A short but good ride on the 1952 MAC

[Thruxton71]

There is a road off of Highway 150 between Ojai and Santa Paula called 'Sulphur Mountain Road' (https://www.venturacountytrails.org/Tra ... aHome.html) that winds and twists up and up till a locked gate ends the ride. In Ojai the road was briefly infamous as the route to Larry Hagman's estate (http://ojaihistory.com/tribute-to-larry-hagman/) with a helicopter pad and all the fixings. In our circle, the road was the way up to a school bus parked in a field and occupied by a rider we knew who used his car as a dirty cloths hamper and rode everywhere on his side car equipped BMW brick, but that is another story.
This story is about riding a 1952 rigid framed Velocette MAC up and down that road, shadowed by an 850 Norton Commando. It is simply, one of the best stretches of road in the area. It climbs into the mountains in a very organic way, following the curves and dips of the terrain, with rare runoff chances and, luckily, very light to non-existent traffic. It has sparse housing, most of which reflects the investment of big money as evidenced by the extensive care to minimize fire hazard in mowed hillsides and carefully trimmed oaks.
As it turns out, even with a constant and sometimes steep climb, this is a Velocette MAC kind of road. Sight lines for corners are good, and the little MAC could negotiate most in second and third gear, only occasionally needing to drop down into first. In blind corners the compactness of the MAC servers well, as we did encounter a little traffic, and there was always plenty of wriggle room to avoid a painful encounter.
It is hard to describe this road in more detail, except to say that straight sections are rare, so for such a small distance, there is lots of opportunity to rub the edges of the tires.
Once at the top, Mr Norton commented that the 850 was not the perfect mount for the road, wishing he had his Triumph 100R. On my part, while I was happy to be MAC mounted, I imagine that the Suzuki DRZ in my stable would love this road as well.
The Descent is a welcome rest for the engine of the MAC, but gives the road a whole new look with the capability of more entry speed into the tight corners. But we made it back down, and turned left to descend Dennison Grade, which is also a MAC road.
A short but really great ride in Ojai.