CALIFORNIA LOVE

Driving down the most chilled-out road in the world

- Kartik Ware

Few things are as simple in intent as roads. Or as deeply ingrained in our species’ collective consciousness. Even if motorcycles and cars didn’t exist, we’d still need air, water, food, and roads. The first roads began when ancient humans hunted animals along their paths of travel, and we’ve been using rough pathways on land for around 12,000 years. Research indicates that proper paved roads began around 4600 years ago in Egypt, and mankind hasn’t looked back since. Today, according to the CIA website, planet Earth has 64,285,009 km of paved and unpaved roads. And California’s State Route 1 is one of the best of them all.

I’ve long maintained that India has some of the best roads in the world across a variety of terrain and weather conditions, and there’s no place I’d rather be on two wheels or four. But I know for a fact that the rest of the world has brilliant roads to offer, too, and when I found myself in the United States of America in September 2018, I already knew which road I’d point my sight at. No, it wasn’t Route 66 or rather what remains of it. Instead, it was the equally historic State Route 1.