Hwy 18 to Big Bear Lake: Conquered!
August 18th, 2006 by R.J.
Yesterday (Sunday) I was in Apple Valley and was pretty bored so I decided to go for a ride on my bike. The roads around Apple Valley aren’t very much fun. They are mostly straight and someone is always pulling out in front of you. There’s certainly nothing like Highway 74 out here… Or is there?
You see I had never been to Big Bear, but I had heard the road from Lucerne Valley to Big Bear Lake was fairly twisty. And it would be nice to get away from the desert heat… Well, I thought to myself, Lucerne is only 11 miles
away, why not?
I approached this mountain with a Highway 74 mentality. I was expecting fast, long sweepers with maybe some esses thrown in here and there… Big mistake. On the first turn up the mountain there is a yellow sign posted at 25mph…
In contrast, 74 only has ONE speed advisory sign and its 30mph on a decreasing radius blind turn. I knew I was in for something different… This particular turn is a decreasing radius blind left turn followed by a decreasing radius
blind off-camber right turn. It wasn’t fun, and if it wasn’t for the Honda Odyssey (God bless you slow-ass cager!) in front of me, I might have carried too much speed into that turn and binned it…
It’s approximately 7 miles from the bottom of the mountain to Big Bear Lake. In this 7 miles, there are a huge number of decreasing radius turns and almost every turn is blind. Mix this in with trucks, vans, and harley riders — all of which can’t stay on their side of the double yellow — and it makes for quite an experience!
The whole time up the hill I was thinking, “God, it is going to SUCK going down that…” Well after a while I was at the top. There was a lot of traffic, a lot of stupid drivers, and a lot of bugs. Time to go back down? Yup.
About halfway down the mountain this time, I noticed the distinct smell of cooking brake pads. Shortly thereafter, I noticed that my brakes were fading. It was taking longer for my front brake to stop me and longer for my lever to engage the brakes. Not cool at all. It wasn’t so bad that I thought my brakes would give out, but it made the ride down the hill slightly more unpredictable…
Some of the turns on the way down feel like you’re going through a rollercoaster’s corkscrew. Taking them too fast will push you toward the outside and over the double yellow and probably into the grill of a Tacoma. There are many motorcycle deaths on Hwy 18 and most are caused from crossing the centerline and running into oncoming traffic. On the other hand, if you take the turns too slow, you can easily cause your front end to tuck, particularly if you’re using your front brake too late in the turn.
Overall, my experience on Hwy 18 was a good one. It was a nice break from the valley, but I think this particular mountain road is more suited to Harley’s and cages. If you attempt to take it at more than a leisurely pace, it may come back to bite you. I’ll be going up there again, most likely with a camera next time, but will definitely be keeping a safe pace.
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