Its great to hear of the roadster clubs across the country getting more
active. If you're like me and just like to get out and drive when ever
possible, you might want to seek out any Z clubs in your area. For on
Sunday, I went on my first drive with the Z club of SD for a great day of
driving! I arrived at the meeting point early and the first fella I met was
Dennis the president. He gave me a nice welcome and as more of the Z's
arrived, I found that they were a real friendly bunch. For the event, there
were eight Zs and my roadster. Two of the guys (John and Brian) came down
from Orange Co/LA. The cast of characters:
Dennis Darnall - 240Z "Z CRAZY"
Cliff & Marcia Yaussi - red Z32
Darren Kirkpatrick - silver 86 Z31
Philip & Barbara Childs - white w/ rear wing Z32
Billy & Judy Cast - red Z31
Alan & Sue Andrews - white 72 w/ 82 turbo motor 240Z "AAHSUM Z"
John & Barbara Williams - dark grey 78 280Z
Brian (last name ?) - 240Z
Joe Roach - red 65 1500 Fairlady
The drive started from La Mesa. To begin, we gathered for an initial
drivers meeting where maps were given out. Cliff volunteered to lead and
Darren chose to bring up the rear. We then headed east to Crest and on up
into the mountains. From there to Harbison Canyon, out Dehesa Rd, on to
Japatul Rd, right onto Lyons Valley Rd, left on Honey Springs Rd to Otay
Lakes Rd and then to the Olympic Training Center for the first stop.
Orientation wise, this was a huge arc that bends east to south to west and
took us to Otay Lake which isn't to far from the border. If you haven't
been out this way, it is some of the most scenic landscape in San Diego.
There were points that you could look out and see row upon row upon row of
mountain ridges with its scrub-brushlike terrain. Yeah! Awesome! The roads
were in nice shape with lots of slight turns and elevation changes which
didn't allow for too much gazing as we clipped through at a quick pace.
This was mostly 4th gear driving but with plenty of revving and backing
off. There were a few stop signs along the way and Alan took the
opportunity to lay some rubber once or twice. Taking off from one of the
stops signs into a long straight, Brian pounced on it who was behind me,
and I have to say, his car sounded mighty as it roared by me. A few of the
guys had CB radios and it was cool to cruise with the front and rear
staying in contact. Along the way I was noticing a super biker or two
behind the rear car and then a few more. We didn't hold them up for very
long as there was a coordinated move (ala CBs) by our pack to let the
bikers by. The backroads must not see too much car traffic for along the
route were a lot of bicyclists too.
The Olympic Training center was a nice stopping point. Interesting stuff to
see such as the gift shop and scenic grounds. And, the air-conditioned
facility was a pleasant hiatus from the warm weather driving! I enjoyed the
chance to talk with and get to know my new friends. I did get some comments
that my car was pretty quick and looked good gleaming down the road. Before
leaving, we had a great photo shot where we lined up the cars in front of
the center with the big olympic rings and USA in the background. I can't
wait to see it and will let you know when it gets posted to the ZCSD web site.
From the center, we then headed east to Imperial Beach and then took the
strand up to Coronado. This is another very scenic drive looking across the
bay at downtown San Diego. We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant and then a
stroll by the ferry landing before everyone departed. It was a great day of
driving and taking in some of the best sights that San Diego has to
offer! I'm looking forward to joining these guys again and another drive
with ZCSD!
Joseph Roach
65 1500
San Diego
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