I’ve heard that California is seven states in one. On last year’s trip, I visited about four of them. Entering Tahoe National Forest near Reno, the ride was exquisite and California soon became a challenger to West Virginia for my favorite state for riding a motorcycle. Once I got to the coast and rode a few hundred miles of fog all the way through Big Sur, West Virginia won out.
Of course, Los Angeles is it’s own little world, and it will get its own videos later. But the rest of California offers so many of its own different ecosystems, from forests of Redwoods to Bristlecone pines to the Sonoran Desert and the southern coast.
I wish my camera lens were cleaner in a lot of this video, but it’s still a pretty wonderful ride. For the hours that I was submerged in fog and couldn’t see the ocean below me, I could still feel it and enjoyed the curves of the roads as they twisted through cliffs and trees. Like many places I’ve ridden, California is truly one of those places where you have to say, “look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now.”
Granted, I managed to spend two weeks in the state without experiencing any fires, floods or earthquakes. Had my fortune not have been so good, I may not have felt so fortunate. Nevertheless, gasoline is three dollars more per gallon than the states that surround it, so leaving California has its perks as well.