diphthong

carrizo plain national monument is waay underrated and a must see at the extreme southern end of california’s central valley.
if you can swing it, i’d recommend riding 32’s or larger there. having said that, i’ve ridden 28’s and even 23’s there and gotten away with it (with some stretches of walking).

stardognine

You’re not the first to say that, on the forum here. But really, if it was all that uncomfortable, wouldn’t I find something else? 🤔😉 It’s not that heavy, and besides, that which does not kill us, serves to make us stronger. 😁😉

stardognine

Actually, the Bay Area is where I’m headed, at least for awhile. I kinda like it there, at least certain parts. 🙂 The first time I came out West, several years ago now, I hitchhiked and got a ride from Chicago to Eureka. I ended up around Palo Alto, right by Stanford University, and loved that area. 😎

I’m sure things have changed in ways, but it’s probably still the same place anyways. 🤔😁😉

In the back of my mind, I still want to check out Sacramento. They made it the state capitol for some reason or another. 🤔😉

Lemond1985

The peninsula is gorgeous, would like to live there some time, when my finances allow.

Might actually be a good time to visit with the reduced traffic, especially if you know your way around up there.

stardognine

Well, I made it to Ulmar alive, and even got a pic of the Altamont landfill sign, going by. 😁😎😁 I’m pretty sure that’s the only sign up there, letting you know where you are (kinda). 🤔😉

Honestly, I have no idea if this is the same Altamont made (in)famous by the Stones & Angels, back in the day, but I figured I better grab a pic, in case it is. 🤔😉 And a couple bonus pics, coming up to these little mountains.

Lemond1985

Yep, same place. There is a very excellent documentary that was made about the concert, trailer gives you some flavor. Those roads had 300,000 people hippies packed onto them, mostly in VW buses, as you'll see in the film. Ooga Booga might like it, it's in the Criterion Collection.

stardognine

Sweet, I’ll watch the vids after I charge my batteries someplace. 👍 See what I meant? I woulda had to kick myself hard, if I went right by, and didn’t get a pic. 😲🙄😉

I actually did a class report, in 11th (?) grade journalism, about the Stones, and got an A+ on it. 😎

Lemond1985

Full documentary:

diphthong

yeah...gimme shelter is a must see for music documentaries.

stardognine

And there ya have it, folks, another consumer opinion. 😁😉 I guess I was either 8 or 9 when that happened, so it’s really more my older siblings’ generation, than mine. 🤔

Welp, I got to Livermore last night, where you can still buy a quart of chocolate milk, lol, and I got to Pleasenton this morning, where I’m now having coffee. 😎 Looks like 10-20 miles now, to San Jose.👍

Oh yeah, back on the topic of critters, I had a skunk walk up pretty close this morning, as I was having breakfast. 😲🙄 They have pretty bad eyesight, I guess, and this one was just walking up the path, that I happened to be next to, leaning on a fence. I said “Hi, skunk.”, and he just stopped, then eventually turned around to go the other way. He lifted his tail, but I don’t think he really sprayed, just wanted to warn me, I guess. 😉

Lemond1985

Just a friendly warning, eh?

Speaking of hazards in that area, beware of this one, a little further north. That and the whole "Hotel California" thing, waking you up in the middle of the night, just to hear them say, etc. I hate when that happens.

stardognine

Ha! I saw Lodi on the map, and remembered Janis Joplin’s version of the song. One of my aunts wore that one out, back in the 70s. 🙄

And the thing about the Hotel California is, it’s still better than the Hotel Colorado or Hotel Arizona. 🤔😁😉 At least the Specific Ocean is close enough to jump into, when you get hot. 😁

Lemond1985

If you are in Livermore, you probably noticed Mt. Diablo. I used to ride up there at least once a week when I lived in Walnut Creek. 3800 feet to the top. It's a state park, you can camp there IIRC. Awesome climb.

stardognine

Slept up there last night, but now I’m charging my phone & batteries in Pleasanton. But that gave me the chance to watch Gimme Shelter. 👍 Hard to believe, that was almost 50 years ago. 🤔

Lemond1985

There was some great footage in "Gimme Shelter" of the hippies, and the bikers too. It was a complete culture clash. The Stones thought they were just hiring security for a free concert. The free concert in London went off without a hitch, why not the US? They were wrong. They found out the hard way that people in the US were nowhere near as civilized as they were in London (back then anyway).

I noticed that the film has some of the best footage I have ever seen of people tripping very hard, taking their clothes off, etc. I wonder what ever happened to most of these people, like the naked fat girl who kept trying to get on stage? There were a few children in attendance there too, I don't think CPS had near the power back then, that they have now.

thumpism 

We have one here in town.

Miele Man

How about "Calling Occupants"? by the Carpenters.

Cheers

stardognine

That could work too, that was a cool song. 👍

I think I made it through Fremont finally, and into Milpitas. I dunno if the Silly-Con Valley has boundaries, but I’ve passed Western Digital, Cisco, and SanDisk this morning, among many others. And it rained here most of the morning. 🙄

Right before entering Fremont, still in the mountains yesterday, I had a scary moment. There’s a narrow bridge at the top of a hill, and just as I got to the top, there was a STRONG gust of wind, that pretty much stopped me. Now mind you, I was already pretty darn tired, so even standing on the pedal, I didn’t have tons of extra energy. It was probably about 5 seconds, but it felt like about 5 minutes, that I was just frozen there, trying to pedal on up the last 5 feet, but unable to do so. 😲😟 To make matters worse, I realized there was a string of cars behind me, just watching to see if I’d make it. 🙄 Well, I’m here writing this, so yes, I made it. 😁😉 That was weird as heck though, and I hope I never have to do it again. For awhile, at least. 😁

stardognine

Well, I didn’t even know Levi’s had a stadium, but there it is, anyways. 🤔😁 And this other place just fits this thread perfectly, hmmm? 😁😉

DropBarFan

I've been wondering about the Altamont thing: to get a permit for a big event an organization has to have insurance which would require competent professional security. Hell's Angels antics were well known, so the whole thing doesn't make sense. Altamont was portrayed as the end of the hippie era but 2 folks died at Woodstock (though not from violence) which was supposedly so wonderful.

Lemond1985

I dunno if you watched the film or not, but early on there are scenes showing Melvin Belli, on the phone doing negotiations with some other atty who owned the race track. There was talk of calling judges on the phone to get restraining orders, etc., I thought it was pretty fascinating stuff. Belli was the most prominent lawyer in the country at the time, and boy was that guy smooth.

The times were still naive enough (just barely) to let a free event like that happen, with the Hell's Angel's doing security. It could never happen today. The whole thing was mostly set up on the fly over the phone, as you'll see ...

stardognine

Well, I never got a pic of a San Jose sign, so youse have to settle for a Santa Clara, right next door. 🙂 I’m reversing directions now, to look at a possible fixer-upper motorsickle purchase. 🙄😎😁

djb

I don't wanna pickle....

DropBarFan

The "naive" explanation doesn't make sense. Previous Woodstock caused all sorts of logistical issues; Stones had experienced fan violence even in their early days & had been notified about problems after UK Angels "security" at the Hyde Park concert. No good reason at all to hire Oakland Angels esp with their known history of violence including attacks on anti-war protesters. We're supposed to believe that hundreds of CHP & county cops were content to let drug-addled hippies enjoy the Altamont show (only making 3 arrests for drunk in public) & not even interfere when Angels are stabbing spectators & whipping them with motorcycle chains in plain view of 1,000's of witnesses?

Lemond1985

Watch the film.