Riding Around California

Today I rented a Harley-Davidson Heritage Classic from the Dudley Perkins, the Harley-Davidson dealer in San Francisco and rode to Santa Cruz and back. I rode down Route 1, along the coastline and returned via the Big Basin Redwoods State Park, a total of 235 kms.

I started riding from the Dudley Perkins dealership in South California at around 10:00 am and headed towards Half Moon Bay.

An hour and a half and 110 kms later I found myself in Santa Cruz. I rode around the small town and ended up at Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse at Lighthouse Point on West Cliff Drive.

It was around noon and I decided to have lunch at a Thai restaurant.

Instead of heading back to San Francisco by the same coastal route I decided to cut across the forests and see some redwood trees. So I set my GPS to guide me to the Big Basin Redwoods State Park and started riding up the hilly terrain. The coastal route was curvy every now and then and it was a pleasure to ride while kissing the Pacific Ocean. But the ride through the Big Basin park is a rider’s dream. I didn’t get a straight stretch until I hit the expressway. Here is a panoramic view of one of the turns.

I finally reached back to the Dudley Perkins dealership at 4 pm. The dealership is going to celebrate 100 years of existence next year.

The dealership has been run by the same family for all these years. I have been to quite a few Harley-Davidson dealerships, but nothing like this one. Its more like Harley-Davidson museum. The display area is littered with old classic motorcycles. Harley-Davidson fans would pay good money to just enter and see these pieces of history.