I rented the bike for a day.  So, I had to figure out some sort of route that would take me through some nice roads and still allow me to get back in a reasonable amount of time.  

First I had to get from around the Santa Cruz area (South, just off the map) to San Jose.  I was doing that in a rental car so the quickest route was best, which ended up being to go north on route 17 (purple highlight).

Once I picked up the bike I headed straight back down 17 to route 35.  Why route 35 (the name doesn't show on this map but I believe it was called Skyline)?  Well, the reason should be obvious, it was the squiggliest road on the map.

 

 My entire plan was to ride all the way to route 92, take that over to route 1, route 1 down to Santa Cruz and then the quick trip back up 17 to end where I started.  It didn't go exactly like that, but pretty close.  In the end the ride was just amazing.

Soon as I started heading North-West on 35 it was clear I had made a good choice.  Beautiful is the only word I can use to describe it.  Even the nicest roads in the Mid-West just don't come close to it.  I went around more curves on that one day then I probably have in my entire life, and I've been riding for over 20 years.

Small towns, areas that had Redwoods (I think they were Redwoods) which dwarfed me, desert like brush areas, vineyards, and breathtaking scenery in general. If you ride a motorcycle and have a sport touring bent, this has got to be one of your lifetime destinations.  I would have taken more pictures but then I never would have made it back to San Jose in time.  And after looking at the pictures it's clear they just don't do the panoramic views justice.

As I made my way up route 35 I came to the intersection of 35 and 84.  This was a motorcycle Mecca.  There amongst the trees and the curves sits Alice's Restaurant.