San Diego High Country Run
April 30, 2006
By Dave Cook
You guy's who
couldn't crawl out of bed on the Sunday morning of 30 April missed a great ride
through some new country on a perfect day down in SE San Diego County. We
loaded up Dave Williams ‘70 Triumph Tiger and my ‘65 Sportster and headed south
under an overcast sky (no sun) until we arrived at the Spring Valley shopping
center, just off Hwy 94. As we were unloading, Clay Burton or Whit Whitworth
pushed the sunshine button. The rest of the ride was "Shirt Sleeve
Weather," a very comfortable mid 70's temperature even at the higher
elevations.
We left the
shopping center a little after 10:00 AM heading east on the 94 toward Tecotti. We were soon out of traffic and rolling across
some beautiful hills and valleys. Clay Burton was leading the pack on his 350 Harley
Davidson Sprint. Dudley Pollard was riding his ‘70 Triumph Bonneville, and Carl
Felix of Costa mesa
was riding a ‘75 Norton. Carl saw the ride info on our web site and decided to
check us out (I'll see he gets an invitation to our next general meeting). Next
came Dave Williams and myself, and Whit drove the
chase truck. We cruised through Jamul, Dulzura, and Barret Junction, then headed north after Campo to Buckman Springs. We encountered a lot of bicycles on the
road participating in an organized road run. Stopped for gas
and an iced tea in Pine
Valley. Next we
took S-1 up to Julian, beautiful meadows in the high country. It was nice the be in Julian and be warm and dry for a change. Stopped for lunch in Julian around 1:00PM at Romano’s Italian
restaurant. Excellent choice. I know the
sausage and peppers were to die for (I like good Italian food). After lunch we
returned, taking Hwy 79 to Japatul Road, on to Willow Glen Dr.,
then back to Spring Valley. Remember the big fire
three years ago? The entire area we rode thru was burned to a crisp. Today,
it's coming back to life except for some of the smaller trees (which are
currently being cut down).
It was a good
ride, perfect weather. Looking forward to doing it again next
year. Total miles: about 165. No mechanical problems.
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