Hansen Dam British Bike Extravaganza
Well, what would a giant group ride be without a giant group? I joined about 400 people in the parking lot of the Hansen Dam recreation area for the 36th annual Hansen Dam All British Bike Ride. Needless to say it wasn’t all British bikes in attendance. I must say however, there were more Ariels and Vincents than I have seen in one place at one time in the sun-baked parking lot at Hansen Dam.
The morning started out with my friend Sarah and I departing from my humble abode just east of Pasadena. She had ridden her Honda 400 up from San Diego the night before to enjoy a ride with a local boy (yours truly) who honestly… well… doesn’t ride the West Side much.
To start off with, just getting onto the freeway I hit a patch of sand and throttled out of a quick tank slapper. My recent fooling around on dirt instantly had my foot on the ground for leverage and I stayed up flat track style, but it was just a prelude for things to come.
We got to the dam in plenty of time to sightsee, despite getting off on the wrong exit about 12 miles too early. (Foothill, you are a LOOOONG, deceptive bastard of a boulevard!!!) Did I mention that I stick to my side of the foothills when riding?
We met up with Sarah’s friend Carpy at Hansen. Yes, that Carpy: Famous SoCal Cafe Racer Crafter, President of the O.C. 59 Club, and all around general nice guy. I’ve seen him at shows and I’ve been following him since he was cobbling bikes together out of his garage/kitchen, but this was the first time I’d ever met him as a friend of a friend. You can check out his stuff here.
terrible video still – sorry Carpy.
The ride peeled off and Sarah & I rode out with the 59 Club. It was easy to follow the rumbling Brit Iron, and most of all, pretty easy to follow Carpy’s big Triumph Tiger jacket through the turns. They set a pretty good pace, and soon the group was divided in half.
I stuck with Carpy and the boys as they were gliding along at a pretty good clip. Sarah hung back with the rest of the 59ers, stopping to sightsee and take in the mountain vistas.
But I too got separated as the group I was with hit a pack of slower riders. The seven or so guys in front of me wove through the pack within a few corners, but I got caught up as the road suddenly turned into tight blind corners and narrow, winding curves. I just couldn’t get past the group and stay on my side of the double yellows….so I just stuck it out.
I was on my own for a good portion of the ride. I usually ride solo, but what was the use of departing with 300 or more people just to hang my ass in the breeze alone? Oh well, I started stopping and taking in some of the scenery myself. No use getting out here and just blowing through it like it didn’t exist. After all, a good ride is about getting out into the world, not getting through it as fast as possible.
The area is home to several movie locations and movie ranches. I think Middleton was probably a movie set for something. Was it in “The Wraith”? I don’t know, but you know who was? Yep, Clint Howard. He’s been in everything since, like, 1960.
I digress. I finally caught up with Sarah at the 49er Bar and Grill. The interior of that place is darker than my teenage soul. I could barely see to order a beer. You’d be good to take some NVGs if you plan to eat inside. Outside was much nicer, and the cold beer never tasted so good after a long slug through the mountains alone (with 300ish other people somewhere nearby, of course).
Sarah and I made it back to Hansen Dam after a few turn-arounds, dead ends, and a quick buzz through the twisties a la the 2 and Big Tujunga Canyon…which I think we rode in the wrong order because, yeah – we ended up on Foothill WAAAAY east of where we should have been. My eyes started to water so bad that my contacts became blurry discs and the road virtually disappeared. This happened on the 2, so I just aimed for the colors that I could tell were lines on the road, and prayed for the best every time I entered a corner or passed through a shadow. It was really bad and I should have stopped for Sarah’s sake. Right Sar- … Sarah!?
Sarah is diabetic, and had a severe insulin low (or blood sugar low) – anyways, it was what ever makes you dizzy and shaky and activates your adrenalin. Of course I didn’t notice because I couldn’t see shit, so I didn’t notice that she wasn’t there until I got to the bottom of the hill and fixed my eyes.
I hauled ass back up the hill and found her eating candy and a granola bar, and some dude had seen her and stopped. So, luckily she wasn’t alone…
After that debacle, we saw two horrific car accidents and had to navigate some really shitty traffic, but we made it back to the Dam just in time to see everyone packing up. No Ride Pin for her because she wasn’t on a ‘British Mount’ (and because they ran out about 20 mins before we got back). Oh well. We went back to my pad to relax from a day of relaxing, and drank some beer with my family. Of course I ran out of gas on the freeway just a couple of exits from home. The trip wouldn’t have been complete without that. I only have a 2 gallon tank, and it did pretty good for a 7 hour day of ride-hangout-ride.
If you get a chance or are in the area, check out the 37th Hansen Dam Ride, or some of the other rides that the SoCal Norton Club puts on year round. Check out Steve “Carpy” Carpenter too. He’s a nice fella. If you get a chance, tell them Creative-Riding sent you. On second thought, don’t do that. I wouldn’t want them to think less of you!!
Cheers!