Another glorious Glendora Ridge ride!

A glorious day for a ride, and what a ride it was!

Carl Mungenast and his lovely wife Mary are in town, and we’ve been having lots of fun. As you know, Carl is one of our greatest fans and a trusted advisor to the California Scooter Company.  Like Steve, he comes from motorcycle royalty…Carl’s brother Dave was an ISDT rider and a Motorcycle Hall of Fame inductee, and the Mungenast family is well known in motorcycling circles (just as is the Seidner family).

Susie and I had a great dinner with Carl and Mary last Saturday at one of my all time favorite restaurants (di Pilla’s in Rosemead), and I can’t tell you which was better:  The cuisine, the conversation, or the company.  They were all world class!   We had a lot of fun.

Carl is very distinguished guy…a former Sears president (yes, boys and girls, that Sears), a former Consolidated Freightways Chief Operating Officer, and most significantly, a certifiable gearhead (just like you and me).  It was a great evening, and the conversation included our upcoming Glendora Ridge Road ride.   I told Carl about the route we’d take through the magnificent San Gabriel Mountains…and here it is…

Our Glendora Ridge Road route....up through Glendora, on to the Glendora Mountain Road, on to Glendora Ridge Road, a stop in Mt. Baldy Village for lunch, and then back to the CSC plant!

So, enough of the small talk!  Let’s get our knees in the breeze!   We all met at the shop at about 10:00 this morning (just a few hours ago), and we were off!   Woo hoo!   Great weather, great riding, and great bikes…here we go!

Chasing Carl and Steve up Glendora Mountain Road

The road, just like always, was great.   What made it even more fun was being out with great guys like Carl and Steve! 

Trust me, it was tough keeping up with these guys and snapping photos!

Part way up Glendora Mountain Road, Steve pulled over so we could take in the scenery.  It was magnificent!

A stop to smell the roses...there weren't any roses, but you get the idea!

Yep, it was as much fun as it looks!

After taking in the view, we were off…charging deeper into the San Gabriels…

Onward, upward, and all that...the riding this morning was absolutely magnificent!

We stopped at the intersection of Glendora Mountain Road and Glendora Ridge Road to grab a few photos.   Steve offered to take a shot of Carl and me, and here we are…

Yours truly with my good buddy Carl, and the Baja Blaster

And then I grabbed the same shot of Steve and Carl…

Carl Mungenast and Steve Seidner, Captains of Industry! The bike is Steve's personal ride, the Sarge.

After that, I asked the boys to let me run ahead.  I wanted to scout a good location to get a shot of Steve and Carl drifting through one of Glendora Ridge Road’s 200+ curves.

I was really hot-dogging it, and my CSC was absolutely humming…the bike was running great!   My CSC runs well all the time, but it especially likes our crisp California winter air.  I felt like the late (and great) Gary Nixon…you know, showing good form and doing about as well as I ever do carving corners.   I figured I was well ahead of the boys, but when I looked in my mirror…whoa!   There was Carl, hanging right with me!   Guys, I ain’t bragging…I know I was smoking!  And Carl, he was right behind me, making it look like he was out for a Sunday stroll.  The man can ride!

I found a good spot, Carl and Steve turned around to let me stage a good shot, and here we go!

Hot dogging it around a corner...what a day!

We ran the rest of Glendora Ridge Road, and then we were on the downhill stretch into Mt. Baldy Village for a great lunch at the Baldy Lodge…

Heading into Mt. Baldy Village

We enjoyed a super meal at the Lodge (the tuna melt is awesome!), we talked about how lucky we all were to be out riding on a day like today, and then we were in the wind again…

Carl at my 6:00!

Lots of fun, folks, and it’s all part of the CSC lifestyle.   I’m smiling and giggling as I type this, just thinking about what a grand day it was!  I can’t wait to get back out on the road again!

More good stuff coming up…like Sacramento…the whales…and more good surprises!  Keep coming back, ride safe, and stay tuned!