A couple weeks ago my old lady, and a friend and I rode our motorcycles to Solvang California. I thought I would write an article about the ride to Solvang.

As usual, I found myself on a Friday night contemplating where I could ride over the weekend.

One of my favorite rides has always been to Solvang California. Solvang California is a Danish town just off of the Pacific Coast Highway, approximately 114 miles from where I live in Chatsworth California. You can read about Solvang California by clicking here now.

Not only is a ride to Solvang usually an excellent motorcycle ride, there is some great food and partying once you get there.

I called one of my good friends on Friday night to see if he wanted ride with me and my old lady to Solvang. He said yes, and we agreed to meet on Sunday. My old lady was a back seat rider. I met my friend where the 118 freeway meets Topanga Canyon Blvd, in Chatsworth California.

We then jumped on the 118 freeway and rode to Simi Valley Harley Davidson, because I wanted to pick up a quart of oil to keep in my saddle bags just in case. You can see a picture of my friend and I in the upper left corner, at Simi Valley Harley-Davidson. Please note that my friend did not want his picture publicized to the world by way of the biker law blog, I have therefore smudged his face to conceal his identity.

Once we left Simi Valley Harley-Davidson, we proceeded on the 118 freeway, to the 23 Freeway, to the 101 N., and proceeded to roll to Solvang.

The weather was absolutely fantastic, and in the upper 80s with not a cloud in the sky.

The traffic however, was another matter. The traffic was absolutely horrible. As a matter of fact, it seems to get worse and worse every time I ride the 101 N. We ended up having to lane split pretty much from Camarillo past Ventura, and along a good stretch of the 101 before Santa Barbara. Once we got past Santa Barbara the traffic subsided.

The lane splitting was so treacherous, we ended up stopping for a rest in Carpinteria and grabbed a quick cup of coffee.

Once we got past Santa Barbara it was a great ride up the coast to Solvang. Both my friend and I were able to open up our throttles with the Pacific Ocean to the left of us, and enjoy the ocean breeze and the excellent views on this run.

When we eventually got to Solvang, we stopped at the first gas station to top off our tanks. We ended up seeing a whole bunch of bikers at the gas station. I assume that they were in some riding club because they were all riding together.

My friend and I then cruised the short distance to Solvang. At this point none of us had eaten anything all day. We had a short debate as to what type of food to eat. We were all hungry. We decided to eat at an out of the way Mexican restaurant in Solvang that ended up having excellent food. Solvang is not noted for its Mexican food, so it was kind of unexpected treat.

At this point my friend informed me that he had to be back in the San Fernando Valley by 6:00 PM for a meeting. My old lady and I wanted to check out the Chumash casino, which is an Indian casino just down the road from Solvang. We ended up parting ways so that my friend could go to his meeting, and my old lady and I could check out the casino.

Once we got to the casino, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they had a special section right in front set aside for motorcycle parking. I parked my bike and we were ready to roll.

We went into the casino and walked around a bit. As usual, my old lady wanted to borrow money so that she could gamble. It seems she never has money of her own when we travel. I gave her $40 to play on the slots. Literally, within five minutes she had won $600. I knew full well that she would gamble the entire $600 away in short order. I told her, “Let’s take the money and go.” At that point she continued to press the maximum bet button. For the first time ever, I walked up to the machine and pressed the cash out button, so that my old lady would be able to leave the casino with some money. The machine printed a ticket, and my old lady walked out of the Chumash casino with approximately $600. She was even able to pay me back the $40 that I loaned her. She was ecstatic to say the least. She knew in her heart that she would blow the money if she stayed at the casino, and was probably grateful to me for cashing her out, but she insisted that she would’ve won at least $10,000 had she remained at the machine. I have seen this lady at Las Vegas, ya right.

At this point it was getting late and we decided to ride back home. Instead of taking the scenic route around the Solvang area through the mountains, I decided to take a straight route to the coast. South on 101, to the 23, to the 118 freeway, to Chatsworth California.

We had a great ride home. The weather was cooling off a bit, and there was very little traffic. At around sundown, we decided to stop by the side of the road, and take in the view of the Pacific Ocean. We took a couple pictures which you can see here.

When we arrived at home, I parked my motorcycle, we got changed into our swimsuits, then jumped into the pool and later took a Jacuzzi. This was the end of a great ride and a great day.

The ride to Solvang which is approximately a 250 mile ride round-trip from my home is an excellent short local trip, and one of my favorite local rides to do on the weekend. Maybe as you read this article, you will want to ride to Solvang on your motorcycle too.

Norman Gregory Fernandez, California Motorcycle Accident Attorney, © 2008