After weeks of rain, followed by a week of abnormally low temperatures (below freezing in the mornings), I was not pleased to wake up to 31° again this morning -- not a promising start to our ride.  But, we had riders and dry twisty roads waiting, so we headed out hoping for the best.  We got it.

Mark (on his R1100GS) was waiting for us on time and ready at Cycle Gear for the first start.  We waited around a bit just to make sure nobody else was meeting up there, then with the air temperatures warming nicely, headed down the freeway to Burbank and Bob's Big Boy.  Waiting for us there were Lon & Pam (ST1300), Mike (VFR800), Alan (ST1100), Frank (Harley), Peter (Concourse 1400), and Lyle (Buell).  Eight bikes, five brands, 10 riders -- not bad at all.  By now the air temperatures had risen into the low 70s, absolutely clear, with lots of sunshine -- perfect.  After a brief pre-ride chat we headed off to find the eastern end of Mulholland Drive (Cahuenga & Mulholland) and start the "tour."

The eastern section of Mulholland (essentially from the 101 Freeway at Cahuenga to just west of the 405 freeway) at was lightly traveled (for a weekend), but badly chewed up from the recent rains.  No matter, it's a beautiful road and with the clear, sunny weather we were having, the views were amazing.  No wonder real estate is so expensive up there!  We managed to dodge all the potholes and most cars pulled over for us, so we made good time through the section.  Just before where the road is closed as it enters Topanga State Park (you can hike through, but no motor vehicles) we took a series of surface streets (too many to bother naming) through to the south end of Canoga Avenue where it hits Mulholland on the other side of the park.  If I ever do this ride again, we'll have to find a better path through that section -- far too many stop signs, stop lights, and too much traffic.  Live and learn.  But, once we were back on Mulholland Drive, it was clear sailing...

Shortly after crossing Topanga Canyon Blvd. we turned west on Mulholland Highway and headed back into the fun twisties.  Again, traffic was light and the roads were clean and clear so we had a great run all the way through to the Rock Store where we stopped briefly to stretch and ogle some of the exotic and beautiful bikes parked there.  Leaving the Rock Store we had a straight shot through to where Mulholland Highway terminates at Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) at Leo Carrillo State Beach.  Earlier, Mike had suggested lunch at Neptune's Net about 2 miles up the road, so we headed up there for food, drink, and a good break.  Fun little biker hangout right on the coast -- we'll keep that one in mind for future rides.

Unfortunately, it was at Neptune's Net that we "lost" a few riders.  While we were in lunching, something happened with the KI-PASS system on Peter's Connie 1400, leaving him with a dead bike following lunch.  With their friend disabled, Frank and Lyle decided to hang back with him and await transportation for the Connie -- a real bummer as the best roads were yet to come.  In my humble opinion, Kawasaki needs to re-think that KI-PASS system...

So, three bikes lighter, the rest of us headed down PCH to Encinal Canyon Road -- a nice, twisty route to get us back up to Mulholland Highway just before Kanan Dume Road (trying not to backtrack too much!).  A brief stretch on Mulholland (1 mile) got us to Kanan which we took south briefly (about 1/2 mile) to Latigo Canyon Road -- what a great road!  Eight and a half miles of twisty, curvy fun ranging from broad sweepers to 1st gear hairpins, terminating at PCH.  Definitely on my list of favorite roads.  We lost Mark here (a victim of too little time and too many other commitments), leaving our all-Honda contingent to soldier on...

We took PCH briefly to Malibu Canyon Road to Piuma -- another all-time favorite road.  Normally, our Santa Monica Mountain rides take us down Piuma road, so it was a real pleasure to climb up the 6.5 miles of steep curves to Schueren Rd.  Schueren took us to Saddle Peak Road on to Tuna Canyon Road and eventually down to Topanga Canyon Road.  Tuna Canyon was a real treat as the air was so clean and clear and with every turn we had a fantastic view up to the mountains in Angeles Forest, or down to the sea, or through to the Los Angeles cityscape, or way down the coast to Palos Verdes and beyond.  Amazing.

Topanga Canyon is normally clogged with traffic (and not very twisty), so we quickly headed off to Old Topanga Canyon Road (more twisties!) which took us back to Mulholland Highway, on over to Topanga Canyon north, and our end point -- Starbucks (for a much needed break).  142 total miles (not including the return trip to Santa Clarita) in absolutely perfect weather.  Superb.

Thanks to everyone who showed for the ride and especially to Lon, Pam, Mike, and Alan who saw the ride through to the end.  Everything went as planned, the roads were generally in great shape, traffic was light, and we all had a good time.  -- BW
 

Thanks for Lon & Pam for the pictures.  I forgot my camera, doh!