First Motorcycle trip from San Luis Obispo, CA to Stockton, CA

My first trip on a motorcycle was from my home in San Luis Obispo California to my friends house in Stockton California.

Normally this takes 3 to 4 hours via highway 101 or Interstate 5. I had done it dozens of times in a car while on break from Cal Poly SLO. But, at this time I was very new to the motorcycle world and tried to avoid freeways and common highways at all costs. I avoided them because freeways and main highways scared the hell out of me. (They still do.) This fear pushed me to take lots of mountain roads through central California. (Old Creek Rd, Indian Valley Rd, Peach Tree Rd). In my opinion these roads are the best way to travel. The beautiful Coastal Highway 1 is great and even highway 101 can be enjoyable but these old valley roads connecting Norther and Southern California are my personal favorite. Nobody says it better than Robert M. Pirsig in his novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

"Plans are deliberately indefinite, more to travel than to arrive anywhere. We are just vacationing. Secondary roads are preferred. Paved county roads are the best, state highways are next. Freeways are the worst. We want to make good time, but for us now this is measured with emphasis on "good'' rather than "time'' and when you make that shift in emphasis the whole approach changes. Twisting hilly roads are long in terms of seconds but are much more enjoyable on a cycle where you bank into turns..."

Overview:
Bike: Honda NT650GT
Distance: 261mi
Time: 10 hours (More than double when compared to the main roads)
Sights: Old Mission San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo, CA
           Morro Bay Rock in Morro Bay, CA
   Firestone Brewery in Paso Robles, CA
           Beautiful Highway 25, Old Creek Rd, Indian Valley Rd and Peach Tree Rd
           San Luis Reservoir off hwy 152

Notes: Gas up when leaving Paso Robles because there isn't much fuel going north. There is fuel at the end of Hwy 25 in Tres Pinos and in some areas closer to Hwy 101.

Video Update: This is from a later trip on my BMW but it shows the ride down Hwy 25 all the way through Peach Tree Rd fairly well. (First GoPro video I ever made.)