If you are in the military, then you are probably familiar with the expression "Baptism by Fire." Historically, it refers to a soldier's first battlefield experience where there are bullets flying in his or her direction.
It took on a different meaning for four novice motorcyclists that participated in the Motorcycle Mentorship Program's ride to Alice's Restaurant on June 13th. Nestled high in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the road to Alice's seemed to be a promising route with an average amount of challenging curves and beautiful, above average vistas.
The ride began with the group meeting at the Starbucks parking lot on North Fremont around 0800. It was a little damp, but not enough to cancel the trip. We received the pre-ride brief, checked our motorcycles over, and paired up the novice riders with a rider-coach.
We departed around 0900 headed North on Highway 1 toward Santa Cruz. We rode on until we reached the CA-17 exit toward Oakland/San Jose. Everything was pretty smooth up to this point; then we reached the final leg to Alice's Restaurant, CA-35/Skyline Boulevard. It didn't look like it was going to be particularly hard on the Google map that we had downloaded.
In reality, that leg of the ride through the mountains was anything but a routine trip; indeed, it was challenging even by the most seasoned rider's standards. I know that I was thinking the entire time, 'Holy Mackerel! Are these curves ever going to end'' There were about twenty-four miles of tight turns and cutbacks in front of us, but it didn't look like that on the map. If there was anything of significance to see on that part of the ride, I know none of the riders saw it, because it took every bit of your attention to navigate the road.
One of the novices, Lance Corporal Benjamin Cooper, Marine Corps Detachment, commented afterwards that it took a lot of concentration for him to negotiate the turns. He had only been riding his 2007 Harley Davidson Sportster for two weeks and never in the rain, and so he felt a little apprehensive at the start of the ride. He became more comfortable as the weather cleared and was enjoying the ride, but when we hit CA-35, he knew it was time to really pay attention.
He said, "As difficult as it was, it was a good lesson for me to get familiar with how my bike would handle on those kinds of turns."
Kudos to John Rice, the program coordinator, for setting a slow, safe pace, and to the rider-coaches that were paired up with each novice rider. Rice immediately assessed the difficulty of the road and adjusted the speed to ensure a manageable situation for all, but admitted even the mentors can be humbled.
He said later, "Part of my Composite Risk Management worksheet is to recon the route prior to the ride. This trip I didn't recon this leg and it put everyone at a higher level of risk. It's a lesson I will learn from and not soon forget."
As a rule, during rest stops, rider-coaches critiqued and offered advice about the previous leg of the ride to their assigned novice; however, it was unanimous after this part of the ride that it was an incredibly challenging route for everyone.
There were no mishaps, and I know the novices were feeling the same sense of accomplishment (and relief) that I was when the curves were finally behind us. We reached our destination and had a nice lunch and took some pictures. Everyone was sharing their experiences and thoughts about the last twenty-four miles.
We finished our break and took off toward Santa Cruz on a more rider-friendly portion of CA-84, but after experiencing the adrenaline rush through the mountains, everything else seemed mundane. For me, as we cruised back along Highway 1 toward Monterey via downtown Santa Cruz, it was a perfect time to reflect upon the ride and to appreciate the opportunity I had to ride with the Motorcycle Mentorship Program.
After each ride, my confidence grows, and my skill level increases. That's what the program is all about, gaining confidence through training to ensure survival; sounds familiar doesn't it'
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