Friday January 28th

By 10:00 a.m. we were on the bikes and headed into town to gas up for our trip on the PCH toward Malibu.

After about 10 minutes on the freeway, we exited onto California Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway.  After leaving the freeway, the first few miles of CA 1 is through the main business district of Oxnard.  Lots to see and plenty of time to see it at each of the traffic lights along the way.

Once outside of Oxnard, the road opens up and passes the Point Mugu Naval Air Station, where there always seems to be something landing or taking off.  Today it was AWACS doing "touch and go's".  At this point the PCH actually becomes a "Coast" highway.  The road is so close to the ocean that you can hear the waves crashing onto the rocks.

Entering the City of Malibu you begin to see beach houses and condos that line the coast.  I'm sure there's more than one "movie star" living there.  Additionally, the beaches are filled with recreation seekers.  Boogie boards, surf boards, and sail boards are bobbing in the waters beyond the breakers.

Turning left onto Encinal Canyon Road, we begin to climb into the Santa Monica Mountains.  Here the hills tower above the road.  At times they are covered in evergreens and then suddenly bare rocks and cactus.  Around the next bend you're entering a mountain side tunnel and navigating uphill and down hill 180 degree turns.  Encinal Canyon Road joins the more famous Mulholland Highway as it winds down the other side of the mountain.

Along Mulholland we arrived at our target destination...The Rock Store.  The Rock Store is the west coast version of Deals Gap.  A biker's heaven for more than 50 years, it is a diner, bar and hangout for the regular folks as well as the stars.  Although we did not gaze on any stars, it's not uncommon for the likes of Peter Fonda, Harrison Ford, The Governator, or Jay Leno to be hanging out in the parking lot.  Next time we'll try a Saturday or Sunday morning.  (They are only open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until 6:00 p.m.)

Ed's "Old School" Steeler Sign
Is this Steeley McBeam Senior?



The nice folks that own the place, Ed and Vern Savko, just happen to be from Pittsburgh.  Ed grew up in Homestead and Vern (Veronica) in Bethel Park.  They moved out to California shortly after Ed got out of the Navy at the end of World War II.  Still Steeler fans, Ed and I discussed what we felt would be the eventual outcome of next week's Superbowl.

Continuing down Mulholland, we twisted our way onto Las Virgenes Road.  Eventually we wound up back on the PCH about 10 miles south of where we exited, and right in front of Pepperdine University.  The ride north through Malibu was just as spectacular as the ride south.

100 + miles today.  It's easy to see why people have flocked to this area for centuries.