I tore a muscle in my leg about a month ago and have been limping around in an air-cast until last week. Yesterday I was determined to get on my bike and go somewhere... So I headed up the coast to check out the Point Arena Lighthouse. It was supposed to be super hot in the bay area, and I wanted to leave earlier so I could jam up 101 to Willits and then cut over 20 to the coast and then down to the lighthouse, but I slept in and didn't leave the house until 9AM. It was already 75 degrees, so I made a bee line to Hwy 1 and headed north. Hwy 1 North is one of my favorite rides. It's a calming place for me. All my troubles disappear and I'm fine again... focused on one thing: enjoying the experience! I highy recommend riding or even driving a car up Hwy 1 to Fort Bragg.. It's really quite lovely. First stop was here.. a little north of Stinson Beach - a little dirt road off Hwy 1 overlooking a salt marsh. I continued on, up Hwy 1 and it was 65 degrees and sunny the entire way up until I got to the Sea Ranch area and then it dropped to 55 and got pretty foggy... I stopped once to rest and use the restroom and then stopped for lunch at Mariachi's Mexican Restaurant in Gualala. I was quite surprised at how good the food was. I had a chili colorado burrito. YUM. I saw the sign for Pt. Arena lighthouse and turned off hwy 1 and followed the 2 miles of road that led to the lighthouse. It was pretty foggy and still under 60 degrees, so I wasn't sure how much of the lighthouse I'd be able to see or if I would be able to take any good pictures, but that's all part of the adventure. There's a $7.50 entrance fee to enter the lighthouse area, and then you can drive right up to it. There is a museum next to the lighthouse where you can learn more about the history of the lighthouse, which was pretty cool. The actual lense, a 1st order Fresnel lens is on display in the museum. Prior to the introduction of electricity, the lens was rotated by a clockwork mechanism. The Keepers, or "wickies" as they were called, had to hand crank a 160 pound weight up the center shaft of the lighthouse every 75 minutes to keep the lens turning. Light was produced by a "Funks" hydraulic oil lamp, that needed to be refueled every four hours, and whose wicks would have to be trimmed regularly, or the lens would be covered with soot, along with the glass in the gallery, atop the lighthouse. Later, two 1,000 watt electric lamps were installed to replace the oil lamp, and a 1/8 horsepower electric motor was installed to replace the clockworks. The actual light behind it was a candle fueled by kerosene. Now, the whole thing has been replaced by a small rotating beacon that is about the size of a glass cake stand!! I should've gotten a picture of this, but I didn't.. :-( The $7.50 entrance fee includes a guided tour up to the top of the lighthouse, where you enter the gallery where the lens used to be, as well as the catwalk one flight below the gallery.
spiral stairs going up to the lighthouse. view from inside the gallery where the lens used to be. View from the catwalk.. Me on the catwalk. It was about 3:30PM and I asked my tour guide how far up the coast it was to Cabrillo lightouse. The answer was 45 minutes to an hour... Hmmm. I was getting a little tired and wanted to get home, so I made the call to do Cabrillo another time and just head home. The quickest way back would be to immediately go inland and get to 101 and head south.. I knew it would be hot. I punched in "go home" into the GPS and it took me North on Hwy 1 to Mountain View Road, which turned into Hwy 128. Within 20 minutes of leaving the lighthouse, it was 106 degrees and I pulled over to open up all the vents on my motorcycle jacket and pants. This helped immensely and it only stayed that hot for about an hour. When I got to Cloverdale, it was about 90 and it gradually got cooler and cooler as I got closer to the Bay Area. Here's my route back home: Total milage: 335 MPG: 42.1 Equipment Notes: Schuberth C3 helmet is VERY good in hot weather.. venting is great. This is the most comfortable helmet I've ever worn. Venting on Olympia Xmoto jacket is good. Vents on Xmoto pants are useless while sitting. Stand up on the pegs while riding and WOW! Airflow directly in and onto my legs.. NICE! Underneath the pants, all I was wearing was my 5.11 Tactical 9" Sports boxer briefs, which are supposed to wick away moisture. They are very comfortable and even while I was riding in the hot weather, I didn't feel sweaty down there at all.... Gaerne Balance Oiled boots were great while the temps were lower, but when it got hot, my feet were really hot and I expected them to be soaked with sweat when I got home.. Luckily, I was wearing my 5.11 Tactical Level 1 9" socks that wick away moisture. The socks were dry, as were the inside of the boots. Full report and more pictures here
