There are days like this - when all cylinders are firing so perfectly - you do what you gotta do -call the office and say: 'Boss, I'm calling in 'well', I just feel too good to come to work today - gotta 'Get Out There' and ride."   Click.  Yahoo!

Mountain Center Turnoff

Started in Orange County head south on I5 to 76  and then headed East about 50 miles to Lake Henshaw.

Our quick 300 mile blast through the mountains

The first half of this trip used to be scenic, but now it is just a lot of traffic.  So you just have to grin and bear it until you get past Pala (one of those Indian casinos that seemed to be doing great business on a non descript Thursday morning in August).    Go figure! 

There are lots of curves in the 76 after you get East of the roaring and busy I-15.  Teh 76 is fun for the most part.  But did I mention that it was August?  It is hot (100+) out there so dress for the weather.  I use Under Armor long sleeve white shirt.  They work great - protect the skin and keep you as cool as possible in 90 plus heat.  The road surface is good and there are lots of long sweepers.  At about mile 48 from I5 you will see Lake Henshaw on your left.  Lake Henshaw from the 76 looking North 

There is a cool little bike hang out joint called the Hideout Saloon -  www.bikerstuff.com/destinations 

Nobody hiding out at the Hideout at Lake Henshaw on a Thurs morning 

Check it out.  Open weekends mainly. Lots of Harleys and Race bike guys and gals go there.  

Rte 76 dead-ends into Rte 79.  Make a left here and head to beautiful Warner Springs.  You are now in the semi desert heading north. 

Some nice big wide open spaces and s-m-o-o-t-h turns to crank it open.  

Still easy at 90 mph

Warner Springs is a little place that we've have stopped in at several times.  We recommend the Golf Course Diner. 

A welcome shady spot

Good food and service /www.warnersprings.com

Rte 79 heads out to Aguanga where you make a right on Rte 371 and head north again to Anza and the 74.  This is a pretty flat and open road until you pass Anza and start to gain elevation.  Then the road turns into a bunch of nice high-speed sweepers.  The road surface is great and the turns are banked and the visibility around each turn is pretty good.  The scenery is open desert for the first part of the 371, and then turns into scrub pine - just beautiful.   

On the corner of 74 and 371 there is a biker joint called Paradise Corner Café www.sdmcriders.org/EatsDetail.asp?EatsID=19 where the food is OK and the service is slooooow. 

So if you are in a hurry keep moving and go on to either Palm Springs or Mountain Center.  Take a right and you head to Palm Springs.  We declined to do this route this day because it was 115 degrees in Palm Springs.  We instead went left on Rte 74 to Mountain Center and Idyllwild - always a good choice.  By the way the road to Palm Springs is a great road.  It is about 45
miles and full of twisties especially the last 15 miles where it is one
hard downhill turn after another.  If you don't know the road, take
your time the first time through so you can arrive healthy and happy
and hot in Palm Springs.

The forecast called for thunder storms and there were flash flood warnings.  We took a look at the sky and decided to go for it anyway - we're pretty smart that way. 

Naw ... it's not going to rain

Stay on Rte 74 until you come to Mountain Center.  You'll see a right hand turnoff marked Idylwild and posted as Rte 243.  From here it is about 5 miles into Idyllwild.

This part is not a long ride, but it has some nice little twists and turns.

Setting up the line

Idylwild - lots of restaurants and your choice of gas at reasonable prices.  If you like to shop, you can do that here too.  Downtown Idylwild

The day we were there it was low key and we ate at some new age place (lots of those in Idyllwild) called Natures Wisdom www.natureswisdom.org/index.html.  Food is pretty good and we were the only ones there (always a cause for concern).

From Idyllwild we head north on 243 to Banning.  This is THE COOLEST ROAD EVER!!!!. 

There are very few straight sections of road.  The turns are continuous, the road is in great shape, and it was not crowded so we drove it all the way to Banning.

Getting the layout of the course first

Then you have to get into the "zone"  - focus!

Bring on the twisties - I'm ready!

The road goes up hill and down hill, and up and down, and up and down, etc. .  But mainly downhill, especially for the last 8 miles where it travels on the outside of a cliff where the drop off to your right is hundreds of feet. Eating up that turn

The turns are AWESOME.   This is an official MyRidz "Must-Do" road. 

Looking down toward Banning

Careful...it's a long drop!

Looking East toward the windmills and Palm Springs

When we got to the bottom, we turned around for the same ride uphill, which of course is even more fun.  We road this road all the way back to Mountain Center. 

Quiet day on the main drag in Mountain Center

From there we made a right to go West on Rte 74 to the coast and home passing along one of the most fun stretches of Rte 74 starting in Lake Elsinore and ending in San Juan Capistrano.   

From Mountain Center to San Juan Capistrano is 80 miles.  The first 40 are like riding through a frying pan in August.  No fun and the scenery is essentially "yard sales" the entire way.

But starting in Elsinore it turns into a very cool, twisting scenic road AND IT COOLS DOWN, so you are not frying and going unconscious on your bike.

Total trip with starts and stops was about 8 hours and we were glad that we called into the office well today, instead of being sick.  A great day off.  We feel even better now having a beer and watching the waves roll into the beach on the COOL Pacific Ocean.