morning and sunny skies. Rain, the week prior, filled the rivers and kept the dust to a minimum. A few days before, nearby, Benmore Creek was over 6 feet deep and not able to be crossed. The water level was dropping about two feet per day.

Most people would agree the Sawmill is the most challenging enduro in the series. It is located in the South Cow Mountain riding area. This is just fifteen minutes from Lakeport or Clear Lake. If you think North Cow Mountain is hard riding, the south area is a death march. One trail is loose, bowling ball boulders for several miles up a winding hill. Another is a narrow single track through brush so thick branches grab your chin bar on your helmet and pull your neck off. There is a trail with trees so close together your handlebars don’t fit and between the trees are slippery tree roots or rocks to catch your rear tire and pull you into the fires of Hell. It goes on for miles like this one after another. Then there is Benmore Creek which is so swift and so deep you can’t believe your bike is still running. After crossing it you go up steep and narrow switch backs with bumpy step like rocks. Then there is one rutted hill after another.

I never fell so many times in my life. You would have thought I was drunk. I fell about thirty times. I was so exhausted from picking my bike up I would just fall off my bike over the hillside or in the brush landing upside down and on my back. I would just collapse. I had a rough day. I honestly don’t know how I completed the course. Had I just ran a smoothe pace and not had to pick my bike up so much would have made things so much easier. I rode sloppy and wasted energy. My head was definately not on right that day.

Phil started on minute 55. I saw him messing with his brake. At mile 73 we had a gas stop and he was there. We got him some gas and he looked all happy and cheerful and said.”hey Mikey. let’s finish this together” Phil’s encouragement was a gift. We ripped. He was riding his new KTM 300 XC-W military issue secret weapon. He had brake problems and his front wheel was sticking. He still finished and rode like a true champion and world class rally star. Phil and I rode the remaining 11.4 miles together. He made it look easy. The course took us in and out of this deep river about 15 times. then down a narrow, rocky, tree rooted creek bed. Every turn had you looking across the river for the next arrow card. Where is it? where is the wet trail across the rocks? There it is! and a steep up hill out of each creek crossing. One after another for miles! Over and over again. Then through a narrow, densely wooded and dark tree section. Where is the finish line? Maybe there is no finish line. Maybe it just goes on………….There it is! Finally!

David Peckham, the man! the myth! When asked by Dirt Bike magazine in 2010, February, issue 23,What do you do to train for the enduros replied, “I ride a bicycle with some old dudes in the neighborhood.” In Austria Dave is know as “der Kleidenstadt” and feared by even the trees. He actually drinks coolant to lower his diastolic ATL and thereby making subzero temperatures seem warm. Dave’s ability to read trails for several hundred yards ahead give him light speed. Carrying grace and momentum under severe conditions allows him to be a threat to the competition. They say if Dave rode on the trails alone. you would never see a tire track. He is so smoothe and quiet, Yet he stalks you and hunts you down until he comes upon you and goes through you. You break into a drenching sweat when as he dives into the next turn. You feel violated, like a virgin, touched for the very first time. You feel your existence has expired. He makes your soul his bitch. Dave finished 10th in his class. He was always on time. He never fell. He was presented with an etched pint glass and a certificate (suitable for framing) of Coolness. And a pin for his lapel. We love you Dave. You are our big toe. You are number 1!

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Starting today and continuing throughout April, the CHP and more than 250 local agencies statewide will be conducting zero tolerance enforcement programs targeting people using a cell phone to text or make a call without a hands-free device.

The first violation of the laws costs a minimum of $159, and subsequent tickets will cost $279, according to the CHP.

This is great news for all of us without airbags and safety cages. Most of us know someone who was hit by a perfectly sober person who was not paying attention. The results to motorcyclists can be disastrous.

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Today 11 members, 3 prospects, and 2 guest started their day in front of the SFMC clubhouse ready to ride to the Cheese Factory in Marin County. This would be a one tank ride at about 120 miles in total, which is just fine and dandy as the price of gas is continuing to inch its way well past $4.00 a gallon. Since the 1st 2rides of the season were critized for having way too many freeway miles we would be using alot of 2 lane roads to get to our final destination.

The route went something like this. Left the clubhouse and headed west to Valencia,waved to on-lookers at Munroe’s and Zeitgeist before crossing Market. Timed the hills over Franklin to catch the green lights and turned ontoLombard to cross the Golden Gate Bridge at the tempered speed of 45 mph. We really pissed off some guy on a BMW as we cut him off and he later dashed by us honking his horn and waving a fist. Across the bridge we took the 2nd exit and headed into the Marin Headlands to take photos of the bridge and ride thru thr 5 minute tunnel. Back to 101 and exit at Mill Valley where we would ride Hiway 1 up the coast as far as Tomales. Roads and scenery were excellent and only the occasional car/ truck/ RV/ tow truck would attempt to impeed our progress. There was a considerable wind blowing and it was decided to go inland to the Cheese Factory at this point.

The highlight of the ride had to be the last 10-15 miles as we traveled Tomales-Petaluma, Chileno Valley, and Hicks Valley Roads. These roads were absent of other vehicles and offered some nice sweeping curves with see to the horizon views. They had motorcycle written all over them.

Once at the Cheese Factory, we settled in for a nice lunch of deli sandwiches, cheeses, olives, and other goodies. Suggestion were bantered about for other places we might choose to ride to today, but the group decided the day was already a success and we should point our bikes towards the south to return home to the City. Chuck and Tegan would take their own route back home to Oakland as the rest of us headed back by way of Petaluma-Point Reyes, Nicasio Valley, Lucas Valley Roads and the International Orange Bridge.

A couple of drinks at the clubhouse and conversation about future rides finished out the day.

Oh, it should be noted that Leonard has made the last 2 rides, today on a Honda Hawk. Any of you with the slightest sense of self-respect should really get out of the house.

Luv, Papa

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After spending 6 days in the saddle this ride was a piece of cake, and a omelet, and crab legs, and champagne . . . . you get the point.

We started the day at the clubhouse at 9:30am and lingered until a little past 10am until all the riders had assembled. In attendance at
the club were members Dave, Hoa, Brian, Kalle, Bruce, Sheree, and Papa. Prospects Caroline, Mole, and Ari were there as well as
Guest Jeff, Dennis, Marisa, and Lisa. 2 Future Mascots from the Bokman Family were also present.

At 10:05am the Group Shot was taken and a short, slightly soggy journey was made across the Bay Bridge to Berkeley. Nursing a near
bald rear tire and carrying a passenger I chose a slower than normal speed to cross the bridge. It was too much for Bruce to stand and he zipped
past and waited for us at the toll booth parking lot. Traffic was a little dicey, but the group stayed together well. We exited at University and trolled
thru Berkeley’s industrial west end before crossing over the freeway towards the Berkeley Marina. Upon arrival to Hs’ Lordship Parking Lot, we were
greeted by a large 40′ X 70′ puddle that Hoa and Guest Jeff just couldn’t resist. Didn’t know BMW made watercraft?

We were early, so we waited in the reception area until the buffet was officially open. During our wait Leonard and then Cary arrived. All of the food
looked delicious and there was a wide selection of eggs, breakfast meats, carved meats, seafood, breads, and salads. Perhaps pricey at 32.50 (including tax)
each, but I’m sure it won’t be long before the economy chases that price upwards. A special treat was the appearance of Darrell & Diane from LA.
They were at a work conference in Napa but had to stop by to at least say “Hi”. Back to the food, everyone had several plates and tummies were full.
The group broke ranks at about 1pm except for Leonard who was interested in visiting the desert line at least one more time.

A little more chatting was done in the parking lot and it was back off to The City. A nice mid-afternoon nap finished my day.

Papa

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Papa

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So ready to ride, off we were to cross the Bay Bridge towards Hiway 5. We were to meet up with Rex Neely of Port Stockton M/C and Barbara Sutton of Capital City M/C by 2pm in Sana Nella so no time could be wasted. We made good time and found Rex and Barbara standing in a Chevron parking lot. They had arrived only moments before. Pleseantries exchanged, we were back on Hiway 5 with the intent of reaching Buttonwillow. With 250 miles being the required distance away from the clubhouse to collect points for a meeting it was necessary to go at least that far. No one in the group felt saddlesore when we reached Buttonwillow, so we decided to go as far as we could before nightfall. We wound up in Mojave and settled in to the Motel 6 around 7:30pm. There was a cafe across the street, Barbie’s Primo Dinner, and that would be our spot for dinner. We all ordered and the food was tasty and plentiful. No one wasable to finish their plate. Long rides can make you do funny things, and this one was no different. As a joke, we decided to all call different members at the clubhouse at the same time. Don’t know what the reaction was inside the clubhouse, but the other patron in the cafe all moved a little closer to the exits once we started “belly-laughing”. Cigars, Scotch, and St.Patrick’s Day hats worn in front of our rooms finished out the 1st day.

Day 2 started by returning to Barbie’s for breakfast. Again, way too much food for the price. There was a group of older gentlemen (i use the term loosely) sitting in a booth in the corner who made reference to my “smurf” blue and thought since I/we were from San Francisco we’d enjoy some of the flavored coffees. i was reminded to behave myself and we actually enjoyed hearing the old geeser’s stories. We had to get on the road, and after spilling a cup of “Joe” on myself it seemed like the right time to leave. Pointing eastward we were continue on Hiwat 58 and into Barstow. A short fuel stop turned to to a “Scratcher” frenzey as Prospect Caroline kept winning just enough to get more tickets. I should also mention that Dave was earlier assigned the duty of Communication Officer and would be spending much of his time texting between Jeff in hopes that he would catch us and Andy as to when to expect us. I think he now has carpal tunnel syndrome in his thumbs. Back to the story, we were now headed in the direction of Las Vegas and even with skys somewhat overcast, you could feel the warmth of the desert sun. In Vegas we took a 2 hour break to see some of the sights, do a little gambling, and eat at Dick’s (the waiters do their best to live up to the name) inside the Excalibur. From Vegas, we were now southbound to ride across the Hoover Dam. Having never been there, but seeing photos, i was a little disappoint in regards to how short a distance it is to cross over the actual dam. We took some photos and tried to leave the dam by way of the road to the east. No good, there is no longer a eastern exit from Hoover Dam and it is necessary to back track and take the Pat Tillman By-Pass to enter Arizona.  Heading south on Highway 93 at speeds that caught the attention of Arizona’s Department of Public Safety, it was necessary to bring our “ponies”  back under control. At least until Johnny Law was satisfied that we respected his authority and presence on Arizona’s Highways. Under the shadow of darkness the decision was made that we would stop short of our prefered destination of Williams and bunk in Segliman instead. It worked out to be a good choice as we stayed at a funky old 50′s motel, Historic Route 66.  The diner next door, Roadkill Cafe, offered its own offbeat charm with many unusually named dishes for supper. The rest of the night was again celebrated with cigars and Bushmill. The was even a group of Germans from the Mainhatten HOG Chapter there that shared their tales of  motorcycling adventure and their appreciation and vastness of the American Southwest. Alot was said about how much an American motorcycle sells for in Germany and we are lucky that they are so plentiful here. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that most of the club rides BMW’s.

Day 3 and guest Jeff has caught up with us. After breakfast in Lilo’s Cafe, we ride eastward  on Highwat 40 to Williams and then make a left heading towards the Grand Canyon. Entry price for the park is $25 per vehicle or so the sign says. We get in for $12 and find the hole that everyone talks about. It is quite impressive what nature can do, but we have a date with Andy and we need to get to Phoenix today! We blast down Highway 17 and before long are at the house of Mike Golden (Andy’s friend) and are greeted by Mike, Andy, Instant Dave, and our airbourne member Nameless. Only a PBR dispensing Pepsi machine is a bigger suprise. Nameles and Andy are quick to notify me that Nameless has already made hid pilgrimage A BBQ is had in our honor and more cigars, liquoir and beer fill the night.

To be continued,

Papa

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Feel free to join us on any of them, and remember to keep an eye out as we announce social rides and events throughout the year.

Good roads,
SFMC

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The route this year is comprised of 13 competitive stages, a total of 5700 miles through Argentina and Chile.

Some notable motorcycle racers this year:

#166 Mike Stansfield KTM 530 EXC, 63 yrs old Kansas City KTM dealer
#150 Luis Belaustagui 150cc 2-stroke KTM XC, lives in the USA, from Argentina
#117 Marc Davidson Honda CRF 450 Australia

I’ve rode with these guys in Nevada doing rally route navigation training. The two interesting stories above are kinda obvious, Mike and Luis. Mike because of his age. Luis because hes riding a small(f#*kin’ tiny) displacement smoker which will require a new top-end everyday…..as if it wasn’t hard enough already.

#7 Jonah Street Yamaha WR 450 #15 Quinn Cody Honda CRF 450 Rally Replica, Honda Europe factory team

Jonah….We are all thinking that this is Jonah’s year to win! (...)
Read the rest of Dakar Day 1 from Bicycle Phil

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