Cafe Racing

 Back in '73-'74, when I was a young buck, my freinds family had several motorcycles. I would hang out at their house in Sunnyvale on some weekends and we would go for a ride. Back then a motorcycle was a motorcycle; there were street bikes, dirt bikes and Harley's and no one rode a Harley unless they were outlaws. Things have changed.
 My friend, Tom, took me on my foray rocketing along hwy 35 in the coastal Madras of California and my first trip into adrenaline land. I got to pilot the Honda CB 350-4, the little brother of the 750. The cb 750 inline 4 cylinder was a revolution in motors for the cycle industry then and it is still the gold standard today.But again I digress.
As we zipped along at speeds faster than my skill level, which was easy enough because I had never ridden a motorcycle before, I became addicted to the bending and twisting then quickly accelerating in the straits and diving deep into the corners. As the road rushed to meet me I feel in love with this black top symphony!

At the end of my journey was the intersection of Hwy 35 and La Honda Blvd above Woodside, Alice's cafe stood inviting us in. The parking lot was littered with sport bikes of every description  from the modestly improved to full fairing euro-racers. I had only seen such bikes in racing magazines or on the track at Sears Point motor sports raceway. This was the adrenaline junkies mecca and I was at home.
The point of this story is that when you raced your buddies to the cafe the last one in the parking lot buys everyones meal. Thats why it's called 'Cafe Racing'! So from now on you'll know what I'm talking about when I say, "if  I  pass you on the road stop at Peets, because your buying".