Yep, this was another beautiful day for a ride. We had 11 bikes in the group as we departed the Devil Mtn shop in Pittsburg and headed east. We jumped on Hwy 4 and took the bypass down to Balfour. Just before we rejoined Hwy 4 in Brentwood one of the riders in our group dropped out, he was not feeling well and decided to pass on the rest of the ride. The remaining 10 bikes continued on Hwy 4 to Stockton and made our first scheduled stop at the Chevron station on Charter Way.
After our break, and peeling off a layer due to the rise in temperature, we continued through Stockton and on toward Farmington. As we rode across the valley on Hwy 4 I couldn't help but notice the tall corn in the fields along the side of the road. I was thinking that this is probably the same scenery our Milwaukee travelers are seeing on their trip across the plains.
When we reached the twisty, narrow stretch of Hwy 4 between Copperopolis and Angels Camp we had a sheriff's car come up from behind the group with lights flashing. There really wasn't any place for us to pull off the road so we just slowed and pulled as far to the right as possible, let him pass, and then continued on our way. We made a fuel stop in Angels Camp and the proceeded east on Hwy 4. As we rode toward Murphys we had another sheriff's car approach the group from behind and pass us. Wow, twice in one ride! We later discussed this and decided that he must have been in a hurry to get to the doughnut shop ;?)
We made a stop at the Deli in Arnold and bought sandwiches and drinks for our picnic lunch before continuing on to Big Trees Park. We arrived at the park, paid our $6 entrance fee and made our way to the parking lot. We didn't find any picnic tables but we made do with the benches at the theater.
After eating someone had the great idea of walking down to see the big trees. I won't mention her name, but her initials are Carrie. This was supposed to be a 'short' trail of approximately a quarter mile or so and a bunch of us took the bait. We wondered through a small grove that didn't really have any big trees and then found out we had to go down this other trail. So off we went, down this 'quarter mile' trail, which went on forever. We looked back and the people that originally came up with this idea were not with us. Hmmmmm ... But we forged ahead. I'm not sure exactly how long this trail is, but I'll bet it's a mile or more. It wasn't all bad though. We did get to see some awesome trees. Some of the trees were so tall we couldn't see the tops. Others were so huge that after they had fallen they were hollowed out and tourists go through the tunnels that they make. And still others that are still standing have arches cut through the trunks that tourists walk through as the make their way along the trails. Definitely worth the long walk.
When we got back to the parking lot we discovered that the others had already departed and just our 3 bikes remained. One bike opted to take an alternate route home so it was just the two of us returning on Hwy 4. We pulled over for a short break in Farmington and while we were standing there along the road here comes the rest of our group. Turns out they had made a 'refreshment' stop and we had passed them. They decided to get something to eat there, so it was just the two of us the rest of the way home.
This was a great ride. The weather was perfect, not too hot and not too cold, and traffic was relatively light.
See you on the next ride ...
