Long Beach to Bakersfield in 2 Days-190 Mi

Traveller · #1 01-13-2010, 10:43 PM

The trip began in Long Beach on New Years day on my cruiser bike with a stock 80cc Skyhawk. Getting through LA was a pain because I got lost a few times. Once I hit San Fernando Road at around 2 in the evening I knew that I wouldn't make be able to make the 20 mile journey on Hwy 5 to North Valley Peace Rd. before sunset so I stayed the night in Castaic.

The next day I left at dawn, and made it to Gordon by 11 am fighting the huge head winds on Hwy 5.
Got something to eat and met another MB member who gave me a ride up a big hill on North Valley Peace Rd. in his truck. Strange enough he had his own MB in the truck, so I invited him to ride part of the way on Frazier Park Rd. but his carb was leaking.

I was wondering why so many cars were passing me on Frazier Park Rd which I thought was going to be deserted on New Years day. I later figured out that Curry Valley Road leads to a ski resort.

Picasa Web Albums - Traveller - Long Beach to...
The other road leading from the Y was MiPortero Hwy which curved around mountains, and it felt like I was going to the bottom of a snow filled canyon. Fortunately the road was not icy due to the lack of rain that we have had. Overall it took me from 5700 feet to an elevation of 1200 feet at CA 33. Then it was relatively flat on CA 33 with beautiful scenery.

Looking back I should have taken two different sized sprocket wheels, one to go through LA (36T) and one for the mountains (50T) which would have increased my average speed.
I credit bamaguy for providing inspiration through his http://motorbicycling.com/f16/12-000...05-a-1808.html posts about his travels.

rockvoice · #2 01-13-2010, 11:44 PM

thats awesome , the next time you plan a trip like that let us know we have some guys that might be interested. would maybe like to plan a trip to san diego or something like that

bairdco · #3 01-13-2010, 11:48 PM

i'm down, if you're going south. i have absolutely no desire to ever go to bakersfield again...

The 26incher · #4 01-14-2010, 12:18 AM

A PCH trip would be bonkers!

bairdco · #5 01-14-2010, 12:59 AM

ok, i gotta ask. why? i don't mean it in a bad way, but still, why?

Egor · #6 01-14-2010, 01:27 AM

A friend of mine and I were going to ride a portion of old 66 but we were going to start up around Apple Valley. I am not fond of riding with the cars jamming past at 60. I wonder if it would be better if it were a bunch of riders together. Myrons Mopeds does it once a month, but those guys are using hopped up Tomos with two gears and will make 30 + easy, all day. I admire anyone that makes challenging trips with these bikes. Reminds me of George Wyman and his trip across america in 1903. Have fun, Dave

**Dave31** · #7 01-14-2010, 01:58 AM

Awesome Traveller

I have been wanting to do another long trip but it is so hard to find the time.

GearNut · #8 01-14-2010, 02:15 AM

Very cool! A long trip would be fun. Now all I need to do is get a higher paying job that I can take a few days vacation time off. I haven't had a vacation in 16 years, not counting holidays.

HBfisherman · #9 01-14-2010, 12:58 PM

Your F'n nuts man. I get tired driving to Cow town let alone riding my bike thats just crazy. How the **** did you get up and down the grapevine?

Traveller · #10 01-16-2010, 02:39 PM

I figured out how to insert images so I attached them below.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HBfisherman

How the **** did you get up and down the grapevine?

Yea, that was the hardest part of the trip. Getting up to the Frazier was a relatively flat trip compared to Curry Valley Road which was much steeper. Several times I had to pedal assist to keep the motor running.

Frazier Park Rd. The adjacent mountains are below.

While on Hwy 5 the winds were getting to strong so I thought HT needed a rest, which was a big mistake as I couldn't get her to start again, so I had to walk to the top of the hill. More to come...