(please excuse the mistakes, too tired to edit, I’ll let this just fly outa me for now)
It never fails. The noise in my head reaches a peak while I’m packing. An accumulation of too many months in L.A. without leaving. I anticipated the release and knowing I was leaving for 21 days, just riding, looking for the next photo, and seeing old friends had me waking up all night like I was 5 again and Christmas morning was coming.
As usual I couldn’t find one cable, spent hours looking for it, and it made me nuts. This is just ritual for me. Like some kind of OCD, maybe it makes the release better and I know that at some unconscious level.
As I rode past the usual weekend spots, Neptunes Net, Sycamore grove, the sun was coming up and the weight of Los Angeles was falling off. The further I went the cleaner I felt and the peace came in waves.
Gratuitous pictures of the bike, lets get those out of the way:
I’ve traveled PCH many times by bike. Second time for this Road King, first time since the upgrades. Roared like a lion, ran perfectly and way cooler with the new race tuner.
I listened to my best friend’s new Album, I’ll put up a couple songs for you. All these sounds are created on his guitar live. This one was fantastic to listen to while gazing out at the sea.
This one is stuck in my head now ….love this tune…cool soft beat
The fidelity on the Shuberth S2 helmet, as mentioned in the intro, is always surprising, even after two years of ….perfect. What a ride today!
These kids were making giant soap bubbles.
I took a bunch of shots today but can’t do much with them because the dope that cleaned my sensor left the camera in Jpeg mode and the dope that was shooting today (me) forgot to check …this is not the first time this has happened. Oh well at least I got to get the pie lady, Bunny
There’s a story attached to Bunny the pie lady.
I don’t think she’ll ever forget me after what happened.
The last time I came up here was on my sports bike to see Dan Lund’s amazing short and shoot his wrap party. I left in the darkest of early dawn and found myself just outside of Big Sur by 6am. I’d been tearing it up in the empty blackness and needed to get re-caffeinated, so I pulled over at old wooden coffee shop.
A jet black Porsche Carrera pulled in right after me.
“Nice Bike” A guy my age said, I guessed him for a broker, only brokers get up this early on a Sunday out of habit. I only know that because I used to be one in another life.
“Nice Porshe” came out of my mouth, but my head was showing me a checkered flag and whispering “it’s on”.
We drank coffee and talked speed like gentlemen do, not once did either of us say out loud… “hey wanna race?”
We both downed our joe way too fast and politely exchanged “have a nice day”, but neither one of us could start our vehicles fast enough.
I was out first with zero hesitation. I figured him for a goner after a few turns he never entered my rearview, I grinned at myself in the inner reflection of my face in the helmet.
Then there he was fast as life, and gaining on me!
The Honda 1200 VFR does 0-60 in 2.8 seconds . The Carrera is not far behind that, maybe 3.4 or 3.0 if modified like his, but I can corner and brake way faster and with more control. There was no one on PCH but us, and yes we broke every traffic law there was and without regret.
I’m really no pro track guy but I do have some skills and not afraid of speed. I couldn’t shake him though, he was an amazing driver and gutsy as hell. We were hitting 150 on the straights and making corners with sheer droop offs to the sea. Spooky in the murk as the fog came and went.
..but exhilarating as hell !
I rounded a sharp corner into the beginnings of the sunlight and there in a flash, like a speed marriage, there was this naked girl laying on a blanket on the side of the road in a ray of dawn light… Had I just really seen that? I remember thinking… but it did not matter Porsche Broker was gaining on me again.
Then I lost him… he must have pulled over ? I don’t know. I kept it going just to be safe winding and blasting away on the straights. I felt weightless as I came over a rise and saw my favourite pie place emerge from the blur. I couldn’t down shift fast enough and almost endowed sliding into the parking lot. The light was on and Bunny was picking flowers out front to put around her pies…just out of the oven and I was first up!
We were shooting the breeze while I inhaled a warm slice of walnut pie with real whip cream, when the door seemed to explode open, the bell almost flew off the brass bracket and swung like a fire alarm.
It was Porsche Broker.
“You won’t stop for a naked woman, but you’ll stop for pie??!!”
Amazing how the gentlemen in us dissipates after a good asphalt brawl.
Bunny said: “What?”
So I told her the story, she blushed and said it was the greatest complement she’d ever gotten.