Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Azusa Canyon

For weeks now, ever since talking with our neighbor, Jeremy, The Male has been itching to ride up to Azusa Canyon, in the San Gabriel Mountains. This past Saturday seemed like as good a day as any, so off we went.

I'm still not up to freeway riding, mainly because of the vibration at higher speeds. (More about that later.) So, that meant we had to get there via city streets. I wouldn't recommend it! It's grueling to ride that far with the traffic and the constant stop and go of the traffic signals.

It is a total of 41 miles from Long Beach to the reservoir where we turned around, and we went up the canyon road only about 5 miles. The views were lovely; we stopped at an overlook, looking down at the water. The only sounds were occasional cars and crotch rockets out for their zippy ride up the canyon.

We had a quick snack, I took some photos, and we headed back home.

A little ways into the ride back, my bike cut out starting out from a stop light (One of the 17,000 between here and there.) There were cars behind me, frustrated I'm sure at this woman who thinks she can ride a motorcycle. I got it going after the second try ---- whew!!!--- and I pulled into the first gas station I could find, a little shaken. We filled up the tank, and then when Doug started the ST, his battery was dead.

Oh, I prayed. He had mistakenly left the engine on while refueling my bike. We didn't panic, at least not too much, waited a bit, and Oh, Glory, it started up. We made it home without further mechanical incident.

Going down Beach Blvd. we were stopped at a light (sigh), with me just a bit off The Male's rear tire, when a big Harley pulled up next to me. I turned to get a look, and I see it's another woman! A very clean-cut, lipsticked, beanie-helmeted, jean-and-t-shirt biker chick! Really, she could have been a lawyer. She gave me a big smile and a nod and rode off into the sunset. I'm in the club now.

As for the vibration in my hands and feet, it seems that the new grips are just the ticket for my hands. I got a new pair of boots this week, too, and with their rubber soles, that should be much more comfortable. I have been wearing a pair of non-riding shortie boots I've had for years. Their hard soles don't dampen the vibration much. I'm hoping to convince The Male that a ride out the 22 to Cook's Corner is just the ticket for our next outing.

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