Had a nice drive down the coast today. Weather was a little hit-and-miss; moments of sun, and more moments of rain. I passed by the waterfront Taco Bell and Gherkin’s, but it was a little too early for lunch so I didn’t stop. I did take a short stroll at Devil’s Slide. Took a walk on the beach at Moss Landing and dipped my feet in the Pacific for the first time in many years.
Monterey tomorrow, and the school starts on Wednesday.
I’m glad the weather wasn’t super foggy. After what I said about our November weather being really good earlier, yesterday when I drove westward across the San Mateo bridge I could see heavy fog rolling in over the coastal mountains. And I thought of your visit. I hope you have good weather. Enjoy your track time!
I was in San Francisco (everybody happy now?) on Sunday. The California Academy of Sciences was a bit disappointing; more of a natural history museum than a science museum. And then I had a nice walk around Golden Gate Park. Getting out of town was trickier than getting in; I shall never again take for granted the simple pleasure of making a legal left turn. I almost went across the Golden Gate Bridge by accident.
As it happened, I found a nice viewpoint of the Bridge and got some good pictures on a slightly foggy day. In a way, I’m glad I got to experience the classic weather, rather than just clear blue skies. As long as it doesn’t rain at the track when I’m there, I’ll be happy.
It was a little odd to be so alone. When I went walking at Devil’s Slide, there was only one other person there. I wasn’t all that far from the city, but once I was away from the road it felt like the middle of nowhere.
I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium today. Very nice, but pricey. If you’re in the neighborhood, Joe Bob says check it out.
The rest of Monterey was interesting; small, with much kitsch, and some history.
I’m not sure get the whole 17-Mile-Drive thing. Kinda seems like a scam to get ordinary folks to pay for the privilege of breathing the same air as the beautiful people who live there.
Yeah, like I said earlier, the 17 Mile Drive is scenic and all, but there are other roads in the Monterey area that you can drive on for free and IMO are equally scenic.
I was trying to get from Monterey to Carmel, made a right turn, and there was a booth where I could pay. They were kind enough to let me make a U-turn and take another route. I wasn’t near the beach, though. Made me think that every road onto that peninsula charges non-residents to get through. And it doesn’t seem like it could be 17 miles, either.
For that matter, I barely got out of Monterey. The pay stations at the parking lot woldn’t take my credit or debit card. Lucky I had some cash or I might still be there.
Welcome to the state of California.
You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.
I went to the Bob Bondurant driving school in Phoenix back in 1999. The school was at Firebird Raceway, it is basically flat with very little in elevation change. You will be at Laguna Seca, a track with lots of ups and downs. I would love to drive at that track, especially the cork screw. And you will learn to hate the governors on the engines, much of your track time will feel like driving an underpowered Volkswagen.
Had a long post typed, hit the wrong key on my laptop, and it disappeared.
Will write it again, and better. For the moment, I’ll just say I survived the first day.
Frisco is not car friendly.
Sound sliek you are having fun.
The 17 mile drive is only $15, it is worth it.
What a difference a day makes.
In the last session today, I missed the braking for the turn 8A (the top of the corkscrew) and went off the outside of the corner. I kicked up a lot of gravel, but didn’t think it was too serious. I wound up knocking some of the gravel on to turn 8B, someone spun in that and did make contact with the wall.
We’re both okay. I didn’t see any damage on either car, but the techs said both cars had some damage. I had the insurance, so my cost is limited up to the deductible. The trouble is, if I drive tomorrow I have to sign a waiver that I’m not covered anymore. I’ll probably have to pass on that. I’m going to ask if I can still do the classroom sessions.
When I saw the video and telemetry afterward, I was braking (left foot brake in those cars), but also still had my right foot on the gas. I was totally not aware of that; it’s rather disconcerting.
So, things could be worse. I’m not injured or bankrupt, and I’m sure the story will be a little more epic by the time I get around to telling it.
In the military we had a saying:
The older I get, the better I was.
Seriously, glad you’re OK, but I think that insurance thing totally bites.
It makes the school a one-mistake game. First mistake and you’re out of the pool. As a way to eliminate undesired recruits that’s fine. As a way to provide training it sucks pond scum completely. And frankly reeks of a rip-off mentality on their part.
They do need a way to stop the hopelessly clueless who have no aptitude for this but can’t /won’t recognize that fact. But using insurance as the culling mechanism, rather than instructor judgment, is just stupid. One can be safe but have an unlucky mishap. One can be dangerous but lucky so far until they real big f-up at the end.
That part may not be their choice; could be dictated by their insurance company.
I went to the third day of the school and did everything except drive. Someone up-thread said that they shared each car between two roughly same-sized drivers. That’s how our class was done, too; and we were each supposed to help our car mate get buckled in before each session. So I did that, and the classroom sessions, and heard the coaching. Not the experience I dreamed of, but I wanted to salvage what I could and support the other drivers in my group.
Two lingering thoughts:
I still haven’t heard anything about what was actually damaged on my car. I asked one of the mechanics, and he gave me a “meh” getsture, and said it was something about safety.
Today, one of the other groups was practicing rolling starts and two of the cars touched. One popped up about a foot. They brought all of them into the pits and I could see someone had a bent front wing, and I don’t know what else. They had the wing replaced and the nose well taped before his next session. It may just be that he was willing to foot the bill and I wasn’t.
I’m so sorry to hear that. It seriously sucks you couldn’t drive the last day.
I don’t recall anything like that happening in my 2001 class at Mid-Ohio. But I think the cars back then were probably not as fast and sophisticated as the current ones, so perhaps we had less opportunity to get into trouble.
If you feel like getting back on the horse, you may want to look into HPDE, where you’ll be driving your own car (hence more familiar), spending much less money, getting more track time per dollar spent, albeit with less expert instructors. Also, potentially closer to home.
Anyway, you have my sympathies for a less-than-ideal experience at SBRS.
I once crossed the Carquinez Bridge by accident. Pre GPS, of course.
I only drove it before they charged you. And before there were as many megaMansions as there are now. It was nice then. Not so much now.
My current car isn’t really a good candidate. That’s not really the problem, though. Even when I had a rather sporty car, I didn’t really think of taking it on a track. I only have one car, and I rely on it too much. If anything happened to it, I’d be rather screwed until I could get something to replace it.
It’s extremely rare for cars to be damaged at HPDE events and much, much rarer for them to be totaled. I was never concerned about it, and although I damaged my brakes and had to be trailered home twice (out of 120 events), in neither case was the damage particularly serious or expensive.
Out of those 120 events, with thousands of participants, I may have seen two or three cars totaled (although I never followed up, so I can’t be sure). And in every one of those cases, the driver was a young jerk with a fast car who was trying to show off, and wasn’t listening to his instructors. Schadenfreude!
Since that’s not you, I don’t think you should be too worried about seriously damaging your car at HPDE, if you ever decide to go. When I first started, around 2000, auto insurance rarely excluded track activity, but by the time I got out of the hobby, around 2012, more policies did. HPDE is instruction, not competition, so depending on the wording of the policy, you might be covered. But you can also get specific track insurance if your regular auto policy doesn’t cover track events.
well you couldgo by what used to be Fort Ord and rejoice in the miracle of my existence since I was the first one born in what was an extremely expensive state-of-the-art (for the army)preemie birth/care center 
Fort Ord history!
Fort Ord is also where my dad was stationed: I was born at the civilian hospital in Monterey because the military hospital was full at the time. 