FIRST GEAR

GREG DREVENSTEDT

Editor-In-Chief

I was chugging along on our 2023 Yamaha Ténéré 700 test bike , riding 100 miles to get to an 8 a . m . press launch for the 2024 model ( you can read our test starting on page 16 ). Rather than share the freeway with commuters the whole way , I exited and cut across the agricultural fields that spread across the Oxnard Plain .

A few turns later , I was on California Highway 1 , and as I got closer to the coast , the air got a few degrees warmer . The Pacific Ocean is the world ’ s largest air conditioner during the summer and a heater in the winter , keeping the coast comfortable year-round .

After passing the Naval Base Ventura County and the Seabee rifle range , I rounded the bend where Highway

1 cuts through a headland of dark rock at Point Mugu and was welcomed by the orange light of dawn outlining mountains that plunge into the sea . Waves crashed into the piled-up boulders that protect the road , and a few seagulls circled overhead . Late fall is squid season , and just offshore , boats were shining bright lights into the water , drawing the long , skinny cephalopods to the surface .

It had warmed up a few degrees more by the time I passed Sandy Dune , an enormous slope of sand wedged between the mountains and the highway . I passed Deer Creek Road , where I did my first cover shoot for Rider in 2008 and have done many others since . Then I passed Neptune ’ s Net , a popular seafood restaurant where tourists , surfers , and motorcyclists hang out . Our managing editor , Paul Dail , was in town for work two days prior , and we ate lunch there . After filling up on fish and chips , I introduced him to some of my favorite Malibu canyon roads , including Deer Creek , Yerba Buena , Encinal , and Latigo . Paul said I was lucky to live near such great roads and called the ride a “ mini vacation .”

As I was making my dawn patrol , surfers parked along the Pacific Coast Highway at County Line , Leo Carillo , El Matador , and other surf breaks were squeezing into wetsuits or waxing their boards , ready for some tasty waves .

I ’ ve lost count of how many times I ’ ve ridden or driven up and down this stretch of the PCH . Pleasure rides , test rides , press launches , photoshoots , trips to and from LAX to fly to press launches . I know every twist , dip , and curve intimately .

Just as I crested the rise at Malibu Bluffs Park , the rising sun peeked out from behind some low clouds . As I got closer to Santa Monica , commuter traffic on the PCH grew thicker . Before I knew it , I was through the tunnel near the pier and on Interstate 10 , thrown into the L . A . traffic scrum .

The press launch for the new T7 was fun . I rode with old friends and colleagues – Tom Roderick , Don Williams , Bradley Adams , Adam Waheed , and others – and we climbed above the clouds on a rugged jeep road to Santiago Peak and then down to the famed Ortega Highway .

When the launch was over , I rode home on the new T7 the same way I had come . Heading north on the PCH in the late afternoon , the big orange sun sank lower and lower . Not long after cresting the same rise at Malibu Bluffs Park , the sun dipped below the horizon .

I pulled into the garage 12 hours after leaving that morning . There ’ s nothing like riding from dawn till dusk to make you feel alive .

4 / FEBRUARY 2024 / RIDERMAGAZINE . COM