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140 Posts
Riding in Southern California can really suck with some of the most ridiculous traffic on the planet. Just getting out of (and back into) town can be challenging, if not down right frustrating. My scrambler doesn't like the simi-grid locked traffic, but is perfect for "scrambling" through it.
The key is leaving early or late, 6:00am as opposed to 9:00am depending if it's a week day. Basically it's a timing thing with the ebb and flow of work traffic during the week navigating your way out to get to the good stuff and back.
Myself and a buddy on a Multistrada have put some pretty decent loops together over the last couple months, usually making a day of it, avg 200-250mi or more depending (sometimes it's just to good to head back, so we ad more miles). Focused on two lane hwys (twisties), we typically pick somewhere to get breakfast, then head for someplace far enough away in time to get lunch, then find a long way home avoiding as much fwy as possible, although it's usually inevitable getting back into LA/OC area. So we have a basic idea on way points but stay flexible so we can deviate as needed.
As an example last Sunday ended up being a 300 miler. We met up at the 405 and Beach blvd at 7am, jumped back on the 405 south to the 5 south to Oceanside and hwy 76. From there we headed to up to Mount Palomar Observatory on S6 and had breakfast on the way up at Mother's Cafe. After checking out the Observatory we headed back down to hwy 76, went south to hwy 79 at Lake Henshaw and headed north around the back side of Palomar to Temecula and stopped at the Doffo winery. (If you haven't been there, you need to put it on your list, the owner Marcelo Doffo is a motorcycle enthusiast and road racer, with a soft spot for Ducati's). This place is a destination in it's own right, Italian food, exclusive wines ($$) and a motorcycle museum with a great staff. From there we headed for Elsinore then taking Ortega hwy back to the coast and PCH home.
Three weeks prior we made a large loop up the coast on PCH stopping at Camarillo airport for breakfast, then rode up to Solvang then back to the coast to Gaviota state beach and back down 101.
We've been averaging an all day ride about every 2 to 3 weeks, some on week days, some on weekends (both of us have "Graduated" from work so we have everyday off that ends in Y).
A pending ride idea involves Big Bear for breakfast at Nottingham's Tavern in a couple weeks, not sure exactly when or where to after that, maybe work in some fire roads....lots of options in that area, planning on the fly is fun as well, adventure......
So I reckon this is an open invitation if you would like to tag along on the next one, or the one after......or suggest one !
The key is leaving early or late, 6:00am as opposed to 9:00am depending if it's a week day. Basically it's a timing thing with the ebb and flow of work traffic during the week navigating your way out to get to the good stuff and back.
Myself and a buddy on a Multistrada have put some pretty decent loops together over the last couple months, usually making a day of it, avg 200-250mi or more depending (sometimes it's just to good to head back, so we ad more miles). Focused on two lane hwys (twisties), we typically pick somewhere to get breakfast, then head for someplace far enough away in time to get lunch, then find a long way home avoiding as much fwy as possible, although it's usually inevitable getting back into LA/OC area. So we have a basic idea on way points but stay flexible so we can deviate as needed.
As an example last Sunday ended up being a 300 miler. We met up at the 405 and Beach blvd at 7am, jumped back on the 405 south to the 5 south to Oceanside and hwy 76. From there we headed to up to Mount Palomar Observatory on S6 and had breakfast on the way up at Mother's Cafe. After checking out the Observatory we headed back down to hwy 76, went south to hwy 79 at Lake Henshaw and headed north around the back side of Palomar to Temecula and stopped at the Doffo winery. (If you haven't been there, you need to put it on your list, the owner Marcelo Doffo is a motorcycle enthusiast and road racer, with a soft spot for Ducati's). This place is a destination in it's own right, Italian food, exclusive wines ($$) and a motorcycle museum with a great staff. From there we headed for Elsinore then taking Ortega hwy back to the coast and PCH home.
Three weeks prior we made a large loop up the coast on PCH stopping at Camarillo airport for breakfast, then rode up to Solvang then back to the coast to Gaviota state beach and back down 101.
We've been averaging an all day ride about every 2 to 3 weeks, some on week days, some on weekends (both of us have "Graduated" from work so we have everyday off that ends in Y).
A pending ride idea involves Big Bear for breakfast at Nottingham's Tavern in a couple weeks, not sure exactly when or where to after that, maybe work in some fire roads....lots of options in that area, planning on the fly is fun as well, adventure......
So I reckon this is an open invitation if you would like to tag along on the next one, or the one after......or suggest one !
