Here are some of the first roads I'll be taking my new ST to when I get it (all within an hour's drive or so from my house): Latigo Canyon CA-33 Cerro Noroeste Angeles Crest
Frankenbike - Do I smell a meet? The only think that stinks about all of those fun roads is that you almost always have to go through the crappy traffic to get there. Have you gone up Azusa Canyon? I don't know how far from you that is, but it's a fun drive.
Big Bear (the back side is more fun) and Mt. Baldy as well.
Yeah, crap traffic to go anywhere in SoCal if you leave the house after 11am on a weekend. But earlier than that it is not too bad
Azusa Canyon was closed for so long, I forgot it existed.
I think we may have to select our canyon roads by which one has someplace to eat nearby. Latigo: Neptunes Net. Angeles Crest: Newcolms Ranch (if it's still there). There's a little cafe along Angeles Forest Hwy, which is a good turnoff from Angeles Crest. I forget the place along 33 that had an outdoor BBQ pit.
Frankenbike, I live on the Forest Hwy just off the Crest, and drive into town most days. A big reason for the ST is to make that drive more entertaining. The vid below is a stones throw from home/work, and a what NOT to do demo for the beginning motorcyclist. I hope to see all you So. Cal. folks up here soon!
The main reason CA-1 isn't on my list, is that it's just clotted with RVs all year, going snail slow and the road is double lined practically the whole way so you can't pass 'em. At least south of San Francisco. Shoreline Highway north of San Francisco is one of my favorite roads anywhere. Still filled with tourons, but not as many.
Even if the road is a bit crowded, it is one of my goals in life to take a trip all the way up the CA coast via the 1. Iv lived here all my life and have never done it. One day!
From Sacramento, you want the mountain roads. CA-88 out of Jackson, maybe with a side trip on 26, 4 north of Murphy's (Ebbet's Pass), 108 (Sonora Pass, or maybe that's 120 I don't remember). 49 is an awesome road too, but I've found that it has more CHP per mile than any other road I've ever been on (they contract with the CHP for law enforcement, and it's the only place I've seen CHP other than freeways).
Look for the Calaveras County lines on Google Maps before going out there, and don't speed there. The county's only source of revenue is traffic tickets since the logging industry died, and they don't have many people in the county...those that do live there are retirees and people living in poverty. All of the tickets I've gotten in the last 10 years were in Calaveras County, and that was visiting friends. 3 of the 5 tickets were completely bogus, I went to court for one and thought I'd won when the judge clearly admitted there was no way the citing officer saw what he said he saw (I was going slow at the time and he said I was riding on the shoulder in an area that had no shoulder, in traffic, and a 750 lb Harley is not an off-road bike). But he upheld the ticket, because it's a racket.
From Sacramento, you want the mountain roads. CA-88 out of Jackson, maybe with a side trip on 26, 4 north of Murphy's (Ebbet's Pass), 108 (Sonora Pass, or maybe that's 120 I don't remember). 49 is an awesome road too, but I've found that it has more CHP per mile than any other road I've ever been on (they contract with the CHP for law enforcement, and it's the only place I've seen CHP other than freeways).
Look for the Calaveras County lines on Google Maps before going out there, and don't speed there. The county's only source of revenue is traffic tickets since the logging industry died, and they don't have many people in the county...those that do live there are retirees and people living in poverty. All of the tickets I've gotten in the last 10 years were in Calaveras County, and that was visiting friends. 3 of the 5 tickets were completely bogus, I went to court for one and thought I'd won when the judge clearly admitted there was no way the citing officer saw what he said he saw (I was going slow at the time and he said I was riding on the shoulder in an area that had no shoulder, in traffic, and a 750 lb Harley is not an off-road bike). But he upheld the ticket, because it's a racket.
Everything about the Focus ST seems like it was made for mountain roads in California and Switzerland
Seems like if you live in Kansas or Iowa, all the handling goodies go to waste. Though it gives you an incentive for a pilgrimage to Deal's Gap or Colorado. I've got some roads to recommend in Colorado, New Mexico and eastern Arizona also.
A lot of this really depends on how well the ST does on rough roads, because I don't think anywhere but eastern bloc countries in Europe have roads as shitty as ours.
Everything about the Focus ST seems like it was made for mountain roads in California and Switzerland
A lot of this really depends on how well the ST does on rough roads, because I don't think anywhere but eastern bloc countries in Europe have roads as shitty as ours.
I didnt realize how many awesome roads we have out here until you asked this question. I have 3 within 30 mins of where I live. Its not even that I havent driven them before (I drive all of them at least once year) its just you dont notice!
Here are the 3 Im looking forward to:
California State Route 39 (San Gabriel Canyon Rd) Azusa Canyon
Angeles Crest Hwy (2) Glendale to Wrightwood and then some other road back down
Rim of the World Hwy 18 up to Big Bear and then City Creek Road (330) back down (couldnt find a good map)
Considering you are in grand rapids ... a trip out to grand haven in the summer is always nice on a warm sunny day. *Especially* the strip through town and past the state park! I always liked the road heading south out of Grand Haven as well that travels along the shoreline. Not as scenic as it could be but I always enjoyed it when I worked there.
The road I have in mind is called Blackburn Road in Sewickley, near Pittsburgh, PA. It's a 2 lane road with a series of turns and 1 really hairpin turn. It snakes along a side of a hill and is in the midst of many 7 figure homes (although they are set so far back you can't see most of them from the road).
I've driven a 1970 911, 1985 Alfa Romeo GTV6, 1987 VW GTI, and a 1983 Honda 750 Sabre up and down that street. It's only about 6 miles long, but you feel like you're in a road rally with a low stone wall protecting you from a 100 or more foot drop on one side and a hillside on the other before it opens out into a tree-lined road.
P.S. The Alfa I didn't own, the salesman at the local Alfa dealership turned me on to the street. We became friends and used to test drive the Alfa GTV6 up and down that street on 5 or 6 different occasions. I finally decided against the car because I couldn't get comfortable with the 'Italian Driving Style' but I loved the sound of that Alfa engine though, although they were known for blowing head gaskets.
You better make sure that it isn't closed in the winter.. a lot of state park roads are that time of year. Otherwise, sounds like we may have to plan one of our first meets there!
This road along the Mohawk river is fun to drive up and down and has very little traffic.
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