Yesterday was amazing. 75-80F with clear blue skies and calm winds. I had just finished my annual service and the Box needed a good shakedown. I took her up to my little test road and wound her up a bit. Whew, what a blast! I love this time of year.
Those of you in SoCal probably know this road... Glendora Ridge Road. It's our own little "Tail of the Dragon" west. It starts at Mt. Baldy village at about 4500' elevation and winds tightly west towards Glendora/Azusa for about 1.5 hours. All 2nd and 3rd gear stuff with top speeds around 60 or so. Big fun. If you take a passenger who suffers from motion sickness watch out! This road will get them. I took it at a moderately spirited pace and stopped at the lookouts for views of downtown LA, Catalina Island and San Clemente Island. Gorgeous views!
I saw lots of crotch rockets, Mustangs, WRXs, and Evos, up there but no other Porsche. As I came down into Azusa I was pretty spent. I have enjoyed this road since I was 18 and it has never been better than top down in my Boxster on a warm, clear, Autumn day. Good times.
A few words of advice: If you want to do this road take it easy the first time. There are lots of tight blind corners. Three things to watch out for are sudden traction loss from sand and rocks in the corners, deer in headlights, and a hot hatch or a crotch rocket crossing the center line on a blind corner and creating a nice little head-on opportunity. Over the years I have encountered all three without incident but a change of underwear was in order. Enjoy!
Here is a link to the road with some pics:
http://www.motofoto.cc/glendora_ridge_road.htm