California 33...the sweetest smelling route!

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!

Lake Elsinore to Palmdale

I left Hemet this morning in brilliant sunshine and the promise of yet another scorching day......i stayed on Highway 74 heading west towards Lake Elsinore and on to the coast as the 74 was billed as a scenic route. It was unremarkable until after Elsinore itself and then it started to climb providing lovley views across the lake itself.




Lake Elsinore...

The route then developed into a 25 mile stretch of bends that seemed to just go from one to the other without any time to get bored or switch off in between....the bends themselves weren't as tight or technical as I have encountered already on this trip but they were entertaining enough for me to get to San Juan Capistrano on the other end....have some lunch....and then turn around and do them again.

After that I mad emy way north on I-15 and soon found myself in Friday afternoon motorway gridlock in the greater Los Angeles area......had my first experience of filtering through traffic in the USA. Filtering is something I do back in the UK all the time but hadn't seen anyone doing it here until I got to California.....not even sure if it is legal here! Needs must however and I had 5 or 6 miles of continuous filtering to start off with.....otherwise I would have been stuck for an age on the interstate.

Soon turned west again on Highway 2 which once again brought me into mountains and snow-covered mountains at that! I only got about 10 miles though before the road was closed in front of me (winter!) but what I saw was pretty spectacular so I turned around and made my way to Palmdale for the evening.

starting out on Route 2

The following pics were taken from a vantage point called 'Inspiration Point'.

Palm Springs and beyond....

The bike came through the service without any problems which was good news and I was back on the road by lunchtime. I must admit to a few moments of blind-panic last night thinking I had not seen the bike outside my room (before quickly realising it was in the shop).

I headed to Palm Springs and soon saw how the place got its name.....palm trees of all shapes and sizes everywhere.....







I took Highway 74 as a scenic route to Hemet.


the road winds its way up this hill

...the view from the top of the hill

Lake Hemet

you can see the road working its way down the hill to Hemet

It was a really hot day here today....southern California seems to be the only corner of the USA that isn't getting battered by snowstorms or thunderstorm at the moment.....it is a hard life I tell ya!!