How's this for the quintessential roadtrip? It begins in 1969 San Francisco, when you apparently could motorcycle on Ocean Beach. Don't we wish! But that diner on the cliff? It's still there. And the epic road trip? Yep. We do it all the time. San Francisco to Highway 1 south through San Mateo, Santa Cruz, to Monterey County with its famous towns of Monterey, Carmel, and Big Sur. And in this story, far beyond. And his gear? Well, though it's not AGATT, maybe it can remind us that we really don't need all that stuff we think we need to get away.
Jim Bronson (Michael Parks), has got a Harley Sportster, a bedroll, a lonely stretch of highway, to travel wherever the road (and the day) take him, trying to make sense of life after the suicide of his close friend. He doesn't go far along a magnificent stretch of California's coastal Big Sur before he meets Temple Brooks (Bonnie Bedelia), a runaway bride who is just as adrift as Jim is. Together they'll ride that Harley to New Orleans. Together they'll find what they're searching for…
This is the pilot film for the same-titled TV show, seen here in an international version that has footage not seen in the U.S. telecasts. Buy the DVD from Whitehorse Press.
From Wikipedia:
The opening of the show served as a metaphor for the premise of the show: getting away from the "big city" and leading a more simplistic life. The opening begins with Bronson driving up to a red light in San Francisco and he briefly chats with a commuter. The scene also introduces Bronson's signature-phrase which he used often in the episodes, "Hang in there."
From here he heads out to California's State Route 1 and then crosses over the Bixby Creek Bridge, made famous from the opening credits in every episode.
See it in the clip below.
I remember that show well, watched it every week without fail waiting for the day I turned 16 so I could ride my bike on the road (legally) instead of the woods.