What a beautiful day for a ride. We began gathering at the Devil Mtn shop this morning around 9:00 AM, and before long we had 39 bikes ready to ride. Though it was a little chilly, the sun was out and we were actually getting a little warm while we were waiting to depart.
We opted to split into two groups for the ride and were soon on our way down Loveridge to Buchanan. Then via Somersville, James Donlan, Lone Tree, and finally exiting Antioch on Deer Valley Rd. We took Deer Valley all the way to Marsh Creek Rd where we turned east toward Byron. At Vasco Rd we turned south, following that all the way through Livermore. The sun was out for most of this leg, but it began to cool off a bit as we rode into the Livermore valley. We took Tesla Rd east out of Livermore and rode past Carnegie Park. After passing Carnegie Park the road started to gradually climb through the hills and we rode into the twisties. As we crested the top of the hill we could see down into the central valley. What a beautiful sight. Unfortunately we weren't able to spend too much time taking in the scenery though. The road in the first turn as you crest the hill drops away and turns to the right, making it seem like your riding off the edge of a cliff. And there were some ripples in the pavement in some of the other turns as we rode down the hill. Overall the road is in good shape and eventually straightens out as we approach 580 near Tracy. Somewhere along the way we rode under a cloud layer and the temperature dropped a few more degrees. We jumped on 580 for for a few miles and then merged onto Hwy 132, which we followed the rest of the way to our destination. And our timing was perfect. The place opens at noon on Sundays, and we arrived at about 5 min. after 12.
So what was the destination? Doc's Q'in BBQ in Modesto. The food here is good and it's reasonably priced. This is a fairly small place though, and we pretty much took it over. So picture this; you're a small restaurant with seating for approximately 50 to 60 customers. You open for business at noon on Sunday and there's little or no activity. Then, 5 min. later, a group of 39 Harleys pulls into your parking lot. Shortly after that the 45 or so people that came in on those Harleys files into your establishment and fills it to near capacity. So much for an easy day at the office.
Needless to say, since this is a small restaurant it took them a while to deal with a group of 45 people. We had to wait a while for our orders to be taken and served, but they managed, eventually. By the time we finally got our food most of the others had already finished and had headed for home. The clouds had burned off by the time we were ready to leave and with around 10 bikes in our group we headed home via Hwy 132 to 580. Some of us took Mt House Pkwy back to Antioch while the others took 580 to 680.
It was a great day for a ride with friends.
Oh, and here's the link for Doc's if you're interested http://www.docsribs.com/index
