This weekend was all that was good about riding a bike......nice roads, fabulous scenery, warm weather and a few friendly faces along the way. I left Palmdale on Saturday morning and headed south on I-14 to San Fernando before taking I-5 north a little to Santa Clarita and from there I headed west on 126 to Santa Paula before taking the 150 to Ojai (pronounced Oh-hi I am told!).
The ride on the 126 went through an area populated with orange groves and plants and trees of all description for sale.........and as I went though Happy Valley and into Ojai Valley the wind carried the smell of oranges and all sorts of other things .......it was like aromatherapy avenue.....was wonderful!
Ojai itself is a cute little town.....lots of restaurants and galleries....a real tourist haven and after a spot of lunch there I headed north on route 33.......the road started out winding through woodlands before starting to climb and once again the air was filled with the smells of fruit and wildflowers.....never experienced anything quite like it. The road was bend after bend as it climbed and dropped time and again and was very entertaining....and probably one of the best days riding I have had on the trip.
The warm weather had brought out quite a few bikers and the area is obviously popular with both the cruiser and sportsbike fraternities. I stopped at one viewing point and got talking to a really nice guy, Tom, riding a brand new R1 (Yamaha sportsbike) and he told about lots of interesting roads in the area and we were chatting for about 45 minutes before I made my excuses and got on the road again. I continued along 33 which eventually levelled off and met with the 166 which I took east before heading north to Bakersfield for the night.
I met up with a girl called Debee in Bakersfield and we had a bite to eat, a few beers and played a little pool as she showed me around some of the bars in downtown Bakersfield......thanks Debee for a lovely evening.
the road I have just taken
Sunday was another nice day.....not quite as warm as Saturday and with a little more wind but nice riding weather all the same. I decided I would check out some of the roads that Tom had suggested and make my way back through the Ojai Valley. I made my way south to Frazier Park about 50 miles south of Bakersfield and found myself on some lovely winding roads with some stunning views along the way.
Eventually I was back on 166 and I retraced my way back into the town of Ojai which was absolutely mobbed by bikers of all description. After a late lunch I decided to stay in Ojai for the evening and I got myself a room in a really lovely hotel (with extremely high beds....has been many years since I had to climb into a bed) at one end of town.
A couple of hours later I met the couple in the next room who arrived on a Honda Goldwing. Gunther and Katja are from Kaiserslautern, Germany and are just starting out on a 3 week holiday touring around California and Arizona so we had plenty to chat about. We poured over our maps and my blog for a couple of hours discussing various routes before all going to dinner together. Have a wonderful holiday guys and hope to hear from you again......Ride Safe!
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