It’s been a couple of years (at least) since I’ve been up to the Crystal Lake Café at the end of the line (California 39 being the line), so today Steve and I ran the road to make sure we’d be good to go for our ride this Saturday (you can sign up for it here). In a word, everything is good.
Nah, scratch that: Today was fantastic. Saturday is going to be a great ride!
I rode my old KLR 650 because it’s been months since I’ve had that bike out, and Steve was riding a brand new RX3 with a cool two-tone paint job and nearly every accessory we offer for these great bikes.
Okay, enough jabbering…let’s get to the photos!
This is Steve’s custom RX3. It’s pretty straightforward to create a bike like this…go heavy 0n the accessories, use red body accents (from the red RX3 color palette) on a silver bike, and have it all put together by Gerry and his motorcycle maestros. The red-and-silver color combo really works and this bike looks great!
Incidentally, that’s not my KLR you see in the background of the above photo. That white one is a later-model Gen 2 KLR; mine is an earlier Gen 1…
I guess it just worked out that Steve and I were both riding red-and-silver motorcycles today. Truth be told, I would have preferred being on my RX3. It’s handling is way crisper than the KLR and the RX3 is a better bike for these kinds of roads. My RX3 is what I’ll be riding on Saturday.
This is Adam, who runs the Crystal Lake Café. He’s one of the good guys. Steve, Adam, and I had a good conversation this afternoon, and he was glad to hear we’re bringing a crowd with us on Saturday. You have to try the brownies…Adam makes them himself, and they were incredible.
Adam had some interesting photos of bears around his restaurant. I wanted to get a similar shot, but this was all I could do…
Another photo of Steve’s custom RX3…those colors really look good on an RX3.
After a hot tea and that delicious brownie, it was time to get back on the road. I had my Nikon out on the way down. It’s funny…I didn’t take any photos on the ride up to Crystal Lake, but I sure did on the way down…
It took a few shots to get the one I wanted…but that’s okay, because digital film is cheap!
From the rider’s seat on an 11-year-old KLR…
The road we’ll ride on Saturday…
…and a few more, trying to keep up with Steve…
And there you have it. It wasn’t too cold up there today (we’ll be up well over 5000 feet at the Crystal Lake Café). It was a great ride. In fact, the riding was as good as it gets anywhere in the world. I’m really looking forward to our Saturday ride, and the follow-on lunch at the California Grill. It’s going to be great!
RX1E Electric Motorcycle
TT250 Enduro
SG250 San Gabriel Cafe Racer