Pinoy Riders Very Much Active in Southern California

With some of the motojeepney members at shell off Flintridge exit at La Canada California

By Jojo Medina
Motorcycle Philippines Federation Director

They call themselves MOTOJEEPNEY (a spoof of motogp) but the skills of these groups with regards to riding sportsbikes is no joke. They do weekend rides at Angeles Crest a mountainous stretch of smooth asphalted canyon roads in Los Angeles California and alternated with some weekend rides at different race tracks around Southern California like willow springs race track this May. And Laguna Seca in July were they let go off their skills in a controlled race track environments.

The past Sunday April 27, I was lucky enough to be invited by this group of riders mostly in their 30’s and their mid 40’s with jobs from healthcare, information technology , businessmen etc Everyone has met at the forums of MotorcyclePhilippines.com. Rainer Santos aka Fireblade r and Francis Roco aka Rider_driver were in constant contact with me in arranging the ride with them. As far as I know rider_driver has been with mcp since 2003 like me and still very much active.

MotorcyclePhilippines.Com members Fireblade R and Alladin

I asked them if they have any officers in the club but they said they haven’t thought about it for now . They just enjoy themselves and discuss rides and get togethers at MotorcyclePhilippines.Com and the group formally named themselves as MotoJeepney last year.

On that day another MCP member Greg aka Alladin loaned me his Honda 1800 VTX cruiser while he rode his Harley Davidson. I had to drive up to Alladin’s house a good 20 mins from where I was staying from there we road a steady 75 miles per hour towards the meeting place where Alladin’s Honda was so great in handling that I thought I was riding a high displacement scooter with a lot of torque. ( Alladin will ship this bike this week to the Philippines since he is planning to retire to the Philippines within this year. This bike will be one of a kind and will be a looker ones it gets to Manila) . Then we met up with Motojeepney boys at Shell gas Station off the exit of La Canada/Flintridge off the 210 freeway. By 8:15 a.m. I have counted a total of 18 riders all suited up by leather outfits on their exotic 600cc and above rocket bikes as they call it in the U.S. Fireblade told me they total about 25 members but some had work and could not make it. They are all very much conscious about their safety and only speeds up in the track. A few minutes later a Nissan truck with a motojeepney member brought his family to picnic with the club. They told me it was common for any member to bring their family ones in while and be with the club and see their activities.

At exactly 8:30 we took off heading towards the canyons. It was a good 45 minute ride, wherein it was a perfect cool and sunny weather with fantastic mountain ranges and great asphalt roads. A funny thing also is that the riders that we meet along the way shows their hands pointing to their helmet. In the Philippines that hand signal means to turn on your headlight for safety. I asked rider_ driver if pointing to the helmet means anything but turning on the headlight. He says that means there are Highway Patrols present and are giving tickets to riders. Tickets now cost as high as $1,000 dollars if your speed is way over the speed limit or you have to go to traffic school and also pay high amounts in order to erase those bad records. So Alladin and I decided to just stick to the speed limit since I didn’t want to pay the price of a speeding ticket comparable to my plane ticket from the Philippines

Francis aka Rider Driver, Jojo and Alladin at the information center

Riding with a steady and safe pace with roads as fine as a race track

We stopped after 45 mins to A biker’s restaurant on top of the mountains called Newcomb’s Ranch were all types of bikers of different nationalities meet. When we stopped I thought there was a biker’s conventions since there were hundreds of different types bikes parked at the big parking lot of the restaurant. But this is were they have their breakfast , chitchat and relax after a hard week’s work. All tables were full , rider driver told me that this side of the parking lot is reserved for Pinoys on weekends. I also saw other clubs including car clubs that hangs out at that place. At this point you can still go on and continue to ride thru miles and miles of Canyons or come back in time for the your family’s Sunday lunch. We had a good time talking about the ride and after a while we decided to come down for an early lunch.

The group at Newcomb’s Ranch restaurant. Halfway point for bikers

The Angeles Crest is famous for wild fires that would go on for weeks even though Los Angeles fire fighters sometimes die trying to contain the fire.

Rider Driver showing the signal that there is a cop and should watch your speed while stupidikus looks on

Some other bike clubs and groups taking off the halfway point

The group normally goes straight to Filipino restaurants like Goldilocks and Red Ribbon to feast on the most beloved staple food which is rice. But this particular weekend ride they will control their craving for rice since they want to treat me to In and Out Burger, the famous Southern California Burger Restaurant which has been there since the 50’s. This restaurant is famous in serving freshly made and not frozen burger patties and is cooked upon ordering. I ordered the Double Double which is double cheese and meat patties . Rider Driver paid for my lunch too. After another hour of laughing and just relaxing to each other’s company , we have decided to go home and spend the rest of the day with the family.