2 Day Escape From LA - Julian CA
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Joined: Nov 2013
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From: Washington
2 Day Escape From LA - Julian CA
Well this is my first ride report so and not much of one but I'll give a little background first. I bought a rode hard & put up wet 2007 Road King Custom back in November and set to making it fit me and clean it up. After a ton of mods, maintenance, and money I got it back together and went on a short shakedown ride. No problems and super comfy so I decided to hit the road and test her out properly.
I got the bike loaded up and set out a little late hoping to get on the back end of the morning LA traffic (yea right). My weekend is Wednesday & Thursday so while it is perfect for riding outside LA, getting out of town is brutal and a great reminder of why you're leaving. So I head out south on the 405 and hit the usual wall of stopped cars. No problem, hit the HOV lane and cruise on bye. Start to make it out of town and somewhere past Huntington Beach the low fuel light comes on. Ok no problem I'll hit a gas station soon. Then ****! bike goes dead in the fast lane in full traffic with about 4 lanes to cross to safety. I pucker up, grab a hand full of clutch and force my way to right and make it to the side of the road. Ease out the clutch and she fires back up. I nurse her to the next off ramp and hunt down a gas station and count my blessings. Lesson learned - when she wants gas, give it to her! With a new found respect for the low level light and an obsessive focus on the odometer I head back out on the 405 headed for the first good road of many to come...
I got the bike loaded up and set out a little late hoping to get on the back end of the morning LA traffic (yea right). My weekend is Wednesday & Thursday so while it is perfect for riding outside LA, getting out of town is brutal and a great reminder of why you're leaving. So I head out south on the 405 and hit the usual wall of stopped cars. No problem, hit the HOV lane and cruise on bye. Start to make it out of town and somewhere past Huntington Beach the low fuel light comes on. Ok no problem I'll hit a gas station soon. Then ****! bike goes dead in the fast lane in full traffic with about 4 lanes to cross to safety. I pucker up, grab a hand full of clutch and force my way to right and make it to the side of the road. Ease out the clutch and she fires back up. I nurse her to the next off ramp and hunt down a gas station and count my blessings. Lesson learned - when she wants gas, give it to her! With a new found respect for the low level light and an obsessive focus on the odometer I head back out on the 405 headed for the first good road of many to come...
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From: Washington
Back on the road and looking forward to the next leg, I make it to San Juan Capistrano and my exit. 74 Highway "The Ortega Highway" is a great road. Roughly 30 miles climbing the Santiago mountains until it drops you from the top into Lake Elsinore. There are a couple biker joints at the top and I planned on stopping but I was going way too fast and having way too much fun to turn around, so sorry, no pics. The view from the top overlooking Lake Elsinore is wonderful and definitely deserving of a picture but I had more to see and a ways to go. I stopped in Lake Elsinore for some fuel and a chance to stretch the legs and prepare for the last stretch of interstate.
From Lake Elsinore I hopped on the I-15 for a short and thankfully uneventful run down to Temecula and picked up hwy 79. Once you get out of the congestion of Temecula hwy 79 is a fun road with some great small hills and scenery. After blasting down 79 too fast past a couple cops I hit the short section of highway 78 up into Julian. This section has a lot of fun turns and climbs to 4000 feet or so at Julian but was pretty busy for a Wednesday afternoon. Still a fun ride, but I can only imagine how congested this area gets in summer on weekends. Finally make it into Julian and park and break out the phone for the first picture.
First thing that I thought was wow what a tiny tourist trap and I stil feel that way, but it is kind of a hub for some good riding. I took a quick lap around the place and felt my anti-social ways kicking in and hit the road. I was planning on staying at a motel I found online down in Pine Valley and I had a road I was really looking forward to between me and there...
From Lake Elsinore I hopped on the I-15 for a short and thankfully uneventful run down to Temecula and picked up hwy 79. Once you get out of the congestion of Temecula hwy 79 is a fun road with some great small hills and scenery. After blasting down 79 too fast past a couple cops I hit the short section of highway 78 up into Julian. This section has a lot of fun turns and climbs to 4000 feet or so at Julian but was pretty busy for a Wednesday afternoon. Still a fun ride, but I can only imagine how congested this area gets in summer on weekends. Finally make it into Julian and park and break out the phone for the first picture.
First thing that I thought was wow what a tiny tourist trap and I stil feel that way, but it is kind of a hub for some good riding. I took a quick lap around the place and felt my anti-social ways kicking in and hit the road. I was planning on staying at a motel I found online down in Pine Valley and I had a road I was really looking forward to between me and there...
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From: Washington
So I head out of Julian back on hwy 79 which is a fun road with some nice scenery but full of cars and work trucks testing their tires on tight corners so I was happy to get to my turn off - county route S1 "The Sunrise Highway". S1 is an amazing road running about 30 miles through the Cleveland National Forest up and down Mt. Laguna. I hit a pull out to admire the view and tried my best with a crappy phone camera to get a couple decent shots without much luck.
The S1 was absolutely beautiful and a real nice mix of the scenery above with beautiful green valleys and tall pine forest around Mt. Laguna. It stops at highway 80 which happens to be my turn and maybe a mile down the road lies Pine Valley and my stop for the night. Pine Valley is a small quiet little town that made a perfect stop. I stayed in the Pine Valley Inn for a reasonable $70 and can recommend it. It isn't the nicest room or most comfortable but it's walking distance to a grocery store with a good beer selection, next door to the Sheriff station so plenty safe for your bike, and an easy walk to the limited restaurant choices. Not to mention a great view from the porch (get a room on back side of motel if you go).
After getting settled in I walked over to the local burger stand for dinner. It's kind of a time warp back to the 1950's but with 2050's pricing. Paid almost $15 for a small double bacon burger and chocolate shake. Couldn't bring myself to pay the extra $5 they wanted for fries. Avoid this place like the plague. But hey, when's the last time you saw working phone booths?
After the reaming I took on dinner I walked back to the motel and stopped in the market for a six pack. A few beers on the porch enjoying the view and cool mountain air and I called it a night excited about the next days riding...
The S1 was absolutely beautiful and a real nice mix of the scenery above with beautiful green valleys and tall pine forest around Mt. Laguna. It stops at highway 80 which happens to be my turn and maybe a mile down the road lies Pine Valley and my stop for the night. Pine Valley is a small quiet little town that made a perfect stop. I stayed in the Pine Valley Inn for a reasonable $70 and can recommend it. It isn't the nicest room or most comfortable but it's walking distance to a grocery store with a good beer selection, next door to the Sheriff station so plenty safe for your bike, and an easy walk to the limited restaurant choices. Not to mention a great view from the porch (get a room on back side of motel if you go).
After getting settled in I walked over to the local burger stand for dinner. It's kind of a time warp back to the 1950's but with 2050's pricing. Paid almost $15 for a small double bacon burger and chocolate shake. Couldn't bring myself to pay the extra $5 they wanted for fries. Avoid this place like the plague. But hey, when's the last time you saw working phone booths?
After the reaming I took on dinner I walked back to the motel and stopped in the market for a six pack. A few beers on the porch enjoying the view and cool mountain air and I called it a night excited about the next days riding...
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From: Washington
Woke up the next morning and walked down to the local diner for a good breakfast then took off. Headed back the other way on S1 back into Julian. It was still pretty early but any time is a good time for apple pie in my book and all I had heard before the trip was how good Julian apple pie is. Stopped in at The Julian Pie Co. and tried out a slice with cinnamon ice cream. Great pie, incredible ice cream!
Jumped back on the bike and took off east out of town on hwy 78 for a fun hairpin curve filled drop from 4000 feet down to a nice straight stretch of highway through the desert. Turned right at S2 "the Great Southern Overland Stage Route" and man, what a great road. 45 miles of beautiful desert riding next to the Anza-Borrego desert and surrounded by mountains in the distance. The road roughly follows the old stagecoach route into SoCal. Hard to imagine crossing in those times.
There is a nice little airstrip out in the middle of nowhere though...
The road was so much fun I turned around and went back as a great start on a long way back home.
Jumped back on the bike and took off east out of town on hwy 78 for a fun hairpin curve filled drop from 4000 feet down to a nice straight stretch of highway through the desert. Turned right at S2 "the Great Southern Overland Stage Route" and man, what a great road. 45 miles of beautiful desert riding next to the Anza-Borrego desert and surrounded by mountains in the distance. The road roughly follows the old stagecoach route into SoCal. Hard to imagine crossing in those times.
There is a nice little airstrip out in the middle of nowhere though...
The road was so much fun I turned around and went back as a great start on a long way back home.
Tourer
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 411
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From: Orig Surfers Paradise Australia, then Riyadh Saudi Arabia, Tokyo, Toronto, now So Cal
Thanks for posting this review of your ride. I live in SoCal and have this ride planned, now I really can't wait!!!
Ride safe!
Ride safe!
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Joined: Jan 2014
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From: Santa Clarita
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Joined: Nov 2013
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From: Washington
Thanks for the kind words guys. 
Definitely go check it out. It's a nice trip and worth the fight to get through LA. I'd take the same route down if I went back. The 74 across to the 15 is great and the 79 down to Santa Ysabel is a fun relaxing road.
Definitely go check it out. It's a nice trip and worth the fight to get through LA. I'd take the same route down if I went back. The 74 across to the 15 is great and the 79 down to Santa Ysabel is a fun relaxing road.
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