On weekends I ride with a pretty fast group of guys in the canyons & hills near San Francisco. Besides being a socially acceptable opportunity to hang out with grown men decked out in full race leathers, it's great to get out of town, experience fun & challenging roads, and enjoy the scenery. Today, however, my girlfriend wanted me back home early, so instead of bulls@#$%ing with the boys and having breakfast at the roadside taqueria, I did a non-stop solo loop that brought me home by 1045 hours. After a week of pummeling storms, today was glorious. The sun was out and the roads were mostly dry. Still, the storms left obstacles in their wake: mud and piles of soggy pine needles, usually strategically placed right at the apex of my favorite turns. Although I was riding at a brisk pace, caution was the rule of thumb today. As I ascended & descended Pescadero Road I noticed a car pull out from a driveway and haul ass down the hill. Pescadero is pretty technical, especially this section with its hairpins and declining-radius corners. Even when completely dry Pescadero Road requires focus and smooth throttle & brake inputs. Add one part damp and one part debris and...well, let's just say it was a handful. I could see the car ahead of me. He was really moving now. I couldn't make out what it was. An older Accord or Camry? Before a right-hand sweeper, he tapped the brakes and was gone. WTF? I got through the aforementioned hairpins in one piece but was now shamefully far behind the errant 4-door family sedan. When I caught up to him on the next straightaway I starting laughing: it was a 164 LS! The next sections before the town of Pescadero were drier and there was enough heat in my Pirelli Roso Corsas to finally grip the cool roadway. I could've easily have passed the Alfa in several places but I enjoyed tailing him from a safe-ish distance. This guy was a very good driver. Not sure if he had the 5-speed or the ZF slush box, but whatever he had he put to good use. After a couple of miles in the twisties, we came to the Pescadero town limits and slowed down. It was then that I noticed a small figure in the passenger seat. Probably his mother. She seemed completely unfazed. Anyway, today brought back great memories of my own 164. Although it wasn't without its problems, the 164 sure handled well, better in many ways than my current 1997 BMW 328i. Paul -- to be removed from alfa, see http://www.digest.net/bin/digest-subs.cgi or email "unsubscribe alfa" to [email protected]
