Riding through the canyons this morning I was struck by the fact that it’s November 19th and in most parts of the country I’d have no business being outdoors riding a motorcycle. Swinging from corner to corner I was very aware of how fortunate I am to live in Los Angeles. In some ways this time of year is a bizarre contradiction. You get up, maybe read the paper and notice the date. You realize it’s late in the year. You go outside and quickly find your eyes adjusting to the rather harsh light and the hard shadows. You know that there’s a relatively limited amount of daylight during this time of the year. The sun will set faster and that makes you rush just a bit to get out of the door a bit faster. Yet once you get on your way some parts of the day that still feel like summer. The air feels a touch crisper, but it’s still warm. You’re still riding without thermals. The roads are still clean and clear. The vegatation still looks summertime burnt brown than rain soaked green. Yet perhaps the most striking difference is how clear the sky is during the winter months. For the first time in awhile when you get up to the canyons you can actually see. For miles really. There’s no mid morning fog or LA basin smog to cloud your vision. It’s remarkable. The vistas go on forever and very quickly you become aware of how different that feels and how special this place during this time of the year.

A few minutes later I’m flying around a blind corner on the top of Stunt when I come around and realize that I’m stuck behind a Mercedes SUV. How there happens tobe traffic up here this early in the morning baffles me, but since I’m not the type to pass in the oncoming lane of traffic unless I can squarely see a good mile down the road I start slowing down. The next several miles are scenic, but not sporty. Heading into the last corner before the large paved lookout at the very top of Stunt, I make up my mind that clearly this SUV isn’t going to pull over and let me pass, so I probably ought to just pull off at the look out and take a break. We both come around the corner and as I start pulling off I realize that not one or two, but three sets of cops are hanging out at the top of Stunt writting other riders up. Maybe it’s fate. Or luck. Or just plain timing. But I avoided a ticket today solely because of the traffic in front of me. Amazing…

Hopefully tomorrow will be a less enforced…

Here are a few more picts from the day;