This year, I was hired as the QMG’s official photographer for the 2nd time, but this all started 3 years ago when Pagnol was a vendor there and I took some shots of the event for a Pagnol story that they loved, one thing leading to another. (See last year’s gallery here )

This event is by far the “fancier” moto show in the USA, but it still has the relaxed atmosphere we all love about the motorcycle scene. It starts on Friday with the “Quail ride”, a 1.5 hrs ride that starts at the Quail Lodge, but this year, as opposed to years past, went in the opposite direction, ending at the iconic Laguna Seca Raceway.

I had the option of riding a motorcycle, but then to document the ride, you have to stop ahead of all the riders to take some shots, then ride and pass them for another spot, etc! So from last year’s experience, I knew that being on the support vehicle would be a much better option, I get to shoot as we move and with a few stops as well.

The ride went towards Carmel Valley, which is a much smaller version of the actual Carmel town and … is a beautiful valley! After it, there is almost nothing but great windy roads, a river and green vegetation all around you (This time of year :), then as you come around to the inland side of the mountains, we had the first stop at a winery and just hang out for a bit.

From there, we headed over to Laguna Seca, which this year’s ride on the track was done in the middle of a cars race weekend! All our riders got to ride the track and I was in one of the pace cars, which gave me a chance to study some lines for the next trackday there!

The next day, showtime! Which the highlight for me was a neo board tracker build by car designer Niki Smart, just mind-blowing!

One of the coolest things about this moto show, is the variety of “sections” with different themes for each year, from the Italian, British, Customs, Racing, Vintage military sections to this year’s celebration of the Honda CB750, Brought Superior’s 100th anniversary and off-road classics as the featured classes.

Most years is overcast there, but this time it was sunny and the perfect temperature made for an awesome day with friends and 355 bikes to check out!

I’ll let the pictures tell more of this story HERE, enjoy!

Paulo Rosas

Pagnol

The Quail Motorcycle Gathering 2019