Sammy's Love Ride 14 Post to LABiker
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 13:25:02 -0800
From: sburke
To: LABiker@ophelia.fullcoll.edu
Subject: notes from Love Ride 14
There are definite signs in the air that the Harley trend is over. Case
in point: When Mary was parked next to Momma Gooze it was the latter
that got the most nods from onlookers. Not that I am jealous in anyway;
in fact, I admire PEter's bike just as much as anyone else. Actually I
am glad that that the whole Harley thing has come full circle. Maybe now
people can appreciate a bike for what it is and not just what country it
comes from...
Now, with that said, I shall begin my report from the Donut Shop where
the whole day began. Waiting for Dan and myself were Tom and Edie on
Max, PEter and Momma Gooze, Doctor Joe and his '77 Harley Cafe Racer,
and my friend Mickey and his Springer. I was just trying to keep my eyes
open as we headed up the 605 and 5 fwys...
Once we got to Glendale, the mood began to get more festive. For those
of you who have never been to a Love Ride, first you must imagine two
streets full of bikes; wall to wall for about a mile solid. We didn't
even bother to park in the pack; this way we could make our escape at
any time.
Once we were registered, it was time to head back to the bikes and begin
our trip. On the way, I met up with two friends of mine. Ceith, who
brought a ladyfriend with him on his Fat Boy, and Hannibal with his '72
1/2 Moto Guzzi Eldorado. Eight bikes in all would make the trek north
towards Lake Castaic.
BTW - Tom was using Edie's camcorder to record all the entertainment for
the day. PEter was gracious enough to point out what Tom should shoot.
At about ten a.m. we began to ride north on the 5 fwy. One of the
problems that has yet to be solved is that there is mayhem on the
highway every year. Many people don't understand what riding in
formation is all about. And then there are the lookie-loos. These fools
park their bikes on the side of the freeway just to look at all the
bikes go by. When they do this, other idiots think that someone crashed,
therefore traffic slows down.
There were plenty of onlookers from each of the overpasses as well,
however they did not seem to pose as much of a problem.
When we got to the 5/14 split, we turned off and headed north on I14.
This is when the Love *commute* ends and the Love *ride* begins. After
riding about five miles north, we hit the first of eight different
canyon roads; Sand Canyon Rd. would take us to Vasquez Cyn Rd., which
would lead us to Bouquet Cyn Rd., which, if you weren't careful, you'd
miss Spunky Cyn Rd.
We then took that road to San Francisquito Cyn Rd. (thank God I don't
live on *that* Rd.) up to Lake Elizabeth Rd. We finally hit Lake Hughes
Rd. and the final leg of our trip into Lake Castaic.
There were a number of obstacles to keep an eye out for including sand
and debris, so the speed that we kept was brisk, but by no means was it
knee-dragging. There were a few bikes here and there but not hardly as
many as you would expect considering the fact that over 17,000 bikes
were registered for the event.
Once we got to the Lake things got to be routine. The same vendors were
there, the same outfits were there, although I do like Sue's red tights
and the top she had on was cute, too. The only difference I noticed was
that the potato salad was not frozen, and the beans were a little colder
than last year.
The Doobie Brothers played a medley of their greatest hit, and Jay Leno
was being the traditional guy that he is; down to earth and friendly.
After some socializing with the LABiker bunch, it was time to head home.
There were only four bikes on the way back; Doctor Joe, Tom and Edie,
Peter, and myself. We super-slabbed it back home on the 5 and 405 fwys,
and one after another I said goodbye to everyone. PEter did have some
fweeyway excitement when a yellow Porsche actually had the nad to
challenge the yellow Gooze. Needless to say the Italians kicked the
German's butt one more time...
Looking back on the day, I like to think about the friendships that I
have made over the past few years. I'm grateful for the fact that I have
so many people around me who are willing to take a chance on a ride, and
do a little exploring with me. I think that maybe, just maybe, that's
what the Love Ride is all about.
Ride safe, one and all...
--
Sammy
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