Latigo Canyon + Traffic

The day after my birthday was pretty rough, but I was feeling good by about 5pm, so I set out for a cruise since the sun doesn't set until about 8pm. Heading up PCH, there was an accident southbound north of Sunset Blvd, which had traffic backed up pretty far. Hoping to avoid getting stuck in traffic on the way home, I took my time and headed for Latigo Canyon.

I love driving Latigo in my car. It's twisty, and the top part has pretty high quality pavement. This was going to be a learning experience on my motorcycle, since I hadn't ridden anything nearly that curvy yet.

Big learning point for the day: you go where you look. This means several things, but two in particular:

• If you stare at the pavement 5 feet ahead of you, you'll never hit a good line and won't feel stable in a turn.


• The further ahead you look, the better off you will be. Even in blind corners, visualize where you should end up and adjust once the exit comes into view.

The secondary learning point came from inspiration I found reading some of Keith Code's articles: Counter-steering turns the bike. Body movement will not. Counter-steering as a result of body movement will, but that is simply cause and effect. You want to focus on the real cause, so learn to counter-steer to initiate turns.

I also had a bit of a scare downshifting into a turn where I didn't match revs close enough. Letting out the clutch quickly, my rear tire skipped briefly. Fortunately, I was still slowing down for the turn and was moving in a straight line. Keeping my head up and looking where I was going, the bike balanced itself out in a matter of a few milliseconds, but it still shook me up mentally.

Latigo was fun, I headed back to PCH down Kanan Dume, and, just like I was trying to avoid, I ended up in very heavy southbound traffic. I wasn't comfortable splitting the two lanes (especially since PCH isn't very wide) and was puttering along at >5mph when two motorcycles passed me riding the white line on the shoulder. I got in behind them and followed them until traffic cleared up, then got back into the normal flow. Not quite lane splitting, but my first experience with "creative" use of road.

Time: 3 hours
Miles: 60 miles

She's mine, all mine.

Well that was speedy. I already recieved the title in the mail. 3-6 weeks seems like quite an overestimate.

Finally, a full weekend!

What a weekend. Had a total blast with my baby. I saw the girlfriend, too.

Commitments in Orange County forced me to ride down late Friday (to avoid traffic), so that was an experience. My first night ride on the freeway went pretty smoothly. I hopped into the carpool lane and cruised along at about 75. It was like 10:30pm, though, and LA drivers really want to do >80mph. I'm not comfortable with that yet, so I just let them get frustrated and pass me. I figure that's a better idea than getting outside my comfort zone and crashing.

Sunday took the 748 up into the "canyons" east of Orange for a hike with the g/f and her roommates. The hike was nice, the ride was nicer. Nothing too twisty, but traffic was very light and I was able to cruise without worrying about other cars. We stopped for lunch at the local biker bar which was packed with Harleys and custom cruisers. Saw a very nice 996 with tons of carbon fiber, but didn't see the owner.

The ride home was super easy. The Duc really likes it when the road isn't straight. It just seems bored on the freeways.

Miles (total): 140