Lane Splitting.The California Coast. The Emmy Awards. And Los Angeles.

Coming back from a job site today we saw a dude on a crotch rocket split lanes between two cars along I-74. My buddy Justin, whom I work for, looks at me and says "You do that shit?".
"No. Well not in IL anyway. I did when I was in California."
I proceeded to tell him this story...

I met up with my buddy Pete along Coastal Highway 1, leaving Big Sur. I had been in California for a few weeks so far with my friend Jen. Her bike started acting up beyond repair and she had to head back West in a U-Haul.

I rode to Big Sur after parting ways with her in Stockton. It was an emotional moment for us both. We had spent the last five months zig zagging our way across the country together. We had overcome many obstacles, some on our own and some with help from dear friends. Circumstances separated us at this point and it sucked.

She headed toward Denver and I headed down the coast. I camped in Big Sur on a Thursday night. Met Pete down the coast Friday morning. We had breakfast at a lil tourist trap roadside diner before rolling down to Ojai to meet up with my friend Dawn. We hung out a bit, had some food and a few beverages before heading to Pete's pad in Piru, just East of Ventura.

This is where I first "split lanes". In California, when traffic is slowed on the freeway, motorcycles are allowed to zig zag thru the traffic that stands still or is moving slow. Although, Pete being a native may have made up his own rules on this. I was apprehensive at first, but when in Rome...I just followed Pete and got a feel for the rhythm. Then I was good.

Pete took me on some awesome mountain back roads around the L.A. area. We spent all day Saturday riding and stopped at Neptune's Net along Rt. 1 in Malibu and and The Rock Store (which I remember from the show "The Wonder Years") along Mulholland in Malibu Canyon.

Sunday we drank some day beers so we could get some shut eye before reporting to the Bill Ferrell Company at 10 p.m. This is where I found my taste for Stone IPA. Dude had a kegerator and that was the constant  flavor on tap.

We drove to Sun Valley that night and met up with the BF crew before heading into downtown L.A. to the Nokia Theater. I spent the better part of that week working with dudes that didn't know me from "Adam" and they treated me like one of the gang. A really cool experience.

We worked our asses off tearing down the Emmy set. I was paid handsomely for my work and spent the next week seeking steady work in the area. The Bill Ferrell Co. said they'd keep my name on file, but as a roaming worker I needed more of a commitment than that.

A few days later I headed to Vegas.