Calamigos Ranch, Malibu CA

[alanmcorcoran]

This was my longest ride to date: 150 miles round trip. A good portion of it was crossing Los Angeles County over 35 mile an hour, heavily traffic lighted "surface streets." Passing through some not so nice neighborhoods to boot. But the last 25 miles or so from Santa Monica to the Calamigos Ranch was very nice.

[pbss:3axnysmn]http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd7/alanmcorcoran/Malibu/?action=view&current=cd0c445a.pbw[/pbss:3axnysmn]

Calamigos Ranch is a 130 acre conference center in the hills above Malibu. They do group picnics, weddings, corporate retreats and other events. I was invited to a wedding out there and thought it would be a good trip to test out my ability to get to Malibu in case I ever wanted to do a trip up the coast.

Took me almost three hours to get there. Lots of lights, stop and go. Really added to my city traffic experience and confidence. Had a few problems with occasionally missing a gear, but overall, no "issues." Did the return trip all after nightfall, my longest night time ride by far. The trip back was 45 minutes shorter owing to less traffic and better light timing. Found the raised white paint "Signal Ahead" warnings on PCH to be super slick with the night time ocean (dew? fog? spray?) The bike slipped sideways everytime I went over one - a little unnerving at 55 mph. Builds character I guess.

Learned that the best time to cross LA on surface streets would be the dead of night. If I go to Santa Barbara or points North, that's when I am heading out. Felt very comfortable in the saddle after a five hours plus riding in one day. Starting to feel like I know what I am doing!