A tale of two rides

[Thruxton71]

I have not posted for a while. Lots of company, cold weather, general laziness all combined. But, I did manage to meet the Southern California Norton club's annual Ojai pilgrimage two weekends ago, and today I managed a morning ride on the Suzuki DRZ.

The Norton club traditionally meets at the Cactus Cafe in Moorpark every year to ride into Ojai. They used to visit the Museum of Guy Webster, then the Mike Taggart collection, and sometimes both. Then they got into the Dwayne Bower collection.. which is close to a junk yard filled with all sorts of cars used in movies, bikes on walls.. a BSA B40.. most recently then added Glenn Bator and his showroom full of expensive collectable vintage and classic motorcycles.

I used to go to the Cafe, where the now deceased 'Bib' organized the crowd of Brit bike riders into some form of order, then set them off towards Ojai, following various interesting routes. I loved to ride in the group, listening to the various Brit bikes as they rumbled along, all with distinct exhaust notes. There was always an interesting array of classic British iron, but times have changed. Bib succumbed to cancer, and a majority of the bikes are now modern Triumphs, new BMWs, new Ducatis with a small sprinkling of Vincents, Nortons and Triumphs. This year I rode my 1970 Triumph Daytona.

We left Ojai a little after 7, and I almost turned around. My MS was acting up, and I was having trouble lifting my foot up to the left footpeg! I pulled over and waved the Ojai crowd down the road. I regrouped, and was able to safely proceed. Then my almost open faced helmet in combination with the sun directly in my eyes caused me to to tear up so badly that I couldn't see. I pulled over again. regrouped again, and rode out to Moorpark, cursing the sun, but enjoying old roads, like South Mountain and Balcom. I pulled into Moorpark to enjoy the zoo, but left before the ride, as unlike past rides, I didn't want to be part of this new crowd, with their new bikes.

The ride got better for me on the way back. No sun in my eyes, and no traffic. I had a clean run down Dennison, and then motored home, somewhat happy with the morning. The Triumph never missed a beat. The new battery really helps!..When the Daytona is set up right it has two personalities. It burbles along as you short shift, with a nice soft easy feeling. But, get it up on the cam, and it is a Jekyll and Hyde experience. When there were a group of them running on Sunday, we thought they sounded like little offenhausers, crackling and popping off the throttle, snapping out of courners, buzzing the handlebars like a dental drill. Nothing like modern machines, but attractive in a raw way..

This last Sunday (3/6/22), I broke out my Suzuki, to make sure the oil circulates and the gas doesn't gum up. It was in the high 30s when I rolled into the meeting place to be greeted by two Miata's and a Dodge Van. The cages were heading up 33, which I knew for a fact was far too icy for my old man tastes (there was a time when nothing kept us off 33, ice or snow we rode, but not now). After debate, the cages headed up 33, I headed off by myself towards Ventura.

I rarely get the opportunity to ride solo, and frankly, I enjoyed it last Sunday. I took all the back roads out of Ojai, enjoying the very light traffic and the progressively warmer air. There is a dead end road halfway to Ventura called Canada Larga. It winds up a valley, surrounded by fields occupied by cows. There had been a recent application of gravel along the edges which was treacherous in the two 90 degree consecutive corners, but I was alone, and in no rush, so the gentle slide did not bother me. It was still a great road, worth the side trip.

Back to the Avenue, and down to Ventura proper, then across the rim of the city (on Poli) over to FootHill, which took me all the way to Santa Paula through the groves of avocado and citrus. I was in no hurry, kept to the speed limit, and was very relaxed. Almost too relaxed when going across Santa Paula on an unfamiliar road and came close to being smacked in an intersection after I saw the stop sign at the last minute. Yikes. Thank goodness the suzi has good brakes.

The final leg is the always entertaining run from Santa Paula to Ojai. By now the Suzuki was running pretty clean, and the sun was not in my eyes. There was more than the usual traffic, but after a few pulled off, and I was able to sneak around a few more, there were only two left to deal with at the Summit. There is a long stretch that is not double yellow up on top, so I was primed to do one last pass. I did notice a small white car in my rear views, but I figured it was some of the traffic that has caught up. So, all is clear, downshift into the might Suzuki power band, and dispatch the traffic.. when..WHAT THE HELL???? The following cawas a Honda Civic Type R, and it passed the cars and I like I was bolted to the ground.

Normally I follow all speed limits and never pass over the double.. but passed by a cage!! On my road???? I tried.. I really did.. to keep him in sight. But try as I might, I was not gaining, but they were still in sight. I don't think I have ridden that part of the road that quickly before. But I had to get to Dennison in the same time zone as the Honda, just to see.

On Dennison I rang the Suzuki for all it was worth, and felt like I was gaining. But that Cage was not lifing.. not at all, until the pulled over before the bottom, and I rolled by giving them a wave. Finally a cage on Dennison that knew how to drive, and had the iron to do it right. I smiled all the way home.

Alive in Ojai..