Our adventure motorcycle tour guests for this Southern California tour flew in from Connecticut, looking to escape the cold winter weather in February, and coastal South Carolina, which I gather is warmer but flat and boring for motorcycle riding. Unlike most of the country, in Southern California it is nice enough to ride motorcycles year round! We get particularly busy in the winter and around Spring Break as people look to escape the winter doldrums in most of the country, where their motorcycles are probably sad and stuck in the garage on a battery tender. My Connecticut guest, Bill, rode the 2022 BMW 1250GS Rallye, and my South Carolina guest, Roger, rode the 2018 BMW 1200GS. Both of my BMW R1200/1250GS boxer engine rentals are the premium package- BMW’s flagship adventure motorcycles trusted by round the world travelers with premium features like cruise control, Electronic Suspension Adjustment (I’m 5’5″ and even I can ride the 1200GS), GearShift Assist Pro, ride modes for different terrain and weather, and Hill Start Assist.
My mechanic and guide for the longer tours, Dave, was able to join as I had some other obligations to attend to over this 5 day tour, and the bikes were due for their periodic maintenance afterwards anyway. Dave took our guests through the canyon country that starts just 15 minutes from the Edge of Adventure Tours garage, starting the incredible riding and scenery right off the bat! A record-setting rainstorm had swept through the area a week before, when I had some intrepid renters who flew in anyway despite the forecast and got very wet. I spent most of that week keeping in contact with my renters, monitoring weather radar, webcams, the CalTrans website which shows chain restrictions, road closures, and snowplow operations, and getting updates from my friends who live in the mountains about where it was snowing and where it was safe for my renters to ride their motorcycles. Bikes and ice don’t mix. I was trained as a professional meteorologist for the U.S. Navy, so my forecasting skills come in handy when planning and leading tours! Luckily, this week the forecast was perfect- sunny and in the 60’s!
As a side note, Dave’s 31 years of U.S. Navy experience trained him to fix anything and everything under the sun, which is arguably a more useful skillset. But I like to think I have the best forecasts in the business, as there can’t be too many motorcycle tour company owner/meteorologists out there.
The group ventured into the Otay Mountain Wilderness Area, only 30 minutes from San Diego, which features a network of dirt roads and trails of varying difficulty. An adventure-motorcycle friendly truck trail runs to the top of Otay Mountain, from which there are spectacular views of the ocean, downtown San Diego, and other mountains stretching north and east. Other trails around Otay Mountain require a lighter dual sport motorcycle or a high-clearance 4×4 vehicle. Edge of Adventure Tours also runs half-day 4×4 offroad truck tours so your non-motorcycle-riding passengers can conquer the mountain’s trails and see that stunning view!
Each day’s motorcycle ride was approximately 150-250 miles, but because the roads are twisty and with meal and scenery stops, took from about 8 or 9 am to 5 or 6 pm. There are so many hidden gem windy backroads and dirt roads in San Diego County alone that you’d need multiple days to hit them all, as this group did!
Edge of Adventure Tours offers single and multi-day tours in the Southern California area (as well as the rest of California, Arizona, Southern Utah, and Southwestern Colorado), and roams outside of San Diego County as well on our multi-day tours. Our multi-day tours can go up Pacific Coast Highway into Orange County and ride the motorcyclist-favorite twisty Ortega Highway into wine country. Or, in the summer and fall, multi-day tours can ascend into the cool air of the mountains and visit quaint mountain towns like Idyllwild or Big Bear, where there are many offroad options in the pines, camping or cozy cabin options, and beautiful views! Southern California offers motorcycle riding options for year round fun, so contact us to plan your trip today. All our tours are custom dates for whenever you or your group are planning to visit San Diego, and custom routes too. We’ll monitor the weather and choose the best route for your desired ride length, destination, and any offroad difficulty level accordingly!