THE STEERING COLUMN

Route 1 along the CA coast has been my favorite route so far, particularly the 200 mile stretch north of San Francisco.  It is a dangerous road and not for the timid, but fun to drive.  In many places, there are sheer drop offs, maybe 200 feet down, and the drop off is often less than 2 feet from the edge of the pavement with no guard rails. There are some really sharp hairpin turns, going up and going down hills.  It's imperative to stay focused on your driving and hope that the other guy stays on his side of the center line.  The road was dangerous, but traffic was friendly.  

There were times when Betty was freaking and had her eyes closed.  The times she was most concerned about were the sharp downhill grades with a hairpin turn at the bottom, no guard rail and all she could see was sky on one side.  Any small error and flight was an option.  I couldn't help but mention that the screws were a little loose in my steering wheel.  She was freaking out even when she thought I was joking.  I wasn't!  (Wait! , what do you mean you weren't joklng)?!?!  I'll show her the loose screws in the morning.

Kim Simone showed us on the map the best route through San Francisco's bay area and told us we needed to get through there between 11 AM and 2PM.  It was about 12:30 when we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, traffic was fast moving, but only moderate volume.  Getting through San Francisco was actually pretty easy.  The only "nail biter" (and I couldn't bite them because both hands had a death grip on that loose steering wheel), was when the 8 lane (4 lanes each direction) merged into another freeway of multiple lanes from the left!  At the same time, we had an up grade that had me down in second gear and I had to move to the right 5 lanes on this race track with cars zipping past me on both sides.  We are still alive this evening, so we must have made it!  I wondered if we looked like the Beverly Hillbillies passing through town.  

In all seriousness, the flashing strip light and the sign on the back of the car have been absolutely imperative on this trip.  Even fast moving traffic can see us at least half a mile ahead so there is no need for last minute maneuvers on their part.  I implore Brass era car owners to invest in really bright stop lights and turn signals and if you do a tour like this, the cautionary flashing strip light is most important.  
I hope HCCA will consider making it mandatory for club tours.   

-------AND THAT'S ALL PART OF MOTORING --------