Quick Ride To Fallbrook

Yesterday Mike, Randy and I took a half day ride to Fallbrook and back. Randy has had his Yamaha Z1 for about a month now and this was his first time on a ride with us and on the Ortega Hwy. Although right away, Randy feels he is number 1.


We hit Ortega pretty early in the morning and there was not that many people on it. Which is always nice. We stopped again at "The Lookout" for a quick break. The fires are still burning in Riverside and Banning and you can see all the smoke in the distance.


Mike being the inventor that he is, rigged up his own helmet cam. For the ride out there he had it mounted on top of his helmet. For the ride back he had it mounted on the back of his bike pointing backwards. Hopefully I can post some clips he took later.


Right before we hit De Luz rd, Mike had to stop and water the bushes. I hope turned off the camera.


Once we hit Fallbrook, we stopped at a life cafe and had lunch. It was pretty good, I forgot the name of it, but its along Main St. You cant miss it, there isnt a whole lot of places to eat in Fallbrook. On the way back on the Ortega we got stuck behind some slow pecker from Arizona. By the time we got behind him there were 3 cars trailing him, then us 3 on bikes and behind us were several other cars. And the idiot didn't pull over or use one of the thousand turnouts to let everyone else go by. We followed him the whole way. It took us twice as long to go thru Ortega Hwy as normal. Seriously how self centered do you have to be to think that everyone else can wait for you because you have too much pride to let people pass you. If some guy on a scooter wanted to pass me, I would pull to the side and let him go, and more power to him.

Aside from that, it was a great trip. I really wish we had time to actually make it a 2 day trip and camp. But it was good to get out and just ride.

A day at Anacapa Island

What better way to spend a Monday then to spend it diving on a perfect day. Scubalab was trying out a new crop of test divers to add to their pool of divers they can use for the gear test year round. Since I have been testing gear for them for the past 5 years, I asked to tag along and help out anyway I could. So they assinged me the role of Dive Master of the boat. It was the 1st time I have ever DiveMastered a boat and it was pretty cool. So I checked people in and out the water, helped out with any issues and kept a constant eye out for anything that could go wrong.

When we left out of Oxnard Harbor and it was a short 1 hour boat ride over to Anacapa Island. After we dropped anchor, Bill and John gave the gear testing briefings to all the divers.

The divers did 3 short dives to simulate 3 different types of gear tests. The conditions were good, 40'+ viz and about 64 degrees. You really cant ask for more in October.

Since I was the DiveMaster I didnt get to dive in the morning. Only after all the simulated tests were done and we changed sites did I have time for one dive. And so I made the most of it and stayed down for 70 minutes. It was my only 3rd time diving Anacapa Island and it was one the best dives I have had in So Cal. The viz had dropped down to about 20 feet and there was a slight current but not too bad. What really made the dive was all the marine life that I saw on one dive. Here are some shots of everything that I came across.

This little guy was hanging out inside an empty scallop shell

Spanish Shawl

Juvenile Garibaldie

Bat Ray

Octopus

Giant Kelp Fish

Horn Shark

Scorpion Fish

To end the perfect dive, I had a little underwater snack. I found a nice size scallop, slipped my knife into the shell. Cut the top and bottom and opened it up. Cleaned off all the innards, and had a big enough piece that I had to cut it half to eat. There is simply nothing better tasting than a scallop underwater.

Italian Bike Night

Last night I went to the last Italian Bike Night of the year for the Orange County Ducati Club . It was held at/or rather in the parking lot in front of Gelato Paradiso down in Newport Beach. Damn good gelato and even better espresso. Seriously why does anyone go to Starbucks? Oh because there is one every 38 feet, that must be it. It cant because they think the coffee is the best. Thats like saying McDonalds has the best hamburgers because they sold 19 trillion. Think about it Starbucks, McDonalds and Microsoft are all one in the same.

Damn, I started to rant like Denny. I miss that goofy bastard. Ok back to the story.

Anyways it was another good turn out. There were about 20-25 bikes there. Most of them were Ducs, but with a few Aprilias mixed in and the token BMW. There were a lot of 749's there, mine was the only Multi there. And of course I never get tired of seeing the 999.

After the IBN, I took PCH south down to Laguna. Riding down PCH at night with my visor up, smelling the salt air, seeing the ocean, is something that wipes away every thought I have. Makes me forget the crappy week I had at work. Reminds me of why I put up with the traffic, smog, and anything negative you can think about Orange County.

Once I hit downtown Laguna, I headed up Laguna Canyon rd. Hardly anyone was on it. And the air was cold enough to really make you pay attention to everything and nothing all at the same time. It was a perfect ending to a good night.

Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

If you're like me, you have never heard if Lake Cuyamaca or Cuyamaca Park. The easiest way to describe where it is, is its in between San Diego and the Salton Sea in the Laguna mountains. Mike and I have never been there, but we went this weekend. Trying to get in one more ride before winter hits and Mike becomes a father. We set off from Irvine and rode all the way there and back without getting on one freeway, 400 miles round trip.

We took the usual route of heading down PCH, then cutting across on the Ortega Hwy to Lake Elisnore. Then heading south, and coming to one of my favorite hills which is on Los Gatos Rd.

When we hit De Luz road we made a right and took it to Fallbrook. De Luz road was really cool. Twisting and turning thru tree tunnels, hills and over creeks which half the time ran over the road. Which was a little tense, riding thru water with street tires is not something either of us likes to do. But it only added to the adventure.

At Fallbrook we headed East on the 76 and came to South Grade Road. There are roads and then there is South Grade Road going up Palomar Mountain.

Its hard to describe the feeling of riding this road up the mountain, riding it down is its own monster all together. But it was awesome. The road itself is probably as close to a race track on a public road as you will ever ride. Tons of sport bikes are there flying up and down this road.

When you get to the top your heart is racing, hands cramped from gripping too tight on the handle bars, and smiling so big, your helmet gets tighter. And the view is not bad either.

Here is Mike coming to the top of it.

Once on top of the mountain we headed over to the Palomar Observatory, which has a 200" telescope. I didn't get any pics of the actual telescope inside, but it was impressive. Next time we will have to do the tour of it.

After the Observatory we got back on the road and headed to Julian. We were going to eat lunch there but it was way to crowded and every place has the prices you would expect at a tourist trap. So we kept riding until we got to Lake Cuyamaca and had lunch in a little mom and pop cafe. We camped at Green Valley campsite, which was...ok. It wasn't quite as good as Idyllwild. But we were so tired all we needed was a place to sleep.

Once we got camp set up and took the mandatory nap we headed into the small town of Descano for dinner. If you have never been Descano on a Saturday night, you don't know what you are missing. Actually you probably do, nothing. But outside the gas station/store/restaurant we saw this ol pickup truck, that summed up Descano.

The next morning we got up and hit the road, this time taking the S1 up and around back to Lake Cuyamaca. S1 is probably my favorite road I have ever been on. Twisting thru forests, mountains and over looking valleys.

It was another great trip and far exceeded our expectations. And no great trip is without its wrong turns, and other mishaps that you look back at and smile. Like at the camp site when the wind shifted a certain way, you smelled shit, getting stung in the neck by a bee while riding, and after a wrong turn you see a sign that says "Pavement Ends 600 Feet".