Heading north out of SF we cross the iconic golden gate bridge. I remember crossing this a kid, sitting in the back of our Volkswagen Westfalia camper.
One last chance to say bye to San Fran, one of my favorite cities.
I actually prefer the ride north of San Fran over the south coast along Big Sur. The weather is a bit cooler, scenery just as stunning and half the traffic. The weather was contrasting with periods of heavy fog and clear sunny blue skies. So far it was a perfect day.
For some reason I love stopping at crazy roadside attractions like this.
   
The day was ending and the sun was heading down. The Pacific Coast highway takes a turn inland towards Leggett and connects with the 101. This stretch is a windy road through the redwood trees. It was completely back out, and the stars filled the sky. The road was damp and fill of leaves and other rain forrest related debris, but the ride was amazing, one of the best stretches of the trip. We pull over at the junction to 101 and reflect on the amazing ride we just had. We had about an hour ride to Eureka where we had planned on staying for the night.
This map of the road inland does not do it justice, but shows just how twisty it is:
Ryan pulls out and merges on the 101, it was late and there was little to no traffic out. I pull in my clutch, put the bike in first and as im easing the clutch out i head a pop and the bike lurches into first gear. I grab at the clutch and its completely limp – the clutch cable snapped. I’m not stuck in first gear with no functioning clutch. If I stop the bike its going to stall and I’ll be dead in the water. With light traffic and being in the middle of nowhere I decide to hammer the bike into the higher gears and just try to ride the rest of the night without a clutch.
About 10 minutes into this we pass a desolate gas station with a refueling truck pulling out on the highway. I slow down and try to gear down behind him but im forced to crawl to a stop and the bike stalls. Its completely back out and im stuck. I pop the bike into neutral and push it over the the now closed gas station. All the lights are off and no one is around. I wait about 10 mintues for Ryan to come back after he figured I was no longer behind him.
I see where the cable snapped and try to tie it together and make a manual clutch, but it just doesn’t feel safe and doesn’t seem to work. In the end we decide to push the bike behind the gas station, leave it there for the night and double into Leggett for the night. As we push the bike behind the gas station we are confronted by an angry supervisor who runs the gas station and the small attached campground. He agrees to let us leave the bike there (like he had a choice) and said it “should” be there in the morning.
We double into town, grab a room at the local motel and crash for the night. I start to worry if I will be able to find a repair or parts shop in such a remote area, and hope this doesnt cause us to miss the upcoming wedding.