Different kind of Mother's

Click on images to enlarge

In honor of Mother's day I thought it would only be appropriate to write about every motorcyclists favorite 'Mother'. Any rider who knows of Mother's location, and has ever been there understands the overall awe of being there. Mother's is such a thrilling place to be, you have all sort of motorcyclist of all different walks of life an all sorts of experience levels flocking out to Mother's. It's so thrilling that it is not unusual for some rides to spend multiple weekends in a row paying her a visit. Some would pay visits from early sunrise to avoid the crowds, and others coming mid day to about sunset not letting any second of sunlight go to waste. The minute I open that screen door and take a step inside my eyes are drooling over all the assortments of pies, cakes and cookies. Every time I have gone to visit Mother's Kitchen, there was always a smiling face to greet me; not to mention there is always some warm food available and waiting to get inside my belly.

How can I have such confidence in my views about Mother's? Well, what if I told you that the road to Mother's is a 6-7 mile long highway in San Diego county that goes up to about 5000 ft above sea level with approximately 70+ turns (I tried counting all the turns once and I got up to about 70 and then I lost count). Knowing that, what rider wouldn't want to visit Mothers every since chance they got? Mother's Kitchen is actually the name of the vegetarian restaurant that sits atop of Palomar Mountain (MothersKitchenPalomar.com). The restaurant itself has a nice deck out front, and some chairs, if you are lucky enough to grab them, in order for you to enjoy the fresh mountain air. The seating inside can get crowded pretty quick, but there is also some tables and chairs out back. The first time I dined at Mother's I was a bit skeptical because of the fact that everything was vegetarian. But after taking that first bite into my vegetarian lasagna, I had a sudden urge to try everything else off of their menu. From then on, if I was making specifically a trip out to Mother's I would always save some room for the food.

When I started riding in San Diego, it wasn.t long before I heard stories about Palomar Mountain, or what others liked to call Palomar International Raceway. I was scared at first because despite hearing all of the good things about the mountain (number of turns, great fun route) this is not your typical rider friendly route. A lot of accidents happen on Palomar Mountain every year. The mountain itself is a fun route to ride, but when you have that many turns and a 55mph speed limit, plenty of things can go wrong. It's best to test out this route on a weekday if you can - and always with a buddy.

The first turn onto the mountain from South Grade (locals like to call it the 'Tight Side' - East Grade is the 'Fast Side'), there is a sharp blind decreasing radius left hander that can throw off any unsuspecting rider. Take your time on the road up, and I highly recommend not hugging the double yellow. This is not only a hot spot for motorcyclists, but it is also a known road for car clubs to make their 'runs'. Once you reach the top, Mother's will be towards the left. Many riders like to pull in here and rest for a bit before they head back out. Some are happy with riding up and down just once, while others find that they need to make the most of their trip by making multiple runs themselves.

Whichever type of rider you are, I recommend this road as a road all riders must ride at least once in their lifetime. It's a great road and riders of all ages and experience levels flock to this location. So this weekend, if you find yourself in San Diego county away from your own Mother, just know that there's another Mother that you defiantly would want to pay a visit.

Different kind of Mother's

Leave Comments

Own the Road ... Share the Journey™