A good buddy and I regularly grab coffee at the neighborhood Starbucks. This morning, however, was particularly reflective of our winter: cold and damp. My buddy texted, “Do you want to go to the warm Starbucks and have coffee inside, or meet at our usual spot and be a Real Mantm and have coffee outside?”
I laughed and texted back, “I’ll be a Real Man. See you in 15 minutes.” That joke grew legs, and I asked him if our ride later in the month was a Real Man ride, whatever the challenge may be? That could mean rain, distance, terrain, or the map threw at us. We laughed and agreed to sign up for the February Real Man motorcycle challenge.
While photographing the Firefalls proved difficult, I appreciated the drive across California in the transitional time between winter and spring. In particular, I was reminded of the true bliss known as Old Priest Grade Road. This road is a motorcyclist’s paradise at just under 2 miles long with a grade near 25% in spots. Heck, it was even fun in the Rivian!
Adding awesome to awesome, the Priest Station Café has some of the best sweet potato fries in northern California. The drive to Yosemite a few days ago reminded me of how good the culinary experience after a morning of motorcycling can be. The mission of the Real Man Ride was apparent:
We will ride across California for sweet potato fries!*
*Yes, we’re going in the short direction. Yes, it’s not quite precisely across all of California. And yes, riding across California isn’t the only thing that qualifies for “Real Man” territory.
I don’t think we could have asked for a better weekend. Highs would be in the high 60s with no precipitation in sight. My buddy didn’t even flinch around the distance. We’d ridden a similar route out to Bishop on the Queer Invasion of Death Valley back in the fall. I’d never ridden this area so early in the season – especially on a Sunday. Since all the traffic was headed from the mountains back to the Bay Area, it really was blissful riding.
Every time I come through here, I marvel at the fun of riding Old Priest Grade Road. It’s twisty, steep, unapologetic, and blissfully paved. However, looking at the map you don’t see near any of that goodness. It looks like New Priest Grade Road gets all the glory. Trust me, Old Priest is where it’s at.
And I submit the visual from the Internet highlighting how good this section of road actually is!
Sweet potato fries are hard to get right. Why?
- The fries have to be hot and crunchy when they come out of the fryer.
- When they cool, they have to maintain that same level of crunch and not wilt and get soggy.
In most restaurants I go to, I barely get the first and definitely never get the second. Somehow, the Priest Station Café gets both. Plus, it’s at the top of a mountain, surrounded by great motorcycle roads, and the restaurant serves great food. A good meal is always worth a tank of gas on the bike!
It’s easy to fall into old habits, riding the same roads weekend after weekend. On the east side of Lake Don Pedro, there looked to be an exciting squiggle of pavement called Jacksonville Road. I’ve ridden past it numerous times; this is the weekend to take that right-hand turn.
I always like exploring smaller communities dotted across our state. California is diverse geographically, politically, weatherwise, and many other vectors. It is obviously known as a Democratic stronghold. However, California also has more Republicans than states like Texas. This diversity makes California strong as a society – despite our shortcomings and challenges ahead of us. Jacksonville Road soon gave way to Highway 49 for a fun ride into Angels Camp. Still, traffic remained light. Bonus!
After a long, leisurely lunch in Big Oak Flat at the Priest Station Café, the day began to catch up with us. Darkness would soon be at our heels, and we had miles to go before returning home. Highway 4 has a beautiful set of curves coming through the last parts of the Sierra foothills before yielding to the valley floor. As we crossed the valley, the grind soon set in. I’ll admit, this is probably my least favorite riding of mine: the Central Valley. While Highway 4 is a step up from Interstate 5, they share long, monotonous pavement stretches. Copperopolis gave way to Farmington, which soon became Stockton and Antioch.
My buddy asked, “What about Marsh Creek?” A lot of me just wanted to fly home on Highway 4. I know that stretch of pavement well; I can make good time and be home for dinner. I could tell he wanted to avoid hitting that freeway as it’s not the most interesting of rides. Since this was the Real Man Ride, I leaned into Marsh Creek and discovered he was right. Marsh Creek really is a lovely piece of pavement. What sucks is crossing Clayton, Concord, and Walnut Creek. That stretch of pavement really is death by a thousand lights. If you’re going to ride Marsh Creek, get up early on a weekend morning to beat the lights.
Episode 1 of Real Man Ride is complete. Will there be another episode? I’m not sure. I guess it depends on whether there is another cold-weather cup of coffee in the future!
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