We warmed up by taking Old Santa Cruz Highway from Los Gatos over the Soquel, and then slabbed Highway 1 down through Carmel. Although the weather forecast had called for clouds and 62 degrees, the day turned out great with a lot of sun and higher temps.
Highway 1 south from Carmel was fantastic as normal. Traffic wasn't too bad and the views were incredible. A few times I saw the other riders coming into corners too hot as I'm sure they were distracted by the scenery.
Just past Limekiln I separated from the group to take Nacimiento-Fergussen road over to Fort Hunter Ligget and the highways that would take me north again. I had never taken this road past the summit and didn't know what to expect, nor if the guards at the base entrance would let me pass through.
Coming onto the base I wasn't greeted by armed guards, but instead a small sign saying "don't use cell phones except for emergencies" and an empty guard station. So much for base security.
Once back on the road I was running out of daylight so I headed north on 101 instead of doing my original route which included Highway 25. Several lessons were learned during my 2 hours coming up the Salinas Valley in the afternoon. First, it gets windy and I was heading straight into it. Maybe a heavy touring bike with good fairings might have made the trip better but my mini-fairing on the F650 Dakar did little to protect me. At times the cross winds were so strong I felt the bike trying to come out from under me sideways and my HJC CL-16 helmet was letting a lot of wind noise in. Not a very fun way to end what was otherwise an awesome day ride.
The other silver lining was the Dakar's gas mileage. My fill-up in Big Sur was enough to last me the next 200 miles home and I snuck into my garage with the fuel gauge on "reserve".
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