Gordon de la Mare
The 2023 Giro ran for four days in Early October, kicking off from Paso Robles, a small town known for its vast and high quality vineyards almost midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. This was the third time that the Giro di California has been run out of Paso Robles and I rode the previous one there back in 2016. The 2023 Giro was organized by a fellow MV Agusta Club GB member, Barry Porter, who happens to live quite close in Santa Cruz. My steed for this event was a 1956 CSTL that I was delighted to have as a loan bike.
The Paso Robles area used to be just grazing but now has hundreds of vineyards many of which were open for wine tasting. Sadly we skipped the tasting sessions, as riding a bike in hot sun with a couple of glasses of nice wine in our bellies was not the wisest of things to do.
A typical local vineyard.
Earlier Giros were based on the traditional Italian model of rolled maps, timed sections, agility tests and lasted two days. However, more recently the event has become more relaxed, allowing by no longer holding timed checkpoints or agility tests in car parks. This year, in addition to the two regular days, an extra two days were offered for those who desired more than the approximate300 miles of the “official” first two days.We started with twenty nine riders of whom one was from Illinois, two from Colorado, twenty five from California and me from the UK. Most of us were repeat performers. Some failures and early leavers meant that by day three, only twelve bikes remained and on day four, we were down to six. with four of the last six being MVs.
The most wonderful thing about participating in such an event is that you get to see parts of a country that most tourists never visit and more importantly you can have great fun on a bike without going over 60mph.
The routes that we rode totalled 589 miles with very little overlap.
Monday - 156 miles, 29 riders, 4 DNF (3 repaired and finished Tuesday)
Tuesday - 156 miles, 28 riders, 4 DNF
Wednesday - 147 miles, 10 riders, 1 DNF
Thursday - 130 miles, 6 riders, 0 DNF
The bike rules were as standard for Giros - manufactured 1957 and earlier, 175cc or less though the date was less important than the engine size which was strictly adhered to with the result that we had 19x175cc, 2x150cc, 7x125cc and 1x106cc. .
There was also quite a variety of bikes that were ridden:
6 Ducati, 6 MV Agusta, 4 Gilera, 2 Benelli, 2 Bianchi, 2 Moto Guzzi, 1 Aermacchi, 1 Ceccato
1 Mondial, 1 Morini, 1 Motobi, 1 NSU, 1 Parilla
The MVs included a couple of beautifully restored Disco Volantes, a CS57, a CSTL with the best patina I have seen in years that was my steed and a 125cc
You will be pleased to note that all MVs performed flawlessly and four did do all four days.
A parking lot of MVs
Though many people think that California is densely populated, it certainly is not. For the first day it was 125 miles before we would find a petrol station - so the chase van carried spare fuel for those with tanks too small to cope with the distance. We encountered two natural hazards during our rides. The first were ground squirrels darting across the road. The second were rather more remarkable as we discovered that it was the Californian Tarantula migration season and many were seen just ambling across the roads.
They Tarantula's were big enough to be held in your hand.
Day one was the coolest weather that we encountered - a mere 27C in the afternoon. The other days the temperature reached 36C so staying hydrated was very important. This photo gives you an idea of how empty this part of California is.
As noted - there is a lot of emptiness
Then there are the lunch stops - now those were well aligned bikes
It pays to make sure that your speedometer is correctly calibrated to ensure that you make the correct turns. This is why all the bikes use cycle speedometers that can be very accurately calibrated. If you get lost you really do get lost- there is no phone signal out there and it is not uncommon to go over an hour without even seeing another vehicle. As I mentioned, the middle of California, is not that densely populated.
Here is how the routing gets from a map, to an itinerary and then to a roll chart:
Day four route map to lunch
TACO TEMPLE LOOP: total 128.8 miles and then lunch stop 0.0m Exit Adelaide Inn R on Ysabel St 0.1m L @ Riverside Ave 0.2m L @ 24th St 1.3m L @ Buena Vista Dr 5.0m L @ Airport Rd 8.1m R @ Estrella Rd 10.1m L @ Ranchita Canyon Rd 13.4m R @ Ranchita Cyn Rd 20.8 R @ Hog Canyon Rd (ROUGH ROAD!) 26.2 L stay on Hog Canyon Rd 29.7 L @ Estrella Rd 29.8 L stay on Estrella Rd 36.3 straight on Estrella Rd 37.4 R onto CA 46 East 42.1 R @ CA 41 South/W Centre St 43.1 R stay on CA 41 S 65.9 GAS available 81.3 R @ Main St 81.9 LUNCH - TACO TEMPLE TACO TEMPLE LOOP: total 128.8 miles and then lunch stop 0.0m Exit Adelaide Inn R on Ysabel St 0.1m L @ Riverside Ave 0.2m L @ 24th St 1.3m L @ Buena Vista Dr 5.0m L @ Airport Rd 8.1m R @ Estrella Rd 10.1m L @ Ranchita Canyon Rd 13.4m R @ Ranchita Cyn Rd 20.8 R @ Hog Canyon Rd (ROUGH ROAD!) 26.2 L stay on Hog Canyon Rd 29.7 L @ Estrella Rd 29.8 L stay on Estrella Rd 36.3 straight on Estrella Rd 37.4 R onto CA 46 East 42.1 R @ CA 41 South/W Centre St 43.1 R stay on CA 41 S 65.9 GAS available 81.3 R @ Main St 81.9 LUNCH - TACO TEMPLE | Here's what Day 4 looked like before we rolled it up for the handlebar mounted roll chart device:  |
After the last riders left on Thursday the route that we used on day 3 was closed on the Friday as a fire broke out west of 101 between San Ardo and Lockwood. Roads including San Lucas, Jolon and Lockwood were closed to traffic and which were routes that we had used. Isolated locals were required to evacuate. Can you imagine the event disruption if this had started a few days earlier? This is one of the biggest challenges for the tour organizers as the planning for such events takes months.
I do hope to ride in the 2024 event wherever in California it is held as I especially enjoy my biking trips out there having spent many of my working years in the Sunshine State.
Further information on the Giro Di California event can be found on the group's website https://girodicalifornia.com/
Lunch stop on the final day with my unbelievably trustworthy CSTL
I will end this report with thanks for many MV friends especially Barry Porter with whom I have been riding for a good decade and my social host there, Patrick Hayes. For me this is my MV Agusta GB swan song as I have sold my CS57 to Sammy Miller's Museum so no longer own an MV and will pass on my membership renewal - it has been a wonderful ride.
-Gordon de la Mare
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