Yesterday was the first day this riding season that I had to check the weather forecast. Got up and took a peek outside my window - as I always do - and saw a white sheet of fog hanging outside my window. Luckily for MotorMilt & I weather.com claimed that Malibu would have a temp between 60 and 80 degrees, so even though it was a bit misty it would eventually burn off. Now I’m not sure how other folks treat inclimate weather, but I often find myself torn at the idea of damp riding. On one hand I quite enjoy the lack of traffic that comes along with it and after my experience at The CLASS course at Leguna Seca in the rain I feel much more comfortable riding when the weather isn’t ideal. On the other hand so much of the way that Milt & I ride is base on maximizing the variables - tire grip, dirt in the road, visability, etc. - that I know if it rains I won’t be able to hit the canyons as hard as I can when it’s dry. So it always seems like this toss up. And frankly I guess with all the switching around going on with the bikes it never dawned on me that I’d have to find a comfort level for riding the Ducati in less than ideal conditions. So chaulk that one up for soon to be new experiences.
Once we hit the road, I realized that it turned into one of those classic southern california days where the temperature by the ocean was a good 10 to 15 degrees cooler than the canyons. It was probably the first time that having an Italian butt heater worked out pretty well. We ended up taking Latigo Canyon across from the PCH to Kanan Road. Now normally we always take Latigo in the opposite direction, from Kanan Road to the PCH. It’s funny how by going the opposite direction a road that I’ve ridden a hundred times sudden felt brand new. Every turn was a surprise and a challange. Very cool. There’s something to be said about learning your road or your track, but there’s also something refreshingly addictive about new surroundings and places to travel. One of the disadvantages of Saturday’s post is that it made me realize that I’ve been riding the canyons for awhile now and fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, have ridden all the good roads throughout the santa monica mountains. So I found it quite exciting to have that edge of the unknown crawling up my spine as I was riding yesterday. I guess every so often you need a jolt.
Here’s a description of Latigo Canyon from the MullhullandRaceway. Org website:
Latigo Canyon Rd: Perfect 5 on our 5 scale!
Everybody loves Latigo Canyon Road. And, so do we. Latigo Canyon Rd is the quintessential canyon road for sports car drivers in the Santa Monica Mountains. 166 turns, exactly. Drives best as a hill climb, going inland from the beach. Tends to be rough in places. Despite it’s degree of technicality, unlike Yerba Buena, it’s so easy to drive. Best of all, it just seems to last forever. If that’s not enough, it’s right in the middle of the Santa Monica Mountains, in close proximity to so many other 5 star roads.
The only problem with Latigo is the right hand turn on to Kanan Rd. It’s not too difficult to take a caravan right onto Kanan, then left on to Mulholland, though. Plan carefully… traffic at Kanan & Latigo moves at 75 mph, plus, so make sure all your people know to use liberal throttle accelerating onto Kanan from Latigo.
Here’s a shot of part of Latigo Road
Now I don’t know if it really has 166 turns, but it has a lot. I find it an interesting route to take because when it starts out at the ocean it’s a bummy mess of a road. Then you get to a small residentual section that’s way up in the hills. As a side note, everytime I shoot past these houses I always wonder on one hand how cool it would be to live right on one of the great SoCal motorcycle roads and then on the other hand I think to myself ‘gee buying groceries would be a monumental pain around here’, go figure. Once you get past the houses, the road really opens up into this wonderful cacophony of twists and turns. It seems like every mile you’re hit with a half dozen different left-right-left combinations. A couple of monster sweepers are thrown in for good effect too. Riding it always reminds me of that old Disneyland expression, ‘it’s an e-ticket ride’.
MotorMilt & I stopped about half way up and took a few picts:
On the side of the road
MotorMilt catches up
Big Mountains
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Dylan, are you old enough to know what an E ticket ride was? I thought that was before your time.