Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Angeles Crest Scenic Byway

The Angeles Crest Highway is listed among "California's Best Riding Roads"- This famous stretch of asphalt has been a favorite ride for bike and hot rod enthusiasts for over 50 years.
This is the main highway that runs through the Angeles National Forest north of Los Angeles. It is a twisty, turning, two lane highway that runs east-west for 66 miles between I-210 and Route 138. This scenic byway ascends through Chaparral and Montane Forest Habitats, along the highest and most beautiful ridges of the San Gabriel Mountain Range- to a maximum elevation of 7903 ft at Dawson Saddle Trailhead.
We will start our climb over the mountains after threading our way along the foothills of Angeles National Forest and leaving the traffic behind as we exit the 210 freeway at La Canada Flintridge- this is Route 2. Quickly we will leave civilization behind us as the two lane road winds it's way up and into the Angeles Forest. Dramatic turns and curves await us on this fabulous road on the way to Wrightwood.
After about 26 miles we will find Newcombs Ranch. This is a favorite stop for many riders out riding "The Crest" and bikes of all kinds can be seen here. After a pause here, we will continue along this picturesque road enjoying several lookout points and taking some great photos. We will now enter San Bernardino County as we roll into the mountain resort town of Wrightwood and continue until Route 138 where we begin our descent. At interstate 15 we go south to the town of Fontana, California. Here we discover the Auto Club Speedway- http://www.autoclubspeedway.com/?homepage=true! Formerly The California Speedway and still the venue for  Nascar stock car racing as well as open wheel Indy type of race cars. It's 2 mile, low banked, D-shaped oval Superspeedway makes for incredible high speed action. Although we will miss the big Nascar race by only a couple of weeks- another activity will await us here- High Performance Kart racing! Cal Speed Karting- http://www.calspeedkarting.com/ -will host us for a couple of hours of racing fun on their exclusive 3/4 mile racetrack. These zippy little machines are capable of speeds that will make your heart pound as they zoom along only one inch off of the ground! We will see who is the quickest and takes home a trophy! From here we will continue south back into Orange County on I-15 into Corona before riding the 91 Freeway home to Buena Park and our comfortable Hotel- http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/snabp-courtyard-anaheim-buena-park/.





















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