First Annual “Mt. Hamilton – Down The Backside� Trip Report
Saturday April 17, 2004
Twas a dark and cloudy day… No, wait. That’s a different story.
Saturday loomed partly cloudy, threatening to drop water from the sky. But those daring enough to face the weather met in San Jose for what I hope will become an annual drive. Some of us have made this trip in the past, and loved it so much that I will now make this one of the 2 drives I run for the MGOC each year. And although this trip is organized(?) under the auspices of the MGOC, I like to open up my trips to all British cars.
Well, this time was a little different. Gary Anderson (ex-publisher extraordinaire of British Car Magazine) told somebody he knew with an old Datsun Roadster, who told other Datsun people, who told some Porsche people, and it just kind of took off from there. There were also supposed to be a couple of Alfa’s, but they didn’t show.
To cut it short, and to get on with the story, we had 20 cars; 14 British, 3 German and 3 Japanese. See the list of participants and cars below. To defer any prejudice I might have had toward grouping cars by nationality, I sorted them by year. Dan, you old fart, you had the oldest car there today, and you kept right up. We’re proud of ya (although it probably wasn’t as interesting as watching you throw your ‘35 PA around the turns).
We left Alum Rock Plaza in San Jose shortly after 10:00 and headed up the hill. The first part of the drive was pretty uneventful, at least from my point of view up front. We made the usual stop at Grant Park, about 1/3 of the way up, and everybody got out and looked at all of the cars. This was also our first photo op. This is where I usually tend to let people know that “now the fun begins�. Since I like to drive in a “spirited manner� (haul a$$) up the hill, I asked that those who wanted a more leisurely drive hang toward the back of the pack. Judging by all of the cars that pulled into Lick Observatory with me, not too many opted for the “leisurely� aspect of the drive. I did have one almost close call on the way up. A car coming down the hill came around a curve in my lane. I’m glad Dennis and I adjusted my brakes the day before, but I was hoping that Dennis’ brakes were good too. Missed the other car by about 2 feet. Like I said, “almost close�.
We made it to Lick Observatory without further incident. The weather was kind of strange all day, but up here it was partly cloudy and cool when we got there. Then the clouds started rolling in, but with great force of will, I said “we will not have rain�! Well, it almost worked. We had a few drops fall up there. Mostly it just got foggy and cold, so everybody beat a hasty retreat into the observatory where it was warm. Several people went on the tour of the original telescope, and then had lunch in the nice, warm video room. There was a lot of mingling, kicking tires and looking under hoods going on outside too. It wasn’t totally an inside event. While we were there, the Healey club showed up. They had started in Livermore, and came up the backside. They had about a dozen cars, so the Lick Observatory parking lot was pretty full of British cars. It was really cool.
Here is a warning to all of you who don’t have license plates on the front of you car. According to the University of California Police, the word has gone out to ALL police agencies in California. Ticket cars with no front plate! The observatory is run by UC Santa Cruz, so the friendly UC Police Officer just suggested that we put out the warning. It is a state law that you must have plates on the front and back of your car.
Just a word of advice, you might want to think about putting your front plates on. You might get just a fix-it ticket, but even these aren’t free any more. End of Public Service Announcement.
We then headed out on the road again, going down the backside. I told everybody I would be a little mellower going down, and since the road was wet most of the way down the hill, I didn’t have much trouble sticking with it. I had hoped that the wild flowers were in bloom in the meadows. If so we would stop for photo ops. They weren’t and we didn’t. When we stopped at Lolli’s Junction, a couple of people tried to give me scientific reasons why, that due to the way the weather kept changing, the plants were confused. Whatever. They weren’t in bloom, so we didn’t stop. We did slow to a crawl to avoid the cows in the road though.
After leaving Lolli’s, we got back into some twisties. (Karl, where did you go? I saw you drive by Lolli’s, and then never saw you again). Have I mentioned the weather yet? Oh, yeah, I have. Well we had some more on the way to Livermore. It came in the way of hail, which was a bit of a shock to those who had their tops down. We even had a little spritzel of rain here and there. It didn’t last long though, and we were soon back under clear, or at least partly cloudy, skies again. Just before Lolli’s, and then after is the fastest part of the drive. We actually got into fourth gear occasionally. (Some people might have even hit fifth or overdrive as they went hauling a$$ by me. You know who you are).
Eventually, about half of us made it to Niles and Bronco Billy’s Pizza Place. The other half got to I know not where. I think some people might have missed the turn for Highway 84 and kept on going onto 680. Some people who live in the North or East Bay didn’t come on down to Niles, and they told me they wouldn’t. But what happened to the rest of them? I don’t know as of this writing, but I’m sure I’ll hear from them. At least I hope I will. Are we still on speaking terms guys and gals???
All-in-all, it was another great trip up and down Mt. Hamilton, and I can’t wait for next year. Watch your newsletters and e-mail for details of my next drive. It’s going to be sometime in October. I’m not sure of the exact date yet. It will be another great drive over the hills on the other side of the Silly-con Valley to either Santa Cruz or Capitola, or somewhere over there on the coast. Hope to see you there. And don’t forget. Every Saturday from about 8:00, until whenever, usually about 10:00, we have Donut Derelicts at Krispy Kreme in Mountain View. It’s on Rengstorff, just off 101.
Thanks to all of you who came and made this another memorable drive. Remember; “It’s the journey, not the destination�. These drives are a lot more fun when shared with others.
And now, some parting words of wisdom: Don’t squat with your spurs on.
I hope I got your names right. It was kinda hard to read some of them.
Who are ya, and who’s wit ya? Whatcha drivin?
1. Dan Shockey 1959 TR3A
2. Genie & Gary Anderson 1960 Austin Healey 3000
3. Doug Starns & Roberta Casale 1960 MGA
4. Rich & Mary Holden 1963 Daimler SP 250
5. Adam Bradley 1967 Datsun 411
6. Raul Luna 1967 Datsun Roadster
7. Chuck Blakeslee 1967 MGB
8. Dennis & Robert Cox 1967 MGB
9. Troy Witzel 1967 MGB
10. Matt Jacquet 1968 Datsun 311
11. Sean McGarry 1968 Porsche 911
12. Bob Wall 1970 MGB GT
13. JW & Barbara Silveira 1971 MGB
14. Jack & Rada Ford 1972 MGB
15. Charles Rooks & Carol Yoshimoto 1974 MGB
16. Andy & Marla Preston 1974 MGB GT
17. Nikita Jablonsky, Alvin G 1977 Porsche 911 Targa
18. Robert Vance & Richie Stevens 1978 MGB
19. Ron (Pete) Peterson & Gwen Teh 1979 MGB
20. Karl & Libby Swartz and Marty Masters 2000 VW Passat Wagon (substituting for Karl’s 1953 Morgan +4)
See pictures here
http://www.PictureTrail.com/gid4136606
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