Friday, 12 November 2010

Windmills and a Cowboy Film Set

My overnight stop was at 6,760 feet above sea level and the temperature in the morning was very cold. With being at such a high elevation for this part of California, I was happy knowing that I would soon be getting to a lower elevation, so I didn’t mind leaving relatively early.

I soon regret that decision as the road I took to leave Big Bear Lake climbed even higher into the mountains. Soon I was at 8,400 feet and it was even colder, so on went the heated grips, thicker gloves, bluffs and just about anything else I had handy!

I stopped at a few places to look at the views. On the road towards Angelus Oaks....

Just off California Highway 38 to the east of Redlands....

Just off I-10 near to Palm Springs are a huge amount of windmills. I can understand why these are located here, as it was very windy on the day I went through!

I rode up a steep dirt road to where the windmills are located on the top of a hill. I am sure I wasn’t meant to go up there, but I was curious....

The Leading Ladies at the top of the hill in front of the mills....

Some people would call this environmental heaven, others environmental hell....

Nearby is the White Water Canyon with its river flowing down it at a fast pace. In order that the scale can be seen, I deliberately included my shadow at the bottom of the picture....

I spent some time visiting Pioneertown in the Yucca Valley. In response to a need for a permanently built film set, a group of Hollywood personalities founded Pioneertown in 1946. Roy Rogers broke the ground that marked the start of construction. Scenes from over 200 movies and TV serials were filmed here. The “town” is really just shallow depth buildings with proper looking facades....

This old wagon hasn’t moved for a long time....

Now doubt a recent prop....

This picture shows the building are really just facades. Some do have small rooms inside, but mainly just to film actors walking into them....

Of course, being actresses themselves, the Leading Ladies felt right at home here....

My nights stop was in the interestingly named Twentynine Palms, near the entrance to Joshua tree National park. The town gets its name as when settled in the 1800’s there were 29 palms at the oasis. I read most are still there today, but I didn’t go looking for them. I liked the sign announcing the entry to the town....

There were some terrific looking and detailed murals painted on the walls of the town....

I considered continuing to ride through the Joshua Tree park, but I wasn’t sure how long it would take and I didn’t want to ride through it in the dark, so I found a hotel and waited until the next morning.

My Tour Is Nearly Over....

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It seems hard to believe, but my tour of the USA is nearly finished. In less than a week, I will have delivered my bike to the docks in LA and I will be on a flight back to the UK. The end of the tour has arrived very quickly and I have only about another 600 or 700 miles to go!

I had a fantastic ride on day 140, with just under 200 miles of mainly twisty roads ridden through some terrific scenery. The ride out of LA made me smile as I could feel myself un-winding from the tension in the city. I even got to enjoy some lane-splitting and it was just like being back in London traffic for a while!

I stopped on the way at Forest Lawn Memorial Garden as I liked the way the sunlight was catching the fountain as I rode by. So, for about the millionth time, I did a U-turn and went back....

I had planned to ride California Highway 2 from near Burbank to Wrightwood but I found the first part of it closed due to a recent fire and land slides. Out came my California map and I soon worked out a detour that took me north of the closed part, rejoining Highway 2 further up the road. I was then able to ride across the San Gabriel Mountains and it was a terrific ride. It is a twisty road that follows the contours of the mountains and rises up to 6,800 feet which I hadn’t expected. At about mid-day the heated grips went on and by 1pm, I stopped to put on more clothes! It was chilly to say the least!

Known as the Angeles Crest Highway and in parts the Angeles Forest Highway, the road is 59 miles from near Pasadena to Wrightwood and is a real pleasure to ride. The road is very quiet and I didn’t see many other cars and not one other motorbike. I was riding it during the week though and I imagine it gets busier on the weekends. I was having so much fun being out on the open road again I hardly stopped at all, but here is one of the views I looked at....

By the time I went passed the Mountain High Ski Resort I was very cold. I was much higher than I thought I would be and I hadn’t dressed properly for such elevations. When I arrived at Wrightwood I needed to warm up and I stopped at the Grizzly Cafe for a much needed bowl of warming soup. My hands were grateful that the road then descended down a few thousand feet and I then joined California Highway 138 and then 38, followed by 18 on my way to Big Bear City. My hands complained once more as these roads climbed to 7,100 feet on this road through the aptly named Sky Forest.

I did get to see Joshua Trees for the first time....

In previous states, I had seen many trees turning yellow with the onset of autumn. On Highway 138 I saw magnificent oranges and reds of leaves losing their last grip on life....

Another scenic view from the road....

I did stop at look at Silverwood Lake....

The road after the lake was even better than Highway 2 as it was even twistier, steeper and narrower and the views were spectacular....

I am glad it wasn’t stormy when I went passed this sign....

A great view of the road passing through the mountains....

I really liked this hairpin bend....

If you ever get the chance, go on a road called Rim of the World as it makes its way towards Rimforest on Highway 18. The road has splendid views over San Bernardino....

I finally arrived at my destination for the night, Big Bear City. I had to look twice at a ski slope nearby to my motel for the night as it was covered in snow. I realised it was man-made but it made me realise that the snow could come at any time and trap me here. I checked the weather forecast for that night and determined it would be cold in the morning. 20F or minus 7 Celsius is really too cold for California, even in November!....

I might have a few extra layers on in the morning as I set out!

I forgot to mention something a few days ago when I was in Carmel. After wearing them every day for all 20,000 miles so far, I have worn my poor bike boots out. The soles are coming away from the uppers (the main part of the boots) and I had to go buy some Super Glue in an attempt to hold them together for the last few days. So far it seems to have worked and it looks as if they will be able to make it all the way to the end before they get retired. I have to say, they have been fantastically comfortable and unlike many boots I have had over the years, I actually enjoy wearing these.

Jay Leno’s Garage....

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What seems like a very long time ago, when I was in Milwaukee, I met a guy called Jim, an independent TV and Film producer / director. He is into British motorbikes and we met at a meeting of the British Biking Cooperative. Jim told me about a film he is making about a drag bike called the Hogslayer and I wrote briefly about it on my my blog post about Milwaukee.

I told him of my tour plans and my route and he offered something very special to me....

Jim said he could arrange for me to see Jay Leno’s private car and bike collection. As he said it, there was a simultaneous loud clunk – that was my jaw hitting the floor.

Well, if you know about these things, you will know that this collection is getting to be very famous and I couldn’t wait to see it. The weeks went by and I wondered if Jim would be able to arrange this for me and a short while ago I contacted him with my dates for when I would be in the LA area. As good as gold, Jim got back to me very quickly and on Monday I rode to Jay’s Garage and had a two and a half hour tour of this very special collection of cars and bikes.

Jay doesn’t permit photos to be taken of the collection and so I had to leave my camera behind, but believe me, this collection is stunning and it spans over 100 year of automotive history. There are cars there that would make your eyes water, some wonderfully restored and others untouched since they were built. There are wonderful bikes, including some of the most iconic ever made. Some of the bikes and cars are very rare indeed and it was a privilege to see them. I was pleased to see that for one of the cars in his collection, I have exactly the same car!

I was taking around by Bob, who has worked with Jay for a long time and he knew the details of just about every car and bike there. His knowledge was incredible.

What really surprised me was after seeing the collection, I was taken into the workshop, which I didn’t even know existed. This place would rival many commercial workshops, with CNC machines, water jets, a paint booth and just about everything else you could imagine could be found in a workshop. I chatted with the team there who are all very enthusiastic car and bike people.

Jay is obviously very into vehicles of all kinds and I understand he goes to his garage almost every day, but sadly he was not there when I was. I would have loved to have met him.

As a real bonus, Jim had also arranged for me to get a VIP ticket for the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, which I went to on Monday. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the main guest talking about how he feels as he nears the end as his term as Governor of California. It was very interesting seeing the show recorded and I was surprised at how technical the show is and how stressful for everyone involved, especially Jay. He was getting briefings from a person who was either the producer or his assistant (I don’t know) during the commercial breaks and the pace was certainly fast. No wonder Jay has grey hair!

Overall, it was a FANTASTIC day and one I will remember for a long time.

Jim, thank you very much for arranging everything – you are a real star.

Jim is going to visit the UK soon. Jim, make sure you get touch with me and I will arrange some things for you in return – nothing on the scale of what you did for me, but I will do my best!

I am one seriously lucky guy!

The City of Angels?

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Maybe I was tired by the time I got here.

I am in Los Angeles and I am really trying hard to get enthusiastic about the city.

It is a big place and I don’t know it well, so I went to see the obvious places. My first stop was Rodeo Drive and yes, the shops were nice enough, the people looked very well off and the cars people were driving had gone up a good few notches compared to other places I have been.

I did find a statue I liked – the body of a naked woman – on Rodeo Drive. This is called "Torso" and is by sculptor Robert Graham. I took photos of all angles of this statue and I decided not publish here the view from the front. It leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination. Not that I am a prude, indeed far from it, but every detail is right there! I mean EVERY detail, so here is the rear view....

Here are the Leading Ladies on Rodeo Drive. They didn’t ask to be bought anything! 10 ladies in probably the most exclusive shopping area in the US and nothing was bought for them!....

I stopped outside the famous Beverley Hills Hotel....

I liked this statue, but it was right outside an office building,and the picture would have an ugly background, so I had to find a way of just photographing part of it against the sky....

I went to see Hollywood Boulevard....

This is Grauman's Chinese Theater, outside of which is where many famous stars have left imprints of their hands....

From 1953 these are Marilyn Monroe’s handprints....

And those of one of the world’s most famous dancers, Fred Astaire....

I looked at some of the stars set along the sidewalk.....

As she is on my bike, I have included Vivien Leigh’s star....

Peter Frampton, because I like his music....

For his brilliant role in the World’s fastest Indian, Anthony Hopkins....

Well, just for being Ozzy Osbourne, he had to go on my blog....

And of course Marilyn Monroe, because she is such an icon....

I wanted to find a good location to take a picture of what is probably themost famous sign in the world. It is tricky to find somewhere good amongst all the houses....

I of course I wanted to get my bike in at least one picture of the sign....

I tried to ride up to the sign itself and I knew that this was possible, but the police had shut the road to prevent people driving up there. This didn’t help to endear me more to LA, so I headed back to my hotel. It had been a long day struggling in the traffic, waiting for the weather to improve and generally getting nowhere!

Try as I might, I didn't spot any angels. Or anything close.

I did find one bright spot and that was a very cool barbers shop called Floyd’s on Hollywood Way in Burbank. I decided to get my haircut and found this wonderful mural painted on the side of the salon....

A very cheerful and chatty young woman called Karly cut my hair and I couldn’t help but admire her tattoo’s, so I asked her to sit on my bike for a picture....

I think my son Jeremy would really like Karly!

I have sometimes wondered about getting a tattoo myself, but I can’t think of anything that I like enough to commit to my skin for the rest of my life. One day I might think of something!

Something very special that I knew had been possible for a long time was going to happen the next day, so I went to bed full of anticipation! I was going to see something that not many have had the chance to see.....

“Alligator lizards in the air, in the air”

06:13 Bigger No comments

I have had great weather on this tour. Blues skies and bright sunshine have become the norm. I have hardly been rained upon at all. There is no doubt I have been very lucky weather-wise.

All that looked to change on the day I left Santa Barbara. I peered out at first light to see... what is this??... clouds!!!

I had almost forgotten what clouds were.

It looked as if I might get wet today.

When I arrived in Santa Barbara late on the previous afternoon, I couldn’t help but notice the palm trees along the back of the beach. What sight speaks more about California than these I thought. I had decided to try to get a better picture in the morning, when the sun might be better placed.

It was now the next morning, but no sun. Hmmmn. I was annoyed with myself for not taking pictures the previous day and I was thinking there was little point in taking pictures now as it was so grey, when this happened.....

The clouds had suddenly parted and there was the sun, for a very short time. I only just had seconds to grab my point and shoot camera and I fired off about 5 shots, with the one above being the best.

Just about a minute later I turned and looked in the other direction down the beach.... this looked very ominous.... but at least the sky was brightening in the distance....

I was just 15 when a particular song was released that had quite an impact on me. “Ventura Highway” by a band called America created many visions in my mind back then about what California must be like. All those years ago I had seen in an atlas that Ventura was near Los Angeles and I dreamed of hot weather, surfing and thanks to the Beach Boys, California Girls. I longed to go see California and especially the Ventura Highway, in the sunshine.

There is one line in that song that intrigued me.

“Alligator lizards in the air, in the air”.

I often wondered what it meant and as I rode on day 137 of my tour down the California coast on the Ventura Highway, I kept singing those words, along with all of the others from the song I could remember. I have been here before, but this time, it seemed my dream of seeing the Ventura Highway had more meaning, probably because I was on my own and I kept thinking back to when I was 15. I stopped and watched the surfers and smiled as a flock of pelicans flew gracefully by.

I read today that the guy that wrote Ventura Highway, Dewey Bunnell, referring to alligator lizards in the air meant the shape of clouds in the sky he saw when he was on the road when he was a small boy.

This is the song.... my hair was longer than theirs back then....

I rode through the town of Ventura. It was everything I hoped it was. Laid back, surf shops, cool-looking people.

I knew there was a Naval Air Station nearby, so went to check out Point Mugu. As with many military establishments, it seems putting old hardware on display is the thing to do.... note the weather had changed for the better....

There was a display of missiles as well....

This plane had been located right next to two trees which just looked odd, so I set myself a challenge of trying to find an interesting way to photograph it....

In this picture, it looks like the plane is eating the tree....

LOOK OUT – YOUR GONNA HIT THAT TREE!.......

Notice how thin the wings are. How did this thing fly?

I returned to the ocean as I got nearer to LA....

Another flock of pelicans went by, seemingly effortlessly....

I wanted to get a beach scene and by shooting towards the sun, managed to make what could have been a dull scene, more interesting.... I have discovered I like shooting into the sun.....

Finally for today, I went to see Venice Beach. I wasn’t too sure what I would find there, but I watched a group of guys entertain the crowd. They were very funny, could dance very well and the finale to their show was to get people from the audience to line up and one guy flipped over all of them....

Here he is running towards the people....