Sunday started like any other riding weekend I’ve spent up in LA over the past year. The old man and I grabbed a quick cup of coffee, got into our respective leathers and then headed up the coast on the Ducs. Little did we know that the dreaded Santa Ana Winds had seriously kicked up over night and had already pummeled the coastline. When we hit the 10 Freeway I knew something wasn’t right since the Caltrans LCD sign was flashing “PCH closed past Topanga”, but I had no idea how bad it was. By the time we hit the Chevron gas station at Sunset Boulevard and the Pacific Coast Highway, it became obvious that riding was no longer the focus of the day, or even a possibility really, instead the goal was just getting home safely.
For Los Angelenos the Santa Ana’s are a yearly ordeal. Some years they come and go, doing nothing more then kicking up the dust and tweaking my sinuses. But every so often there are horrendous years - this happens to be one of them. Thanks in large part to last years heavy rain fall, the coast and the canyons were rips with overgrowth. A few wicked winds later and the very canyons that I love were on fire.
While everyone agrees that the Santa Ana’s are an evil thing - especially in dry years - what no one can seem to agree on is how they actually got their name. The origins of the phrase, ‘Santa Ana’ is a completely convoluted to say the least. Some folks claim that the name comes from the actual Santa Ana Mountains, while others believe that the name derives from the Santa Ana River. Yet in my mind the most plausible origin for these wicked winds comes from the folks who claim that the original form of the phrase is Santana winds, coming from the Spanish vientos de Sanatanas, which means “winds of Satan” (Sanatanas being a rarer form of Satanás).
Regardless of how the winds came to be known, the reality is that the great canyon roads of Southern California are suffering. From Mulhulland to Latigo to Decker, the coast is ablaze and so to are a vast number of other ‘fun roads’ in other parts of the greater SoCal Area. In basic terms, LA is a mess right now and sportbike riding for the foreseeable future seems doubtful. Here’s hoping the winds die down, folks whose homes are in trouble make it out alright and the roads survive… All in all a sad day, and soon to be week, for LA riders…
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