Around 7 AM This Morning - From Atop Saddlepeak Looking West (Click on Pict for Larger Image)

Around 7:15 this morning I was hovering around 9,000 rpms in first gear and doing about eighty when it occured to me that hanging around a racetrack and not being able to ride causes one to push it a bit more than normal once they get back on their bike. Of course since it was early and the canyons were completely empty, I didn’t mind breaking a few speed limits but truth be told I think it’s time for a trackday of my own.

While I greatly enjoyed my ride this morning, it’s becoming clear that it’s time to take this sort of speed somewhere a bit safer. Somewhere that cops don’t roam and there’s no cross traffic.

I suppose much of this sentiment is due to the fact that the Duc is now fully functional once again and the engine is well past being completely broken in. It’s just damn hard to keep the Diva down on a day light today. The sensation of shooting yourself back into the saddle is simply to amazing not to want to repeat over and over again, as you exit corner after corner.

Of course riding a motorcycle isn’t just about acceleration and as the morning progressed I was dumbfounded by the vast number of amazing sights, sounds and most important wonderfully curvey corners that the Santa Monica Mountains have to offer.

Course it helped that once again I hit the roads way to early - even by my standards. The upshot was that the roads were so clear it was unbelievably calm and eerily spooky all at the same time. The only real traffic I was confronted with all morning were errant rocks falling off the canyon walls and I had the direct sense that if I lost it no one was going to find me in time. Not this early and not on a day this overcast by the coast.

Thankfully by the time I got ‘up’ into the canyons, I was able to shoot through the cloud cover and catch perhaps the most breathtaking view I’ve seen in awhile…

I’m sure it’s happened to a million other motorcyclists, but you’re shooting along, focused on the road when out of the corner of your eye you catch the view of all views. The kind of mental picture that forces you to pull over and take note. To witness a marvel that seems unthinkable - almost unreal.

Another View From The Top of Saddlepeak, looking West

Vantages like this just don’t seem possible and yet even now, looking at the pict I find myself wondering, ‘did I really see that today?’… It was simply awe-inspiring. The kind of view that makes you realize that riding is about more than just swing back and forth on a set of wheels, it’s about being emersed in an environment that to many people take for granted. An environment that on a day like today you don’t feel like you’re touching but rather you feel like you’re living. Each breath you take swallows yet another taste of this amazing moment and after every corner you wonder, ‘can it get any better?’ and then before you know it the next turn is on you and you’re thinking the same thing all over again. I was simply memorized in some many ways and on so many levels. Seldom in the past several weeks have I felt this relaxed after a ride.

Give me warm weather, clear roads and early morning light and I’m a happy camper. It’s really that simple.

Here are some more picts…

Golden Hour, Part 1

Golden Hour, Part 2

Outside The Rockstore

The Mullhulland Look Out

The Mullhulland Look Out, Part 2

Tuna Canyon Road

Back At The PCH

Early Morning Light

Outside The Rockstore, Part 2

From The Top of Stunt Road