So Cal run Apr 29th - May 3rd.

[puppychow]

Making another run to Del Mar, this time on Hwy 1 from Monterey overnighting in Thousand Oaks on Apr 29th to play in the Malibu Canyons on the way to Del Mar on Apr 30th. Going to be a beach bum in Del Mar till May 2nd when I start heading home again - thinking about Hwy 395 on the way home with an overnight in Bishop.

Here are the first drafts of the routes I made for this trip any fine tuning/short fun detours/must see's along the way suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Apr 29th - Folsom to Thousand Oaks.

Apr 30th - Thousand Oaks to Del Mar. Modified route to include Latigo Canyon

Don't want to linger too late in the greater Los Angeles area, as it will be Friday and I won't want to encounter the nasty late Friday afternoon traffic.

Apr 30th to May 1st - Beach bum in Del Mar. Imbibe some local "scenery", see if I can pick one up at the Beach, put her to my ear and hear her scream (stolen joke).

May 2nd - Del Mar to Bishop. Modified route around Palomar Mountain

Do Mt. Palomar on the way to Bishop and thinking of staying either at the Holiday Inn Express or the Ramada Limited in Bishop.

May 3rd - Bishop to Folsom.

 

[MojaveFJR]

Delmar to Bishop.

IF you are in no particular hurry you can slip through Angels Crest and Angels Forest Highway. That will pop you out at Palmdale, then head north on the 14, hang a right in Mojave then straight on till morning for Bishop. You may want to take a short hop up the whitney portal if you have never been through there before. The Alabama hills are something in and of themselves, lots of movies filmed in that region.

If not, hope you have tuneage because once you are through the pass on the 58 that is some long azz slab.

Word of caution on that road, keep your wits about you. The road ungulates (sic) like no ones business and you have people passing where they shouldn't be. Lots of trucks as well. Straight as the day is long.

 

[puppychow]

Consolidating feedback from another thread...

In San Diego county, if you have time, take 76west from I-15 and go up Palomar Mtn. my favorite route is to go up the south grade, down the east grade, 76east to 79north, head out towards Borrego Springs (CO Hwy 2), then stay to the right to stay on S2, then head west on 78 up to Julian. If you have time, then 79 south to Sunrise Hwy. If time constrained, take 8 west back home, or continue south to Campo Rd/ Hwy 94 west back to San Diego. There are lots of fun side roads, but for an intro that is a nice ride

Riding up to Mt. Palomar as suggested in another thread, going up the South Grade and back down East grade, and modify the route to backtrack on 76 east to 79 North and meet up with I-15 again at Temecula.

I think I am going to get time constrained here, as I want to get to Bishop before sun down and I don't plan on getting a very early start from Del Mar, as I will be out and about late Saturday night. Borrego Springs might have to wait for another visit.

Also, I may not have time for Angels Crest, will have to slab out west to get there after meeting up with I-15 in Temecula and then ride Angels Crest hwy east again to meet up with 395 and that will make for a very late arrival in Bishop. If only I had all the time in the world instead of having to ration my time away from work.

If you wanted to stay coastal, you could also ride the Santa Monica Mountains (Mulholland, Latigo Canyon et al), drop down to PCH through Santa Monica.

I plan on running Mulholland Hwy on Friday and then come back down to Santa Monica via Topanga Canyon, but where is Latigo Canyon? I couldn't find it on the map.

 

[tcfjr]

I plan on running Mulholland Hwy on Friday and then come back down to Santa Monica via Topanga Canyon, but where is Latigo Canyon? I couldn't find it on the map.

Latigo Canyon Road is 3 miles east of Kanan Dume Rd. on PCH. It ends at Kanan Dume just south of Mulholland Hwy.

From Hollister, another fun ride is:

• CA-25 and G-13 to King City
• County G-14 From King City to Jolon
• Nacimiento-Fergusson Road from Jolon to PCH

Nacimiento-Fergusson was rated as one of the world's top ten motorcycling roads in this article in Motorcyclist Magazine back in 2005. I'm not sure I'd go quite that far, but it is a very cool road, especially east to west. The first glimpse of the Pacific from the ridgeline is spectacular.

 

[redtail]

If you want a tour guide/ ride buddy, I live at the edge of the Santa Monica mountains! I don't know where your staying in Thousand Oaks, I'm another 10 minutes down the fwy.

I just did abt. 375 miles on sunday, by riding the 101 north to Santa Maria. Then went east on hwy 166 past New Cayuma to Cerro Noroeste rd. Took that up to Frazier Park and down Lockwood Valley rd back to hwy 33. Then over the 33 to Ventura and home.

Got lucky passing leo's on 166, as they were busy with cages when I went by.

Anyway, it could be a sweet addition,if you still have the energy, after hwy 1!

PM me if you want my number.

 

[puppychow]

If you want a tour guide/ ride buddy, I live at the edge of the Santa Monica mountains! I don't know where your staying in Thousand Oaks, I'm another 10 minutes down the fwy.I just did abt. 375 miles on sunday, by riding the 101 north to Santa Maria. Then went east on hwy 166 past New Cayuma to Cerro Noroeste rd. Took that up to Frazier Park and down Lockwood Valley rd back to hwy 33. Then over the 33 to Ventura and home.

Got lucky passing leo's on 166, as they were busy with cages when I went by.

Anyway, it could be a sweet addition,if you still have the energy, after hwy 1!

PM me if you want my number.

Staying at a friend's again in Thousand Oaks (Casa Conejo area), they ride a Gold Wing, but I am not sure if they will join me on a Friday ride through the Santa Monica Mountains. Will you be around Friday to ride the Santa Monica Mountains? Would be good to have company, if you look at the Thousand Oaks to Del Mar route link in my OP - I think that is what I would want to do, but open to better suggestions

 

[redtail]

Staying at a friend's again in Thousand Oaks (Casa Conejo area), they ride a Gold Wing, but I am not sure if they will join me on a Friday ride through the Santa Monica Mountains. Will you be around Friday to ride the Santa Monica Mountains? Would be good to have company, if you look at the Thousand Oaks to Del Mar route link in my OP - I think that is what I would want to do, but open to better suggestions

Yes, I'm sure I can sneek off on friday. Glad to ride along, whichever way! There are alot of ways through there, and time is the only limit!

Keep me posted as we get closer.

 

[k7lvo]

When you get down around Carlsbad, jump off of I-5 onto the PCH. From there to Del Mar, PCH is pretty laid back and very close to the beach most of the time.

395 north from the Hesperia area to 58 can be best described, IMO, as just plain spooky. The road drops and rises abruptly enough to hide a tractor-trailer rig in many places. To have a car or truck suddenly appear in front of you is startling, even if they're NOT in your lane! Assuming it's still 2-lane, be careful with your passes and watch out for others who aren't. Too bad you have to get clear to Bishop for the night. Watching the sun go down over Mt Whitney from Lone Pine can be breath-taking, as can watching the morning sun light it up.

I'll be in LA that weekend, too, helping out with the Ship to Shore bicycle ride. I'll be taking my time on the way down and zipping up I-5 to get home. If the weather cooperates, I'll come down through the interior, maybe as far east as 395.

 

[puppychow]

I don't HAVE to get to Bishop that night, it's not like anyone is waiting for me there. I just figured it to be a good stop for the night with the good availability of decent and inexpensive accommodations etc...

Any good accommodations in Lone Pine?

 

[puppychow]

Slight change in plans. I might be leaving on Wed Apr 28th now (routes pretty much the same, just a day before), weather permitting. Redtail and Tree Doc, I will PM you at least a couple days before on exactly which day I am leaving and send you the SPOT tracking info, so we can meetup and ride along the way.

 

[k7lvo]

I don't HAVE to get to Bishop that night, it's not like anyone is waiting for me there. I just figured it to be a good stop for the night with the good availability of decent and inexpensive accommodations etc...
Any good accommodations in Lone Pine?

I stayed at the Comfort Inn, mostly because I was soaking in the views of Mt. Whitney as I approached town and could see that I would get a great view of it from the second floor of the motel. (I sat in the window for over an hour snapping pictures as the sun set.) It was a comfortable room, but nothing special, and pricey for a Comfort Inn. As I rode north the next morning I saw 3-4 other motels that looked interesting, however I didn't make note of names or anything.

As an aside, the wind blew from the south at close to 40 mph the whole time I rode up 395 (it was later in May) which made for a great ride for me (and >50 mpg @70-75 mph) but the riders I met heading south were not having quite as much fun...

 

[puppychow]

I don't HAVE to get to Bishop that night, it's not like anyone is waiting for me there. I just figured it to be a good stop for the night with the good availability of decent and inexpensive accommodations etc...
Any good accommodations in Lone Pine?

I stayed at the Comfort Inn, mostly because I was soaking in the views of Mt. Whitney as I approached town and could see that I would get a great view of it from the second floor of the motel. (I sat in the window for over an hour snapping pictures as the sun set.) It was a comfortable room, but nothing special, and pricey for a Comfort Inn. As I rode north the next morning I saw 3-4 other motels that looked interesting, however I didn't make note of names or anything.

As an aside, the wind blew from the south at close to 40 mph the whole time I rode up 395 (it was later in May) which made for a great ride for me (and >50 mpg @70-75 mph) but the riders I met heading south were not having quite as much fun...

I will see what I can find. Thanks for the tip!

 

[puppychow]

Still plan on leaving early Wednesday morning. Hopefully this latest storm system coming in tomorrow will have mostly moved away by then. If it is downright pouring Wednesday morning then I might push out leaving till Thursday, if it is just a drizzle or showers here and there then I am still leaving on Wednesday, Tree Doc and Redtail I will be emailing you with details soon.

PS - I am sharing SPOT info with Tree Doc and Redtail, is there also a place on the forum where one could share SPOT tracking with other forum members as well, the idea would be that the more forum eyes watching, probably the better?

 

[Tree Doc]

Still plan on leaving early Wednesday morning. Hopefully this latest storm system coming in tomorrow will have mostly moved away by then. If it is downright pouring Wednesday morning then I might push out leaving till Thursday, if it is just a drizzle or showers here and there then I am still leaving on Wednesday, Tree Doc and Redtail I will be emailing you with details soon.
PS - I am sharing SPOT info with Tree Doc and Redtail, is there also a place on the forum where one could share SPOT tracking with other forum members as well, the idea would be that the more forum eyes watching, probably the better?

PM sent regarding weather. You should be fine. It'll be breezy and partly cloudy with this cut-off low but rain will be very minimal or non-existant and you'll be headed the right direction for our NW winds on the coast.

I'll see how the weather effects my project schedule...I might still make it for Wednesday.

 

[k7lvo]

I'm sitting in my room at the Trails Motel in Lone Pine as I type this. The wind is howling from the west with gusts up to 40+ mph, I'm sure. I left Reno this morning about 10:00 am just as it started to rain. I rode in drizzle and wind with temps 43-48 for about the first hundred miles, when the temp climbed to 55 and I started seeing spots of blue sky. This was not to last. As I climbed in elevation I started getting sprinkled on and the temp dropped. By the time I topped out at 8,200 feet near Mammoth Lake, it was 39 degrees. While the wind was blowing most of the time, as the altitude dropped and the temp came up, so did the wind. It was blowing hard with even harder gusts, all the rest of the way. I shot some video with the camera mounted on the fairing and it tips back and forth from counter steering so much that one almost gets seasick watching it.

Hopefully the weather will have run its course by the time you get up here...

I haven't decided what route I'm taking from here - I'm still checking weather reports...

One item of interest: Somewhere a bit north of Bridgeport I was riding along behind 3-4 cars in a 2-lane stretch. Although it was a 55 zone, we were doing ~75. I pride myself in watching my mirrors, but I was not doing a great job of it today; all of a sudden I catch a glimpse of someone passing me. Just as I think "Somebody is REALLY in a hurry!" I see the word "Sheriff" on the side of the SUV. No lights or siren, but he's going at least 100 mph - he takes all of us like we were standing still and disappears up ahead of us. I figure he must have been responding to something, and, AFAIC, he chose the right way to do it. If he'd had lights and siren, all of us would have been trying to figure out what to do - slow down, slow down and pull over (NO shoulder) or any number of other options. Since there were 4-5 of us, we would have chosen 4-5 different options, and he would have had to figure out how to thread through. The way it was, he was around us and down the road before we had a chance to do anything dumb!

 

[puppychow]

I will leave for So Cal (rain or shine) Wednesday, the 28th of April, overnighting in Thousand Oaks and riding to San Diego on Thursday, the 29th of April.

I will start back for home on Sunday, the 2nd of May overnight along the way and continue home Monday the 3rd of May. If you are interested or just want to see where the hell is Sam I have a satellite tracking system on the bike.

It sends a location beacon back to the internet about every 10 minutes or so while riding. I normally send an "OK" message when I start and stop each day. You can track about the last 7 days of progress here

https://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/v...4Ji8vVbLgHkMZLv

password is my initials: ska

 

[Fairlaner]

Sounds like a ride is happening on Friday and no one invited me............

What time and where do we meet boys?

R

 

[k7lvo]

Sounds like a ride is happening on Friday and no one invited me............
What time and where do we meet boys?

R

I guess I missed the Friday ride part. If there is one, though, count me in, as well.

 

[Fairlaner]

so whats happening tomorrow.

R