Looks like fall weather looking out of the french windows onto Bryant street at eight o'clock in the morning. My Dainese motorcycle jacket is made of a perforated leather for hot summer days. But I want to ride. So it will have to do. The fall weather was an illusion. The sun is up on the Embarcadero shinig brightly on pedestrians heading downtown. Commuters are spilling out of the Caltrain terminus. The twin cylinders of the Guzzi throb rhythmically with a restrained cadence at the stop lights. Once on the freeway the traffic moves at a steady 75 mph. Robo-Commuters drinking coffee, talking on cell phones, listening to angry talk show hosts. The engine sounds soothing and musical. Palo Alto arrives without a fuss. No bikes in the parking lot today. Two dollars extra for the steak with mango salad. It must be about 80 degrees in the parking lot. A quick ride south on the interstate brings me to the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains. I ride past downtown Saratoga in second gear. Once out on highway nine the Guzzi settles into a third gear rhythm... linked rear brake into the turn, lean, point at the exit and roll on the throttle. Follow a Mercedes S550 with a bald guy in it. Beyond Skyline there is no traffic. Fourth gear in the wider turns , slipping back into third when the road tightens....It is warm and sunny. The Santa Cruz mountains are a dramatic back drop. Past the turn off to Big Basin the road tightens up further. Past the 15 mph hairpin, and soon we are on the approaches to Boulder Creek. From here on past Brookdale, Ben Lomond and finally to Felton it is a 25 mph ride. Very pleasant though...Even in these mountain towns so near silly valley, the air feels different, the people more relaxed, the pace a little easier. Well perhaps the grass is just greener... Stop at a coffee shop next to the chinese reatsaurant named ChopStyx in Felton. Iced Americano and a raisin scone. Looking around while waiting I see hats, used compact discs and books. Sadly all the books are new age self improvement books...Thank you very much...Outside on the side walk the coffee tastes ambrosial. A car pulls up and a young man and two young women get out and walk into the coffee shop The young man's T-Shirt says "Get Stoned". The women are wearing some kind of cotton shifts. The ride back to Saratoga is just as enjoyable...Pull in at the Starbucks, get an iced Americano and sit outside in the sun shine. An Aston-Martin V8 Vantage pulls in and a bald guy gets out. I like Aston-Martins....