Santa Monica Mountains

I finally made it happen. I just spent three days riding a Honda CBR 600 in the the Santa Monica Mountains. Unbelievable
I get to go to Malibu once or twice a year. Usually I'm bored stiff during the day; since I get stuck with three or four women (all relatives). I never have much to add to the conversation. I don't even know what they are talking about half the time. Anyway, last year I rode in a car up to Mulholland Highway and all the roads that lead off it that I had read about in the cycle mags. I couldn't believe it. I almost got sick doing these roads in a car They actually make Arkansas and North Carolina look tame. I decided right then that I was going to ride 'em on a sportbike before I died(keep the jokes to yourself, Scott).

All I've ever found to rent are Harleys; and I'd rather walk. This time I hit the jackpot - Sportbike.com! They rent all four Jap 600cc sportbikes plus Honda VFR's and Duc Multistradas. I was supposed to pick up a VFR or Multistrada at 11 AM on the Tuesday after Christmas. The rental place is about 60 miles south of Los Angeles. After a 2 hour ride on the only Freeway to get to the place, I pulled into their lot and my phone rang. It was the owner (who is in Las Vegas) telling me that the Multistrada hadn't been returned; and I would have to use a 600cc instead. OK, I'll live with it. Even if I'm a hunchback for the next six months, it will be worth it. I sign my life away And I start back to Los Angeles. 3 hours in bumber to bumber traffic. I couldn't do the lane-splitting trick since my wife was following me in the car. That's right; she was REAL happy about the bike rental deal by the time we got home.

Now for the fun part! I rode from 9AM to 5PM for the next three days
Malibu is on the Pacific Coast Highway. The ocean is 30 yards on one side of the road and the Santa Monica Mountains begin 30 yards on the other side. A mile from where I was staying, Los Flores Canyon Road went from sea level to 2500 feet in less than 3 miles. All roads lead up and over the mountain to Mulholland Highway. So, you ride up and down one road to Mulholland, turn and go down Mulholland to the next road, turn on it and ride up and over back to the beach. Repeat as often as necessary. Most of the time you can see the Pacific on one side of you and the mountains on the other side. And the mountains are spectacular! They look more like those in Arizona, rather than those in North Carolina. All these roads were made for sportbikes. Very twisty with almost no straight sections longer than 100 yards. I came to love that CBR 600. It redlined at 15,000 RPM; but it sounded like it was going to blow at 10,000. I'm not sure if I ever got it into fourth gear.

I bought a "helmetcam" for the trip; and took almost 8 hours of video. On one section it ran for thirty minutes straight before I pulled off to rest. These twisties are not like Deals Gap. They are more open and since you can see farther ahead, you're not as worried about being creamed by an oncoming cager.

I would reccomend this ride for all. I told my wife I had gotten it out of my system; but I now realize that was definately a lie.

Yep, there are some remarkable roads up that way. Glad you got to take 'em in. Places like that are among the few things I miss about CA.

I used to sit up on Mulholland at night and look out over LA. I found it to be very therapuetic during a hectic and stressful time of life. Seeing millions of people below all going about their business like ants really puts things in perspective... Unfortunately, I did not have a bike while out there, not that I would have had much time for riding. I also enjoyed sitting on the end of the Santa Monica Pier in the evenings and looking out over the ocean. Suprisingly, in a city of many millions of people, the pier was quite often empty except for me LA had some neat things about it like no other place, and I might like to go back for a visit sometime, but I would never want to live there again. Once was enough...

Ahhh, you bring back great memories. I worked and lived in Northridge for 2 years and every weekend I would drive on Topanga Canyon Rd to the beach. Some days I would buy a sandwich and just sit at a choice curve and enjoy the near constant stream of sportbikes testing their limits on the road. I was so jealous.
I bet you really had a blast. Thanks for sharing.

Ah, Topanga... good times.

I don't suppose you recall the name of that little canyon park up the coast just before you get to Pt Mugu? I remember that was one of my first real singletrack mountainbike rides, and my first time on dirt after dark (since we didn't start until about 11pm). We rode a couple of miles back up the sides of the canyon until we found a suitable fire road, somewhere up above the marine layer, then came FLYING down the fire road back to the highway around 1:30am.

I never really got off the 2 lane paved road to the beach. I spent the weekend afternoons jogging on the beach. Having grown up on the high plains of Texas, I have always been attracted to lakes/oceans etc. The Pacific Coast Highway is such a great place to people/car/bike watch. Writing about this makes me want to head back out that way.

I noticed several good dirt roads right where Yerba Buena meets the Pacific Coast Highway at Neptune's Nest Restaurant.

So what was the condition of the bike you rented? Did it have new tires? Would you recommend renting from this place now that you have the experience?

rob

Rob_S said:

So what was the condition of the bike you rented? Did it have new tires? Would you recommend renting from this place now that you have the experience?

rob

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Condition was excellent. It had the expected dings for a sportbike with 13,000 miles on it; which helped hide the dings I added after a very minor crash. The CBR was a '05 model with almost new tires. They were the sport-touring tire one step harder than the Pilot Roads.

I would use them again; however, I would have to be clear on two things.

One: They have NO insurance. You wreck it; you owe them WHATEVER they say the cost of the repairs. Check with your insurance company to make sure you will be covered.

Two: I think they knew all the time that all they would have for me to ride would be a 600cc. Sorta the old "bait-and-switch". Next time I will pin them down.

Also, their main office, and thus the owner, is in Las Vegas.

Buzz, sounds like a great ride. CBR600 ergo's would just kill me, but I would have gone for it if in your shoes. If you are ever farther north, try the road east from San Jose (it's the only road going straight east), aka Lick Observatory road. Of course you know about Pashnit...

Nice to know there is at least a semi-reliable rental place on the west coast. They sound slightly sleazy, but a bike is a bike. Europe and most of the world is so far ahead of the US in bike rental options, it's just annoying.

birdwh said:

Buzz, sounds like a great ride. CBR600 ergo's would just kill me, but I would have gone for it if in your shoes. .

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Will,

That 600 almost killed me on the 3 hour trip home; but, once in the twisties, it never bothered me.