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]
