LA LA Land
After Joshua Tree, I headed west on I-10 into the heart of LA and the truly amazing traffic. I also got to ride through the windiest place on earth, which (I've talked about wind before) was a HUGE joy. As I came south on Route 62 from the north entrance to Joshua Tree through Morongo Valley, I saw the valley below me and a massive cloud of something a mile high hanging over it. Well, that can't be good, I thought to myself, reminded of a huge duststorm I'd hit a few years ago coming out of the Rockies onto the Great Plains east of Denver. Sure enough, as I got further south and closer to the valley floor, I began to see the windmills - hundreds, maybe thousands of the damn things spread across the valley and the surrounding hillsides, spinning away. Well, that ISN'T good, I thought to myself as the wind picked up about eleven notches.
By the time I got to I-10, I was driving on the shoulder at about 50 mph, both feet skimming along the road surface and leaning into the wind as hard as I could. Thankfully, that madness only lasted a few miles, and then I was riding almost head-on into the wind for the rest of the Valley of the Blasting Wind, which was tolerable.
Soon after I'd left the VOTBW, I began to feel like I was "in" LA. Basically from Riverside west, you ARE in an extension of LA, and the strip malls and car dealerships don't change much for more than 50 miles (when eventually the car dealerships are nearly all BMW or Mercedes dealers. I swear there are more German cars in LA than in Berlin).
I finally got off I-10, found my way to my Uncle's house (after a little, uhh, confused meandering around the city getting my bearings), and parked the bike for the better part of a week.
LA was fun, and I got to spend a lot of time with my Uncle Nick, my Aunt Ava, and their kids Sarah and Gabriel. Compared to my normal visits to LA, I was pretty low-key and didn't go out much. I did, however, make my customary visit to the legendary Barney's Beanery for a couple of beers and some mixed karaoke. Even today, Barney's still lacks a lot of the artifice and attitude that are all too prevalent in the rest of LA's bars and clubs, and they make a mean burger as well.
I also did some work on the bike, and think I may have a new set of radiator and oil cooler guards that just need to be mounted when I get up to the Al-Can. There is only company that I know of that makes a guard for the DL 650 (some Australian firm), and they want about $200 for the damn thing. I got mine at Home Depot for $4 and $3 respectively, not including black spraypaint and safety wire. I also jerry-rigged a guard for the oil filter, which was fashioned out of a gutter screen for about $2. Now let's see how all this stuff holds up on the road...
By the time I got to I-10, I was driving on the shoulder at about 50 mph, both feet skimming along the road surface and leaning into the wind as hard as I could. Thankfully, that madness only lasted a few miles, and then I was riding almost head-on into the wind for the rest of the Valley of the Blasting Wind, which was tolerable.
Soon after I'd left the VOTBW, I began to feel like I was "in" LA. Basically from Riverside west, you ARE in an extension of LA, and the strip malls and car dealerships don't change much for more than 50 miles (when eventually the car dealerships are nearly all BMW or Mercedes dealers. I swear there are more German cars in LA than in Berlin).
I finally got off I-10, found my way to my Uncle's house (after a little, uhh, confused meandering around the city getting my bearings), and parked the bike for the better part of a week.
LA was fun, and I got to spend a lot of time with my Uncle Nick, my Aunt Ava, and their kids Sarah and Gabriel. Compared to my normal visits to LA, I was pretty low-key and didn't go out much. I did, however, make my customary visit to the legendary Barney's Beanery for a couple of beers and some mixed karaoke. Even today, Barney's still lacks a lot of the artifice and attitude that are all too prevalent in the rest of LA's bars and clubs, and they make a mean burger as well.
I also did some work on the bike, and think I may have a new set of radiator and oil cooler guards that just need to be mounted when I get up to the Al-Can. There is only company that I know of that makes a guard for the DL 650 (some Australian firm), and they want about $200 for the damn thing. I got mine at Home Depot for $4 and $3 respectively, not including black spraypaint and safety wire. I also jerry-rigged a guard for the oil filter, which was fashioned out of a gutter screen for about $2. Now let's see how all this stuff holds up on the road...
posted by Mathew Elsner at 5:03 PM
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