Another SoCal ride

Well I have to say that this ride was really fun. The Monkey Butt ride to the beginning of the ride sucked however. Tim (LTDRider) and I met up at 7:45 in Acton and navigated the closure on Hwy 138 with no problems. We exited at the HWY 138/Hwy15 Wrightwood exit and sat waiting for everyone else to show up. We had no idea that about 1/4 mile away and out of line of sight from us, the other 5 were sitting at their fast food joint waiting for us to show-up. 10 o'clock comes up and we decide we must be at the wrong exit so we ride 12 miles down the freeway to the next exit with fast food joints--still nobody. We figure we would ride back to the original exit check one more time and if we don't see anyone we would just head on home. We finally ran into the guys and tried to get the infamous helmetcam to work--no dice. The beginning of the ride was relatively low altitude and we rode through a large section of terrain that had recently burned--very stark, kind of sad really. Once the altitude started to rise, we started encountering some tight twisties, which kind of caught most of us out at one point or another. I thought it was so cool watching KZJohn and his friend Stuart diving into the corners and rapidly pulling away from the rest of us (me mostly). Bluemeanie (John) and R4 (Chris) have 650's that give my CSR 1000 an inferiority complex. Several times during the ride I looked in my mirror and freaked when I saw a Cop Bike crawling up my tailpipe, to instantly realize--hey its okay its only KZRick escorting me personally.
On the way up the mountain we had some guy in a red late 60's early 70's Chevelle pulling a U turn on the exit of a blind corner. This guy almost collected half our group, then we came across the two young squids scraping themselves off the road. Our group stopped and tried to help straighten out the guy's shifter lever. Tools were coming out from everywhere--it looked like a yard fight at the local penitentiary. The rest of the ride went smoothly, I'm constantly amazed at how fast our greybeards ride even my Cop escort was getting on it. His bike looks solid and it doesn't seem to wallow in the corners like you (I) might expect.
Lunch was great, we discussed the state of the website and all the weird stuff that has been going on lately. I think the general consensus was that maybe there should be a flamer section on the site where you can go-- but don't go there if you are easily offended... Everything else on the site should be about bikes or related to the subject matter. Thats the gist of what I absorbed from the conversation.
I guess everyone else was as thirsty as I was because we all opted for either iced tea or water... Beer sounded so good to me, but I could tell that I was dehydrating to I stuck with the tea.
Shortly after lunch, Tim and I split off from the main group to ride north out of Big Bear and down through the desert... To say it was hot is an understatement--blast furnace--oven--hellish is a better description. You don't realize how much moisture you're losing in that heat with the hot air blowing on you. My kidneys have been squeaking for the last 2 days. Anyway folks, regardless of the heat, I had a great time and enjoyed seeing the group again.
Grant.

:S Damn..I love the tight stuff. I really wish I could have been there with you guys. I rode with KZJohn, LTDRider, JoeK, Stuart, RetroRiceRocket, and a few others last year for the Julian ride. That ride was also a lot of fun (except for DutchZ's infamous corner).

Thanks for all the Pics! And by the way, you all might be making fun of my cop bike, LOL, but the fairing sure keeps the bugs off of the face shield:whistle:

z1rick wrote:

Thanks for all the Pics! And by the way, you all might be making fun of my cop bike, LOL, but the fairing sure keeps the bugs off of the face shield:whistle:

Nobody here making fun of your bike,none of us are riding museum pieces. As for the bugs, I think I was clearing the way out front, not too many left by the time you passed through LOL!

I managed to upload one video clip onto youtube. It's about one and a half minutes.
Here's the link:

youtube.com/watch?v=3cClAaCQG7g

Not all that exciting, just some film of the bikes (parked), the guys, and some scenery. The video never does the real view justice.

Making fun of your cop bike? Hardley, a couple of times when you were behind me and I would glance in my mirrior. I would freak out thinking a cop had snuck up on my ass!! Realized it was you but kept waiting for the blue and reds to flash!. I gotta get me one one them!! :woohoo:

ltdrider wrote:

I managed to upload one video clip onto youtube. It's about one and a half minutes.
Here's the link:

youtube.com/watch?v=3cClAaCQG7g

Not all that exciting, just some film of the bikes (parked), the guys, and some scenery. The video never does the real view justice.

Wow, I totally forgot about you taking that vid when we stopped to check out the valley below.
Thanks for posting that Tim!

Since it looks like John has figured out why the helmet cam wasn't working, we should have some really great vid to post from our next ride - the beach, right?
Now we just need to set a date for it and see who can make it.
I'm game for just about any date!
Does anyone else have a particular date that they'd prefer for the ride to be on?

Post edited by: RetroRiceRocketRider, at: 2007/07/07 01:06

Sometime in August sounds good to me, we can watch the weather and pick a time when it might be below 100! As far as where, that will be a topic for discussion. What do ya think guys? We can also wait long enough for Mark Wing to join us, he's almost done?

I've been looking at the map, trying to get some ideas for a fun ride. I've got nothin'.
Beach roads & highways are so crowded on Saturdays... the traffic takes all the fun out of it (unless you're KZJohn, and your idea of fun is splitting lanes at 60mph :ohmy: ).

I don't have an issue with riding the same roads twice. With my memory, it's always a new experience :woohoo: I do know that the Ortega Hwy is undergoing construction right now and I agree with ltdrider that PCH on the weekend can be no fun...

Well, KZJohn was talking about Angels Crest and then there is also Idyllwild, nice roads up there. Trying to keep everyone with a reasonable riding distance. Palomar has bitchen roads but is a bit of a ride for you LA, Palmdale area guys. Too bad the Ortega is under construction.

I guess we could start a new one, hope riding again is not out of the question? This thread just stopped, so I'm saying something just to keep it up front!