Well I got new rubber at a local shop called -- well I forget what it's called at the moment, but its a small little customization/mechanics shop. Not a chain stealership. Guy was really nice, named Billy or Bill. He knocked the price down on the tires, and gave me an all round good deal. Anyhow, that's not terribly important. To break in the tires I decided to cruise one of my favorite California roads -- G16 or Carmel Valley Road as it is called. 2 ways to get there. Down Hwy 1 south from Monterey - or - Hwy 68 east to River Road (G17). 
Follow River Rd south until you sorta run into G16. Easy little ride down River Road... a few turns that come at you by surprise. Gotta be paying attention as G17 turns off River Road and follows a different road. Easy to miss the turn off.
Carmel Valley Road itself (G16) is phenomenal. No other way to describe it. The pavement is OUTSTANDING with few potholes or bumps. Gravel and sand are pretty much a non-factor. AND it is twistier n' hell. Lotsa lotsa lotsa twisties. I pretty much stay in 3rd gear with trips down to 2nd for some real sharp (and blind) turns. At points the road becomes narrow - be careful around the blind turns as cars will NOT be on their side of the road. I ride close to the inside edge to avoid head-on collisions.
In all, Carmel Valley Road is 46 miles long and has some of the best vistas in California. Couple that with the nearly perfect pavement and you've got one hell of a nice place to play. Again, I didn't take nearly enough pictures to do it justice. I promised my SO that I'd meet her at the Tin Bar shopping area in Carmel at high noon. I made it on time.
No photo retouching here folks. Just pure purty chrome. Is there anything prettier n' chrome shinin' in the sun? Is there? By the way, it takes me about 3 hours to fully clean and shine it. My fingers, my poor poor fingers.
Trying to find a picture that captures the spirit of this road is tough. Most of the road disappears to quickly around the numerous twisties to get a good view of it. Anyway, I think this picture sums it up kinda nice... biker heaven. This is on G16 before it really drops INTO
the valley. Once you get in the valley the road runs along miles of tree-lined ravine. It's gorgeous. Pics of that below.
This aint exactly the tree-lined ravine I was taking about. Apparently I didn't get a good picture of that area... I seem to remember not having a place to pull off. Next time I'll go a bit slower and find a good shot. This is somewhere along G-16.
This is a bit closer to what the 'tree-lined' ravine looks like... still not it... closer though. A note.. if you take this road early in the morning (before noon say) travel East to West otherwise the sun will be in your eyes constantly. This is of course a dangerous situation for riding. Same goes for riding this road in the afternoon/evening - West to East. I learned the hard way the first time.
Just real pretty scenery out here. This was about 1/4 into G-16 if I remember correctly.
Again, this picture doesn't quite capture the spirit of the road... but maybe it gives you a clue. :) Ahh fun ahead.
Well that's it for now. Wish I had gotten some better shots, but I was rushed for time. Hope to pass you out on this road sometime. You'll no its me when you see a guy in a yellow and black jacket riding this purple and silver nomad (I'm color blind, your results may vary).
