Cook's Corner, Trabuco Canyon, Orange County

[alanmcorcoran]

Cook's is named after Andrew Jackson Cook, the guy that owned the place when it first went up in 1884. The ramshackle building sits on the corner of Santiago Canyon and Live Oak Canyon Roads (thus the "Corner" part of the name.) In 1926, Andy's son, "E.J.", turned it into a restaurant. In 1970, a motorcycle accessories dealer bought the place and turned it into a biker bar. It's pretty famous around these parts, not sure if anyone's heard of it elsewhere.

[pbss:pu73c7rs]http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd7/alanmcorcoran/CooksCorner/?action=view&current=1914bd57.pbw[/pbss:pu73c7rs]

Cook's is located at the far end of one of the most (biker) travelled motorcycle roads in SoCal, Santiago Canyon Road. It's a 12-13 mile hill and canyon run with no traffic lights, not stop signs, and... it was just repaved. There are some curves and climbs, but nothing too hairy. Speed limit is 55, but 65 is closer to reality.

I'd been down Santiago a couple of times when I first got the bike, once to see if I could handle it, and once on the way back down to the dealer in San Juan Cap. Both times, it was a little intimidating to keep up with car speed on the curves. I was curious to see if the 3-400 miles in between would make a difference.

This time, I was a little more confident on the way out, and a lot more on the way back. Speed rarely dropped below 55 (there are a few hills and one section where the limit drops to 35 for road work) and I was much more relaxed. The way back was actually "fun." I made an effort to focus in on the "press, lean" part of the look, press, lean and roll business and was consciously selecting the outside/inside/outside turn path. Although I did fine, I could tell I have a way to go until I can consider myself experienced. I figure at some point the bike will just feel like an extension of my body and I won't think about any of this stuff - I'll just do it.

Cook's is not an ATGATT kind of a place. This is half helmet and sleeveless tee territory. (The better to see one's tats, my dear.) Mostly Harleys, but also Indians, choppers and even some sport bikes. I took a few pictures. You'll see a lot of them are cut off and not at the best angle because I got a lot of glares when I took out the Sony, so I was shooting somewhat hidden camera style. I guess they don't cotton to tourists on Suzukis around these parts.

A nice quick 45 mile high speed run - an excellent practice drill. I expect this will become my default ride.

Oh... there were no GZ's in the lot. Not even from Lakewood.