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2003
ICOA Morro Bay Rally
Report
By Mark Miller |
Got in around 1 this afternoon
on the '79 turbo beast (no
EMS, no in-flight refueling
needed--had drop tanks installed.....!)from
the Morro Bay ICOA meet.
Jeez! What a gas!! Rod Libby,
the Central CA.director,
stated that there were 63
heads counted at Saturday
nights’ killer badass
Santa Maria-style BBQ, a
new high! At least 25 CBX's
(maybe more) were there.....yeah!!
I left Friday AM to go to
Taft, CA, and met up with
some good friends & CBX
owners from up there(Paul
Fedewa & Skip Ruff),and
Darrell "Deerslayer" Peck,
our Southern CA ICOA director,
and several other CBX owners
showed up and made it a good-sized
contingent coming in from
down south. We all left around
noontime and jammed up SR33
to SR58 and over the range
of mountains thru California
Valley area (we roasted there.
About 105 in the shade!)
and followed the long straight
stretch of road to the coast.
After around 30 to 40 minutes
of roasting on the bikes,
we all stopped for a liquid
break (intake & exhaust)
and got back on the road
to La Panza Rd. cutoff to
go up and catch SR41 into
Atascadero and a fuel stop
for some of us, then on down
the canyon road into the
Morro Bay area and some welcome
cooler air temps in the 60's(got
my boost back!).
We all arrived at the famous
Keystone Inn in beautiful
downtown Morro Bay and pulled
up to start our killer weekend!
Old acquaintances were rekindled
and new ones made, the bikes
just kept coming in! We had
at least 3 other motels providing
backup lodging for this gala
ICOA event as the Keystone
had sold out months before.....
.......what a righteous turnout!!
All of us then descended
on the Pizza Port pizzeria
in town there and kept them
busy slinging pizza & brews
for us for the next couple
of hours. After going back
to the motel, some went to
Happy Jack's, another famous
night spot in Morro Bay,
while the rest were content
to renew old friendships
and, alas, the Yukon Jack
made a guest appearance as
well, keeping many entertained
till his disappearance in
the wee hours of the morn....
Upon peering from my motel
room Saturday morning, I
did see Dave Krager's Murphmobile
(aka Ford Escort wagon) with
the Solid Six in tow pulled
in the lot. He stated that
he & Monica had arrived
at some ungodly hour in the
early morn hours at Morro
Bay from San Diego and got
a few hours of sleep, but
was ready for action with
a generous helping of coffee
and a WAZZZZZZZUP!!!! from
me.....he then unloaded his
scoot and we all rode down
to San Luis Obispo Motorsports-the
local Honda dealer in the
area, and hung out for a
bit & gave them some
business. Groups of people
then split up to go on separate
rides, one bunch to Pismo
Beach, another took Pozo
Road out thru the boonies
and hit the old saloon out
there. Another bunch took
off up SR1 to scope out the
great views of the ocean,
Big Sur, and the surrounding
areas. I went back to the
motel & kicked it with
my family till the BBQ was
set up and dinner was served,
tri-tip and chicken roasted
over a mesquite wood fire
with all the trimmings. Yum!!!
The prize giveaway commenced
promptly after dinner. Rod
Libby emceed the ticket drawing
and passed out prizes to
all. A great time was certainly
had by all, CBX's were 3
deep in the lot, and Happy
Jack's bar got a bunch more
business from ICOA that evening!
Sunday morning arrived and
a lot of us in attendance
had to say our goodbyes once
again, not all of us could
hang for the whole weekend.
Mike Donndelinger did his
traditional trip to Kitty's
Restaurant for breakfast
with Fri. night's cold pizza
to be cooked with eggs, etc.,
for breakfast and several
other accompanied him to
break bread before the long
run home.
We all reinforced the fact
that this was one of the
best ICOA rallies in Morro
Bay in a very long time,
if not THE best one! Those
of us who stayed on thru
Sunday evening went to the
Flying Dutchmans' Restaurant
for a very tasty seafood
dinner on the Embarcadero
Waterfront and another late
bull session afterwards at
the motel.
Monday morning arrived and
we all said more goodbyes
to Eric Schreiner & Dave
Gaines, the two long-distance
attendees, they got an early
start and the rest of us
went to Kitty's Restaurant
one last time for a good
hearty meal before hitting
it ourselves. I then jumped
on my intrepid '79 turbo
beast and ran into town,
splashed some fuel in it
and proceeded to US101 southbound,
with a quickie run thru the
Santa Ynez valley on SR154
into Santa Barbara and the
next scheduled fuel stop
and home on US101.
All in all, A great rally!
See you next year at Death
Valley, Prospect, hopefully
Carson City, and the all-favorite
Morro Bay in '04!
Ride safe, and thanks again
to Rod Libby for his efforts
in putting on this rally!
Mark Miller
Have turbo, will travel.....
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