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DS TWO-UP 01: CALIENTE HOT SPRINGS
RECAP
RECAP
What . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dualsport Ride, short day
When . . . . . . . . . . . Meet Saturday, 15 December, 7:30 AM
Where . . . . . Meet @ BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County
Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Laine_MacTague
When . . . . . . . . . . . Meet Saturday, 15 December, 7:30 AM
Where . . . . . Meet @ BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County
Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Laine_MacTague
This ride was a great reminder, for those of us who have been riding in the Series since DSR 01, that although it adds a certain – a certain Je ne sais quoi to a ride – we don’t have to break traction or leave the ground in order to have a great time. In fact, our first “Two-up” ride even had two passengers; newcomers Peter and Christa Neuper joined up on their 1200 GS Adv, and a friend of mine joined me on my Dakar in Santa Barbara for the rest of the ride.
The Saturday start was another first, which seems to work well. The shop is (more or less) open on Saturdays, so we can pick up the odd last minute item before we go, and show off our dusty rides to all the jealous street bikers that show up.
This was a big one; we ended up with 18 bikes and 20 people. Under normal circumstances, I’d say it’s im-freaking-possible to keep that big a number together, at least on a dual sport ride… We therefore did it anyway. This being a fairly easy ride, it seemed like the ideal time to stretch the ride size a bit. We had surprisingly few hitches; most of our rides have significantly lower rider limits, but DSTs may often end up this large.
Most of the group met at the shop. After schmoozing at the coffee machine for a while, we queued up out front for the brief freeway ride. In about 10 minutes we were
in Somis, just 
beginning a long stretch of back road highways. We took it fairly slow, except for the curvy bits around Santa Paula and Ojai. I try to pick things up a bit in the twisties, to give riders room to work on their peg grinding if they like. Lars and Bob definitely like.
Somewhere along Hwy 150 we had a snafu that ended up with the sweep and two other riders missing a turn. While the main group was weaving around Lake Casitas, Chris Craig, Miika Aintila, and Frederic Charpentier ended up on the 33 freeway bound for 101. We hooked up via cell, and made plans to meet up in Santa Barbara.
The main group got pushed onto the freeway as well, when roadwork on Hwy 192 detoured us out of the foothills. We ended up cruising the strand – which is just as well, since we were on our way to So-Cool’s for some Continental hospitality. 
We lined up on the street next to bikes owned by some Santa Barbara riders who were joining us there. Check out the Icon Spy with the Michelin swingarm…
Chris the broom wielder showed up with Fredo and Miika, and parked his PD in the driveway. Nice bike!
Vina, my
passenger-to-be, met us here, as did Paul Beck and newcomer Sarah McKittrick. We spent quite a while lounging around, snacking and chatting – a lot like at the shop, only with a food as well as coffee! Yes, it was shaping up to be a pretty enjoyable ride…
We finally did, actually, ride, again. So Cool led us by many twists and turns up to Camino Cielo, the ridgeline road overlooking the city. 
Vina, more or less new to motorcycling, turned out not only to be a great passenger, but a darn good backseat cameraperson as well.
We regrouped briefly when we reached the ridgeline,
Some of us did a little posing,
Some of us did a little pointing and waving,
And eventually carried on along the ridge. It was a pretty long stretch; curvy, pot-holed, with inspiring views of the city and ocean on one hand, and endless mountains and valleys on the other. At the east end of the road, where the pavement
ends, it turns left and begins to snake down the north side of the coastal ridge into the National Forest. I think it was around here that Sarah broke a shift lever: The north side is pretty shady, and there was ice in some of the most protected turns. We posted a rider at the first ice patch to serve as a warning. Whoever it was was so handsome, 
or something, that Sarah got distracted and next thing you know … well, I think that’s how it happened...
Maybe it was at the water crossing. At the bottom of the descent was a long, shallow concrete crossing that – being already smooth – gets quite slippery as algae grows on it. We tried to stay in the tracks of bigger vehicles, so as to avoid the thickest of the algae.
There was a nice section of fire road on the far side, on the sunny side of the valley. Yoram & I took a moment to bask and wait for others to catch up.
Right before reaching the hot springs is a short – but quite deep – water crossing. When Vina & I came through the water was undisturbed; I could see the smooth, concrete bottom, and took it fairly slow in order to stay dry.
But I mucked up the water in the process! The last crossing had been about 2 inches deep. We parked and walked back for some photos of people expecting another shallow crossing.
It became a festival of sorts. Yoram even rode back to go through again. Might’ve been a bad decision…
Paul came through on his BRAND NEW R1200GS – riding like he was trying to disturb as few air molecules as possible with his passage. Still feeling a little bit protective about his gorgeous new ride…
The springs are just past the crossing.
We dismounted to find that someone was cleaning the main pool – it had just been emptied! 
Some of us got in anyway – it was more than hot enough, even at ankle depth. Lars found another pool a short walk away, and
whiled away a happy half hour up to the neck in about 101° of bliss. Tomer (I feel a nickname coming on… Starbuck? Mr. Coffee? JV [Juan Valdez]?) 
Katz made Turkish coffee again, a huge hit. We lounged, man, we lounged. Even when we left, we stopped when we hit the pavement (and the view) again, and lounged.
Of course that was because Dan & Vina had gone off on a hike near the springs, and dis-a-freakin-peared on us. After a short hunt, a lot of yelling
and honking (“…Maybe they don’t want to be found…?”), I left Vina’s helmet on Dan’s 
KLR, and we headed up from the springs to the pavement – and the view – where also there be CELL RECEPTION: I left messages on their phones about where we had chosen to go for dinner.
Down Gibraltar road we went,
So Cool again leading us by wending ways southward to – where did we eat? – P-something… 
Anyway: 
Nice place, Montecito, outdoor seating, and HEATERS, which was perfect. We did what we did best this ride; drank and ate and relaxed!
Dan and Vina showed up fairly soon, and thanks to the electric horseman outfits Tomer and Chris and Laura had on, we can even see the back rows in the group photo, which we didn’t get to ‘til after dark.
Another day well seized!
The Saturday start was another first, which seems to work well. The shop is (more or less) open on Saturdays, so we can pick up the odd last minute item before we go, and show off our dusty rides to all the jealous street bikers that show up.
This was a big one; we ended up with 18 bikes and 20 people. Under normal circumstances, I’d say it’s im-freaking-possible to keep that big a number together, at least on a dual sport ride… We therefore did it anyway. This being a fairly easy ride, it seemed like the ideal time to stretch the ride size a bit. We had surprisingly few hitches; most of our rides have significantly lower rider limits, but DSTs may often end up this large.
Most of the group met at the shop. After schmoozing at the coffee machine for a while, we queued up out front for the brief freeway ride. In about 10 minutes we were
in Somis, just 
beginning a long stretch of back road highways. We took it fairly slow, except for the curvy bits around Santa Paula and Ojai. I try to pick things up a bit in the twisties, to give riders room to work on their peg grinding if they like. Lars and Bob definitely like.
Somewhere along Hwy 150 we had a snafu that ended up with the sweep and two other riders missing a turn. While the main group was weaving around Lake Casitas, Chris Craig, Miika Aintila, and Frederic Charpentier ended up on the 33 freeway bound for 101. We hooked up via cell, and made plans to meet up in Santa Barbara.
The main group got pushed onto the freeway as well, when roadwork on Hwy 192 detoured us out of the foothills. We ended up cruising the strand – which is just as well, since we were on our way to So-Cool’s for some Continental hospitality. 
We lined up on the street next to bikes owned by some Santa Barbara riders who were joining us there. Check out the Icon Spy with the Michelin swingarm…
Chris the broom wielder showed up with Fredo and Miika, and parked his PD in the driveway. Nice bike!
Vina, my
passenger-to-be, met us here, as did Paul Beck and newcomer Sarah McKittrick. We spent quite a while lounging around, snacking and chatting – a lot like at the shop, only with a food as well as coffee! Yes, it was shaping up to be a pretty enjoyable ride…
We finally did, actually, ride, again. So Cool led us by many twists and turns up to Camino Cielo, the ridgeline road overlooking the city. 
Vina, more or less new to motorcycling, turned out not only to be a great passenger, but a darn good backseat cameraperson as well.
We regrouped briefly when we reached the ridgeline,Some of us did a little posing,
Some of us did a little pointing and waving,
And eventually carried on along the ridge. It was a pretty long stretch; curvy, pot-holed, with inspiring views of the city and ocean on one hand, and endless mountains and valleys on the other. At the east end of the road, where the pavement
ends, it turns left and begins to snake down the north side of the coastal ridge into the National Forest. I think it was around here that Sarah broke a shift lever: The north side is pretty shady, and there was ice in some of the most protected turns. We posted a rider at the first ice patch to serve as a warning. Whoever it was was so handsome, 
or something, that Sarah got distracted and next thing you know … well, I think that’s how it happened...
Maybe it was at the water crossing. At the bottom of the descent was a long, shallow concrete crossing that – being already smooth – gets quite slippery as algae grows on it. We tried to stay in the tracks of bigger vehicles, so as to avoid the thickest of the algae.
There was a nice section of fire road on the far side, on the sunny side of the valley. Yoram & I took a moment to bask and wait for others to catch up.
Right before reaching the hot springs is a short – but quite deep – water crossing. When Vina & I came through the water was undisturbed; I could see the smooth, concrete bottom, and took it fairly slow in order to stay dry.
But I mucked up the water in the process! The last crossing had been about 2 inches deep. We parked and walked back for some photos of people expecting another shallow crossing.
It became a festival of sorts. Yoram even rode back to go through again. Might’ve been a bad decision…
Paul came through on his BRAND NEW R1200GS – riding like he was trying to disturb as few air molecules as possible with his passage. Still feeling a little bit protective about his gorgeous new ride…The springs are just past the crossing.
We dismounted to find that someone was cleaning the main pool – it had just been emptied! 
Some of us got in anyway – it was more than hot enough, even at ankle depth. Lars found another pool a short walk away, and
whiled away a happy half hour up to the neck in about 101° of bliss. Tomer (I feel a nickname coming on… Starbuck? Mr. Coffee? JV [Juan Valdez]?) 
Katz made Turkish coffee again, a huge hit. We lounged, man, we lounged. Even when we left, we stopped when we hit the pavement (and the view) again, and lounged.
Of course that was because Dan & Vina had gone off on a hike near the springs, and dis-a-freakin-peared on us. After a short hunt, a lot of yelling
and honking (“…Maybe they don’t want to be found…?”), I left Vina’s helmet on Dan’s 
KLR, and we headed up from the springs to the pavement – and the view – where also there be CELL RECEPTION: I left messages on their phones about where we had chosen to go for dinner.Down Gibraltar road we went,
So Cool again leading us by wending ways southward to – where did we eat? – P-something… 
Anyway: 
Nice place, Montecito, outdoor seating, and HEATERS, which was perfect. We did what we did best this ride; drank and ate and relaxed!
Dan and Vina showed up fairly soon, and thanks to the electric horseman outfits Tomer and Chris and Laura had on, we can even see the back rows in the group photo, which we didn’t get to ‘til after dark.
Another day well seized!
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