SOLVANG MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM
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Neil & Sohn Reynolds were our only Two-up riders for this Two-up:
We left BMW of Ventura around 7:45 in heavy overcast conditions. Morbid trucker humour kept us entertained on the freeway as we whiled away a grey morning:
By the time we reached Santa Barbara, the weather was clearing. We wound our way up the hills on Painted Cave Road, a gorgeous, narrow, sometimes tree-covered affair, rife with twists and turns. It took us to the ridgeline above town, which provided similar riding:
On the west side of San Marcos Pass Road, the view broadened, revealing damage from the previous week's fire. We could smell the soot in the air, which was beginning to dampen up with fog again:
The road was dirt-covered in places, and simply devoid of pavement in others. After a few miles, the pavement ends. About 10 miles of dirt follow, leading west along the ridge line to Refugio Pass. Paul "Magic Boots" Beck had researched the area a few days earlier, and pronounced the road open. On our arrival, we found a sign excluding the media, which seemed an odd requirement which happily did not include us -- or so we thought. As you might expect, about 200 yards past the sign we were turned around by a friendly park ranger. Just after stopping to lower tire pressure, too!
Perhaps as dual sport riders we join the media in being determined enough to require special mention in closure notices! We headed back through increasing fog, obliging bored fire crew workers with a few wheelies, by request, on the way.
Our go-around was the rather fetching freeway run north of Goleta to Refugio Road, just past El Capitan. The road is paved, narrow, curvy and bumpy -- just how I like my coffee. Arild on his V-Strom dwarfed Rachel on her Super Sherpa chase vehicle during the climb up from the beach:
He was lucky to have her so close behind, later, on the way down the steep and rocky descent from Refugio Pass into Santa Ynez Valley:
Neil and Sohn had a little trouble on the descent as well: Neil can handle this sort of terrain with ease, but the steepness of the descent made it difficult for Sohn to keep from sliding forward under him when he stood for larger bumps. Calvin & Sue Morrison had the same experience a few Two-up rides back. There is definitely some technique to being a dual sport passenger:
We stopped a few times on the descent. Gary "Emmy" D'Amico (he's been nominated for two or three of them) and Magic Boots chatted while others made seating adjustments, or brushed dirt from clothes...
The Solvang Museum is only a couple miles from the end of Refugio Road. It wasn't long before we were ogling bikes from as early as the 1910s.
There was an amazing array of machines... but I thing MB really liked the girly pink and blue one -- right in front of the girly salmon and teal one:
... Paint job aside, the pink and blue one -- an amazingly powerful, all carbon-fiber Britten racing machine -- did have a few good points. Look closer:
Personally, I am fascinated more by rider ability than machine design. So it was a big surprise to me to find the museum so interesting. The desk clerk even mentioned how pleased she was to see people come in and ask so many questions. MB & I spent a lot of time tracing what often seemed like three too many control cables, or guessing at the necessity behind ornate curlicues of fuel line. We all found the Crocker interesting:
We were more than ready for lunch by the time we left the museum. Rather than fight the Solvang crowds, we left on Ballard Canyon Road for Los Olivos. A few miles of country farm and vineyard land later, we dined at a Los Olivos Deli that proved to be quite a pleasant stop. Even better, it was very close to Figueroa Mountain Road, which we followed up into the Los Padres, east of the Santa Ynez Valley. There is a short OHV trail dropping down behind the mountain from the ridgeline. We stopped at the trailhead to have a look. After enjoying the view and engaging in an impromptu edible native plant talk, Boots & Rachel opted for the OHV trail. The rest of us took the narrow and exposed, more-or-less paved mountain road and met them on the east side of Figueroa Mountain.
Regrouped, we finished the long mountain loop by returning to the Santa Ynez, near the bottom of Cachuma reservoir. After a short stint on the homeward main slab, we veered onto an un-maintained section of Old Stagecoach road, which brought us through oak forest to our final stop of the day, Cold Springs Tavern:
It was a great way to relax and end a pleasant day's ride. We spent a lot of time chatting, enjoying the ambience -- it had been hot and cold all day, but the dappled sun under the tree canopy at the tavern, tucked in a narrow canyon as it is, made for perfect afternoon weather.
Our little chunk of California has a lot to offer motorcyclists of any stripe -- or, in this case, multiple stripes. We'll be doing more rides like this one...
Regrouping behind Figueroa Mountain.
Look for more photos of the ride in "VCARS In Words & Pictures".
We left BMW of Ventura around 7:45 in heavy overcast conditions. Morbid trucker humour kept us entertained on the freeway as we whiled away a grey morning:
By the time we reached Santa Barbara, the weather was clearing. We wound our way up the hills on Painted Cave Road, a gorgeous, narrow, sometimes tree-covered affair, rife with twists and turns. It took us to the ridgeline above town, which provided similar riding:
On the west side of San Marcos Pass Road, the view broadened, revealing damage from the previous week's fire. We could smell the soot in the air, which was beginning to dampen up with fog again:
The road was dirt-covered in places, and simply devoid of pavement in others. After a few miles, the pavement ends. About 10 miles of dirt follow, leading west along the ridge line to Refugio Pass. Paul "Magic Boots" Beck had researched the area a few days earlier, and pronounced the road open. On our arrival, we found a sign excluding the media, which seemed an odd requirement which happily did not include us -- or so we thought. As you might expect, about 200 yards past the sign we were turned around by a friendly park ranger. Just after stopping to lower tire pressure, too!
Perhaps as dual sport riders we join the media in being determined enough to require special mention in closure notices! We headed back through increasing fog, obliging bored fire crew workers with a few wheelies, by request, on the way.
Our go-around was the rather fetching freeway run north of Goleta to Refugio Road, just past El Capitan. The road is paved, narrow, curvy and bumpy -- just how I like my coffee. Arild on his V-Strom dwarfed Rachel on her Super Sherpa chase vehicle during the climb up from the beach:
He was lucky to have her so close behind, later, on the way down the steep and rocky descent from Refugio Pass into Santa Ynez Valley:
Neil and Sohn had a little trouble on the descent as well: Neil can handle this sort of terrain with ease, but the steepness of the descent made it difficult for Sohn to keep from sliding forward under him when he stood for larger bumps. Calvin & Sue Morrison had the same experience a few Two-up rides back. There is definitely some technique to being a dual sport passenger:
We stopped a few times on the descent. Gary "Emmy" D'Amico (he's been nominated for two or three of them) and Magic Boots chatted while others made seating adjustments, or brushed dirt from clothes...
The Solvang Museum is only a couple miles from the end of Refugio Road. It wasn't long before we were ogling bikes from as early as the 1910s.
There was an amazing array of machines... but I thing MB really liked the girly pink and blue one -- right in front of the girly salmon and teal one:
... Paint job aside, the pink and blue one -- an amazingly powerful, all carbon-fiber Britten racing machine -- did have a few good points. Look closer:
Personally, I am fascinated more by rider ability than machine design. So it was a big surprise to me to find the museum so interesting. The desk clerk even mentioned how pleased she was to see people come in and ask so many questions. MB & I spent a lot of time tracing what often seemed like three too many control cables, or guessing at the necessity behind ornate curlicues of fuel line. We all found the Crocker interesting:
We were more than ready for lunch by the time we left the museum. Rather than fight the Solvang crowds, we left on Ballard Canyon Road for Los Olivos. A few miles of country farm and vineyard land later, we dined at a Los Olivos Deli that proved to be quite a pleasant stop. Even better, it was very close to Figueroa Mountain Road, which we followed up into the Los Padres, east of the Santa Ynez Valley. There is a short OHV trail dropping down behind the mountain from the ridgeline. We stopped at the trailhead to have a look. After enjoying the view and engaging in an impromptu edible native plant talk, Boots & Rachel opted for the OHV trail. The rest of us took the narrow and exposed, more-or-less paved mountain road and met them on the east side of Figueroa Mountain.
Regrouped, we finished the long mountain loop by returning to the Santa Ynez, near the bottom of Cachuma reservoir. After a short stint on the homeward main slab, we veered onto an un-maintained section of Old Stagecoach road, which brought us through oak forest to our final stop of the day, Cold Springs Tavern:
It was a great way to relax and end a pleasant day's ride. We spent a lot of time chatting, enjoying the ambience -- it had been hot and cold all day, but the dappled sun under the tree canopy at the tavern, tucked in a narrow canyon as it is, made for perfect afternoon weather.
Our little chunk of California has a lot to offer motorcyclists of any stripe -- or, in this case, multiple stripes. We'll be doing more rides like this one...
Regrouping behind Figueroa Mountain.Look for more photos of the ride in "VCARS In Words & Pictures".
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