Saturday in the Mountains

[metallyguitarded_imp]

The way I read this, you spent nearly the same amount of time on Memory Lane as you did on Hwy. 94 and that, often, is the best road of all.

When my wife says "I'm going shopping. You should go for a ride or something", I usually translate it to "I'm about to spend a lot of money so I think you should do something fun so you won't be as angry when you find out what I bought". I still go for the ride, though, and I'm usually not angry about what she bought, so I guess she knows what she's doing.

Very funny. And very true. I lucked out this time. My wife's shopping bags were filled with inexpensive craft items for a project she's working on.

Great report and pics MG. Sounds like you had a splendid ride. I too prefer curves that are on the less technical side. I want to enjoy my ride not work at it.

Sea that was funny.

Thanks ferret. The more and more I ride, the happier I am to ease off the throttle. I'm itching to do a track day and am considering going to the California Superbike School to satisfy that desire. I hope to leave the speed on the track and enjoy much more sensible rides on our public roads.

I was in the garage this morning trying out some engine cleaner that got decent reviews from some of my Harley friends. Okay, who am I kidding? I don't have any Harley friends. Still, while searching for engine cleaner for blacked out engines, I came across reviews for something called Pig Spit that some members on various v-twin forums recommended and I ordered a can. As I was admiring my handiwork (the stuff works well enough I suppose), my wife came outside and said she was off to do some shopping and wouldn't be back for at least a couple of hours. As she was getting into her car she said, "You should go for a ride or something."

She is such a beautiful, intelligent and wise woman.

Within 30 minutes I was winding through the two-lane roads of our local canyons. Traffic was light and the sun was shining. Highway 94 is one of my favorite local roads. Plenty of turns but nothing too technical. The road weaves through low mountains and across pastures filled with cattle. There was an unusually high police presence today, parked on the side of the road, radar guns at the ready. I was alerted as to their location by riders going in the opposite direction with the familiar tapping on top of the helmet; a warning I was grateful to receive and one I passed along to others.

I turned north at Buckman Springs Road which eventually leads to Old Highway 80 which runs parallel to the interstate. West on Highway 80 takes me along a faded concrete road with mountains on either side. Being so close to the Mexican border, I passed through a border checkpoint then continued west to Sunrise Highway. At this point, I had been riding for about an hour, maybe more. I decided to take Sunrise Highway up and over Mount Laguna.

Again, I was blessed with empty roads. The temperature continued to dip as I climbed higher up the mountain. Soon, snow appeared on either side of the road. It was a pleasant surprise. Bright white patches of snow nestled among the oak trees. Fortunately, the roads were dry and free of debris. The CB, as always, performed flawlessly. On the other side of the mountain I had the option of turning right and heading towards Julian or turning left and heading towards Lake Cuyamaca. Nine times out of ten I turn right. Today, I chose the lake.

Lake Cuyamaca is not particularly large. But it certainly is scenic. Mountains capped with snow surround the lake and small boats with fishermen floated on its surface. Here, the traffic increased but still flowed nicely. The slower pace allowed me to take everything in and wonderful memories soon filled my head. Lake Cuyamaca was where I took my boys for their first attempt at fishing. We had a great time until they learned this lake did not practice catch and release and we had to keep the tiny trout they had caught. Both boys started crying at the thought of the fish dying. It's funny now but at the time, I felt horrible for them and didn't know what to say or do to make it better. Hot chocolate and pie at a nearby restaurant went pretty far in making things right.

Just past the lake was a sign for a school campground. The very campground I had stayed at in eighth grade. I couldn't help but smile inside my helmet at the memory of banana pancakes and singing "Come Back to Cuyamaca" with Sherry Freddie in front of the entire class. That took some guts. And we pulled it off nicely. Afterwards, classmates would come up to me and say, "Man, I didn't know you could sing!" I would honestly reply, "Me either!"

The road eventually led back to the interstate I had avoided earlier. Westward bound until I eventually reached home. The temperature rising back into the upper 70s, low 80s. Today felt good. Really good.

I didn't take many photos. It seemed most of what would truly be worth seeing could only be seen while in motion. I'm thinking I should invest in a GoPro. That could be fun. I did snap a few shots of the bike. I can only hope you share my inability to tire of seeing photos of the CB1100.

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Sounds like you need to try the Ferret's camera-on-a-lanyard trick. Hang it around your neck and snap away while you ride. I finally dug through my drawer at work and found a sturdy lanyard. I'm taking a ride up to the mountains tomorrow to try it out.

Sounds like you need to try the Ferret's camera-on-a-lanyard trick. Hang it around your neck and snap away while you ride. I finally dug through my drawer at work and found a sturdy lanyard. I'm taking a ride up to the mountains tomorrow to try it out.
That's actually a great idea. I have a small Canon that would be perfect for this. I question my ability to navigate both the bike and camera though! I'll have to take baby steps with it and build my skills until I can somewhat approach the ferret's skills.

Nice report MG. I'll have to look at a map later to see where you went.

Ironic? Funny? Curious? None of those? I don't know. But I went to Laguna, Laguna Bay, or just to its south this morning, walked on the beach and swam in the ocean. The CB stayed at home and still won't speak to me.

Thanks! Are the maps that you've shared with your ride reports plotted manually by you after your ride or does your phone/GPS track your ride and generate a map afterwards? I would enjoy having an automated feature that displays my routes with a simple start and stop selection.

Considering that you are my brother from Down Under, it is not surprising that you were enjoying your own Laguna at the same time I was enjoying mine.

Nice ride report

Thanks Rocky! I'm looking forward to reading one of your ride reports. When can we expect to have one?!