California Dreamin’

It hits you all at once. Sun, surf, fresh cool ocean air.
As you breeze your way north up the coast of the Pacific Ocean, your eyes gather in the throngs of beachgoers. Colorful umbrellas and beach towels paint the sand on your left. Oceanside villas and shops form a barrier on your right. The southern California sun does a dance on your exposed skin that brings you to life. This is paradise. You do a double check over your shoulder, and with Johnny Law no where in sight, you wheelie for a few seconds up the Pacific Coast Highway. (For our more responsible or older readers: You do a double check over your shoulder, and merge to safely to navigate the traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway.)

This is California.

At least some of it. I could have alternately set that beginning sentence out in the desert near Death Valley or the sequoia-filled valleys of Yosemite National Park. I chose the southern coast because that’s where I think a lot of California’s tourism gets drawn to. Between San Diego’s tropical beaches near the Mexican border north to Malibu, most of the beaches that remind me of the images in magazines conjure up bikini-clad women sunning within sight of wave-shredding surfers along the palm-lined southern beaches.
That’s not to say that Central and Northern California do not have their share of the same. But let’s face it – The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean didn’t sing about San Francisco or the Little Old Lady from Palm Desert.

Despite the focus on Southern California, that region is just a small chunk of the state. Which is itself a small chunk of this beautiful nation. It brings me to a question that was asked of me by the boys at NoCO Moto on our last crossover episode.
They asked me what an epic ride would look like for me.

Many people come to California specifically for the beaches. And that’s why I stay away.
Most of the group rides and rides with friends have also been away from the coast. We tend to spend a lot of time on the canyons or up in the twisties. If you don’t live on a fault line or where two continental plates meet, you may not have mountains nearby, and thus you don’t know what these two terms mean.
Carving the canyons just refers to the curves at the bottom of the hills. Imagine if the Colorado River was a road carving it’s way through the Grand Canyon in Arizona, and you were leaning through each of the breath-taking curves at speed.
Alternately, the twisties are what we call the roads that wind up through the mountains, like Angeles Crest / Angeles Forest Highway in Los Angeles County.

Even though I have always preferred the mountains and valleys of California, that’s not to say there aren’t tons of other beautiful climes in which to do your riding. Although I’ve never ridden north of the fertile Paso Robles wine country, I’ve taken enough family trips north to know that Highway 1 north of Los Angeles and Ventura counties is every bit worth the ride.
The mountains meet the ocean along the central coast, and the further north you wind along, you eventually meet with the beach. Signs warn of possible elephant seals on the road near San Simeon.

The further north you head in California, the more your surroundings start to look like prehistoric forest from a dinosaur movie, or perhaps the setting of the film The Goonies. Alternately, the further east and/or south you head in the Golden State, the more likely you are to find some ghost towns or near ghost towns like the one shown below.
California’s past is an integral part of the desert regions and vice versa. As the country pushed further west at the turn of the 20th century, many communities began and ended just as abruptly in the desert climes. This makes for epic rides that can be just as challenging today as they were 100 years ago.

Wherever you prefer to ride, we want to hear about it. We are looking to collect come favorite roads, rides and destinations across California. If you are a resident or a visitor who has enjoyed some roads in California, contact the show via email or anyone of our social media interfaces. We’ve already had many people reach out and give us suggestions already. Why don’t you join the mix?

We’ll keep collecting the good stuff and release a show in the near future.
Tootles, poo poo pants.
-Junky