dr bob

SoCal drivers--

Anybody up for an afternoon drive up Angeles Crest Hwy tomorrow? Short notice I know. Looks like such a nice day, shame to sit at home, car is ready, etc.

By 3PM the scooter guys are pretty much done, so the road is usually empty. There's still a closure right at the Hwy 39 junction that eliminates traffic to/from Wrightwood from this (the west) end, so that's another factor that makes this a fun ride.

No racing, you faster guys ride up front, wait for me at the turnaround as usual.


For those of you that looked at the F-Car model drive video a few weeks ago, this is the same road that video was shot on.


Respond here if you are interested. Plan for a couple maybe three hours altogether, maybe a sandwich afterwards. We'll meet near the bottom of Hwy 2 above the 210 in La Canada, say 3PM. Go north on 2 Angeles Crest to Starlight Crest Drive and the golf course area on the right, we'll meet and plan from there.

My cell eight one eight four seven two eight eight six eight, works at the meeting place but loses coverage as we go up the hill. Bring your FRS radios for talkabout/intercom if you have one. Channel 9, tone 28. Radar detector has been handy on the bottom section in the past.

morganabowen

I'll go I'll be with the "Hey wait for me" group

jserio

Holy **** Bob I'm having a major flashback. I would say I'm 80% in. I can confirm with you by 11:30 or so.

morganabowen

Hey Bob,
Do you mind if I invite a couple of non-928 friends to join us
Larry

dr bob

By now, the nightmares should have diminished enough to allow you to begin the restorative therapy. Small doses of fun at first, increasing gradually until you are back to normal. Or at least to whatever normal 928 owners can stake a claim to.

This will be a casual ride, a scenic tour. Plus the sun has moved a few degrees from where it was last year, and with the upper road turned into a dead-end, oncoming traffic in our lanes shouldn't be an issue. And your brother won't be pushing you...

Ride at the back with me in the green run group and all will be fine. If I can just get that flock of flamingos out of my head, that is. Did you just see those pigs fly by?? I better up the dosage again before I go out tonight. Damn those flamingos! :O

dr bob

The more the merrier!


See you Sunday!

morganabowen

BUMP

jserio

Sorry, today I will be cruising Home Depot and Lowes with my wife looking for anti shark attention things to do. Blast that woman.

morganabowen

OK Bob, we await your instructions

dr bob

From the west side, use 101/134 east to Hwy 2 north (Glendale Fwy) to 210 east, first exit is Angeles Crest Hwy (2). Left at the top of the ramp, up the hill approx three miles to Starlight Crest on the right. It's the golf course area, so if you pass the golf course you've gone too far.

From downtown L.A. area, use 110 north to 5 north to 2 north, past the 134 junction a few miles to the 210 east, , first exit is Angeles Crest Hwy (2). Left at the top of the ramp, up the hill approx three miles to Starlight Crest on the right. It's the golf course area, so if you pass the golf course you've gone too far.

For those coming from the east on the 210, stay on the 210 past the 134 interchange, watch for Angeles Crest Hwy exit about 5 miles. Go right at the top of the ramp, up the hill approx three miles to Starlight Crest on the right. It's the golf course area, so if you pass the golf course you've gone too far.


Joe, we'll miss you! We will dedicate a honk and a wave to the sacred spot. FWIW, Home Depot and Lowes are both open tomorrow.


Anybody else that wants to go sigtseeing in the mountains above Los Angeles, meet us on Angeles Crest Hwy for a little fun drive.


Larry, copy my cell number please.

dr bob

Well, thanks to a little medical emergency, Karen came home early from her golf tournament and we went immediately to urgent care. That pretty much killled off my part of the Sunday Drive. Larry came by the start, with some friends lagging a ways behind. Weather was perfect, low 90's per the dash display. While we were standing at the start point, a parade of fire dept paramedics trucks, an ambulance, a fire truck at full speed, and a sheriff's car all came by in the period of justa few minutes. Larry and I decided to go without his friends, so we took off up the hill. I made a U-turn part way up the front side, and no sign of an accident. Someplace up ahead, all the local patrol cars are likely managing traffic at an accident site, so we could cook a little faster than the limit if necessary. Anyway, Larry was off on the great adventure when I last saw him at 3:20 or so when I had to turn around.

I need to do a little better planning for the next run so folks have more time to plan on joining the group. Angeles Crest is my private playground for the most part. Good place to go unwind a little, great mountain scenery and literally minutes from the house here. When I'm not off working in some far corner, I do at least part of this drive whenever I can. It's easy to use up a couple hours, just as easy to use less. Depends on where you decide to make your turnaround.


If others are interested in joining in next time, speak up now! I'm booked next weekend in the bay area, but maybe the following weekend. Most of you (but not all...) can do this tour without a dr bob chaperone along, so you don't have to wait for me.


Cheers!

morganabowen

We had fun. My friends both drive 350Zs, and they saw Dr. Bob on their way up. We drove for a couple of hours, had lunch at a road side dinner, and returned through Palmdale. The roads were mostly empty, and we could pretty much do what ever we wanted. Next time Bob, invite me again.

Hey !!!! I just realized this is my 928th post

SharkSkin

Savor it... the moment is fleeting...

dr bob

Larry--

Did you ever find out where the parade of emergency vehicles was going? I figured that all the black-and-white attention was probably focused on that accident, so the roads would be pretty open.

For those riding along at home, Angeles Crest Highway starts a dew miles north of my house in Glendale, Ca, and runs over to Wrightwood. There are a few straight sections where you can cut loose, but for the most part the 45 and 55 MPH speed limits are beyond the comfort speed for casual driving. Severe winter rains in December and January caused some rockslides that have kept sections of the roads closed. Lately, the road has been closed about 60 miles east of my end, and there is not much destination for the last 40 or so miles. A few hiking trailheads and the two closed-rof-the-summer ski areas make up the list. That equates to great road with no traffic.

Weekend mornings find the road populated with canyon racers on ducatis and yamahas, some tourists on harleys, and a few cars with folks who don't read the "road closed to Wrightwood" signs at the bottom of the hill. By early afternoon, the bikers have spent their adrenalin budget for the day. At the road-closed turnaround at the far end, There are usually a few dozen stragglers who might be waiting for the perfect moment to blast back down. By later in the afternoon, most of those folks have finished their rides, leaving the road safe for us mere mortals in faster cars.

And that's when the fun starts. The bottom dozen miles of the road are a pipeline for traffic back and forth to Palmdale. 45 Speed limit, bicycle riders and tourists. From that point to Mt Wislon road, another 6 miles, has much less traffic, mostly weekend picnicers and hikers. After that, the speed limit goes to 55, the traffic to near zero, and the raod gets to be even more fun. There's an even mix of inside and outside turns around the mountains, so you have some sections with great visibility and some where you need to be a little more cautious. There are only a few marked oassing areas in that whole stretch, so you need to watch for slower traffic and hope that they will be kind enough to use one of the plentiful turnouts to let you by. They usually are. There are two tunnels through the mountains near the east end of the currently open section where you can turn down the Mahler playing on the stereo and enjoy the sound of a big V8 echoing around as you fly through.

The drive back is at least as much fun, with more downhill sections and virtually no traffic. Hey, you saw everybody on the way up, since the road is closed, right?

Back down past the Palmdale turnoff, the speed comes down and traffic is once again present. Radar patrol on this lower section can be intense, so watch your speed. I usually pull the auto box down to third and never touch the brakes on this section, cruising 45-50 and watching the little fast-and-furious cars rubber-band behind as we dive corners a little faster than they might want to go. Slow to 45 through the populated section of La Canada, where the sheriff's cars like to sit and pick off folks who can finally speed up onthe downhill straights after the twisties. Radar detectors are a plus here, but it's easier just to slow down a bit for the last mile or two to the freeway.


Sound like fun?

Plan on joining us again in a couole weeks, for a casual Sunday drive!

morganabowen

We had a snack at a little cantina, about an hour after I left you. Some of the bikers there were telling us there was a multiple bike accident on the road to Palmdale. We ended up coming out somewhere near Edwards AFB. We had a blast, look forward to the next one. Thanks