Ortega Highway
OfflineOn a daily basis, this is my best AND worst commute.
I don't know why I continue to take this two lane highway that snakes through a mountain connecting Riverside and Orange County. I should be smarter than that. But I do, and if you are thinking of taking the Ortega to commute, maybe you will benefit from my experiences.
The Pro's: Gorgeous winding roads and TREES (hard to find in the desert of SoCal)
The Con's: For some reason, the idiot cagers think the way to drive this road is to go as fast as possible until you are tailgaiting the person in front of you by inches - regardless if there is a big line of cars ahead of that person or not. Watch out for these morons and let them pass if they are riding up on you - they are in a stupified state of mind.
These same tail-chasers are even more dangerous as they come in your opposite direction. I've seen many cars swing out into the opposite lane on tight, blind curves because they are going too fast.
Here is what I do to mitigate the risks: I know if you are a weekend rider on a sportsbike, you want to ride the Ortega fast - and that's cool. But if you are a commuter, you should be more concerned with making it through alive. So what I do is to get behind a long line of slow (only 20mph over the limit) cars and let tailgaiters pass (with a complimetary gesture). This accomplishes several things: First of all, oncoming traffic will be warned by the vehicles ahead of me, therefore they are less likely to swing out into my lane and if they do, they will probably hit a bunch of cars ahead of me. I take the turns at MY SPEED and never let the person behind me dicate how fast I should go. A wave of the hand should get them to back off until the next turnout or I slow it down to a snail's pace till they get the idea.
There is at least one motorcycle accident every week on this stretch of highway, so if you are gonna ride it, be prepared.
- Kris
On a daily basis, this is my best AND worst commute.
I don't know why I continue to take this two lane highway that snakes through a mountain connecting Riverside and Orange County. I should be smarter than that. But I do, and if you are thinking of taking the Ortega to commute, maybe you will benefit from my experiences.
The Pro's: Gorgeous winding roads and TREES (hard to find in the desert of SoCal)
The Con's: For some reason, the idiot bikers think the way to drive this road is to go as fast as possible until you are tailgaiting the person in front of you by inches - regardless if there is a big line of cars ahead of that person or not. Watch out for these morons and let them pass if they are riding up on you - they are in a stupified state of mind.
These same tail-chasers are even more dangerous as they come in your opposite direction. I've seen many bikes swing out into the opposite lane on tight, blind curves because they are going too fast.
Here is what I do to mitigate the risks: I know if you are a weekend driver in a car, you want to drive the Ortega fast - and that's cool. But if you are a commuter, you should be more concerned with making it through alive. So what I do is to get behind a long line of slow (only 20mph over the limit) cars and let tailgaiters pass (with a complimetary gesture). This accomplishes several things: First of all, oncoming traffic will be warned by the vehicles ahead of me, therefore they are less likely to swing out into my lane and if they do, they will probably hit a bunch of cars ahead of me. I take the turns at MY SPEED and never let the person behind me dicate how fast I should go. A wave of the hand should get them to back off until the next turnout or I slow it down to a snail's pace till they get the idea.
There is at least one motorcycle accident every week with the rider at fault on this stretch of highway, so if you are gonna ride it, be prepared.
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