The morning dawned bright and beautiful -- a perfect day
for a So Cal HSTA ride to Big Bear Lake. We had some concern before the
ride about possible road closures due to the recent fires and also
weather reports of gusty winds returning, but neither happened and the
ride went wonderfully according to plan. Meeting at the Ortega
Hwy. start point were Tim Shevlin and Lon and Pam Larsen on ST1300's,
and Steve Kaufman and John Swett on FJR 1300's. Following a short ride
on the construction-impacted Ortega, the group stopped at the Lookout at
Lake Elsinore to pick up Mike Sleeman and Doug McIntyre on VFR's and Dan
Clark on his show-quality CX-650 Turbo.
The ride segment to Big Bear included a loop through
some scenic apple country in and around Oak Glen, but thankfully the
harvest was mostly in and traffic was light. Then on up the hill to big
Bear Bear via Rte. 38, a real favorite with motorcyclists with its 34
miles of excellent pavement and sweepers ranging from high speed to near
switchback. The fast guys led the way, but not by much, and just as we
arrived Big Bear City local traffic caused the group to arrive rejoined
-- each of us thoroughly jazzed by the great road and relieved to find
no road interruptions anywhere.
After a hearty lunch at Boo Bear's Den in the City of
Big Bear Lake, the group split up, with most opting for the very
challenging Rte. 18 ridge route to Crestline, then on down the hill on
curvy but clean Rte. 138 and home. Special note: Wow, the two-up Larsen
duo really had that ST1300 beast crankin' in the curves. Verrry
impressive!
Other than seeing a few structures burned to the ground
in one short stretch of highway near Lake Arrowhead, there was little
evidence of the catastrophic fires that only a week before had so
impacted the area. We were all thankful that the fires were mostly
history that day and that we we afforded such grand riding conditions so
soon afterward.
