Road trip: The Road to Paso

Sometimes, you just need a break from the drudgery of the day-to-day and do something a little different to recharge the batteries. I hit this point around the end of July this year and decided to treat myself to a couple of days away. The goal was to put in a full day of riding to clear my mind, ending in a destination where I could grab a good meal, have a drink or three, and then just relax and get a good night's sleep. With the goal of arriving at my destination by early evening, I scoured the map, trying to find a location that would provide the right mix of great riding, great food and drink, and relatively inexpensive accommodations. Thinking back to our trip to Monterey for Thanksgiving a couple of years ago, I settled on the Central California winery town of Paso Robles. And to maximize the fun riding, I plotted my ride through Ojai and up through some windy roads of the central valley before heading back west towards the Pacific Coast, saving the more direct ride along the coastal route for my return trip.

Editorial: Riding the Rails

When I was a freshman in college over a decade ago, Metrolink and I became well acquainted. It was an easy way to get from the small town where my school was, which fortunately had a stop, and the Inland Empire or Downtown LA. The trains were reasonably comfortable, seeing as they were intended for commuters making the daily slog to their jobs in the city, and the ridership during the weekend tended to be largely students going home or the occasional tourist who opted not to rent a car. The trip duration could tend to be on the long side and since rail infrastructure in Southern California is not exactly well developed, once I reached the end of the line, it could take a fair amount of planning to actually reach my final destination. Being a poor college student at the time, that often meant the "last mile" portion of my trip was either another form of public transit or an awful lot of walking. However, after I got a car my sophomore year, I pretty much have never set foot on Metrolink again...until yesterday.

Editorial: California legalizing lane splitting is hugely important

The debate has been a long and boisterous one, but after all the battling, the stats finally won out and the state of California is the first in the US to officially make lane-splitting legal. Lane-splitting has always drawn a lot of controversy in America, a country dominated by car drivers who selfishly believe that the roads are theirs and theirs alone.

Even in California, the practice had previously only been allowed because it was not expressly disallowed. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) supported it because it allowed their motor officers to move more freely through the gridlock traffic that burdens the greater LA and San Francisco areas during nearly all hours of the day. Motorcyclists support it because it allows riders the ability to move through traffic and keep air flowing to prevent overheating (mostly of the rider, though some older bikes benefit from it too). Car drivers, however, have long disliked the practice because it requires that they be more attentive about lane position and lane changes. Still, most drivers who have lived in California long enough have grudgingly adapted to it, some better than others.

But by taking it from a tolerated act by virtue of lack of legislation to a totally legal act backed by legislation and with guidelines to be provided by law enforcement, California has changed the game. By making it expressly legal, California is saying that lane-splitting is not just safe enough to be a practice, it is safe enough to be a law. That has long been a major argument used by detractors of lane-splitting to fight its implementation in other states. Many opponents have argued that by allowing one kind of traffic to travel between other traffic, it increases the chances for collisions, even though this has not been backed by the statistics. If anything, it has reduced one of the most common car-motorcycle collisions, which is motorcyclists being hit from behind in slow moving or stopped traffic. When practiced with abundant and appropriate caution, lane-splitting makes motorcyclists safer with little impact on car drivers at all.

By taking the step to make lane-splitting a fully legal act, California is hopefully the first domino to fall in what will eventually be more states allowing the act. Attempts have been made to legalize lane-splitting in states such as Arizona and Oregon, but all were quashed by legislators representing car-centric constituents who are fearful of change. But now that someone else has taken a major leap, hopefully more attempts will be made to bring up lane-splitting legislation and more "trial periods" will be considered as other state legislatures begin to realize the potential safety and traffic relief benefits that lane-splitting can bring.

Go Human in Southern California

As much as I am a total car nut, I truly love active transportation because it not only encourages people to avoid driving, but has all the added benefits of being healthier, often cheaper, and unquestionably better for the environment. This month marks the launch of the Go Human campaign here in Southern California. The goal of the campaign is to encourage residents of Southern California, one of the most congested and car-centric parts of the US, to take human powered transportation instead of driving. That means more walking and biking instead of time spent behind the wheel. For those who cannot realistically make the switch to human powered transportation, the campaign is a reminder that our roads are shared with all manners of road users, including pedestrians and bicyclists.

It might seem that we have been spending an inordinate amount of time lately talking about non-motorized transportation and there is a good reason for that. Despite moving back to Southern California, where I grew up relying on a car to get just about everywhere, my wife and I have made the conscious decision to live in a location that offers us great flexibility when it comes to transportation options. Not only are we able to walk to take care of most of our day-to-day needs, we are located within easy walking distance of the LA Metro, which offers a straight shot into downtown LA for my wife's job, and we are located right in the heart of Long Beach's numerous bike paths, giving us access to much of the city by bike. Our desire stems from the decade we spent on the East Coast, where cities are structured in such a way that walking, biking, and mass transit are legitimate and generally ubiquitous options for getting around. We wanted to emulate that convenience and flexibility even though we are living in Southern California.

The Go Human campaign is a great reflection of these values that we brought with us from our time out east. The idea that people can move around their communities without the sometimes financially crippling costs of car ownership is an excellent one as it opens the doors to opportunity for people who might otherwise be stuck between finding a job that they can get to or finding a job that pays well. By electing to utilize human powered transport, we not only tell our city officials and legislators that they need to spend money on the infrastructure to facilitate active transportation, but we also guide the way cities are developed, with a greater focus on accessibility for all.

While Southern California is certainly not going to morph overnight into a pedestrian and cyclist wonderland, my personal hope is that this campaign can help encourage a few more people to walk or bike for transit and that it helps illustrate to drivers the importance of being attentive of and courteous to the vulnerable road users that are a part of the traffic around them. Equally important, the campaign reminds pedestrians and cyclists to do their part and follow the rules to make themselves safer as well.

Road Trip: San Diego (sort of) by storm

San Diego skyline off in the distance

Mother Nature can be a real pain in the ass, especially if you enjoy activities that are heavily weather dependent. During the days leading up to our trip, I was checking the weather obsessively. The plan was for my wife and I to go skydiving on Saturday morning, but there was a greater than 50% chance of rain that was threatening our chances. As the week proceeded, the probability of rain seemed to drop ever so slightly and by Thursday evening, when I picked up our long-term MDX for the weekend, the forecast was looking promising, with less than 10% chance of rain in the area surrounding our jump zone. Fingers-crossed, I loaded our bikes into the back of the MDX along with our luggage and after work on Friday, we hit the road headed south.

News: CA revises rules for EV incentives

We hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July.

In the funding plan for the upcoming 2015-2016 fiscal year, the California Air Resources Board has put in place new rules that are going to make EVs bit less expensive for a lot of people, but a bit more expensive for a select few. The new rules create a tiered structure for qualifying for the state rebate program on alternative fuel vehicles. Before, what had been an across the board rebate for all income brackets now has bands delineated by a combination of federal income poverty limit and and absolute gross annual incomes.

This new rebate structure is intended to make EVs of all kinds more affordable to lower income buyers while also ensuring that more funding is available for future investments. While some may see this change as unfair, odds are that someone with the finances to purchase a $100,000+ loaded Tesla Model S is hardly going to notice the difference that the $2,500 additional rebate was going to make and those individuals are still eligible for the even larger federal rebate. Plus, the increased incentives for lower income families should hopefully make the idea of an EV more appealing for those that commute to a job that is not too far away and can charge the vehicle at home.

As EVs continue to become an increasingly viable form of alternative fuel vehicle, it is good to see the state of California recognize that the incentives have largely benefited those who need it the least and is taking measures to help increase access to EVs for those in lower income brackets.

Road Trip: Ojai, CA

The idea was to take a vacation with my wife's family. We would head somewhere fun and enjoy a couple of days away from all of the craziness of LA, especially in the post Christmas shopping rush. Ideas were thrown around and various destinations proposed, but the one that stuck was to visit the small secluded mountainside town of Ojai, CA. Known for being a haven for Southern California travelers seeking a boutique tourism experience, the city that once dubbed itself "Shangri-la" would prove to be the perfect destination for this particular weekend away.

As the plans for the trip began to take shape, my desire to spend sometime with my K1200S, especially after seeing some of the roads that we would be driving through, got the better of me and I proposed that to make everyone more comfortable, I would ride while the rest of the family could take the car, allowing us all to travel without cramming five people into a car for the multi-hour drive.

Road Trip: Monterey Bay

It had been many decades since I had visited Monterey Bay. My last trip would have been when I was about 8 or 9 years of age and we took a family trip to San Francisco, stopping in Monterey along the way. I recall rather vividly that night, my dad white-knuckling the rented Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme along the then much less well-developed 17-Mile Drive in near total darkness while we sang along to the endless stream of Chinese pop songs pouring from the cassette player. Our hotel was difficult to find because it had changed names literally within the week before our trip and in the age before email and smartphones were popular and readily available, the hotel had not gone through the trouble of updating all of its guests.

This time around, while it was still a family trip, things were significantly different. We would depart during the day to ensure that there was plenty of daylight along the way and our ride was not a rented car, but rather our trusty and spacious 2014 Acura MDX.

Road Trip: Sierra Madre, CA

The faces of everyone in the car were tense and screwed into all manners of of contortions. White knuckles were visible in my peripheral vision as my passengers gripped the handles scattered throughout the cabin. Not a word was spoken as I danced the nose-heavy sedan down the twisty canyon road, deftly dodging small patches of slippery sand and oncoming cars to make it into the relative safety of the freeway where everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. It is hard to imagine that not three hours ago, we had been strolling down the few blocks that comprise the tiny town of Sierra Madre, set in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As we pulled the car into a parking spot just outside of Pasadena city hall, the adrenaline having drained from my system, I reflected on the rather eclectic day that had just passed.

Road Trip: Biking the CA coast at night

The warm autumn air ebbed around us as we set out towards the water. The plan was to ride along the Marvin Braude path into Marina Del Rey and then cross through into Venice where we would be attending a film screening at a community garden for the film Growing Cities, a look at urban agriculture's development across the United States. It was late in the afternoon in the middle of November, but the weather was a balmy 80 degrees and even with the slight sea breeze, it was a comfortable day for a ride.

Cresting the final hill, we descended to the water and picked up the trail, joining the stream of cyclists and other pedestrians enjoying the remnants of the afternoon sunlight. The beach is always a wonderful place to be in Southern California. We pass by families with children building sand castles along the water line, people playing volleyball in Manhattan Beach, and hang gliders taking off near Dockweiler. As we cross the bridge into Marina Del Rey, the sun begins to cast that deep orange glow that signals that it is about to set. Another 30 minutes and we finally arrive to catch our movie, but the real adventure had just begun.

Road Trip: Downtown LA by Metro

It has been nearly two decades since I have taken any public transportation in Southern California. Much of that has to do with the fact that I have spent the last decade on the East Coast, but even on visits home to Southern California, the transit options that have dominated my outtings have been cars and, on occasion, bikes. Now that I am back in the area full time, it seemed like a good time to revisit some of the transportation options that are available, but have not explored in a while. What better way than to take an evening and explore the city that I grew up around? The perfect opportunity arose when my wife arranged to catch up with a former professor and we decided that afterwards, we would hangout downtown and grab a bite to eat before heading home.

Guest Post: Discovering a mountain biking gem on the California coast

Our regular guest contributor, Christine T., shares with us her discovery of a gem of a riding spot for mountain bikers along Southern California's coastal hills. The collection of trails offers tremendous variety for riders of all skill levels and offers up an opportunity to see some of CA's most gorgeous scenery, especially at sunset.

With over 600 feet of elevation to bomb down Del Cerro attracts all types of riders from hard tails to double crown 29’ers. Technically, the area where the riding takes place is Portuguese Bend Reserve and links with Forrestal Nature Reserve. Trails range from wide, lazy fire roads with moderate climbs to loose, technical downhills. Although the park is open to bikers, hikers, and equestrians, not all trails are open to everyone, and no trail is unidirectional. On the upside almost all trails have great visibility, making on coming traffic a minimal issue.

My first introduction to Del Cerro was a sunset [unplanned] evening ride around Forrestal Nature Reserve. Being that I was visiting, my friends had to bring all the gear, and it took a little bit before we started pedaling. We started from the neighborhood just below Ladera Linda Community Center and hiked our bikes up some stairs to the start of Fossil Trail. From there we did a quick warm up loop through Red Tail Trail to Cactus Trail and back to Fossil Trail, a relatively easy cross country loop.

Road Trip: Conclusion (Cross Country Road Trip Ep. 7)

With most of the country behind them, our intrepid travelers power through the home stretch, passing through Lake Las Vegas as a final stop before completing the final leg to Southern California. Missed their last adventure? Click here to read all about it.

The excitement of the trip rose to a crescendo with our stay in Moab. The reality that the trip was coming to an end finally hit home as we packed up the car the following morning and made our way to the final stop. Along the way, we ran into a little trouble with the Thule bike rack, resulting in the need to do a little roadside repair and a whole lot of anxiety about whether or not we would manage to make it back to Southern California with both bikes intact. I will save the gory details for our full review of the Thule rack, but to put it mildly, I would seriously think twice before purchasing another Thule product because of this experience, especially with the subsequent terrible customer service.

The trip encompassed 18 days and kept us behind the wheel for some 4,643 miles through 21 different states. We actually stopped and properly visited locations in 17 different cities and saw nearly two dozen friends and a dozen family. The trip required 10 fuel stops and the TSX turned in great fuel economy at around 27.16 mpg, frequently going over 500 miles between fuel stops, despite the regular stints at 75 mph on the interstates. We were fortunate enough not to experience any major problems along the way and aside from running out of fuel in Nashville, we encountered no problems at all.

The TSX was an impeccable travel companion. Despite carrying all of our luggage and the bikes, it drove well no matter what we threw at it. Even as the air thinned climbing up to the heights of Denver and beyond, while the performance suffered as is expected of naturally aspirated engines, the balanced chassis, clean handling, and excellent manual transmission make the TSX a joy to drive. However, it is not entirely without its faults. The cabin noise, for instance, can reach slightly irritating levels, especially on surfaces that were anything but perfectly smooth. Also, the dated electronics, especially for a car built in 2012, meant we were supplementing the in-car systems with a portable GPS unit and our cellphones. An inconvenience that Acura thought drivers of manual transmissions were okay with as the 2012 model year TSX was only offered in a single trim with the excellent 6-speed manual.

All told, this trip was an amazing opportunity to see parts of the country we might never have otherwise spent much time in. Having grown up on the west coast and spent my last decade on the east coast, the middle of the country has largely been flyover territory. This trip changed that and for me personally illuminated some amazing places that I would like to return to in the future. This trip was also an opportunity for both my wife and me to experience the cycling culture of various cities and see just how much progress cycling has made in returning to the limelight as a mode of transportation. Most cities in the US are still a long ways from becoming paradise for cycle commuters, but at least things continue to advance in the right direction as cities start to realize the value and importance of having infrastructure for cyclists.

This was an extraordinary trip and we feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to do it and to share our experience. It may be another decade or more before we can do it again, but it would be fantastic to take an even more extended period to try to reach the remainder of the lower 48 states we have not yet visited. But for now, we are going to enjoy our time in Southern California with friends and family.

Long Term Test: 2014 Acura MDX FWD Tech post #1

Long-term Introduction
Current Mileage: 1,857

Our new 2014 MDX (Left) with the old 2011 MDX (Right)

Our family has actually owned at least one version of each generation of MDX to date. The MDX has always been the luxury workhorse in the family, providing ample space to haul boxes of documents for work, or seven people and their luggage for vacation. Each successive MDX our family has owned has gotten bigger, but it has also gotten better in some way. The 2014 MDX that we picked up on the same day we picked up our 2014 RLX is better than the 2011 MDX we previously owned in virtually every way, except for the fact that this is the first MDX we have owned that does not have AWD.

Wanting to find out if the new MDX could still hustle as quickly as the old one, even without SH-AWD, we took the car out on the Palos Verdes Peninsula to thrash on it a bit. Here, there are some great twisty roads that run right along the coast, offering not only a fun place to drive, but spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. With the MDX's new Integrated Dynamics System (IDS) and transmission set to sport, we made our way up and over the hills to plunge down towards the water, me in the MDX and East Brother following in my S2000 with GoPros attached.

Long Term Test: 2014 Acura RLX P-AWS Tech post #1

Long-Term Introduction

Current mileage: 534

With the 2011 Acura RL Tech now officially back in the hands of Acura Financial, we welcome the newest vehicle to our garage: the 2014 Acura RLX Tech P-AWS. Fitted with the latest drivetrain and interior technology that Acura has to offer, the RLX represents a nice upgrade from the now defunct RL. Sporting a 3.5L direct injection V6 motor making 310-hp, a 6-speed automatic transmission driving the front wheels and joined by Acura's new precision all-wheel steering system, the car sheds the signature AWD system in an effort to improve the fuel economy while still maintaining some of the sporty character that the torque vectoring SH-AWD system used to provide.

We tested this car when it first came out last year, and, to be honest, our initial impressions were good, but not great. The interior was nice, with the new two screen arrangement of the center console and huge rear seat, but the outside was a little bland and the steering too soft. Of course, first impressions can be overridden by spending more time with a car and in the case of the RLX, it makes a big difference. I drove it around Southern California for a few hundred miles over the course of a two week period and any initial skepticism for the car was replaced with reserved admiration. Depending on how you use it and what your expectations are, the RLX will either be a big disappointment or a real gem.

Allow me to explain.

Test Ride: 2012 BMW R1200GS

Image courtesy of Motoquest.com

Adventure bikes are not usually my thing. The weight does not bother me so much as the rather high center of gravity relative to a sport, or even a standard, bike. However, during my most recent trip back to the West Coast, I had the occasion to slip away from work for a day and take the gold standard of the adventure bike class, BMW's venerable R1200GS, for a full day test ride. I used the opportunity to cover a road that is popular with all sorts of riders, Southern California's famed Ortega Highway, but also spent plenty of time on it traversing the crowded suburban sprawl of LA as well as slicing through traffic as I split lanes between cars on the parking lot that is the 405 freeway during rush hour. MotoQuest, which provided the bike for the review, was extremely helpful and made sure that I had plenty of time to get acquainted and appreciate the genius that is this motorcycle.

Long Term Test: 2012 Hyundai Sonata 2.0T Limited post #1

When this latest generation of the Hyundai Sonata was first introduced, I was impressed by its fantastic design and the great specs on paper. Imagine my joy when my father-in-law returned from overseas and informed me that he was also very smitten with the mid-size Hyundai sedan and was interested in purchasing a top-spec Limited model with the powerful, yet frugal, 2.0-liter turbo-charged engine. In addition to the sweeping fluidic design, what caught his attention was the exceptional value for money, the high level of standard equipment, and the fuel economy numbers that would be a leaps and bounds improvement over the gas-guzzling SUV that serves as their other car.

After a brief test drive and a fair amount of research online about the price, we reached out to the local Hyundai dealer to start negotiations on an available car. The color scheme that had our attention was the rich navy blue with the gray interior and we absolutely had to have the fully loaded Limited package with the navigation system. The local dealer had one in stock, but was not willing to be agreeable on the price, so we put out feelers to all the dealers in the area to see who would be willing to go the extra mile since it was the end of the year. Finally a dealer a little ways away called while we were having lunch and said they were happy to not only meet, but even beat our asking price on exactly the car we were looking for. With a little back and forth drama, that at one point had us worried we were going to have to get a red car, the dealer ultimately delivered by doing a swap with a dealer over 100 miles away. They even went the extra mile to deliver the car to our door at almost nine o'clock in the evening. Props to the team at WIN Hyundai of El Monte for going the extra mile to deliver an exceptional customer experience.

Editorial: You Know That Magical Stalk to the Left of Your Steering Wheel?

Picture courtesy of Conroy and the Man

"Hey, you there. Yeah, you. You know that magical stalk on the left of your steering wheel? Do you know what it's for? It's called a turn signal. You push it up and the right side blinkers light up. You push it down and the left side blinkers light up. 'Well what is it for' you may ask. Well, it's to let the drivers around you know that you are going to change lanes or make a turn. You know, the other drivers on the road aren't psychic, and we don't know what you're going to do. So please, for the love of all that is holy, USE YOUR DAMN TURN SIGNAL!"

The above is something I have wished I could say to many drivers I have encountered on the road over the years. I have been driving for roughly 10 years now, and six of those have taken place in Los Angeles county and its surrounding areas. In those six years of driving in Los Angeles, I have noticed the lack of turn signal use more and more. Whether this is happening out of sheer laziness or bad driver education, I have yet to figure out. Unfortunately though, turn signal laws in the the state of California are also quite vague, and do not really help.

Road Trip: 200 miles in Southern California with a GSX-R 750

The Gixxers extremely functional dash

On New Year's Eve and New Years Day, I had the pleasure of riding all over LA county on a 2008 Suzuki GSX-R 750. Being in Southern California meant that the weather was pleasant, if a tad on the cool side, and sunny. The bike, came courtesy of Dan at Racy Rentals, one of the last remaining places in the LA area where a visiting rider can rent a sporting motorcycle to enjoy the fantastic mountain and coastal passes that are scattered all throughout Southern California. Located on the north side of LA, close to Hollywood, Racy Rentals has a great selection of sport bikes available for rent, including a beautiful white Ducati 848.

I opted for the mid-size GSX-R because I had read that is struck a good balance between the willing chassis dynamics of a 600cc and the power of a full-on liter bike. And since I would have limited time, I wanted to ride a bike that I could get comfortable with quickly, still enjoy the power and handling of, but maintain a somewhat more relaxed pace, allowing me to enjoy the ride through some of the areas best roads for motorcyclists.

GSX-R 750 with my brother's S2000 in the background

After picking up the sleek jet-black Gixxer, my brother, driving his S2000, and I hopped on the freeway to blast out to Glendora Mountain Road. GMR, located in the mountains just north of the city of Glendora, was an old haunt of mine, having been one of my favorite driving roads when I still lived close enough to visit it regularly. A twisting, winding, mountain path that provides tons of switchbacks, sweeping corners, on and off camber corners, and nearly 35 miles of unadulterated fun, it is easily one of the most challenging but most entertaining roads to hit on a good handling bike. Plus, it's somewhat isolated location makes it one of the lesser known and thus lesser traveled roads, leaving the asphalt to stay silky smooth allowing one to comfortably explore the limits of the vehicle that they have brought.

The view from GMR

The Gixxer, feeling nimble and capable, tackled the corners with aplomb despite the regular appearance of hazardous gravel, rocks, and dust on many of the corners. As we climbed up into the mountains, the temperature dropped about 10 degrees and the chill started to counteract the warm California sun. Taking a break at the point where GMR meets Glendora Ridge Road, which leads to Mt. Baldy village, I came across another rider who had stopped to meditate over the amazing scenery. It was quite the pristine moment standing at the top of the ridge looking over the side, breathing in the chilly mountain air.

Hopping back on the bike, I proceeded down the back side of the mountain and took San Gabriel Canyon road, putting on a fair amount more speed, and cruising back down to Glendora where I stopped to defrost before riding into the setting sun to head home for the night before it got too cold for my mesh jacket.

View down the road on the PV Peninsula

The next day, I woke up early and headed out to the Palos Verdes Peninsula where I took the beautifully scenic Palos Verdes Drive East, passing several fellow riders on the way up. Stopping just past Marymount College to enjoy the view, I proceeded down a series of switchbacks to Palos Verdes Drive South and picked up the pace a bit after passing the slightly dangerous Portuguese Bend area with its unpredictable dips.

Relishing my last moments with the bike, I cruised back up to LA to meet Dan and return the bike, having enjoyed a fantastic 24 hours of riding. The Gixxer was surprisingly easy to ride over 100 miles in a single day and I reckon that I could have easily done another 100 or more. Sure it was not the most comfortable for long rides and I applaud those riders who regularly sport-tour on these supersport bikes, but to enjoy it for a day, it was the most fun I have had since I drove the Corvette through Santa Barbara wine country.

Thanks again to Dan at Racy Rentals. Looking forward to doing that again the next time I am in LA.