Our annual return to Paso Robles was blessed with great weather and superb riding.  All told we had some 20 bikes representing seven brands (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, BMW, Triumph, Kawasaki, and Aprilia) with 24 riders and passengers covering 160 miles of hosted rides plus however many miles it took for riders to get to/from Paso (450+ miles in my case!).  A sincere thanks again to John (& Debbie) Button for hosting the event and making all the arrangements; excellent job!

We stayed at the Melody Ranch Motel this year – upgraded accommodations from last year that provided good parking and suitable rooms while being even closer to the downtown area.  Most of us arrived Friday night and met up for dinner at the Dragon Palace King Buffet, literally across the street from the hotel -- easy.  John provided a pre-ride packet (instructions, maps, tips, directions, everything) for everyone and Leonard Lloyd (our newsletter editor) handed out surprise gifts to our host, Jeff Smith (northern California ride coordinator), and myself (humble State Director) -- really nice embroidered shirts available for purchase at http://calmstanewsletter.qbstores.com which provide modest revenue to offset printing/postage costs for the newsletter.  If you'd like a shirt, hat, or visor with our California MSTA logo on it, I encourage you to visit store and give it a shot (the shirt sizes run a bit small, so order a size larger than normal).  After dinner many of us headed into town (just a couple blocks away, easy walking distance) for more socializing (or chocolate at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory) while others sat around the motorcycles in the motel parking lot, bench racing before turning in for the night.

Saturday morning we all collected in the parking lot for last minute instructions before heading out for an excellent ride.  Once again, John did an excellent job planning the routes and leading the ride.  The pace accommodate everyone from the sportier riders to the more laid back -- with periodic stops to gather everyone and keep the group together.  We did lose a small group at just before lunch, but one of the "lost" riders was John's son, Bryan, so they easily made their way to The Loading Chute in Creston to join us for lunch (while John put in some extra riding time looking for them!).  Some of my favorite roads for the day were Huer Huero Road (say that three times fast), Park Hill Road, Pozo Road, Pilitas Road, Highway 229 (otherwise known as Webster Road, or the local race track), and Peachy Canyon Road -- though there were many others and we thoroughly enjoyed them all.

For some video of the morning portion of the ride, please see our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/califmsta and look for the video titles starting with "20100417 MSTA Ride (Paso Robles)".

Dinner was a real treat -- buffet at the Button Hacienda.  John arranged for a trolley car to pick us up at the hotel and deliver us at their residence for a great tri-tip and pasta dinner on their patio, with courtesy vans returning us to the hotel later in the evening.  The food was great and the chatter was fun (many of us ending up in John's garage trying out his various bikes for size), and John & Debbie made excellent hosts.  Great evening over all.  Of course, upon getting back to the hotel we split up for drinks or chocolate or bench racing again.

Everyone left at their leisure the next morning.  Kellie and I had a nice ride home, taking Highway 101 to Highway 166 to Cerro Noroeste through Pine Mountain Club and Frazier Park before meandering around the back roads east of Santa Clarita before reluctantly heading home for the day.   Thanks again to all those who turned out, repeat offenders and new, it was fun seeing everyone. We really enjoyed the rides, the roads, the people, the food, and the entertainment; and hopefully we'll see you again soon.

Brian (& Kellie)

Some pictures of the trip can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/calif.msta/20100417PasoRobles