Quotes to Big Bear

As I’m shifting my weight, sticking my knee out and pushing on the handlebars to counter steer, I have a quote from the movie Swingers running thru my mind. “You like a big bear, man…”. Of course when Trent was saying it to Mike he was referring to picking up women. To finish the quote, “and you have these claws and you don’t know how to kill the bunny”. Classic. But for me, today the bunny was the next curve coming up. And my claws are none other than my trusty Ducati Multistrada. Not that I didn’t know how to take the curve safely at a moderate speed, or rather “kill the bunny”. But Swingers is one of my favorite movies and I know that I have so much more to learn about the art of cornering.

Early Saturday morning Mike and I headed out for another motorcycle camping trip. This trip’s destination was Camp Serrano at Big Bear Lake (which is why I was thinking of the Swingers quote). One thing different about this trip is that we are meeting our families there. They are driving separately and leaving much later and meeting us at camp. Although we could of easily packed everything in the vehicles. Mike and I packed our bikes as if we were going alone. Two reasons. 1st, we are getting ready for our big ride in July when we are going to ride to Laguna Seca for the MotoGP and we are going to camp for the weekend. We wanted to see what we should bring and what would work and not work on loading the bikes. And 2nd, both of us are self-reliant and incase the families didn’t make it or had to turn around for some reason. We wouldn’t be stuck in the mountains without any gear.

Randy didn’t join us this time because it was his girlfriend’s sister’s friend’s aunt’s birthday party, or some other excuse. He really missed out. Hope you had an extra piece of cake, Randy.

Per our standards, Mike and I took the LONG WAY there. We met at our usual spot, the Coffee Bean in Irvine. For the first part of the trip we took our beaten path down to Temecula. Which is heading to Laguna to see the ocean along PCH. Then taking Ortega Hwy to Lake Elsinore. And then the back way around to Temecula. Since we were on sort of a time frame we didn’t take our favorite De Luz – Sandia Creek loop thru Fallbrook. But we did stop at the intersection to take a break.

So far it was a decent morning but we could tell it was going to be great day. While riding along the coast on Pacific Coast Highway there was a thick marine layer that hung like a blanket over us. But as we were riding thru Ortega, the sun broke thru with a vengeance and shined for the rest of the day. With it being the beginning of spring everything was starting to bloom. It was an amazing experience to smell the salt of the ocean, vineyards and orchards of Temecula, dirt of the desert, pines of the mountains and everything else along the way, all on one ride. Along with the scents, the bugs were in full force today. It was definitely a visor down type of day. And for every 10 or 15 bugs that hit my visor, one of them would get me in the neck. I don’t know how they do it, but there is less than an inch of exposed skin from the top of my collar to the bottom of the helmet. But those little peckers got me there at least 7 or 8 times. I started calling those bugs, the snipers.

Once past Temecula, the ride really picked up. It was one of the days that everything felt right. I was in a zone and became one with my bike. I was applying everything I learned on the track day and what a difference it made in my riding. The lyric from Fugazi’s song Blueprint popped in my head – “Cause what a difference, a little difference will make”. Thank you Matthias and Fastrack Riders for all that you do. Speaking of which I cant wait to get another track day fix on June 15th. But anyways, we were having such a great time riding and just moving at a good pace we didn’t want to stop a lot. So I didn’t get a whole lot of pictures of us riding. But here is Mike along Wilson Valley road.

I planned out the route on Microsoft’s Streets and Trips. I normally don’t boast about anything created by the evil empire. But that is one nice piece of software. Creating your own waypoints and calculating time, distance and gas needed. And it has everything from highways to dirt roads on it. It is a must have when planning obscure routes. Since we were taking a new route and I wasn’t about to bring my laptop. I wrote down some simple directions on a piece of paper and kept it in the sleeve of my suit. When we stopped on De Luz road, I must of dropped the directions because when we stopped for lunch in Anza, they were gone. And I couldn’t help but smile. It only added to the adventure. If we did get lost, chances are it would be on a cool road and we would get to do it twice. When I broke the news to Mike, he had the same reaction that I did. It was as if it was good news to us. Both of us like to plan and prepare for any trip as much as we can, but once it starts, just go with it. Everything good or bad is part of the adventure. To quote Charley Boorman from the book Long Way Round – “Imperfections in the journey is what makes the journey perfect”. Nail on the head there, Charley.

After lunch we continued down the 371 to the 74, hung a left and headed towards Lake Hemet. That is a really nice ride. Not full of twisties but dropping out of the high desert mountain of Cahuilla into a valley of pine trees, is a great change in scenery. Then we took the 243 up and through Idyllwild. We were planning on stopping there, but the pace was too good and neither of us needed to take a leak. So we headed down the backside of the mountain, or front side I guess, depends where you’re looking from. We did pull over before the final stretch down to Beaumont to take some pics. Mike also posed his new Dainese track suit he got. With the color scheme, he says he looks like a Power Ranger. Its hard to argue with him on that one.

The closer we got down to Beaumont, the hotter it became. The cool mountain air was being rapidly replaced with smog and feeling of being in an arm pit. I really do love the variety of California. We gassed up and started the final leg of the ride. We took Beaumont Ave north which turns into Oak Glen road. Holy Crap Batman, that was a cool road. Its fun if you go at a moderate pace. But if you’re on the throttle and on your toes, it becomes a very technical road. Really tight S-turns when you don’t expect them. A few 270 degree turns for your liking. Kinda narrow and not a whole lot of room for error. The road made my sweat and pulse increase even higher. You cant ask for much more.

Last but not least, we hopped on the 38 going up the mountain. At this point in the day, Mike and I had settled into a groove so deep, we weren’t coming out of it until we put our kickstands out. It was the type of the day that the mountains were speaking to you. There was no decipherable message, no words that I can repeat or write here. But the voice inside the mountain gave you the feeling of a little kid climbing all over his dad. Having the time of your life. The 38 is the fastest mountain road I have ever been on. Long wide sweepers, nice straights, S-turns with plenty of viz ahead. Great ending to a perfect day of riding.

By the time we had finally arrived at camp it was 2:30pm. Our families had pulled up 20 minutes before us and made it ok. We were beat and ready to take off the boots. It was one of those rides that makes you say “That was awesome but I’m glad its finally over, and I cant wait to get up tomorrow and ride again”.

Camp Serrano is a really nice campground. A little pricey, but they do have clean bathrooms and showers (if you need those types of facilities) and it is a short hike to the lake.

The ride back home the next day was far less epic. We didn’t hit the road until almost 2:30. So we took the quick way home and only stopped once for gas and once for a last picture. But we did load all our gear into the vehicles so we were lighter and more nimble. It almost made us want to take the long way back, but we both had things to take care of before dragging our sorry butts back to work the next day.

I will end this mini-novel with a quote from Neil Peart’s book Road Show – “When I’m riding my motorcycle, I’m glad to be alive. When I stop riding my motorcycle, I’m glad to be alive”.

PS - I don’t know how that turned out so long but my fingers are tired from all that jibber-jabbering. My next post will be in 2 weeks from the small island of Bonaire, off the coast of Venezuela. I’m back in the water for a week of testing fins with ScubaDiving magazine.

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".

Long Way To Idyllwild

Normally you go camping to get away from it all. But you dont feel like you are away from it all until you get there. You load up your car or truck, sit on the freeway, usually in traffic on the weekend and you cant wait to get there. Your trapped in your car not looking at the scenery, whats there to see on the freeway anyways. Finally you pull off the freeway and get to where your going, and then finally you can start to unwind.

But when you take your motorcycle to go camping, you are away from it all as soon as you throw your leg over it and sit down. This weekend Mike and I rode our bikes to Idyllwild. And we took the longest route we could, and enjoyed every second of it. According to Yahoo maps, if you take the freeway its 96 miles to Idyllwild. The way we took was over 160 miles and we didnt get on one freeway. Mike rode over to my house early Saturday morning and we headed south on PCH to San Juan, stopping for coffee before taking the Ortega Hwy over to Lake Elsinore. Mike fit almost everything into his storage box, I tied down my sleeping bag, tent and mat to the back of my Duc and fit everything else into my backpack.

After another good ride thru Oretga we stopped at the Lookout for a Rat Bastard Root Beer and to stretch our legs. Enjoying the fact that we were taking our time and taking in everything that we could.

Once coming down the mountain and hanging a right on Grand until got to Clinton Keith rd, the ride got even better. Picking roads I found just by looking around on Google Earth, we pieced together a route to get us up and around to Idyllwild. It was full of twisties, hills and just about everything. Roads running thru fields of avocado trees, orange trees and wine vineyards.

There were plenty of signs like this along the way, and every time we saw one we couldn’t help but smile.

We stopped for lunch in Anza at the Cahuilla Mtn Market along the 371. It’s a cool little family run place that serves some awesome bbq. We checked the map to see how far we have gone and even started planning our next trip.

Once we started to go up the mountain it was cool to see the scenery change, and feel the temperature change and the smells change. Just simple things you never experience in a car.

We finally got to camp around 3pm. Idyllwild sits at about 6000 feet so it was definitely cooler up there. Mike made us reservations at a cool campground called Dark Canyon. And in the morning you realize why they call it that. Its tucked in a little canyon and surrounded by tall trees, so not a whole lot of sunlight will actually hit your camp site. Once we got there we set up camp right away and just rested a bit. I brought along my tent, Mike brought his camping hammock which was pretty cool. It comes with a screen to keep out the bugs and a tarp to cover you as well.

After resting a bit we rode down the road a little bit and loaded Mikes storage box full of firewood. We actually got enough firewood for the whole night on one trip. You cant beat a good Enduro with lots of storage room.

For dinner we went to town and ate at the Greek Place. Really good greek food, a bit pricy though. The ride back at night was really cold, at least for me and my summer jacket. But going thru the blind corners and twisties in the mountains at night was something you just have to do atleast once. In the morning we pretty much just packed up, got breakfast in town and rode the same way back. By far it was once of the best trips either of us have ever been on.