Something similar happened to me on the North York Moors (albeit some 35 years ago). We had just graduated, and a group of about six of us were sitting on a remote ridge in the North York Moors, drinking, eating snacks, admiring the scenery and generally enjoying life. There were a number of fighter aircraft around practising. One must have spotted us and thought he'd have some fun. Unbeknown to us, he circled around and approached from behind the ridge at low altitude. He came over the ridge at what I guess was less than 100 feet with full afterburners on and scared the bejeesus out of us. An impressive memory that I still remember clearly. I'm not sure that they would be allowed to get away with it nowadays though.
Yeah the fly boys seem to like having fun. I had one blast over the top of my sailboat as I approached Salalah, Oman. No idea what 'plane, and it could have been a local or UK or US pilot as it was during the Gulf war II. All I can say with certainty is that the speed, noise are far more than you'd expect. He was around 80- 100ft as my mast was 65ft.
Perfect Day. The weather has been the toughest thing to deal with. We had to keep a day spare just in case. If we’d stayed in Williams we would have been snowed in for a couple of days. Now that we’re in California and only a couple of hours from Los Angeles we decided to stay in the hotel we’re in rather than move. This meant we could just go out for a ride rather than chasing further across the country. Also, if we stay in one place for more than one night, it means that I won’t have to spend five minutes working out how the bloody tap in the bath/shower works. Not one tap has been the same as another. Apparently yesterday Jorg the laughing German couldn’t work out how to switch from the bath to the shower and gave up. He had to use a cup to pour water over his head. It is always the most ridiculous puzzle. At last the weather has been kinder to us these last two or three days and it’s been very enjoyable riding. So today we decided to to just go for a ride to Bakersfield and very nice it was too. We are at the base of the Sierra Nevada, ironically we do a lot of riding around the Sierra Nevada in Spain as Pedro and The Laughing German both live there permanently now. We decided against going in a big clockwise circle which would have taken us over a 9000ft high pass, we’d had enough of freezing our finger toes and faces off. Instead we opted to go over a 2000ft pass, past lake Isabella to Bakersfield. This route proved to be very attractive with lovely winding roads along a gorge with a river. Once we’d got there we decided to just go back the same way. As opposed to an anticlockwise circuit which would have involved some more boring straight roads. In Bakersfield we went into a privately owned cafe as opposed to a chain and ordered Tuna sandwiches off the kids/ seniors menu. The waitress apologised saying they were small sized but they were probably the first sensibly sized and reasonably healthy items we’d come across when on the road. At one point on the return leg black clouds threatened us again but we managed to skirt them and enjoy a relaxing cruise with no heavy distance to cover. It was only a couple of hours each way It was one of the best roads that we’ve done on the entire trip and very much like the kind of winding roads that we head for in Spain. Also the smell of the orange blossom at the outskirts of Bakersfield was fantastic. An excellent Thai meal in the evening rounded off a very successful day.
We visited Utah area in May last year and it was much hotter. Stayed at the north rim of the Grand Canyon - which is more remote. Also monument Valley (that dirt road would be a challenge on a bike, especially a Harley) and my two favourites, the slot canyons and Bryce Canyon
A very interesting and entertaining thread, thank you. If you get time, take a look at Santa Barbara on PCH Highway - 1. It's a picturesque and pleasant University town, set right on the coast. I don't think you'd be disappointed, if you are interested and have the time. Take care. Tom.
I’d like to visit what I presume are the Slot Canyons. 3rd picture down. Il have to save it for next time.
All I Wanna do. Bikes successfully returned/delivered in LA. That part of the mission complete. A day or so in LA, catching a flight today. I will flesh out some of the latter part of the trip on the plane, including freezing temperatures, rain, hail, sleet and snow until we got to Sunny California. We’ve hired a car and taken a little look around LA, this what we’ve seen. Now the sun has come up over Santa Monica Boulevard we’re off out to look at classic cars because all we want to do is have some fun.
Sam it’s called Secret Antelope Canyon near Paige Arizona, the actual Antelope canyon is much, much busier.
I'm glad you had a great time. Venice Beach is my home town and I really miss riding the PCH and Santa Monica Mountains. Your pictures of the aftermath of the fires hit home really hard. Many of my closest friends lost their homes. Though they were insured, it might take close to a year to get the money sorted out. It is also very hard to find temporary housing with so many people looking. I have enjoyed reading along on your trip, thanks for the great stories and pictures. Here is a pic of my wife riding her Ninja 400 down the PCH...
It was terrible to see that people had lost absolutely everything. Many houses only the chimney stack remained. The weirdest thing was one house was totally gone, the next was untouched. Same with trees, untouched next to a burnt out house. I do admire the American attitude which seems to be; Well, we’ll just have to build it up again’. I met a guy who’d lost almost everything not totally but most of his home, that was his attitude. We’ve had a great time and every single person we met was very, very polite, was interested in our tour and wished us well. You’ve got to enjoy and respect and be grateful for that.
I grew up on a small island in Texas where we went through several hurricanes, went to school in Dallas where we were hiding in bathtubs with mattresses over the top trying to survive tornadoes. Lived in Los Angeles for 30 years of earthquakes, fires, a tsunami and riots. Moved to the mountains of Colorado and ran from 3 large forest fires… when we moved to Portland, my wife’s family was concerned about our house being below sea level and flooding….that’s what the second floor is all about America is a great place… I just hope it can survive the catastrophe it’s going through right now.
It will. It’s been very interesting talking to people about that. The last few days the markets have been in free fall but as with the houses, it’ll get rebuilt. It’s good to travel and see different cultures. It helps you understand their point of view. It’s not for me to say what’s right or wrong with America. It’s interesting that there are areas where the States is ahead but areas such as conservation and the amount of waste packaging is amazing and the design seems really behind us. i e overly heavy and clumsy but on the other hand it’s really robust and will last. It’s just a different outlook. It’s obviously a great country I often wonder whether I should have taken the job offers in USA when I had them. In my opinion we need to put the Great back into Britain.
A great thread Sam, thanks for sharing. I'm reminded of the road trip I did with 5 others in 1995 from Athens Ohio to San Francisco, then back again. 2 mates and myself flew out to the US to stay with our schoolfriend and his American wife (We had attended their wedding 2 years earlier over there). We were then joined by a friend of his. While our trip was done in an ageing Chevrolet Custom van (think the A-Team van but with windows) and not on motorbikes, I can relate to the stopping off in the numerous places experiencing the food, service and sights along the way. It was a blast and I'm so pleased that you have brought those memories back to me. Dave
