The Love Ride was our 1st motorcycle event that Lucky and I went to. Did not go on a Harley, but a Suzuki. It wasn't even ours! We borrowed it from a friend, who never rode it. Eventually, we did buy it and I got my motorcycle license with it and it became mine, after Lucky bought his Road King.
Anyways........my point being, we have to go to the Love Ride, because it is tradition and we love it. I get my fill of meeting movie stars and Lucky gets his Jay Leno. Jay is Lucky's secret friend. (Shhhh).
As some of you know, the Love Ride decided to combine the event with Bike Week and moved it to Pomona on the L.A. Fairgrounds in 2007. Bad mistake. it just wasn't the same as riding to Castaic Lake. We did go that first year in Pomona, but sadly, skipped the next year and the following year, which ended up being cancelled! Last year, the Love Ride decided to go retro on us and only sold 1,000 tickets and met up in Calamigos Ranch in the Malibu hills. We decided not to attend that one either. So when Oliver Shokouh announced that the event was going back to Castaic Lake, we were there!
The ride is usually in November, but this year, it was in October. Perfect! The weather was warm and not rainy, like it usually is during this ride! Lucky and I were up at 4:00 am to get ready and leave by 5:00 am. The morning proved to be very foggy, so we were careful on the road. Didn't take us long to get to Glendale. Lucky was a little undecided about which way to go, since it had been so long. But we found our usual parking spot and after defrosting a little, we started the walk towards Glendale Harley.
The stage was a little smaller this year. The crowd was a little smaller this year. The bike parade line was very small this year. I began to wonder if it was because people assumed there was no Love Ride or if by changing the date to October had anything to do with it.
We got our coffee and stood in the FRONT ROW of the stage, mainly for me. I get a kick out of seeing movie stars in person! Yet, in years past, we had to push our way to the front of the stage. Where was everyone?
The opening band was o.k. Not my type of music. Probably not ANY biker's type of music, either. It was what Lucky calls "angry music" and the band was called Max Mueller. But as soon as that was over, here came the stars and I was not disappointed! Jay Leno, Robert Patrick, Bryan Cranston, Danny Trejo (scary!), Montgomery Gentry, and even one of the DJ's from my country music station was there, Ginny Harman!
We didn't ride with the parade group, but went ahead so that we could park in time to get pictures of the bikes rolling in. Sadly, as we we were heading up the 405 Freeway we came up to a crash involving a motorcycle. Not sure of the details, only that they were okay, but a second accident (which we didn't see) happened right after the first and the couple was killed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their family and friends.
Since the accident slowed us down a bit we didn't get there ahead of everyone, so no pictures of the 1000s of bikes rolling in. When we did get to Castaic Lake it was HOT. I was stripping my layers off to cool down. Yes, for those of you that know me, I wear about 4 layers of clothing on many rides. We didn't stay long, being that Lucky wasn't that excited about seeing Montgomery - Gentry and he was having some issues with the throttle on the bike and he wanted to get that solved before it got to late.
Took some pictures and left, but Lucky's throttle was a mess. He was twisting the throttle and the bike wasn't going, then all the sudden he would twist it again and we took off! It seems that the glue wore off and the throttle cover was coming off - or something like that. Found a hardware store and bought the thing that can fix ALL. Duct tape. Now Lucky's bike looks ghetto, but it works. Oh, and Lucky had to wear winter gloves because he brought only one half glove! Duh.
Rode West on the 126 towards Ventura and the beach. Nice scenery and pumpkin patches. Had never been on this road before. When we passed Fillmore and dropped into Ventura, the weather went from 90 degrees to 60 degrees. Time to pull over and get some leather on and layers for me.
Took the 101 freeway to the 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) and that was a beautiful ride. It was cold and foggy, but the ocean was still nice to look at. Stopped at Neptune's Net - a seafood stand with lots of fish, cold beer and outside seating that has been there forever and has become a favored stop for riders coming up the coast or down from the Santa Monica Mountains. The bike parking was full so we had to park across the street, which wasn't easy. Try crossing a major 4 lane road where the cars are going at least 70 MPH!
The place was packed and even though we had just finished lunch at Lake Castaic, Lucky broke down and ordered a Crab Cake Burger or something like that. A crabby pattie....I don't know. I don't eat fish. We shared a table and a couple of beers with a couple (Mark & Madeline) that was originally from NY. She had never been to Neptune's Net and I think they ordered the entire menu! They had a whole lobster, deep fried shrimp and something else with it, steamed clams, and boiled shrimp. Their food covered the entire table! I was queasy. 
Finally time to go home. We rode down the coast in very heavy foggy overcast - known out here as a marine layer. I froze almost all the way home, but the day was a good one and we enjoyed ourselves!
See more Love Ride Pictures Here!
October 25, 2011- -
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October 25, 2011- -
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