Courtesy of Brian Wood:

After two weeks of really strange and discouraging weather (temps above 110° followed by thunderstorms and humidity followed by cold and steady rain) we were REALLY relieved to be able to run this event in exceptional weather.  Saturday morning we gathered in Newhall as planned, removed our jacket liners and got rolling after a few minutes of pre-ride chat and instructions.  Joining Kellie and I (on our '05 ST1300) were Guy Simmons ('08 FJR), Gary Ward ('03 FJR), Lon & Pam Larsen ('03 ST1300), and Mike Sleeman ('99 VFR800).  Great group of riders.  We called this the "Reverse Ojai loop" because for years we have run this loop in the "clockwise" direction but decided to reverse direction this time -- it turned out to be a fun decision.

Leaving Newhall we headed up Bouquet Canyon Road to Spunky Canyon Road (video) to San Francisquito Road (briefly) and Elizabeth Lake Road.  Spunky is an especially tight, twisty, fun road, though at just five miles, the fun ends too quick!  Elizabeth Lake Road turns into Pine Canyon Road (video) which was well populated by deer hunters for some reason.  While we saw several hunters walking along the road at the start, it wasn't until the mid-point that we were treated to a couple of deer standing in the road!  The deer headed off into the safety of the brush and we continued along the marvelously twisty Pine Canyon to The Old Ridge Route and Gorman Post Road into the very small town of Gorman itself for a brief bio and stretch break at the local McDonalds.

Leaving Gorman we headed up through Frazier Park to Pine Mountain Club (via Cuddy Valley Road) to Cerro Noroeste Road (video) -- a great, twisty, little trafficked road that took us to Highway 33.  Highway 33 (video) was lightly populated most of the way so we made good time until we came upon the scene of an accident that had apparently happened just before we arrived.  A rider apparently ran wide in a sweeping right-hand turn, putting his bike down into a ditch off the shoulder and causing his buddies some concern.  The Forest Service medics had already arrived and were attending to him (sitting up and talking), so once the mini-traffic jam cleared we were on our way.  A little further on we were slowed down by a couple sport bike riders who apparently weren't up to the capabilities of their bikes.  While I'm sure they were having fun "hanging off" their bikes in 35 mph corners, we were a bit confused why we weren't at least going the 55 mph speed limit.  Oh well.  It let us relax and further gather our appetite for lunch!

Lunch at The Deer Lodge in Ojai was great, and we enjoyed the opportunity to socialize a bit and relax with friends.  Buffalo burgers, an ostrich hanging on the wall, bikes parked all over the shoulder of the road -- what more could you want?

Leaving Ojai we took Highway 150 out of town (video), enjoying a rare opportunity to ride the initial curvy stretch of road without any traffic to slow us down.  While we were held up by traffic for a bit after Dennison Park, we gladly found open road again after Santa Paula, taking Mountain Road to Guiberson Road (video, a great alternative to the main highway) before heading back to Santa Clarita via Highway 126.

Thanks to everyone for coming out for the ride -- we really enjoyed the day!

Brian (& Kellie)