![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.deadpan.net\/ridereport\/pix\/2008\/04\/img_1872.jpg\" "\\"Malibu\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nAs I rode along, enjoying the sun and the sea air and the ocean view and the bikini-clad hotties dodging traffic on Pacific Coast Highway, I wondered what the riding was like in \u201csafer\u201d places where they don\u2019t have earthquakes and wildfires and mudslides.<\/p>\n
I thought about Chicago, but then I remembered it\u2019s not \u201csafe\u201d there anymore \u2014 they just had a 5.2 earthquake last week. I sure hope they\u2019re riding again soon\u2026<\/p>\n I was feeling pretty smug about riding while others were freezing because I thought I remembered reading headlines saying winter was lingering in the snow zone. Weather.com, however, says different.<\/p>\n Pepperdine<\/p><\/div>\n Xenia, Ohio, for example, got up to 65 degrees yesterday. Lebanon, Kansas, geographic center of the United States, hit 57.<\/p>\n Coming down to Malibu Seafood<\/p><\/div>\n Hell, even Milwaukee, Wisconsin, my Harley\u2019s birthplace, scored a high of 49, which I\u2019d say is definitely rideable if you\u2019re wearing long underwear.<\/p>\n Zuma Grub<\/p><\/div>\n So maybe it\u2019s not as bad as I thought, living in the snow zone. Maybe they\u2019re not giving up as much riding time as I thought. And maybe I\u2019m too defensive when people say it\u2019s dangerous to live here with all the earthquakes and mudslides and wildfires.<\/p>\n Zuma Beach<\/p><\/div>\n I mean, maybe they have a point. After all, as I took these pictures there was a wildfire raging 50 miles away in the hills outside Pasadena. There is a price to pay for living here.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>