Coming down from the Bay Area you can get to LA 3 main ways. Take I-5 and make good time at about 85 mph just to keep up with traffic. You can take the most scenic route and go down Hy 1. That takes you down the coast with some famous postcard views of places like Big Sur etc but it can take a long time. You can get a little of the coast, and make pretty good time by taking 101.
I was planning on a stop on the way down so I thought I'd take 101 south and figure out where and when to stop. I left in the early afternoon from Oakland and made my way south past San Jose where the traffic becomes much easier to deal with and the Salinas Valley opens up with fields of veggies on both sides. With the agriculture and rolling hills it reminded me of the area south of Ensenada or Mexicali in Baja.
I could ride my Honda Valkyrie about 120 miles to reserve, getting about 33 mpg. So I'd stop and get some gas, have some water to drink as it was in the 90's, and start to figure out my plan. I had some stuff with me in my saddle bags and didn't want to spend the night is some big town where somebody might mess with my bike.
I turned off and had dinner at the Madonna Inn. I thought about staying there, it is one of those nutty places tourists read about. All the rooms are themed in a different way. I think the Caveman Room is really popular. There was still some daylight left, and I wasn't ready to stop so I thought I'd run just a little more and overnight in Solvang.
There's some pretty weird stuff in Central California. Solvang is a themed town! Danish. Windmills. Wooden shoe stores. All that. I didn't think a town full of tourists on tour busses would mess with my motorcycle. I got a room at the King Frederick Inn. I rode around the corner and parked next to an older Harley chopper. Ha somebody with the same idea as me!
Solvang was a good choice. Friday morning I had a good breakfast with some good Danish danish, bought some cookies to bring to my friends place in LA and before I left town I went to the Solvang Motorcycle Museum. What a cool place and a must see for any fan of motorcycles. They have bikes from all eras, from really rare to a bike or 2 you might have or might have once owned.
While I was there the owner was showing the bikes to some head honchos from the AMA Hall of Fame Museum. They were pretty impressed too. That's really saying something.
I took some photos you can see them here.
I headed out of town and made my way along the coast to Hy. 1 and down to Malibu. That was a great run along the coast on a perfectly warm and sunny Southern California day.
I had to get to Laurel Canyon so I headed up Topanga Canyon over the hill to 101 then to my friends place. It was a good days ride into LA from Solvang and there was still some daylight as I unpacked.
Now that I made the trip the fun started!
We went to Santa Monica Friday and checked out Rick Estrin and the Nightcats, a blues band from Sacramento that used to be "Little Charlie and..." but Charlie the guitar player retired! So lead singer and awesome harp player Rick put his name on it. They had an really good new guitar player and rocked the house.
Saturday we went for a motorcycle ride. (what else?!)
We left Hollywood on Sunset to Hy. 1, up Latigo to Mulholland to lunch at the Rock Store and famous car and bike hangout. I had heard about it for years, and it was a cool place for sure. In just the time I was there for lunch I saw a bunch of new bikes, old bikes, new cars, old cars, vintage and hot rodded versions of all of that. It is so popular there is a guy that takes photos of people on the roads riding and driving nearby. You can have a look at his website RockStorePhotos.com.
The ride back was Mulholland to Stunt Road to Tuna Canyon, Hy 1 and Sunset thru Beverly Hills. Another awesome set of roads even on my big cruiser.
I had a dinner at Greenblatt's deli on Sunset and another at Cravings.
Saw some dirt track racing at Pomona thanks to the Gene Romero West Coast Flat Track series (results), and Sunday went on the big Love Ride that started at Glendale Harley Davidson.
The Love Ride had 30,000 bikers that rode from Glendale to Pomona to see
the The Tubes, The Foo Fighters, and ZZ Top and we raised over 1 million dollars for various children's charities.
What's not to like about that?!
A few hundred Love Ride photos at my Flickr set here.
Sunday I saw former Wall of Voodoo'er Stan Ridgway @ The House of Blues.
Monday was a one shot ride from LA to Oakland up I-5. There is a rumor that a Honda Valkyrie hit 120 mph just north of the Harris Ranch. I can not and will not confirm that.
That was an awesome California motorcycle vacation. I spent time hanging out with a good friend for a few days and hanging out with 30,000 new friends for one day and put over 1000 miles on my bike in some perfect California weather on great California roads.
Woo Hoo!
