A long ride from Ojai and back

[Thruxton71]

I had promised BrakeLate a tour of the good roads in the Ojai/Santa Barbara area, so on a crisp fall morning a few weeks ago he joined the usual Sunday morning group leaving from Ojai gas near 33 and 150 at 7am. I know. Why 7am you ask? Less traffic, less enforcement, more open road. We started by heading up over 33, a DRZ 400 (me), a KTM SuperDuke (BrakeLate), a T2 Guzzi, a Miata, a 750 Norton Interstate (Big Bar), another Miata, a late 60's Triumph, a Suzuki DR 650 dual purpose, a Corvair trike, a BMW 1200 GS, and a clean Honda Hawk. Quite a selection.
We reached 'The Place' in Ventucopa after a fun romp over 33. After breakfast, all but the Norton, the Super Duke, and myself headed home.
The run from Ventucopa to Santa Maria favors bikes with big horsepower, if the road is truly going to be enjoyed. The section from New Cuyama down to Santa Maria especially, with fast straights linking large sweeping corners, banked like Daytona. However..it is a section that is heavily patrolled, which on my part, put a damper on excess of speed. That and a 400cc single that will run right along, but why?
Things got a lot more interesting when we reached the Tepusquet Road turn, about 14 miles out of Santa Maria, where we pulled over to take a break. While we rested a large group of what can be best described as crotch rockets blew in from the Santa Maria direction, leather jackets labelled with 'RR,' what ever that means. We let them take off in front, then attacked what is one of the greatest rides in this part of the state. Narrow and curvy, with lots of elevation changes, but generally a climb. We passed the RR group on the side of the road at the summit. Then it was left on Foxen Canyon Road for more curvy fun. This route dumps you out in Los Olivos, where you can sneak across San Marcos Pass road and go right on another gem, Ballard Canyon Road, which is another roller coaster. The bad news? It dumps you out in the suburbs of Solvang, where you need to turn left on Chalk Hill Road, then right on Atterday Road, which t's into 246, the main drag in Solvang. After a very poor and expensive meal in Solvang, it was out to 154, the road to Santa Barbara. The trick here is to turn left on Stage coach road, which takes you from the valley floor, underneath the jumper's bridge on 154 (they now have it fenced off) and up towards Cold Springs Tavern. As is the case on a Sunday afternoon, the traffic here was heavy and slow, but we got past to enjoy the climb to the summit.
Rather than take the main (154) road down to Santa Barbara, I had BigBar and Brakelate follow me down Kinevan, which is a goat path from the Summit down the Santa Barbara side, lined with funky little houses and unforgiving boulders. Back onto 154 for a short burst to North San Marcos Road, which is the old route, and MUCH more interesting. I used to (back when I was healthy) ride my bicycle up and down this road, and even on a bicycle the descent is a challenge.. there are a series of downhill switchbacks that are incredible.
Back in civilization, we turned left on Cathedral Oaks road (hwy 192) and puttered along with Sunday traffic till it fell away in the fun parts. Reaching another great section, Toro Canyon, my plan to have a lot of fun was thwarted by an ambulance (guessing it would be needed.. did someone radio ahead??.. well it I guess it saved us on that section of road)..
Following 192 above Carpinteria, we finally turned left on 150, which took us back to Ojai and home. No muss, no fuss. Brakelate was impressed with the roads..

[SonicVenum]

Damn, sounds like a helluva ride!

[xbacksideslider]

Shoot! Over the MeloVelo weekend I wanted to take 166 to Tepusquet and then down to Foxen Canyon and turn toward Lompoc to look at a Dodge Rampage project truck that's still for sale.

[xjrguy]

You guys need to ride out to Jalama beach. Great ride and great burgers at the shack there.

[xbacksideslider]

Jalama . . . . that is a good ride. Sort of "single track" for street bikes.

[jhwalker]

Damn, sounds like a helluva ride!

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