The Journal. Los Angeles to Daytona...

Day 2 – Los Angeles to Twenty-Nine Palms. Snow and Rock


 
So the first day of riding, an early wet start as we needed to return the rental van, well people carrier, not an issue really until you mix rain with poor road markings, pot holes that could swallow you whole and oil / grease – umhh very interesting. – oh and did I mention that this was LA !!

With van returned, the bike-riding plan commences execution in earnest, not quite, the route we had planned on Highway Two from Glendale, over the San Gabrielle Mountains through the LA national forest had been subject to overnight snow. This is California, it is no supposed to snow surely!


With sad hearts recognizing that our objective for the day to ride canyon roads, stop at Newcomb’s Ranch (a popular biking stop at 5,340 feet above sea level) and onto 29 Palms, we switched to a made up on the spot Plan B. We skirted the bottom of the San Bernardino Mountains via the 10, 110, 210 and 15, along with the aforementioned potholes etc, as well as LA’s finest drivers. The driving rain and rising altitude made the going tough, ploughing past eighteen wheelers and road works.

Outside Victorville we saw the accumulated snowfall on the San Gabrielle Mountains relieved that we had chosen our impromptu route, despite the now emerging sun, it continued to be a very cold and windy ride. However the emergence of blue sky and with it heat from the first sight of sun was most welcoming. The run down 18 through Apple Valley and onto the 247 was spectacular, sun to our fronts and heavy dark, low cloud trapped by the mountains to our rear, we had put the bad weather to bed, without incident or harm to ourselves or the bikes. With open roads reaching out in front of us we picked up the pace to make up for ‘lost’ time, great riding, great roads and scenery and before long we entered the Joshua Tree National Park and with it our hotel in 29 Palms, but not before grabbing a coffee and purchasing passes for the park.

Laner
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