[thebozenator]

Hey everyone,

I recently moved to Irvine in the OC and am finally set up to the point where I can go riding more often. I was wondering if any natives could help me out with getting set up riding in the area.

Most importantly, anyone from the area know where I can find some twistys?

@brett8b had an awesome post with some riding spots but they all seem to be an hour and a half away:

Ortega Hwy - closest canyon to orange county, very easy sweeping turns but can get pretty bad traffic later in the day.

Rim of the world - CA 18 to the 330, gorgeous scenic road up in the mountains by lake arrowhead, fairly easy as well as long as there is no ice up there, about an hour inland

Julian, CA - CA 79, 76, 78, you can take any of these roads in. 79 is the most scenic is longer but the most scenic. Its a cool little town that is all about apples (pies, cider, etc) can get pretty busy on weekends. About two hours south.

Palomar Mtn Road - off of the CA 76. My favorite of the bunch, short 10 mile extremely technical road with 4000 ft of elevation. If you like twisty roads this is a must IMO. About an hour and a half south.

Idyllwild - CA 243, 74. Good intermediate twistys out in the middle of nowhere, semi popular with other riders. about an hour inland.

Mullholland Hwy - probably one of the more famous roads that can be a fun hangout on freeways, cool to see once but there is only about 2 miles of decent twisty area's and traffic is terrible on weekends. about an hour north (with no traffic)

Angeles Crest Hwy/Los Angeles forest - probably the best canyons in LA, unfortunately ACH is closed through wrightwood so don't expect to ride all the way through currently, still there is over 30 miles of twisty roads open, about an hour north

Does anyone know of any fun spots that aren't so far out?



I also noticed there are a lot of Ducati dealerships in the area. Any recommendations on where to go for service? Newport Ducati is the closest to me but I am in the LA area often so I don't mind going to one there.




Is there anything else a rider new to the area should know about? I have already experienced the joy of the 405 -_- and the freeing, yet terrifying, experience of lane splitting.

Thanks!

 

[Dingo]

Hey @thebozenator, I'm relatively new to the area too. I feel the pain, what I hear to be amazing roads to ride are just too far away - I mind as well go do a track day!

I've been thru Ortega Hwy for the first time a couple weeks ago and here's my take: get there early (7-8am) if you want to have a relatively scarce roadway. Not ideal because of car/truck/construction traffic. Short enough to get the blood pumping and can get hot out there, stop and drink some water at the rest stop.

I hear Highway 2 is a nice ride also.

Overall, if you love riding, you'll love being out.

 

[mike in o.c.]

Two twisties near you in Irvine are Ortega and Santiago Canyon Rd. As mentioned earlier, ride Ortega early AM. Santiago Canyon is nice on weekdays. Not as many bikers and crazy cyclists or CHP. Otherwise, you gotta ride to get to the, in my opinion, nicer canyon roads. I really like Azusa Canyon road to Crystal Lake. More technical would be GMR. I just returned from vacation in San Diego County and can attest to Palomar Mountain and Julian. I rode them multiple times. My favorite is East Gate on Palomar and the road that goes up to the observatory. Julian is a nice easy ride and they have good pies and food there.
Overall it's best to ride on the weekdays: less traffic and not much CHP presence which makes the ride much more pleasurable.