CnC: Cold Start - Warm Friendly Finish

Started out really cold again. 41F on the bike at 6:40 when we departed Bridgeport. It took a while for it to warm up as we kept increasing our altitude - up to over 8000ft at one stage. But the scenery on Ol 395 is wonderful so we enjoyed the ride.

We got down to about 4000ft by the time we got to Bishop where we called in to Jack's for breakfast. Jack's Cafe that is. The eggs benny was good.

Back on, refuel and time to tackle the rest of the run into LA. It was all pretty straight forward except for one problem. California has a blanket 55mph max for any vehicle with a trailer. All is OK on a four-lane, the giant SUVs can overtake easily at their preferred 75mph - in the 65 zone. But when it changed to one lane each way they went spastic. It was all-important that they maintain their speed, despite several vehicles limited to 55. The overtaking manouvres were practically suicidal. It is a crazy system. In the end I decided it was safer to up my speed to 65 and take the fines, if any. I was doing about 63 when a CHP car flashed by not even noticing us. So far so good.

We stopped for fuel and were approached by a local deputy sherriff - but it turned out he was just a Troy Bayliss fan and wanted to talk motorcycle racing with Australians. He is hoping to travel over for the Superbikes at Phillip Island next year so we gave him our contact details as we go there if we can.

Back on the freeways and getting closer to LA, things got worse, so we turned off and took the delightful Mount Angeles shortcut over the San Gabriel Mountains. We had a great run with little traffic and a good tussle with a very good driver of a VW Bug.

Then it was half an hour of LA freeway traffic - a madhouse if ever there was one. For all her faults, this is where the GPS comes in to her own, with detailed instructions of which lanes to follow, keeping to the left or right as needed, being fed into the ears, the run was fairly easy.

We got to the hotel in one piece and soon located the others. LA, at sea level, is a lot warmer than Bridgeport.

We all went out for tea and back to one room for a few drinks - the usual AWRA stuff.

Charleen will do the pics tomorrow - stay tuned.