Wow what a day...I just got back in from washing my girl...and she looks damn sexy! So here is a little overview of the day, some stats and lessons learned.
I left the house at 7:30 this morning and met up with 03Z33 and we stopped by Supercar Sunday in Woodland Hill's...dope! If you haven't checked it out you should. A lot of sick, sick cars there...
Location | SuperCarSunday.com (copy/paste to your browser). I didn't take any pics cause we were in and out. Then we headed up to the Simi area to meet up for the run.
Participants:
Cheech - 2010 Platinum Graphite 370Z Touring
Amuse370 - 2011 Pearl White 370Z Nismo
03Z33 - 2012 Red BRZ
CubanZ - 2011 Gun Metallic
Lesson Learned #1...GPS, although much more accurate, can still be wrong. We all eventually found the place and after grabbing some coffee we were off...kinda.
Lesson Learned #2...Allow plenty of time between the time you stage and when you expect to leave...because we left a lot later than planned...all good because it gave us a chance to get to know each other and check out the BRZ...it's a nice looking ride.
After a pit stop to grab some liquids, and munchies we headed up the hill. Cheech led most of the way up and the route we took was sweet...we can only tell you what it was behind the sizzlean screen. It was beautiful and the weather couldn't have been better. Clear skies all the way.
Leasson Learned #3...get an oil cooler! This is not news and everyone that knows anything about this car knows that this needs to be done. Amuse370 proved it as his temps were between 180 and 210 all day no matter how hard he pushed.
We stopped ever so often to let our cars cool and photo ops. Noone's temps got much above 240...I think Cheech and I hit 250 a couple of times but easing off the engine cooled things down fairly quickly. The twists were great and at one point the route on my GPS looked like one of those contortionists from Cirque de Soleil. Totally twisted!
Lesson Learned #4...two way radios and other electronics to identify and avoid hazards like rocks, trucks, chipmunks and other mammals are must haves. Well, not must haves but definitely helpful.
Fortunately no animals, humans nor Z's were hurt in the making of this movie. Two of the cars had cams and it will be cool to see what those videos turn out to be like. I attempted some video but neither my camera nor my special mount (my arm) were not cooperating.
Lesson Learned #5...get some mounts for your cameras...whether it's one of those helmet cams or your cell phone, get a mount. And did I mention the two-way radios? Get em too. And get a video camera and a regular camera...but a good one. Any excuse for more electronics.
A little past the midway point we stopped for some food...it was pretty good and we got to see the USA kick Montenegro's a** in water polo. Poor horses. Food was good, service was dumb, but it hit the spot. Next time we should just bring stuff to barbecue.
Back down the mountain we go. This is where it got even more fun...and by that time I didn't think that that would be possible. There were hills and dips and dry river beds, and twists, and twists, and twists. And twists.
So we left at 11:15 or so, which worked out well, and we were back down the mountain by 6:15 or so. The actual route said it would take 6 hours, but I thought we'd be done sooner because we were going at a brisk pace...but not so...
Lesson Learned #6...be realistic about the amount of time that it will take to complete any run. You have to plan for stops, slow cars (fortunately not many), the eccentric guy that likes to pose the cars for photos (in this instance that guy was me), eating, and any other stop that might come up. We hit the 101 at about 6:45 (I think...I lost track of time at that point).
We cruised down the 101 together for a bit and one by one we each went our separate ways...Amuse370 and I hung together all the way back to the 405, which was a pretty cool ride.
Lesson Learned #7 (and last one)...Your car is going to get dirty. Bugs are going to attack you. Hell, even the tumbleweeds will get you...they just stop in the middle of the road and apparently the Nismos really find them tasty.
So get the clearbra, and set aside some time for a good wash. After all, she gave me a good ride...she deserved a spa treatment.
Then sit back, relax and post up your pics! This is the second time I do this, first with Cheech and again today with 4 cool guys and nice rides. There was talk about making this a monthly which I'm totally down with. If this happens and the group grows we'll figure out how to make it work and make it more interesting. And it doesn't always have to be canyon runs...it can be cruises and maybe even a trip to Vegas. Vegas baby!
But for now I'm just gonna chill and each some spam, rice and eggs as I think back on an incredible day in the SoCal mountains with some chill bros and nice Z's...goodnight.
Cuban Z
