nevada72
04-02-2009, 11:20 PM
I was in San Diego on business for the last few weeks and managed to get in a nice ride, albeit on a rental Harley. I posted a query as where to ride in the west regional forum and got a number of helpful replies - thanks guys! I had planned to take in the legendary hwy 1, but was told that the best riding along the coast really starts north of LA. If I had more time, I would have taken the ride up to L.A and headed north along the coast, but unfortunately I only had a day.
The route I took actually headed east - away from the ocean and into the mountains. I had to slab it on I-8 for about 40 miles to the first 2 lane road on my itinerary - S1, otherwise known as Sunrise Highway. I turned north on S1 and headed up to about 6000 feet. Brrr - got down to about 40 which was 35 degrees colder than back in San Diego. Very scenic. Lots of curves, pine trees, and a park or two along the way. Cameras in my hands tend to flatten mountains into appearing as grassy fields, but the view up S1 was very nice -
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/4383/img00206a.jpg (http://img13.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img00206a.jpg)
S1 eventually runs into hwy 79 which took me to the town of Julian - a popular destination for motorcyclists and the only fuel for the last 50 miles. I stopped, had a quick lunch, and headed out. By now the sun had risen more and the temps were up to about 70 degrees. Julian is also at a lower elevation. From Julian I headed North on 79 which is a more populated 2 lane, but still not bad and fairly scenic. From 79 I turned NW on 76 for a brief spell before taking S7 up to the Palomar observatory. This was a really nice road. Windy and long. Fortunately not too much traffic so I had it mostly to myself. Here is a pull off and memorial to a fallen firefighter -
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/4023/p1040324p.jpg (http://img13.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p1040324p.jpg)
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/8338/img00211x.jpg (http://img13.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img00211x.jpg)
I was running late so unfortunately I didn't make it to the observatory. I took S6 back down the mountain. Everything that was good about S7 was tripled on S6. More twisty and scenic - a really fun road. Apparently it's a popular destination for the sport bike set. A R6 rider was knee dragging around the bend in the oncoming lane. Nice! I managed to chug the big Harley down the hill w/o looking too lame, the big Brembo brakes working hard and often.
After that I headed back via 76 and I-15. Like I said, I was running late so I took what I thought would be the fastest route. Definitely not as nice as everything I had ridden prior that day. Next time around I would schedule a bit more time and take something a bit more scenic and less fast paced back.
The route I took actually headed east - away from the ocean and into the mountains. I had to slab it on I-8 for about 40 miles to the first 2 lane road on my itinerary - S1, otherwise known as Sunrise Highway. I turned north on S1 and headed up to about 6000 feet. Brrr - got down to about 40 which was 35 degrees colder than back in San Diego. Very scenic. Lots of curves, pine trees, and a park or two along the way. Cameras in my hands tend to flatten mountains into appearing as grassy fields, but the view up S1 was very nice -
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/4383/img00206a.jpg (http://img13.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img00206a.jpg)
S1 eventually runs into hwy 79 which took me to the town of Julian - a popular destination for motorcyclists and the only fuel for the last 50 miles. I stopped, had a quick lunch, and headed out. By now the sun had risen more and the temps were up to about 70 degrees. Julian is also at a lower elevation. From Julian I headed North on 79 which is a more populated 2 lane, but still not bad and fairly scenic. From 79 I turned NW on 76 for a brief spell before taking S7 up to the Palomar observatory. This was a really nice road. Windy and long. Fortunately not too much traffic so I had it mostly to myself. Here is a pull off and memorial to a fallen firefighter -
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/4023/p1040324p.jpg (http://img13.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p1040324p.jpg)
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/8338/img00211x.jpg (http://img13.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img00211x.jpg)
I was running late so unfortunately I didn't make it to the observatory. I took S6 back down the mountain. Everything that was good about S7 was tripled on S6. More twisty and scenic - a really fun road. Apparently it's a popular destination for the sport bike set. A R6 rider was knee dragging around the bend in the oncoming lane. Nice! I managed to chug the big Harley down the hill w/o looking too lame, the big Brembo brakes working hard and often.
After that I headed back via 76 and I-15. Like I said, I was running late so I took what I thought would be the fastest route. Definitely not as nice as everything I had ridden prior that day. Next time around I would schedule a bit more time and take something a bit more scenic and less fast paced back.