Work Drudgery

Nothing sucks more than getting out on your bike on Sunday only to have to go back to the drag of work on Monday.

Sunday: Wake up when I feel like it. Head off on the Duck at about noon. Note smile starting to develop at edge of lips. Hop onto Topanga to Old Topanga. Enjoy bright sunshine and lack of traffic. Bike feels good and I feel good on it. Self satisfied smirk decidedly evident. Contemplate Stunt, but decide against due to time constraints (MotoGP this afternoon!). Opt for Latigo Canyon again. Note slight increase in speed resulting in significant increase in stability mid-corner. Manage one particularly good line through a series of curves. Burst into maniacal laughter at the sheer fun I'm having. Hit friend's house and catch the last bit of the MotoGP race. Opt for roundabout route home just to spend more time on the bike. Split traffic and feel moderately comfortable about it for the first time.

Monday: Hit snooze button. Contemplate not going to work. Hit snooze button again. Continue until horribly late for work. Drag self out of bed, slog to work through an hour of traffic. Get just enough rain on freshly washed car to leave water spots. Arrive to cube with smelly coworker blasting Mannheim Steamroller music again (apparently has never heard of headphones in shared office environment). Attempt to fix irreparably broken system. Get told to start working 9am-9pm because project is behind schedule. Tentative weekends. May need to "adjust" vacation schedule to "ensure coverage." Leave at 9:30pm feeling like you accomplished nothing.

Time: 3 hours
Miles: 100

Weekend Thrills

It's always a good weekend when I spend time on my bike. Friday night I rode to Orange. It was only my second ride at night, but already I felt way more comfortable than I did the first time. I'm actually pretty comfortable cruising at LA freeway speeds now.

Saturday was mostly spent with the girlfriend (the real one, not the Ducati). Saturday evening I had some free time so I headed up Santiago Canyon road. It was late, the sun was low, and the ride was pleasant. The road itself wasn't particularly twisty, but it still put a smile on my face to just be out on my bike. One concern: my downshifts still need a lot of work. I chirped the rear tire again downshifting before a corner.


Sunday I got up to watch the MotoGP race in Germany. SPOILER ALERT! Rossi crashed out and Stoner only came in fifth. Pedrosa ran away to take first by 13 seconds. Kind of disappointing since there wasn't a whole lot of excitement (like Catalunya, or last year at Germany) but a well-spent hour nonetheless.

After the race, I packed up and rode home. Freeways are much easier when it's sunny outside. I stopped home to drop off my backpack and get some lunch, then headed out to my favorite weekend place: the Malibu hills. Todays route meandered along Topanga Canyon -> Old Topanga -> Mulholland -> Stunt -> Schuren -> Piuma -> Mulholland -> Kanan Dume -> Latigo Canyon -> PCH -> Sunset Blvd -> Home.

When I drive my car, I usually try to stop at a few scenic spots to stretch and enjoy the view. When I'm on my bike, these rest stops have a completely different feel. My butt needs a rest and I stretch my wrists, but the biggest difference is that I enjoy them more. The whole day I've been feeling the heat of the valley and the cool breeze off the ocean and the smells as I ride along the hills. When I stop, I reflect on the road travelled and the road soon to be travelled. It's true what they say. Riding a motorcycle gives you a freedom you can't find in a car, even if you drive the exact same roads, under almost exactly the same conditions.

I'd never taken Latigo Canyon top-to-bottom. Previously I've always started at the PCH end. Riding it backwards was great. The view as you descend towards the ocean is breathtaking. The Ducati was so happy in the twists and turns. As I got into the rhythm, swaying back and forth, leaning a little more into each turn, I noticed my speeds picking up a little. Usually I try to back off and stay conservative, but the bike was loving it. Things stabilized. I was able to take better lines. Everything was working so much better. I think there's an optimal corner speed for each turn, and so far I've been erring on the conservative side of things, and feeling unsettled and a bit shaky sometimes because of it. I'm not talking knee-dragging race speeds, but feeling a bit of G force really sorts the bike out.


I've mentioned it before, but it hits me again each time I ride: you go where you look. This time I noticed that if I overestimate my corner entry speed, when I try to scrub speed by braking, I run the corner wide. Turns out, the reason is that I always look straight ahead when I'm braking, and since this is right before a turn, that means I'm looking straight off the road! Smoothly applying brakes while continuing to look through the turn really helps me to set my entry speed accordingly without running wide.

Time: 6 hours (total)
Miles: 250 (total)

Mulholland Raceway

The title is not referring to the driver's website, but rather a fantastic loop of road up in the Malibu Hills.

I've been on vacation from work for two weeks, but spent one week in Salt Lake City visiting family, and the next week road tripping up the coast with some buddies. Sunday was my first day off, so I washed and waxed the 748 and took her up the PCH for some lovely sun-drenched riding.

As I was cruising towards the far end of Mulholland Highway, two Monsters and a 748 passed me, so I fell in behind them to see where they were headed. Turns out that there's a biker bar called Neptune's Net about 3 or 4 miles past Mulholland. It was full of Harleys and chromed out cruisers, so I didn't stop but good to know it's there.

Headed back to Mulholland and took the back end up towards the lookout just past Kanan Dume. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the weather was gorgeous. I got a new pair of Sidi Vertigo Air boots for my birthday, and they worked wonderfully. My feet didn't get warm at all and I felt a lot better on the bike with some proper foot protection.

I focused on smooth downshifts, and am finally getting the hang of blipping the throttle to match revs while shifting gears. I was too timid at first and would end up letting the clutch out with the revs too low, resulting in the bike lurching forward. Being more assertive with the throttle while the clutch is in has almost completely smoothed things out.

After a rest at the Mulholland scenic lookout, I headed down the highway to Stunt Road, which leads to one of my favorite driving roads: Tuna Canyon. It's a tight, one way road to the PCH, but a little too technical for me on the Ducati at the moment.

I took a break to enjoy some scenery and take a few blurry cameraphone pics, then headed off to a look recommended by my friend. Mulholland Racetrack, as he called it, is a Nurburgring-esque loop of asphalt that winds from Stunt Road, down Piuma, and back to Mulholland Highway. The views are fantastic, the road is mostly well paved, and the corners are wonderful. I really hit my stride in this section, smoothly tipping into corners and maintaining an even throttle. I found that for lower speed corners, it helped my balance to pop my inside knee out a little instead of keeping both knees against the tank.

All in all, a great ride. My longest single day ride, so my wrists were a bit tired by the end, but the grin on my face was so worth it. Now I have to survive another work week so I can do it again next weekend!

Time: 3 hours
Miles: 120

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

DMV Visit

The state of California gives you 10 days from the date of sale to the time you must report new ownership (and pay the government). Today was 9 days, so I figured I should get that taken care of before I had to pay the government even more money in late fees.

Headed into the DMV at 7:45, 15 minutes before they open. In retrospect, I could have made an appointment but I lucked out and the wait wasn't long at all. 15 minutes after 8, I walked out with a new registration card in my name (and $180 less in my bank account). The new title is supposed to be mailed to me in about 3-6 weeks. Now we play the waiting game...