Sunday, May 24, 2015

Gloom

Log Item: Weather in Southern California enters an early summer phase that is known as June Gloom. It is caused by the marine layer effect common to the West Coast, and is enhanced by the Catalina eddy local to southern California. May and June together are usually the cloudiest months in coastal Southern California. Tourists arrive in June, ready to bask at the beach and are shocked that it's cold (cold by SoCal standards).
Ok, not all tourists. The Canadians think that 60 degrees is warm. When you see them on their beach towels, soaking up the cloudy skies on a chilly morning wearing bikinis and banana hammocks, it's easy to tell them apart from the Californians in their coats and heavy sweaters.
It gets warm, but that comes later. What does this mean for motorcycle riding? 

Sunday: It doesn't mean that you can't ride your bike.  Intermittent rain notwithstanding, I did take the Devil out because I wanted to test the two-up configuration with the back rest. The verdict is that it's more comfortable with the new set up than it was without.
Explanation: 10 miles north of my place and 5 miles south of my place are "horse country" areas with twisting roads that likely started out as cow paths that were paved over in antiquity. As with many areas on the fringe of the Greater Los Angeles metroplex, there are upper middle class areas that are interspersed with "horse property".  Peralta Hills (Anaheim), Yorba Linda, Norco, Lake Matthews, etc. all are horse property enclaves near me. I don't live in the horse property per se. I live in the yuppie homes with palms,  pools and 3 car garages with BMWs and Raptors on the driveways.
The horse country areas are a blend of urban blight overflow (blacks on welfare), homes for illegal aliens that work on the horse ranches and in various service industries where everyone pretends that they're legal, white meth cookers/bikers and the white rural elite who live on horse ranches in areas where there are not many places to ride the horses. In Yorba Linda (where there is not urban blight) and Norco (where there is), you can ride them next to roads on groomed trails. Lake Mathews/Gavalin Hills is a bit wilder. 
Rant: I took Cajalco Road east from I-15 through the Lake Matthews area, turning south and running through Gavalin Hills. For those of you who could really not give a rat's ass what that is, it's a twisty, turn, country road area where people on horseback wave to you on the weekend. During the week, they're off working. No, Brighid. No cows. That's part of my point. These are pet horses, not working horses. The cowboys wear 30X Stetsons.

From there I drove to through the livable/lovable, 'homey' city of Perris (70% illegal aliens, 20% unemployed blacks, 10% bikers/meth cookers) to Lake Perris. Lake Perris is recreationally entertaining to me because in the Spring, it's where people new to boating take their recently purchased pleasure craft to launch and test. Think of fifty people fighting on the boat ramp and dangerously ripping around the lake in boats that they are unfamiliar with. Divorces result, fist fights result, auto accidents on the boat ramp, boat accidents (ramming incidents) in the water, it's a goat-rope of epic proportions on the weekends there.

Yeah, it's fun to watch. I didn't bring popcorn, but you take my point. I stayed for about half an hour until the cursing and screaming became repetitive and I found that I hadn't learned any new words. Back on the bike and on to other venues.

Early lunch in Riverside at a sandwich shop (tuna on squaw bread with a side of potato salad) and back to get ready for the pre-Memorial Day BBQ at the house...toned down from the usual over-done chow-down.

No, I didn't get a drop of rain on me, but I could see rain in the distance.


2 comments:

  1. What's to rant about, sounds like you had a good time... yuppie biker dude.
    As for no cows, I don't think it would be good for you or the Diavel if you ran into an ol hide...

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    1. Cows fear the Devil the same way they do the Parson's blue heeler.

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