"The Crest", or Highway 2, is where the majority of sportbike enthusiasts will usually congregate on weekend mornings. I can't get enough of the great roads and beautiful scenery. And it's unbelievable that this is only about 15 minutes from downtown Los Angeles. It's just north of Pasadena, so from the inland you can either take the 210 west and exit Angeles Crest Highway. If you're coming in from downtown, take the 5 north, 2 north, 210 east, and exit Angeles Crest Highway. Typically, riders will meet at the gas stations or the restaurants at the base of the hill, and then ride to Newcomb's ranch 28 miles away, where you can get breakfast and lunch.
The curves themselves are sharp enough to where the hawk doesn't have too much of a problem keeping up with other bikes. It's fun to watch 750cc+ bikes pull away in the straights, and then reel them back in the next curve. For more detailed information on riding on Angeles Crest, or other terrific roads in southern California, check out www.pashnit.com.
My usual ride on a saturday or sunday morning consists of the following:
Gas stations
There's a Shell and Unocal gas station on the corner here, with the
majority of the bikes parked at the shell station because there's
a short wall where you can sit and talk about bikes all morning.
I'll make sure I have a full tank before heading up, because there isn't
a gas station up there until you get to Wrightwood, which is 60 miles away.
There's a free air pump, a rest room, and of course snacks and drinks if
ya can't wait to get to the top.
Lower portion
This portion was recently repaved, and is practically race track smooth.
One thing you need to be careful of though, is that a smooth road may fool
you into thinking that you can go faster; bumpy roads give you a good amount
of feedback to feel how the tires are doing. If you're intent on
trying to go fast here anyway, be careful. The previous speed limit
of 55 mph had been dropped to 45 mph as of January 2000, and it's now designated
a double fine zone. And any law enforcement you see on your ride
to Newcomb's will likely be on this stretch.
Lower Tujunga
The majority of 4 wheel traffic will turn left here, and go to Angeles
Forest Highway. There's also a small Ranger station on the right
where you can get general information about Angeles National Forest, including
day hiking and campgrounds. At this point, the pavement turns from
smooth to rough. It's actually not that much rougher, but you can
definitely feel the difference since the pavement on the lower part is
really, really nice.
Carousel ("Lady-bug")
This area features a couple of hairpin turns. The first one is
a sharp left hander, and soon after a right hander that's a little bigger.
One thing to note is that they both get a little bumpy near the exit of
the turns. In winter months, ice will sometimes accumulate there
because of the shade; but you'll probably notice the gravel that accumulates
there first. By the way, when you're heading back down to the bottom,
the last turn (the right hander marked at 25mph) ends with a sharp decreasing
radius kink.
Red Box
This is where you can make a right to go up to the Mt. Wilson observatory,
which is about 5 miles up a narrow road. Up there you will find a
spectacular view of Los Angeles. On a clear day, you may even be
able to see Orange County and Catalina Island. There's also a small
parking lot, pinic tables, and rest rooms.
Steps 
Ahhhh... this is my favorite portion of the crest. This
section's got a series of tight turns which come one right after another.
Once you find that rhythm in leaning side to side, you can definitely go
home feeling like a hero. It's not really that long, so I might even
turn around to ride it again. This portion ends with a 1/2 mile long
straight-away where some of the nuttier riders sometimes get into triple
digit speeds (and the CHP wait for them to do it!).
Big Tujunga/9-mile
Taking the left down "Big T" will give you about 9 miles of long sweeping
curves. I personally don't like this portion, because the high speeds
kinda scare me, and tires don't last long at those speeds.
You'll see many of the larger displacement bikes rolling through here.
One good thing, however, is there aren't as many blind curves... the visibility
is a little better here since there isn't as much elevation change.
Shady portion
This portion is densely populated with trees, which: 1. creates
a lot of shade, 2. subsequently allows ice to accumulate in the winter,
and 3. collects gravel which is thrown on the road to break up the ice.
The turns here are rather tight, allowing for some fun with transitioning
back and forth. But be careful of the many blind corners... in 2001
there were two experienced riders that died when they went around a blind
corner and ran into a truck that was parked across the road. I actually
crashed in this area back in 1994; you can read about it in the "Learning
to ride" section of my homepage.
Charleton Flats
I don't know anything about the campground here, but the turns leading
up to it are what I remember. The road opens up here, and like the
rest of the crest, is a whole lotta fun. There are more blind turns
here though, so please be careful and stay away from that double yellow.
There was a head-on collision between two bikes around here the summer
of 98. Imagine the surprise when I cruised around the turns and saw
a helicopter sitting in the turnout, ready to airlift the riders to the
hospital. I'm not sure what ended up happening to the riders, but
I heard from one of my friends that one of the victims was on the ground
with a bone sticking out of his arm... Ouch.
Arrive at Newcomb's Ranch 
By now, I've had about 28 miles of great riding in, and have worked
up an appetite. It's hard to beat a bowl of their homefried potatoes
and a hot cup of coffee. On any given sunday in the summer, there
may be 50+ bikes up at Newcomb's. It's like a bike show... I've seen
everything from yamaha R7's to the ducati MH900. There have been
days in the dead of winter where I've only seen a few bmw dualsports, and
I'm one of the few (dummies) that decides to go up there on a street bike.
I'll usually head down before noontime, but sometimes I feel like going
a little further:
Tunnels
About 7 miles down the road, there are a couple of tunnels that cut
through the mountain side. There's a few turnouts here where you
can pull over to enjoy the view. I'm not as familiar with this portion,
but one thing I do remember is that there's a little more snow and gravel
here in the winter. This takes it's toll on the road quality, necessitating
funny feeling tar strips to fill in the cracks.
Wrightwood
About 25 more miles up the road is the city of Wrightwood. This
tiny little town is pretty quiet most of the year, except for the winter
when the local ski resorts are open. The road itself is in decent
shape, but you gotta watch out for rocks or pebbles, since not that many
cars travel through the area. There's a good place to drop by for
breakfast or drinks, called the Mile High Cafe... this place isn't quite
as crowded as newcomb's ranch, but still has a decent crowd of sportbikes
and cruisers.
Ride safely 
I've been riding up the crest for the past several years, and I've
seen a good number of accidents in that time. One thing I noticed
is that the people that typically get in trouble up there are newcomers.
I'm not above this either, I crashed there myself on my 6th ride up there.
The road is relatively smooth, but is unforgiving in the way that there
is little room to run wide in a turn. In fact, even if you are fortunate
enough to have a turnout as an alternative, it will probably be covered
in gravel anyway. So take your time, have fun in the corners you
know well, and above all, enjoy the ride!