If you’ve ever dreamed of riding Cabrillo Highway, the unforgettable 120-mile stretch of California’s Highway 1 between Morro Bay and Carmel-by-the-Sea, now is the time. Why? Well, it’s open!

That hasn’t been the case for the last three years, as Paul’s Slide has closed it to through traffic. A 2017 slide at Mud Creek sliced the route in two for over a year. Other land movements and fires have closed it for months or weeks.

My first trip up Cabrillo Highway was as a young boy with my mom at the wheel. I’m not sure how I survived it, but here I am. While I frequented other stretches of Highway 1 to the north and south, the crown jewel stretch always seemed a bit too inconvenient.

I finally returned as a photographer for a story in the May/June 2006 issue of Robb Report MotorCycling. Former RRMC Editor Jeff Buchanan was now freelancing, and he came up with the idea of tying together Big Sur and Henry Miller with the Honda Interceptor and Triumph Sprint ST. Arthur Coldwells, RRMC founder and now owner of this magazine, signed up to be the second rider. I volunteered to save CurtCo Media a few thousand dollars by shooting photos, even though I didn’t have much experience shooting street bikes or travel stories.

Usually, I look back at old photos and see quite a few glaring errors. I can’t figure out how I missed them, but there they are in all their glory. Oddly, in the case of Jeff’s A Writer’s Tour, I did pretty well, though not as good as I would have liked.

The photo in the opening spread looked the way I envisioned it, but now I see my inexperience. The lead bike should have been the bike closest to the double-yellow, with the trailing bike in the center of the lane. I can’t believe I missed that. Of course, I was straddling the wall with a certain-death cliff to my left and both hands on the Nikon D200. Looking back, the D200 was incredibly primitive compared to the Z9 I now use, 20+ years later. Still, it got the job done.

The closing photo was of Jeff on the Honda and Arthur on the Triumph at Big Creek Cove Vista Point, with the spectacular Big Creek Bridge in the distance. I lined up the shot, and it all looked good, except Arthur and Jeff appeared lifeless on the bikes.

It popped into my head to have Arthur lift his faceshield and Jeff point his finger. It worked. A generic photo turned into an inspirational one. Who wouldn’t see that photo and want to go riding there?

I have since ridden Cabrillo Highway several times on motorcycles such as the KTM 1290 Super Adventure, Moto Guzzi Norge, Kawasaki Concours 14, and Ducati SuperSport S — all worthy steeds — with riding partners including Associate Editors Kelly Callan and Jess McKinley. Sometimes, I just hop on and go solo. Regardless, every ride is stunning.

Now that Cabrillo Highway has reopened, my beloved Angeles Crest Highway is still closed, so it’s time for a fresh run. I’m not sure what I’ll ride or who, if anyone, will tag along, but I’m going!

You never know when Mother Nature will close it again, so remember: you snooze, you lose.