Give me a day off and I’ll find an adventure to fill it up.

That’s exactly what happened this week, as the WWE is in the middle of a two week west coast swing. Rather than flying everyone home on Wednesday and back on Friday, we were given the option to stay in California.

My friends Pat, Abi and I decided to rent some motorcycles from Eaglerider of Santa Monica and spend the day riding some fine Californian roads.

Pat has had the misfortune of being talked into adventures with me before. On a day off in Aspen after the X Games, I talked him into going skiing, something he’d only done a handful of times before. I can’t remember exactly how it happened, but somehow we ended up on a double black diamond trail. The words, “What’s the worst that could happen?” probably escaped my lips that day. It was an adventure. Another time Pat rented a Harley to ride with me and my friend Dan. Somehow, we ended up on a gravel road on a mountain. Again, I asked, “What’s the worst that could happen?” I wouldn’t have guessed that Pat dumping that Harley in the gravel would be the worst thing, but that’s just me.

For some reason Pat still agreed to this adventure. Probably because I promised him there’d be no water crossings or gravel or anything like that. His ride for the day was a Kawasaki Concours 1400.

Ever faithful Abi, a devoted, lifelong BMW Rockster fan decided to mix it up a bit and try something completely different. Yes, he cheated on his beloved Rockster.

A Hond ST 1300 filled that bill nicely. Sometimes a little strange is a good thing.

That’s right, a Hond. Not a Honda. I think this bike was a cheap imitation knockoff. It still moved pretty fast.

As for me, I was looking for adventure, and I got it.

A KTM Adventure 950 to be exact.

Another way to justify this trip was testing out my newest toy, a SPOT Personal Satellite Tracker, a toy that I plan to bring on the Great Unsponsored Nova Scotia Expedition, leaving in three days.This new little gadget allows me to be ‘tracked by others’, and plots my course on a Google Map. I placed the SPOT in the KTM’s glove compartment, and it worked flawlessly, updating our position every ten minutes.

We stoped at Neptune’s Net for lunch. Though, judging from this picture of me, I could have easily skipped the meal.

After overfilling my belly, I gave the KTM’s suspension a REAL workout. We headed off to Ojai, to ride one of my favorite California roads, Highway 33.

The day was perfect, and we pretty much had the road to ourselves.

This sign made me laugh:

I guess one of the slower traffic people didn’t like the idea of using turnouts much.

The rest of the ride included a small water crossing and some gravel and dirt roads, naturally. Pat just shook his head when we ended up at the dirt road.

The only true ‘adventure’ part of this adventure was lane splitting through traffic to get back to Eaglerider in time to return the bikes. I don’t have any pictures of that part, because it was too frightening.

The SPOT worked as advertised, which makes me think it will work well in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. The KTM also worked as advertised, and is now on my short list of bikes I want, right next to the Ducati 1098. Abi is also seriously thinking of an upgraded ride. Pat said he’ll most likely do another adventure with me the next time the opportunity pops up.

Author: frenchy

One Response to “Renting an Adventure”

1. Stan-Rhode Island says:

   June 7, 2008 at 5:03 PM

   as always, great photo’s. Was nice to SEE where you were. The other day I tracked you on your new GPS toy.

   Didn’t you feel me looking over your shoulder the entire trip ??

   Reply