Canyon Ride

Since moving to LA, I have joined up with a couple scooter groups. There are two in the LA/Greater LA area that seem to be the most prominent and organized, an LA group and a group out of Long Beach. As you all probably guessed, the LA group usually organizes rides in the LA area, and well, Long beach...yeah - you get it. Anyways, the LA group organized a ride last weekend through the canyons just north west of Los Angeles. The canyon area is just north of Malibu, and they are spectacular. Imagine twisting (almost 90 degree turns) in succession, climbing mountains with spectacular views. Who would imagine there is such riding only 30 minutes outside LA? While I had ridden through some of the canyons before, the ride took me through some parts that I was unfamiliar with - and the ride was pretty amazing. Apologies, but given the group ride, I really didn't have any opportunity to stop and take pictures of the scenery or the roads. Usually when I ride myself, I stop more frequently to snap pics, but the ride was pretty organized, and there was no way I was going to stop the entire group for my sake. I would of snapped pics while riding, but 1) that's how I broke my camera in the first place (in Iowa somewhere...I think) and 2) the roads were so darn twisty I needed both hands! I'll be sure to ride up there in the near future and take more pics - the scenery and roads are absolutely stunning.

As you can imagine, the canyons are very popular with motorcyclists. We stopped by a famous biker stop called "the Rock store", which had about 50 motorcyclists. Apparently, it has been a hot spot for bikers for years - dating back to the 60s(not sure, don't quote me). It was pretty cool rollin up to a 1500cc monster motorcycle on my 250cc Vespa!

On the way back to LA, we cruised down the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway for those who aren't from California - it's a highway that runs down the coast) and stopped by another biker hot spot "Neptune's Net". They have pretty good food - one section serves fish and chips/chicken tenders/fries (think golden fried plate), and one section serves fresh seafood (Lobster, clams, corn, etc). It was pretty darn good I have to admit. Plus, the view of the ocean/coastline/beach was pretty amazing.

All in all, the ride was about 130+ miles, which to be honest, was a little long for me. I hadn't ridden more than 50 miles in one day since the cross country trip, so I was not exactly in "riding shape". Anyway, felt good riding for an extended time, but my back/bottom was a little stiff the next day. I took a couple pics along the way. Hope you all enjoy them.

*Disclaimer* I took some pictures from other people on the ride, and the Ventura County Ventures Scooter Crew website!

Meet-up at Starbucks at Woodland Hills, CA





The Rock Store











Gassing up Near Thousand Oaks



'Ol Reliable





Stop at the Original "Hotel California" and Meetup with the Ventura County Ventures Scooter Crew.













Neptunes on PCH

















Road-Shots

Settling in LA & Future of This Blog

Hey guys,

It's been awhile since I updated the blog. I've been settling into LA, work and trying to get used to LA traffic, sun everyday, and west coast life in general. So far, things are going well ;)

So I started this blog to document the cross country vespa trip, but I've decided to continue adding to it with new content. I figure, I still ride quite often and while they might not be "long" journeys, they may be interesting none the less to some of you. Also, I am thinking of taking a couple long-ish rides in the near future. Ideas have ranged from LA to Mexico, to LA to Vancouver, to maybe even LA to Alaska! So anyways, keep checking back - I plan to add some content soon.

As for the previous journey and logs, I plan to retag and rename them as "Vespa Cross Country Journey" or something, so it will be easy for people to go back if needed.

Anyways, if you're reading this, thanks for following along...