CA in Early April

[KodiakRS]

I have a few weeks off at the start of April and some friends of mine are going to meet up on the 6th for some riding and general shenanigans in malibu.  I was thinking about heading out a few days early into Cali to play around by myself before heading into the L.A. area.  

-I know that some of the passes in California don't open until memorial day.  Is it even worth bothering to head to the Lake Tahoe or Yosemite area's in early April or are all the good roads going to be closed?

-How are the roads in southern cali at that time of year.  I know that the angels crest highway usually doesn't open fully until memorial day, are any of the other passes going to be a problem?

-Is there any "must see/ride" areas in Southern California (or northern) that you'd doing?

[Sport-Touring]

[viffergyrl]

There are other roads besides the passes but the further you go up in elevation the more likely the road is going to be closed. Cal Trans maintains a site for state highways that provides information on road closures:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi

The roads in SoCal are most likely to be open but weather can change anything. Highway 33 was closed for a day two days ago with six inches of snow (yeah - believe it; this ain't Alaska); it's open now. I've ridden that road at least every month - yeah December and January. And the pass is 5000 feet. So ya just never know.  

There are a shit-ton of roads in Malibu and other roads other than the Angeles Crest.  I'll scrounge a few Google map links for you.

For $20 the best deal in town is this: http://www.pashnit.com/motoroads.htm

And also Butler Maps: http://www.butlermaps.com/Motorcycle-Road-Maps/ There is a northern and southern CA map set for under $30.

Where will you be located for your base of operations - that would help. Also if ya post up some dates, some of the loonies here might play tour guide for ya.

[KodiakRS]

[quote author=viffergyrl
Where will you be located for your base of operations - that would help. Also if ya post up some dates, some of the loonies here might play tour guide for ya.


[/quote]

I live in Phoenix and need to be in Calabassas (spelling?) the night of april 5th.  Planning on leaving on the 2nd or 3rd.

[viffergyrl]

So as you leave Phoenix and head west you might try this (and if Angeles Crest is open) Click 'View Larger Map' at the bottom:


View Larger Map

Now do you want to head north and play in the southern Sierras? (Lake Isabella, Sherman Pass, old 395, Western Divide Highway) Somewhat risky in early April (especially Sherman Pass). Or head northwest-ish and play along SR 33, SR 58, SR 229 (aka Rossi's driveway)? More likely to be open.

[KodiakRS]

Was thinking of heading up to Santa Cruz via various inland roads, then back down on the PCH.  That pashnit site has been a godsend.  There are a lot of roads on there I would have never thought would be good riding roads.

[viffergyrl]

Ok I got it now.  

There's a lot to choose from that's for sure. And a wealth of information about what the roads are like. Good luck!

[Andrew]

If you make it up to Santa Cruz, do have a fun time on HY9

[KodiakRS]

Day 1 is in the books.  Phoenix to Palmdale via I-10, pines to palms, 38 into bigbear, rim of the world to138/2/138 to Palmdale.  Headed to santa Cruz tomorrow. 

Ach was closed, but other than that no snow.

P2P was phenomenal, so was rim of the world out of bigbear.  About 10 miles north of crestline was the most technical set of twisties I've ever seen.  Descending, decreasing radius, off camber, blind corners with no signage.  Very puckery. 

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[NuckaMan]

Your taking PCH up to Santa Cruz, right?

There are many bonus points you can collect up in that region. Right behind Santa Cruz, you got 9, 35, 17, Empire Grade, Big Basin, Page Mill....all in the general area. Take your pick, all of them are great. 9 (Skyline) and La Honda are the more notable ones.

I'm planning on going your way mid-May. Got a company meeting in Tempe, riding out with a co-worker for the show-and-tell and heading north and eventually back home Friday-Sunday.

Have fun out here on the west!!!!

[bluepoof]

There are many bonus points you can collect up in that region. Right behind Santa Cruz, you got 9, 35, 17, Empire Grade, Big Basin, Page Mill....all in the general area. Take your pick, all of them are great. 9 (Skyline) and La Honda are the more notable ones.

Quoted for truth.    I just rode Empire Grade in particular last week and the pavement is really good right now.  On a week day it was essentially empty of traffic, too.  
 

[viffergyrl]

Day 1 is in the books.  Phoenix to Palmdale via I-10, pines to palms, 38 into bigbear, rim of the world to138/2/138 to Palmdale.  Headed to santa Cruz tomorrow. 

Ach was closed, but other than that no snow.

P2P was phenomenal, so was rim of the world out of bigbear.  About 10 miles north of crestline was the most technical set of twisties I've ever seen.  Descending, decreasing radius, off camber, blind corners with no signage.  Very puckery. 

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Awesome. What route are you taking? Consider this one...

http://goo.gl/maps/IAjcA

Except I would go further west on 58 and hit 229 (Rossi's Driveway) go up to Creston and work your way to Paso Robles. There is gas in either Frazier Park or Pine Mountain Club and then I would fuel in Taft - and squeeze all you can in. Your next gas would be around the 101 (Paso Robles). If you see anything sooner, get it.

Have fun!

[KodiakRS]

Aaaand ill be doing none of that.

 Lowsided at about 50 mph this morning.  Slightly too aggressive for the conditions combined with gravel and next thing you know I'm asphalt surfing.  Lake Hughes road between lake huges and I-5.

My firstgear kilimanjaro jacket held up pretty well but my ht air overpants had the armor shifted and burned through on my knee.  Slight rash on the knee and slightly sore shoulder is the total damage to me. 

The bike is in slightly worse shape.  The rear saddlebag has some serious rash, the right side fairings are all scuffed up.  The really bad damage is too the right handlebar.  Friction blended the throttle tube to the handlebar so I had to cut the end of the throttle tube off with my leatherman.  The front turn signal/handguard is mounted to the master cylinder which pulled out in the crash, stripping one of two bolts that anchor the cylinder.

I was able to ziptie the whole thing back into one piece and limp it to a dealership in L.A.  where a mechanic is attempting to fix the threads on the master cylinder.

Crashing !@$%*#ing sucks.   

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[stew71]

Holy $hit....glad to hear you made out better than the bike....

Hope your repairs go smoothly.

Oh...and welcome to Cali.

[viffergyrl]

  Holy Crap! That's too bad. Hopefully you can get it fixed and still have some seat time with your friends.

But you are going to be sore tomorrow....  

[KodiakRS]

Well, everything but the cosmetic damage on the bike is fixed.  I'm guessing my shoulder is going to hurt like crazy in the morning but for now its just sore.  Luckily I'm at the hotel where we're all supposed to meet tomorrow so if its really bad ill just stay there and see how things are on Saturday.  It's been over 12 hours since the crash and its not too bad so I have hope. 

Oh and a MASSIVE shoutout to pro Italia.  They're a dealer in the la area that I took the bike too and everyone there went waaay above and beyond the call of duty richer me back on the road. 

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[sprockethead]

Wow what a bummer Kodiak!  It was such an awesome trip on paper...  hope you're back on the road soon!

[squeezer]

So bummed to hear about the crash but glad you're at least up and about. I hope the pain eases quickly.

[viffergyrl]

Well, everything but the cosmetic damage on the bike is fixed.  I'm guessing my shoulder is going to hurt like crazy in the morning but for now its just sore.  Luckily I'm at the hotel where we're all supposed to meet tomorrow so if its really bad ill just stay there and see how things are on Saturday.  It's been over 12 hours since the crash and its not too bad so I have hope. 

Oh and a MASSIVE shoutout to pro Italia.  They're a dealer in the la area that I took the bike too and everyone there went waaay above and beyond the call of duty richer me back on the road. 

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Yeah I've heard good things about ProItalia - glad to see they took care of you.

Wow what a bummer Kodiak!  It was such an awesome trip on paper...  hope you're back on the road soon!