CentralCoast2007Page19Day4

Back to Rogue's Home

Once I got to the heart of Santa Barbara, the scenic coastline was pretty much over. The 101 soon moved inland and the generally courteous drivers who would move over and let me pass in the left lane were replaced by clueless Santa Barbara drivers. Many of them crowded the fastlane. A few dumb ones would actually try to drive in formation with another slower driver on their right. On a couple of occassions, I would wait until a vehicle in the fast lane would pass a slower vehicle in the right lane, only to have the vehicle in the fast lane slow and drive in formation. Drove me nuts! I felt like reaching out and slapping people sometimes.

Central Coast 2007 Page 19 Day 4

Above: A senseless self-portrait taken from my Firebolt's mirror. Yup. I was getting bored.

    My low fuel light went on again somewhere in Brentwood along the 405 Freeway. I exited at Sunset Blvd. and promptly realized there are no gas stations around. Just big houses. I got back on the 405 and exited again and realized to my disgust, it was the exit for the J. Paul Getty Museum and there was no gas station there either! Back on the 405, with my reserve meter counting down, I finally exited at Wilshire Blvd and low and behold, there was a nice gas station right at the end of the off ramp.
     Back on the 405, I had to do some lane splitting for a few miles. The lanes were pretty closely spaced together and there was precious little room to split. A Volvo saw me approaching and it swerved to close to gap. I hit its mirror and bent it with my mirror. Serves him right for being an ass. If he hadn't tried to squeeze me, his mirror would not have folded over!
     The rest of the ride home went without incident. I was so glad to be home in Orange County, CA. Yet, I was disappointed that my ride vacation was over. My Firebolt was so filthy, I almost didn't recognized it!

Above: My Firebolt after the trip. It was filthy! The front wheels had turned a dark brown from brake dust, water, and dust. The muffler was covered in dirt/mud. Ugh! I couldn't stand it. I promptly washed her the next day! Overall, I was really happy with the bike. The sportbike riding position was only bothersome in stop and go traffic. For the most part, I never felt overly tired or uncomfortable because of it. I was surprised to find the rear Tourmaster Duffle Bag never crowded me on my seat. Considering how much stuff was crammed into it, that's pretty damn good! The Tourmaster Super-mini Tank Bag however didn't work quite so well. It's attachement was never 100% secure and allowed for too much movement especially in gusty winds. Plus, it was nearly useless for carrying uselful items on a long trip. I need more storage space up there. Other than that, the Firebolt performed brilliantly!