Every year in July, I ride my motorcycle down to Monterey for the MotoGP races at Laguna Seca. These are the best riders on the fastest bikes in the world. The races themselves are deliriously exciting, and it’s a huge festival atmosphere.
I take a week or so to get down, riding some of the back roads from I-5 to the coast, then down the coast to San Francisco and on to Santa Cruz, where I stay with friends. I camp along the way and take my time getting back home as well.
This year, the whole route is threatened by the over-1000 fires burning in Northern California. The fire map of the state looks like a minefield. So far no road closures, but I don’t know how bad the smoke might be. The Biscuit Fire in Southwest Oregon in 2002 burned half a million acres (!), and the smoke here in Klamath Falls kept us indoors for the better part of three months. That fire was a hundred miles away, but wind conditions are everything.
One of the big fires is in Big Sur, which isn’t that far from the races. I camped there last year, but this year I’m staying at Mt. Madonna county park, which is near Watsonville. No fires there, as far as I can tell.
I hope none of this spoils my trip. Life is so unfair.
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