The Santa Monica Mountains are a part of the only east-west belt of mountains in North America. Comprised of rocks nearly 200 million years old, the mountains were formed in many series of ruptures between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. If you live where I do in the western end of the San Fernando Valley, the Santa Monica Mountains might be viewed as a hindrance in quickly getting from the Valley to Malibu and the beaches along Pacific Coast Highway.
But if you ride, these mountains provide some of the most challenging, fun but also dangerous roads to be found anywhere.
Deals Gap, North Carolina is the official address of the highly publicized "Tail Of The Dragon," otherwise known as US Highway 129. The Tail of the Dragon website boasts "with 318 curves in 11 miles, is America’s number one motorcycle and sports car road" (although most of the 11 miles is actually in eastern Tennessee). Just north of the Tail is the malevolent sounding "Devil's Triangle." The DT website states "the tight twisties are as good as the Tail of the Dragon but there are even more dangers here; deep rock strewn gullies just off the pavement, ragged steel guard rails, steep drop offs and rock cliffs leave no room for error." Hmmmm - sounds a lot like the road Elisa and I rode yesterday.
I was born and raised in middle Tennessee. So I do have a certain fondness for the Volunteer State. While growing up, my family made several trips to the Great Smoky Mountains, mainly a tourist trap called Gatlinburg. We happened to be motel people, not camping people. I became intimately familiar with all of the souvenir shops within walking distance of our motel. So while I've been to eastern Tennessee many times, it was long before I learned how to ride. And it was also long before the Tail Of The Dragon became a "motorcycle resort" (around the early 1990's).
But if you ride, these mountains provide some of the most challenging, fun but also dangerous roads to be found anywhere.
Deals Gap, North Carolina is the official address of the highly publicized "Tail Of The Dragon," otherwise known as US Highway 129. The Tail of the Dragon website boasts "with 318 curves in 11 miles, is America’s number one motorcycle and sports car road" (although most of the 11 miles is actually in eastern Tennessee). Just north of the Tail is the malevolent sounding "Devil's Triangle." The DT website states "the tight twisties are as good as the Tail of the Dragon but there are even more dangers here; deep rock strewn gullies just off the pavement, ragged steel guard rails, steep drop offs and rock cliffs leave no room for error." Hmmmm - sounds a lot like the road Elisa and I rode yesterday.
I was born and raised in middle Tennessee. So I do have a certain fondness for the Volunteer State. While growing up, my family made several trips to the Great Smoky Mountains, mainly a tourist trap called Gatlinburg. We happened to be motel people, not camping people. I became intimately familiar with all of the souvenir shops within walking distance of our motel. So while I've been to eastern Tennessee many times, it was long before I learned how to ride. And it was also long before the Tail Of The Dragon became a "motorcycle resort" (around the early 1990's).
I've never ridden the Tail Of The Dragon or the Devil's Triangle (however they are both on my bucket list). And I don't intend to start a feud with my home state about who has the scariest motorcycle roads. I simply want to stake a claim that the roads that go up and over the Santa Monica Mountains are some of the scariest, most technical roads in the United States.
Now before I go any further, I should also mention some northern California roads such as Highway 84 in Woodside (where you will find Alice's Restaurant) and Highway 152 in Gilroy (also known as Hecker Pass Highway). My wife blasted through these roads on a Honda Shadow (without a motorcycle license) when she was 18 years old. I've only experienced these roads from a car, but I can attest to the fact they will give you a stomach ache real fast.
Now before I go any further, I should also mention some northern California roads such as Highway 84 in Woodside (where you will find Alice's Restaurant) and Highway 152 in Gilroy (also known as Hecker Pass Highway). My wife blasted through these roads on a Honda Shadow (without a motorcycle license) when she was 18 years old. I've only experienced these roads from a car, but I can attest to the fact they will give you a stomach ache real fast.
Yesterday, my wife and I finally got around to riding Latigo Canyon Road. Latigo Canyon starts just south of Mulholland Highway off of Kanan Dume Road. It heads east for a bit before going south to Pacific Coast Highway. Google Maps says the road is 10.2 miles long, so less than a mile shorter than the Dragon. Like most canyon roads in the Santa Monica Mountains, you are either going up or down and you are leaning either right or left. There are very few straight sections in any of these canyon roads.
And you are constantly having to look out for rocks, sand, gravel and the most dangerous obstacle of all - bicycles.
And you are constantly having to look out for rocks, sand, gravel and the most dangerous obstacle of all - bicycles.
The other distraction is - the view. With many of the steep drop-offs not protected by K-rails, looking out over miles of empty space at the beautiful Pacific Ocean comes with a certain amount of grave risk. Yesterday I didn't count the number of curves in the 10.2 miles we rode on Latigo Canyon Road. But I can tell you this - it was a bunch.
So respectfully submitted for your consideration, the constant decreasing radius turns of the roads in the Santa Monica Mountains. There's a signpost up ahead: Latigo Canyon, Decker Canyon, Encinal Canyon, Mulholland Highway, Las Flores Canyon. The worst thing here to fear is fear itself.
"No biker deserves to be bored . . . "
"No biker deserves to be bored . . . "
RSS Feed