BIKE-SHOWS' HIWAZE®

Santiago Canyon Road, County Road S18
Cleveland National Forest, Orange County CA

Slight twisty turns, two lane highway rolling through the Santa Ana Mountains below Saddleback Peak on the eastern edge of Orange County California. Home to "Surf City" Huntington Beach and as the dispute of the Angels name they are in Anaheim also home to Disneyland.

I grew up on this road. As a kid I rode my bicycle on the 15 mile road and in junior high I rode my moped through the turns with a bit better ease. After that I would cruise my 67 Galaxy convertible through the oak and manzanita lined ribbon of pavement. Now my scooter of choice is the red Road King Custom you see below. I start out at my home in Garden Grove. Head east on Chapman Ave. through the City of Orange and over Orange Hill and Chapman turns into Santiago Cyn. Rd.

Sunday is the big day on this road. When the OC yuppies take their bikes out on its monthly cruise. Cooks Corner 19122 Live Oak Canyon Rd, Trabuco Canyon, CA  92679-3004 Phone: (949) 858-0266 is the main watering hole. It is on the corner of Santiago Cyn. Rd and Live Oak Cyn. Rd. on the way to O'Neill Park. A retired military barracks turned biker bar in the 60's and 70's that saw a pretty rough (for OC standards) crowd. It wasn't until the 90's when the suits from Newport Beach started buying bikes and rolling in the hills. Cooks turned to a Country Western bar in the 80's when development came in and the suburbanites wanted to clean the place up. Now it is a pretty tame and almost lame stop along the road. Although the road isn't long enough for this biker.

I make a right turn up County Route S19 or Live Oak Canyon and as you peak over the snake grade you fall into a cool canopy of oak trees straddling the road and enveloping you in it's cool limbs. Careful of the twistys you note the tire marks of the many cars that go too fast around the curves and end up as a mark on a sturdy oak or in the dry creek that runs along the road. In the spring you will find tarantulas and snakes crossing the road looking for mates. Down past the oak canopy is O'Neill Park. A neat little camping park with hiking trails and generous campsites. Bring your horse, great horseriding in these hills. If you continue up the hill you get to the small masterplanned communities of Rancho Santa Margarita, and the ultra-swanky Coto de Caza. Roll back to Santiago Cyn Rd and make a left or South and you will rumble through Lake Forest and continue down to Laguna Cyn Rd. which leads you to Pacific Coast Highway at Main Beach in Laguna Beach.

T-Bone