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My third ride of the year finds me heading down to the San Diego area again. This has traditionally been a bugaboo for me. I've hosted rides down here many times but the San Diego COG members just didn't show up. This time it will be different though.
I arrive at the meeting spot, a "Denny's" restaurant on Ortega Hwy. at the I-5, about 20 minutes early. Soon others start to ride in and by 8am we are hungry and go inside for breakfast. So far it is Ken Clark, Bill Hogue, Tony Giammarino, Jim Stegman and myself. Jim and I are the only non-San Diegans! Wow! That is a record, for sure. Soon, Lee Bethel, a new Cogger on his first Cog ride, comes in to join us at breakfast and then Paul Bove and Gary Mancuso and his wife Linda do to. This is going to be a big group.
After a noisy but pleasant breakfast, we head out to the bikes to wait for the appointed rollout time. Sure enough, John Kinley, Steve Groth and then Andy Glass arrive. 11 bikes and 12 people. Heck, most of the bikes are even Connies! Route sheets and maps are handed out and we discuss the first part of the ride, the 30 miles of Ortega Highway. For this hunk of mountain road, I prefer to break us up and let each rider go at his own pace rather than try to keep a group together. The road is just too crowded and it is double yellow lined virtually from end to end. We will regroup at the "Lookout Roadhouse" overlooking Lake Elsinore. For this leg, I will ride at the back of the group and keep an eye out for any of us that may have trouble but as usual, none do. We all arrive at the "Lookout" in good shape and soon we are ready to get going again. Steve Groth has a long "Honey-Do" list and he goes back over Ortega to try and whittle that list down to size. Sorry Steve. The rest of group gets to continue on. The final 4 miles down the mountain is fast, curvy and fun. A left turn on Grand Avenue and we head to the north side of the lake so that the newer Coggers or those that have not been to this area before can see the old resort town of Elsinore. Made famous in the movie "On Any Sunday", it is an eclectic mixture of old and new buildings that make for an interesting ride-through. Part retirement home and part water ski resort, it is a really strange place. You can see the classic Blue-Haired Little Old Lady standing on a street corner while a wet suit clad teenage water skier runs by her on his way into a mini mart to get a Mountain Dew and a Slim Jim. It only takes a few minutes to ride through the whole town but it is well worth the effort. Heading south, we take the old side roads of Jefferson and Washington instead of the freeway. It isn't that they've got more curves, it's just that they're more scenic, running past horse ranches and farms. Unfortunately, those ranches and farms are giving way to housing developments and as we ride by them, I wonder how long until we opt for the freeway instead. Old Town Temecula flows by and soon we are on our way towards the booming metropolis of "Rainbow". For those of us that remember the Kawasaki print ads featuring the fictitious rallies that ended up becoming real rallies, Rainbow will be familiar. One of those ads featured a Concours, two up, in rolling hills with a hot air balloon in the background. It ran in the motorcycle magazines in about 1988 or so. When they actually put the Rainbow rally on, I attended it on my old Cagiva 650SS. That was my first motorcycle rally and I guess that it left me with a good impression of Kawasaki and the Concours. Thank You, Kawasaki. Just before Rainbow, we turn into Rice Canyon. This is a fun bit of road that is getting to the point of needing some serious repair. The last 5 years have been hard on her and I hope that new asphalt is coming soon. But even on its' worst day, Rice Canyon is a delight. Tight and twisty, lots of elevation changes, it goes snaking through a little arroyo that is home to some very high roller homes. They allow us to use their "driveway" and I'm glad they do. Lots of overhanging trees turn this section of the ride into a virtual tunnel at times and going in and out of the shadows can be a bit dazzling at times. Just be careful of the dirt in the road and the sudden surprise corners. Only about 6 miles long, it comes to an end way too soon. But not to worry. "Couser Canyon is next and it is only a tenth of a mile away! We are soon riding that next road that is really just a continuation of the first. Starting out as a small farm, it soon gives way to hills that bend and warp the road into a convoluted mess. But on a motorcycle, that mess is so much FUN! Lots of houses up here but these people seem to stay home, as there is little traffic on this road. A definite plus. Just like Rice Canyon, Couser Canyon ends and we regroup, take a little rest stop and give everybody a chance to ditch the cold weather riding gear. It has warmed up a lot since San Juan Capistrano and there are large sweat spots on some of the shirts. So. Cal. weather never lets you forget just who the boss is. As we are doing our thing, a couple of Dodge Vipers come by us, having just done their own Rice and Couser Canyon run. Yes, even the car people know about this place. Next is Lilac Road, which soon delivers us to Valley Center, a busy little town that is a good place to stop if you need something. We don't, so we just cruise through and keep heading for the next stop on the itinerary, Palomar Mountain. Riding County Highway S-6 is quite pleasant. The road dips and dives and twists and turns but in a less demanding style. At a steady 50 to 70 the whole thing is fun. The group seems to be fitting together well and learning each other's riding style. Nobody is lagging behind and nobody wanting to take off and leave the group behind. We wait at each major road change to let everybody regroup and I'm glad to say that nobody got left behind! I hope that everybody is enjoying the ride as much as I am. "South Grade Road" up to Palomar Mountain. What can I say? It is a tight, twisty, steep, miserable hunk of pavement that should be shot at sunrise for taking the lives of so many motorcycles. The very first time I went up this road, I came around a corner and there was a brand new but thoroughly trashed, BMW K100RS laying in the dirt, oil running out of the hole in its' crankcase and onto the road. There was also a lot of blood in the dirt and the eerie part was that there was not a single person, car or emergency vehicle to be found. Just the bike, still on its' side. Did the rider get picked up? Did he wander off looking for help? A very odd situation and I have had a weird dislike of that road ever since. But it is the only practical way to get to where we are headed, so it's up "South Grade Road" one more time. After so many 20 to 30 mph switchbacks you lose count, we safely arrive at the summit. We pull in for a rest stop, a quick bite to eat and something to drink. This is a big time motorcycle hang out for the San Diego riders. Harley's or Hayabusa's, everybody is welcome. Toss in the bicycle crowd too. And the occasional sports car plus the tourists on their way to the observatory that houses the 200 inch Hale Telescope. This place is a "hang out" of the first degree. The sport bikers will spend the day just going up and down South Grade, beveling their tires into something resembling an old Dunlop K-81. I think that these guys can use the directional arrows and maximum inflation numbers for traction. Don't EVER try to stay with one of these guys on his home turf. You'll find out what happened to that long ago BMW rider. Some cold drinks and a snack or two later and we are once again heading into the vastness of inland San Diego county. Everyone had asked me "Hey Jim. Are we going to take Mesa Grande Road?" Of course we are! I don't get to this area enough and I always do Mesa Grande. I think that this one is my favorite road of today's whole route. I just love the combination of the twisty bits at the beginning and then the long legged high speed of the second part. It has great scenery and little traffic. The pavement is in good condition and it has some really cute "Gotcha" surprises at the tops of some of the crests: Be careful! Near the end of Mesa Grande it drops about 1000 feet in a couple of miles. That makes it fun ride but it is distracting with the drop off on your right hand side. It looks so close and so far down! A little rushing on the way down and Mesa Grande is done. Pulling into Santa Ysabel, Gary and Linda turn west for home while the rest of us turn east, temporarily, to get some gas. Jim Stegman is on a Yamaha FJ 1200 and doesn't have the range of a Concours. Topped off we head back towards the finale of the ride, Escondido. It will be anticlimactic though as the San Diego contingent is going to peel off at Romona on Hwy. 67 while we of the Orange County persuasion head northwest on 78. Hwy. 78's an odd mix of being a major highway that is actually a great motorcycle road. The corners are good and the condition of the road is great. There is plenty of good scenery and even though there is a lot of traffic it moves along at a pretty good clip. While I would not recommend it as a "Great Motorcycle Road" for Pashnit.com, it certainly is not a bad way to end to our long day of tight road carving. Getting through Escondido is a confused ritual. The signs take you through a maze that can actually be done much more easily. Some day I'll figure it out. I just took us to the "Boll Weevil", Home the ½ pound Steer Burger for a late lunch. An interesting place with beef on the menu and waitresses that like to tease and ask questions. The food is good, basic BBQ'd burgers, the prices are fair and the help is inquisitive and playful. After stuffing ourselves, we waddle out to our waiting steeds and head for our respective home cities. When I arrive home, there is an e-mail waiting for me. It is from Lee Bethel and he is sending me a "Thank You" note for the days ride. You're very Welcome Lee. It was my pleasure. I would like to say Thank You to all of the riders that came out today, especially the San Diego crowd. I hope that everybody enjoyed the ride and will join us again.
Jim Souders, So. CA-COG, AAD. |