Asphalt_Carver and I wasted no time in hitting the road. After a quick fuel stop, we pointed our bikes towards the nearest freeway. Of course, right before the entrance to the freeway, CalTrans had to slow us down by erecting a construction set right in the middle of a busy intersection. Two lanes went into one with no room to lane split. Thus, we had to sit along with the other 4-wheeled behemoths and waited our turn! It was a bit hot with all those idling, gas guzzling engines sitting there and waiting. It was quite a relief to finally get on the freeway and open up our throttles as well as get some airflow around us and our hot aircooled engines. Ahhhhh.....that's better.
About 20 miles went by, somewhere in the busy city of Santa Ana, CA, AS realized he forget his life-saving Back Protector! Off the freeway we went. AS made a phone call to his wife to beg for mercy and bring him his Back Protector so we didn't have to ride all the way back to get it ourselves! After a bit of a heated debate, she agreed to the request but only if we met her half way back. Good enough! So, we turned tail back about 10 miles or so to a nearby gas station to wait for AS' lovely wife, who arrived quickly to the rescue. With his Back Protector strapped securely around his waist, AS could rest and ride on forever. We saddled up, pointed our bikes north on the freeway, and headed out into the mountains. Woohoo!
About 70 miles later, we exited the freeway onto a rural mountain road called Little Tujunga, located in the northern outskirts of Los Angeles County. It didn't come a moment too soon either. The winds were blowing strong and was beating us up on the freeway. My tankbag kept on getting blown to the right side thanks to its less than 100% secure strap mount. The Firebolt was amazingly adept at dealing with side winds as even the strong gusts didn't fling the 460 lbs. (wet) bike to the next lane. The wind did manage to buffett us enough to make the 70 mile ride feel more like 150 miles!
Little Tujunga is a familiar road. We have taken this road on our infamous "Fast 400" day rides before. It was tight, twisty, and gained elevation quickly, before it dropped us quickly down to the community of Santa Clarita. From there, we took Sand Canyon Rd past the 14, to Vasquez Canyon, then on to that wonderful little gem called Bouquet Canyon Rd. This road followed a little stream in a valley inside the Angeles Forest. Unfortunately, it was surprisingly filled with more commuter traffic than we had anticipated, which put a damper on our enthusiasm.
By the time we neared Lake Elizabeth, I was halfway freezing. The temps were easily in the mid 60's and even though the sun was shining brightly, I needed to put my jacket liner and winter gloves on. So as soon as I saw a nice littel alcove to stop and enjoy the views of the Lake, I stopped for a breather.
Below: Asphalt_Carver's Lightning with Lake Elizabeth in the background |
