Oceanside

Happy 420 to everyone :D

First I need to revise my mileage numbers I've been quoting...I guess with all the excitement of riding with an odometer that has 3 different readings I was being conservative estimating how far I've ridden....so now that I'm in the sunny perfect weather of Oceanside I have traveled over 2300 miles on the Uly.  This is the apex of the trip for me as now I will only be riding north from here to return.

But I am getting ahead of myself....yesterday's ride was simply AMAZING!!  I will give credit to the great Gingles-Time in Phoenix, meeting all his MMI friends, the AZ Bike Week and the route selected for the ride from Phoenix to Oceanside.  The whole ride it seemed time stood still - like I was moving in slow motion, but easily passing traffic and just flowing with the roads - it was a great feeling.

Mapping out the route I had 3 options - route 8, route 10 or a combination of route 10 & 78.  Route 10 looked to be the quickest easiest route, but I was warned of high crosswinds and a pretty straight ride with lots of traffic - route 8 was advised as the best way for riding, but that was also the longest route to my destination - so it was the route 10 to 78 combo that happened.  Indeed route 10 was boring - straight lots of traffic and kind of numbing.

After jumping off 10 in Blythe (there is a Blythe story during this trip, but you'll have to ask me about that..let's just say Blythe is also the name of a former American Gladiator) I stopped for a standing lunch break at a Chevron.  As I was eating at the bike an older woman looked at me from a large truck and smiled while she was eating.  A few minutes later she comes over and says "it looks like you've been on the road for quite some time" I tell her I started off 8 days ago in WA & then tell her of the 6 states I've visited - she seemed really excited for me and wishes me a safe ride on my journey.  It has made this trip so worth the journey when complete strangers in small towns approach me and give their well wishes - makes one realize the universe is a great place that will show you respect if you only approach it with good intentions and a smile :)

Crossing into California and getting a quick look over from border patrol - not at all sure what would get someone pulled over - I was jamming on miles of straight roads through what looked like farm country.  Two-laned roads where I was going about 80mph when there was no posted speed and it was plenty straight.  The scenery and smells where awesome - miles of farm country where it was just fresh and clean country roads.  Then these signs that say "Dips next 5 miles" start appearing - WOW!!  I was on a roller-coaster that was going straight and feeling all the G's going up and down - felt so fun on the Uly.  The suspension compressing and feeling the forces push everything down - then the decompression and getting that light feeling in my stomach - I had a perma-grin from this at 80mph :D

Still jamming on 78 I start to see sand dunes everywhere - windblown shapes and just the colors of sun reflected sand everywhere.  There were only a  few trucks that needed to be passed on this stretch and the Uly was more than happy to do so.  Trucks coming the opposite direction were not as fun - all that sand coming off the road was interesting - felt it slap anywhere my skin was exposed with pinch every time.  I stopped for pics and video at this one really cool sand dune lookout - this part of CA looked so very cool as it went from farm country to desert.

As I got about 100 miles from Oceanside all the roller-coaster hills and sand dunes were replaced by serious mountains and cliffs.  I was getting into the Ariza-Borrego Desert State Wilderness area - there were no straight roads on this piece of riding.  Signs read things like "Dangerous Curves next 9 miles", "Danger Fallen Rock Zone" and posted speeds went from 25 to 40mph with those arrows that are just a squiggly line on a yellow sign. This part of the trip was the most intense of the trip so far!  From Banner to Julian was no joke at all - these roads are intense and dangerous!  Serious leaning to negotiate the turns, down shiftng, upshifting, short shifting and flipping the Uly aggressively from one side to the other.  This was a Zen moment with myself, bike and road after a few scary sections (i crossed the yellow line twice, lucky there was no traffic) - it required full attention.  I was riding on/thru a mountain and the temps dropped - the sun was in and out of vision and there was sometimes a rock or two in the apex along with dirt/sand.  So happy the one purchase I made at the Bike Week show were transitional sunglasses - for a few miles it would be cold and dark, the next few miles would be direct sun in my eyes.  I recommend everyone at some point ride or drive this section of road. Being 100% engaged in negotiating this road I was blown away by the beauty that was all around me during this - yeah the cliffs were steep, the rocks were hanging over head, but it seemed like everything was standing still and I was just witness to all this danger and beauty all at once.

My ETA was pushed back riding this road but so worth getting to the Gerbs pad around 8pm in the dark.  After riding those intense roads blasting 95mph (traffic moves fast around San Diego & Oceanside) was nothing - I was so relaxed and aware of the cagers making their random lane changes.

Of course the best part of the trip was arriving at my destination and seeing the Gerbs and his family - it's only been 4+ years - way too long to see one of my best buddies :D

Here's to Gerbs, his family and sunny southern California!!!