After getting a late start last Sunday (moral of story: ALWAYS reply to organizer’s emails PROMPTLY), the ride to Lake Berryessa instead turned into an endurance test up the Shoreline Highway. How far could we go?
View Larger Map
This is how far we went…227 miles round trip
The ride started at the Marin Vista Point on the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge. Many tourists prefer this view to the other Vista Point on the San Francisco side. It’s a crap shoot when it comes to making a choice about which one to visit. The San Francisco side has parking meters (typical) and rabid meter maids on the hunt for “revenue enforcement” (again, typical). The Marin side has a MUCH better view but means crossing the bridge to get back to San Francisco and a US$4.00 toll. Personally, I’d go for the view from the Marin side.
Current city policy if you’re a businessperson
We weren’t the only ones using the Marin Vista Point for a meeting point. There’s more room here so tour buses, lots of tourists in rental cars and about 80 or so Harley riders came and went before we took off “north”. First stop: Point Reyes Station. This is where motorcyclists who are doing the coast ride make the mandatory fuel and coffee stop. Since we started so late, it became our mandatory fuel and lunch stop. Fuel at the only gas station in town and grilled tri-tip sandwiches from the only grocery store in town.
The wrench is for opening yer beverages!
On the grill today: Freshly carved tri-tip, bratwurst and hot links! The chef is a former motorcycle rider…
Tri-tip sandwich under a tree.
One of us tried to get cash from the only bank in town but their ATMs were out of cash. As was the ATM inside the only grocery store in town. Cash eventually came about 30 miles up the road, on the way to Jenner.
On the way “north”, we passed through several state parks and beaches and lots of small towns. One of these towns was Jenner, the furthest north we’ve gone prior to this trip.
“organic coffee”. Joy.
They have their own Post Office trailer…
Eventually, we made it to Gualala, which is one of the bigger towns on the coast. They have a Lions’ Club, TWO name brand gas stations and a pharmacy!
Ed taking his bike onto the dirt. Not sure if that’s what Scramblers are supposed to do
The ride back was uneventful. Same nature, same nice scenery. We took a detour back to the bridge that saved us all of three miles via Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. With all the traffic that we had to deal with, I’d rather go back through Muir Woods. Hopefully next ride, I’ll be able to jury rig my camera so I can take some pix while on the move…
Loads of fun and 50 MPG to boot!
Economic Stimulus?
This past week has been an expensive one (and I haven’t GONE ANYWHERE!). Here’s some of the things that have been playing havoc with my charge card.
Bluetooth headset to comply with new law: US$30.00
Motorcycle tuneup: US$380.00
New motorcycle jacket that fits right: US$210.00
Then, my car takes a dump on Oak Street heading uphill. In a traffic lane. Tolerant and diverse drivers help me move my car to the side honk and flip me the bird as I sit there blocking 1/3 of the traffic on the street.
New alternator and valve cover gasket AND water pump: US$400.00 US$790.00!!!!
Sheesh.
Audi day at Sears Point
What’s more fun than driving fast? Driving fast on the race track!
bbbbwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Audi will be releasing the new A4 in the US later this year. To coincide with this, Audi sponsored the “Audi A4 Experience” where we learned the basics of track driving and then did some hot laps on the track.
We got a briefing on racetrack dynamics, on the cars we would be driving and theory about apexing through curves. Useful stuff to know every day you drive. Then we walked through the garage (where they stored a LOT of R8s for a different event) to the race track.
That’s a lotta R8s. Does Tony Stark keep his here?
Once we walked out onto the racetrack, we got a safety briefing explaining how to set up the seat, how to drive once we were out there and most importantly, how to get fitted with the mandatory helmets. Hands at 9 and 3 o’clock please.. Then it was time to drive!!
This is how to raise the seat back, this is how to raise the seat
The first two laps were done slow, so everyone could get the hang of playing “follow the leader” at speed and to make sure we were apexing the curves correctly. Then we did the last three laps, progressively increasing speed so that we were doing close to 100 on the straightaways.
Follow tight and fast…
But that wasn’t all. After we did our hot laps, we paired up and drove a road course (marked by cones) in the new A4 and three other cars that compete with it in the market place. The Mercedes-Benz C300 AWD, Lexus IS250 AWD and the BMW 328xi are all sedans with all wheel drive and are priced in the high 40s (except the Lexus which was $10k less). Here’s my verdict from going through the cones:
Merc: Very disconnected, felt the most comfortable, easy to drive.
Lexus: High center of gravity, softest ride, easiest to set off the anti-lock and the traction control
BMW: Nice and solid and heavy. Could use 50 more horsepower
Audi: Fun to fling around, very entertaining.
After the test drives were done, we were asked to fill out surveys on iPod Touch handhelds. Their computers generating the name badges and processing registration were iMacs. How cool!
…scroll down the screen, choose select then send…
In addition to all the driving, there was some looking to be done. Audi brought their new lineup for door slamming and tire kicking duty. Lots of R8s to drool over…
Lined up all in a row, all in silver!
I’m particularly fond of the A5…
There’s more pix to come. It was a nice, hot, fun day at the track. If only BMW would do this kind of promotion out here, I’d drive their cars around the track too!
(non travel) Weekends are for riding!
It’s summer season, when my globetrotting (on a budget) ways are curtailed this year by the double whammy of expensive jet fuel AND greedy, poorly managed/operated legacy airlines. Compared to just the greedy, poorly managed/operated legacy airlines.
So what do I do for fun on the weekends? Go riding! For the past few weekends, I’ve been getting up early (AAACK) and going for rides with a bunch of Triumph riders. The SF Bay Area has a lot of neat places to ride if you want to do a day trip and San Francisco itself has a neat area that’s not overrun with traffic calming (yet) and has lots of hills and twisties.
An entry about a Presidio ride is forthcoming…
Yesterday, we met in a McD’s parking lot in Pleasanton very early in the AM. After filling up the bikes with gas and then ourselves with McD’s brekkie, we proceeded to hit the trails.
Our destination was to ride up Mt. Hamilton on one side and then ride down the other side then ride back up a different way and ride back down, winding up back in Dublin.
Silicon Valley from the foothills near Mt. Hamilton
Ended the ride at Hooters where we enjoyed the scenery and the buffalo shrimp! Should have came on Sunday because motorcycle riders get 20% off!
Motorcycles at rest
I’ll try to photoblog these rides more throughly…they’re exhausting and fun!
Happy 4th of July!
Here’s Cookie Monster being interviewed on NPR. Typical MSM softball interview.
Cookie Monster v. Stephen Colbert. I’m not sure who wins…
No particular reason why, just because it’s funny! Think I’ll go hunt down some Mrs. Fields’ now…
Ramen Usefulness!
Contrary to popular belief, this blog is NOT a ramen blog! Or rather, this blog is not JUST a ramen blog…
That being said, here’s a useful site that explains the different styles of ramen that’s out there. Eventually, this will go onto the blogroll once I find a good template I can tweak without messing it up.
*hat tip to Tastespotting*
New York City Lodging? Not through Expedia…
New York is probably my favourite city in the United States. If you’ve recently done a hotel search here, you’re safe to conclude that it’s everyone else’s too.
Decent hotels begin at US$300/night for a weekend!! So for my last trip to NY, when I made my pilgrimage to Ippudo NY, I wound up staying at a hostel in the Upper West Side. US$30/night for a bunk in a 4 bed room. It wasn’t bad and it was clean. The latter characteristic is the exception rather than the rule for low cost lodging over there. And speaking of low cost lodging…
Expedia has ran some adverts offering cheap lodging in New York for under $60.00. Better read this story before you buy your plane tix and book a “hotel”. BEWARE!
Ippudo Story NY
After my first visit to Ippudo Shibuya back in March, I vowed to eat this delicious ramen again! Even if I had to travel all the way to New York! It’s only 5+ hours to JFK from SFO…
So last weekend, I did that. Flew to New York. To eat and drink. Actually, I was in New York for a different event and wound up with some time on Sunday morning to visit Ippudo NY. It’s just north of Astor Place station on the 6 line. Astor Place should be renamed to “ramen place” because this is the station that leads to St. Mark’s place and the East Village. Or as I call it, “ramen central” for the United States. All the good ramen shops are here in this small area of Manhattan (with the sole exception of Ichiran, which has opened up a branch in Greenpoint), both home grown (Momofuku) and from Japan (Ichiran).
There’s no doubt about where you are when you see the front door. It has that rustic feel like the Tokyo location. Until you actually walk through the front door.
As you walk through these doors, you will be transported to Japan…
Then all of a sudden, it’s not rustic anymore. It’s very modern in a neo-japonesque kinda way.
How modern! How big! How modern!
As with all things American, it’s big! Compared to the Shibuya location, it’s at least four times as big. Comfortable chairs and big tables. However, the menu is roughly the same. Which is a good thing. This time I went for the Akamaru Shin-Aji with the signature red glob of pork fat in the middle of the bowl.
the noodles are hiding under the broth…
You’re supposed to stir it up. This is how the broth changes after you stir it up. And I was transported back to Japan and better days. Springy noodles. Rich pork fat reinforced broth. Wonderfully tender (albeit a bit small) slices of roast pork. Garlic and negi in excellent proportions. And a second helping of noodles. Yes, I was very happy consuming lunch. After I finished my bowl, I was experiencing pork overload. Didn’t mesh too well with the slight hangover I was nursing.
orangish porky broth goodness!
Ippudo NY has a cash bar in the front of the restaurant that has various beers (Kirin, Sapporo) on tap as well as Yebisu in bottles and featured sakes.
Now that’s a lotta bowls…
The hella cool thing is that they have a 2 for $6 happy hour beer deal during the week. That includes Yebisu! I had one to balance out my system, which was dealing with a wine induced sneaky hangover and tonkotsu broth overload when I needed to go to the bathroom, which was downstairs. Besides the bathrooms being nice, I discovered something else on my trip to the bathroom…
Two long glass slits next to doors that say “private”. What are they doing inside these mysterious rooms? Why they’re making broth! And noodles! From scratch!
Mmmm…broth!
Here’s the dough…
that turns into noodles in your soup!
So, yes you can get authentic Hakata ramen in the United States. Well, you can get authentic Hakata ramen in New York. This is a “must visit” place when you’re here on the island.
Ippudo NY
65 4th Avenue
New York, NY 10003
1-212-388-0088
http://www.ippudo.com/ny
Ippudo Story Tokyo
During my recent Tokyo visit (late March), one of my friends sent me an email clipping from Urbandaddy that was about a Japan based ramen chain that was opening up a branch in the East Village. I skimmed over the article (“hmm, that’s interesting. New York gets ALL the good food”) and then left the hostel for the day. Later that night, I would be one of 100 or so A’s fans inside Tokyo Dome watching the A’s lose to the Red Sox, much to the delight of the rest of the crowd inside.
I met up with my friend Takeshi later that night after the game. He told me over the phone that he wanted to take me to one of his favorite ramen shops that’s nearby his work. So I jumped on the Yamanote and got off at Ebisu. It was a 10 minute walk to the Shibuya branch of Ippudo.
Ippudo is a Fukuoka based ramen chain that specializes in Hakata style ramen. If you’ve been patient and are a long time reader of my ramblings, you don’t need an introduction to the creamy, decadent richness of Hakata Ramen. Ippudo is considered by many as being one of the top purveyors of Hakata Ramen in Japan.
So we walked inside and took a seat. Ordered from the small menu. The ramen came out. Takeshi ordered the standard Akamaru Shin-Aji, with a big glob of red pork fat in the middle to be stirred into the broth for that extra measure of pork flavor goodness.
See that red glob? You stir it into the broth…
I, being the purist, ordered the Shiromaru Moto-Aji, which is a pure white broth (no extra pork fat) with pork belly. Delish! The garlic and the negi add a nice kick to the broth which should be classified as a a food group. The noodles were springy and tasted fresh and snappy. They were proper Hakata style, meaning thin egg noodles. Yum!
Look at this bowl. Now imagine it empty 20 minutes later. Burp.
Even at 2200 on a weeknight, Ippudo was 80% full, with a rustic old-school kind of feeling. They were definitely going for the nostalgic look of “back in the day”. It was a great nightcap as this Tokyo trip was winding down.
As we were leaving the restaurant, I picked this up.
Ippudo was opening a location in the East Village! Then my brain began to wake up. When I got home, I pulled up that email that my friend sent me. And yes, it was about the New York location of Ippudo opening up. What were the chances of that? I get an email about Ippudo NY opening up in the morning and I wind up at Ippudo Shibuya at night with a flyer about Ippudo NY opening up.
Talk about coinkidinks…
Ippudo
1-3-13 Hiroo
Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo
03-5420-2225
http://www.ippudo.com
Testing…?
Just finished subjecting myself to webhosted grief…
Upgraded to Movable Type 4.2. Got template issues (but strangely enough, the back end seems to be working fine). That’s why the site looks like crap.
Am working on it, but the lack of responsiveness from the MT boards is making me seriously look at jumping to Word Press…!