-- I was just catching up on some digests from last week and noticed
-- Scott Fisher's suggestion of an east-bay hills tour. I think I've
-- got a friend's wedding on May 1, but I'd be interested in other
-- days (and I may have the wedding date wrong anyway).
There's been a small groundswell of interest in this. For a lot of
reasons, May 1 is looking only moderately successful, but May 15 --
that's the weekend AFTER Mother's Day, for those of us living near
enough to a mother for this to be significant -- might be a better
shot for a number of people.
I drove part of the route today and am still looking for a meeting
place that will work. I've got about an hour and a half to two hours
of driving time, with at least two nice longish stops (at about 45-
minute intervals) that for instance might include lunch and car
fiddling. Things to look at include:
- the Niles Canyon Railway in Niles Canyon (train rides on the
first and third Sunday of the month, one reason I want the 15th
or the 1st)
- Mission San Jose in Fremont
- downtown Pleasanton, a quaint old California town
The route includes some great scenic overlooks of the South Bay,
fantastic views of Calaveras Reservoir, Niles Canyon itself which
is just beautiful, and the valley around Sunol and Pleasanton,
which is breathtaking. The actual distance involved will be
less than the Day Before The Britcars Day (DBTBD) tour in September,
for those who've gone on that run with me; this is just a "hey, it's
spring and we've got great cars!" tour.
-- Neither TR6 is in drivable condition, and the Ginetta is currently
-- a bare frame and lots of parts. I do have a couple of Italian
-- rides in working condition if that wouldn't be too far out of line.
Cars are important, but people are more important. If I can drive
an Imitation GT6 (sorry, TeriAnn :-) to the DBTBD tour last year, you
can bring an interesting Italian vehicle. Besides, if my wife and
kids decide to come, we'll have a Fine Swedish Car -- well, at least
this one has SU carburettors and is older than Roland's Snake (not
to mention shinier! :-)
Seriously, bring your LBC if you can, but bring pictures if you can't
get the car to work. (One hope for me is that by putting it off till
the 15th I'll have time to get The Green Car's leak fixed.) I know we
have a couple of local clubs represented on the list (I need to send
in my MGOC membership...), so if there's any chance of getting some
club members to show up too, that'd be great. These things are always
more fun with more people and more cars.
-- If there is sufficient interest, please respond to me directly as
-- I'm sometimes a bit slow on the digests.
And so I did. To keep things speedier, don't be afraid to use the
phone:
(408) 441-3141 days, (408) 736-3124 eves
Here, then, is the As-Official-As-It-Gets Announcement:
What: The 1994 "Spring Is Here" East Bay LBC/SOL Tour
Who: Anyone who gets this message, or who is told about this
message by someone on the list
When: Sunday, May 15th, approx. 10 AM -- 2 PM
Where: Starting from the Baker's Square Parking Lot in Milpitas,
on Hwy. 237 (Calaveras Road) in Milpitas. We'll leave the
parking lot at about 10 AM, so arrive earlier if you want
to grab a bite to eat there with some other SOLs.
I'll have detailed directions for the tour to hand out on
the site. Expect about 40-45 miles of mixed roadway, from
winding mountain roads (if, say, Old Topanga Canyon or the
Piccolo Circuito delle Madonia is a 10, these are about a 9)
through sweeping country curves and even a few straight
city boulevards as well. (And yes, we'll have bathroom
stops about every hour, for people as well as cars. :-)
How Free, of course. You'll need enough gas, oil and water
Much: for a 45-mile drive, plus cash for breakfast and lunch;
I got the impression the Niles Canyon Railway is free but
I could be mistaken. Lunch will probably be in Pleasanton;
I'll try to scout out a suitable location. Or we can have
a picnic at one of a number of parks along the way. These
tours are more about the journey than the destination...
RSVP: If possible, please call or email me to let me know if you
are planning to make it. I'd like to get a rough estimate
of the size of the group so that I can pick a restaurant
with appropriate facilities, etc.
Hope to see a few of you there!
--Scott Fisher
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