The enthusiasm of a child
when he/she actually wants to
do something is fun to watch. I
told Harvey the night before we
left that I'd be in his room at 5:30
a.m. to get him up and ready to
leave at 6 a.m. to beat the LA
traffic, and to my great surprise,
he was already awake and some
-
what ready to pull the Arai on.
Getting this kid up for anything
can be like waking the dead, but
the idea of ripping up the Califor-
nia coast on the BMW land yacht
must have ensured he was sleep-
ing with one eye open.
We packed light for this trip,
just a single backpack with a
change of clothes and some
boardshorts each, and as the
sun began to rise over the east
to signal the start of another day,
we were already deep into the
mire of Los Angeles traffic.
Truth be told, it wasn't that bad,
as we jetted past the skyscrap
-
ers to our left and set course for
the 101, cutting across
the backside of the
Topanga State Park,
through the farmlands
and eventually to the
coast at Ventura, before
cutting a right and cruis
-
ing on the first section
of the 33 to Ojai.
By the time we got to
Ojai, we'd been in the
saddle for nearly three
hours, and, understand
-
ably, the little guy was getting a
bit hungry. We've become quite
big fans of the traditional Ameri
-
can diner over the past few years
and found a sweet little spot
called Home Kitchen of Ojai.
While this gastronomic destina
-
tion probably won't feature on
Netflix's fabulous show Chef's
Table any time soon, delight-
ful staff delivering a plate of
pancakes and bacon was just
what the doctor (or in this case,
the 9-year-old) ordered, and an
hour later, we were all set for our
rendezvous with the twists and
turns of the 33.
California State Route 33 is
one of those roads whose his
-
tory is almost as interesting as
the riding it offers. Today, the 33
runs north from Ventura through
Ojai, across the Transverse Rang-
es, and into the remote Cuyama
Valley, eventually continuing
toward Maricopa and California's
Central Valley. But the section
Harvey and I were most inter
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These are the kinds
of roads riders
dream about. The 33
is littered with them,
and this is only
about 20 minutes
into the canyon.
