Surf and Turf

Ok, I know the title is kinda lame, but its all I could think of for riding all the way to JD's house in Nipomo and then going surfing once we got there.


Last Saturday, Tom, John and I rode up to see JD and his new house in Nipomo, which is close to Pismo. Since Mike has turned to the dark side, or rather the green side and now lives in Oregeon, I left Irvine early in the morning by myself. I met up with Tom who rides a Harley at a coffee shop in Lakewood at 7am. Here is the route we took to meet up with John in Ventura.

Once getting out of Lakewood, we got on the 405 and took it to the 101. Thats more freeway than Im used to or like to ride but it was the quickest and easiest way. From the 101 we took the 23 south to PCH. The 23 is a really fun road. Really really tight corners, mostly 1st and 2nd gear turns. But there wasnt alot of traffic out that early in the morning which is nice. When we hit the intersection of 23 and Mulholland Dr, I stopped to take the 1st pics of the trips.


Here is where the 23 drops down to PCH. This part of the road looks a lot better than it actually is. All of the corners had a lot of loose gravel making hard to take that at any speed.


Once we hit PCH we took that up to Los Posas rd up to the 101 and a few exits later we got off on Seaward and met up with John for some coffee before taking the 33 north up thru Ojai. The 33 is a great road, some really tight sections and some good sweepers with elevation changes and great scenery the whole way. We stopped at Pine Mountain Inn to take a breather and stretch our legs a little. Although it was closed, there were several bikes who also stopped there for a break.


We took the 33 up to the 166 and hung a left heading to Cuyama. Old and new Cuyama. As we were heading thru Cuyama the population sign said a total of 150 people reside there. I had a hard time believing that, I only saw a few houses. Maybe they have one of those underground command bunkers like in Spies Like Us. But I didnt see any abandonded drive-ins with hidden elevators disguised as Pepsi machines. I was also on the look out for hot Russian girls in white snow bikinis in tents, no go on those eithers. As we hit New Cuyama we stopped for lunch at the Roadhouse. We were hoping to gas up there at the one and only gas station in town, but guess what? It was closed for the day. And the next service station was 56 miles away where the 166 hit the 101. John and I were nervously watching our gas gauges the whole way there.


But luckily we made it all the way to JD's house in Nipomo. Whose house was great, its in a cool quiet little neighborhood. But the best part of his house was his tv. 40" flat panel sony at 1048P. Simply amazing. After gawking at his tv for a little while, John headed off to find his hotel, while JD, Tom and I grabbed some towels and JDs boards and headed to Pismo beach.




Tom was just getting over a cold so he stayed out of the water and took pictures. JD was using his body board and he let me use his wetsuit and his new long board he had just picked up. The thing was huge, a good 3 feet longer than my board. But it was a wave catching machine. The surf wasnt that great, just a small wind swell with lots of chop and a ripping current. But JD and I both agreed it was great just to be out in the water.

After hanging out at the beach for awhile we headed back to JDs house to meet up with John and head to Jockos for dinner. If you are ever in Nipomo, make a reservation and get a steak at Jockos. It was one of the best steaks I have ever had. The resturant itself is a dive. A shoddy little place but packed with locals. Lines out the door. But worth it.

The next morning we said goodbye to our gracious host and brother, JD and hit the road around 9. On the way back we took the 101 to the 154 and down to the 192. The 192 was an interesting road. It ran thru serveral different residental areas, but with some great twistie parts along the way. But beware, a lot of people have there driveways connected to the 192. And I almost got hit. I was coming around a blind right hand corner. And as I rounded the corner I saw a SUV nose out of his driveway, and right as I was almost to him, he decided to pull out. He saw me and hit the breaks, stopping completely in the middle of the road. I grabbed a handful of breaks and locked up my backtire. Started fishtailing as I was headed right toward this pecker. By shear luck and maybe some of my dirt riding experience I kept it up on two wheels and just missed the back of his suv by inches. I immediately pulled over to check my britches and catch my breath. The pecker just sped off and never looked back to see if I made it or if I was ok. As Tom and John were coming around the corner they saw the smoke from my tires and the guy speeding away. It was definitely the biggest "Oh Shit" moment of the year for me.

When we got to Ventura, we met up with Bill for lunch at a little cafe which I cant remember the name of right now. Then Tom and I took off for home. On the way back we took PCH to Mulhollad dr and stopped at the famous Rock Store. It was my first time there and it was just what I expected and seen on tv shows. A bunch of bikers, sporties and hogs, all hanging out looking as cool as they can.


After the Rock Store it was lane splitting on the 405 all the way home. It was a great trip and JD is the man for having us over and cant wait to head up there again.

(me looking as cool as I can, but with great scenery)

Bonaire Part 3

We began Sunday morning by sizing all the fins and doing orientation meeting and briefings on the tests and upcoming week for the "veterans" and "rookies" of the teams. CP briefed the speed team and I briefed the slalom team. I cant go into the details, results, or specifics of the tests. All that will be covered in the November issue of ScubaDiving magazine. What I can tell you is that is was another fun and amazing week with people I consider family. For the ones that have been to the past tests especially. And the rookies fell right into place and joined the family.



Here are some of my favorite shots of the week, and you can see all of the rest of my pictures at 130Down.





And here are some pics that CP took. He really is an amazing photographer, and even though he wont admit it, he taught me almost everything that I know about underwater photography.

This one, I wanted a shot of me next to a moral eel smiling. But the eel wasn't having any of it, go figure. Every time I got close to him he would back down into his hole. So this is as close as he would let me get to him. Yeah I know, not the smartest thing to do, but I thought it would make a great shot. Anyways this was at the bottom of the Hilma Hooker ship wreck in about 110 feet of water.



And here is me and my new best friend. Don't worry my Duc is still my Italian mistress and is above all other toys.

Bonaire Part 2

We finally got settled in at Capt Don's Habitat late Friday night and early Saturday morning we were up and ready to get breakfast and hit the water. After the usual dive orientation meeting the pool was open.



The 1st dive is always a monumental experience. Its the 1st dive of the trip and it was the 1st dive with my new Ikelite housing for my Nikon D-40.


For comparsion I brought along my trusty point and shoot Sony that has been on more than 200 dives with me. As you can see how much bigger and involded the D-40 is. But its worth the cost and effort. I fell in love with it the 1st time I looked the view finder and click the shutter button.



For our 1st dive we dove Capt Dons House Reef, which in my opinion is one of the best house reefs I have ever dove. In the afternoon. CP, Tom and I did a boat dive on Little Wall. Later that night we did a night dive back on the House Reef.


Saturday night the rest of the team showed up. In all we were 12 fin testers and 6 people from Scubalab and ScubaDiving Mag. Who all took time away from their families, work and everyday lives to go spend A LOT of hours underwater testing fins in the warm Caribbean waters. Its a rough job, but somebody has got to do it....