Saturday, October 16, 2004
ALMS 2004 - Day 2
I ate an overpriced, underwhelming breakfast at the diner next to the In-N-Out, and surveyed the weather situation. I was under-equipped for a late, cold night at the track, but didn't want to drop $75+ on a new jacket I'd hardly ever find an occasion to wear. I needed a JCPenney's for some warmer gear at a reasonable price.
I skipped my plan trip to the outlet store in Gilroy for socks, and headed straight to Hollister. SR-25 starts up just south of town, a fantatic 42-mile empty piece of heaven - triple-digit straights, long winding curves, and tight switchbacks. Very nice.
The worst problem this morning was the long slog back on the 101. I kept going past the motel to the mall north of town, and bought a long-sleeve henley and a long-sleeve crew sweatshirt, both in dark grey. On the way out, I stumbled on a Mervyn's, and bought three 3-packs of briefs. It seems to give me inordinate comfort to own lots of new underwear and socks, but I am what I am.
I met up with the Bowser's at the Motel. Their room shared those silly passage doors with mine, which Jake thought was really cool. The maids were finishing up in their room, so they dropped their bags in my room and we headed next door to the In-N-Out, for my third visit in four days. You can overload on this stuff - trust me.
I wasn't looking forward to the drive to the track on my bike, and I agreed a little to easily to let Karen share a seat with Jake so I could ride with them in their car. The walk from the parking lot to the Corkscrew was long, hilly, and hotter than expected.
The race was a lot of fun - and very, very loud. I used my motorcycling earplugs, and everyone else had some too, which just made the noise barely tolerable. I wandered around the track during the four-hour race, getting some good excercise. Chad and Amy arrived just before the race started, after a late start to their drive from Upland.
Around 7:25pm, with the race ending at 8:00pm, it started to rain. This made for great fun on the corkscrew. The leading P1 Audi's cut the inside corner a couple of times each, and a GT Ferrari got shunted onto the gravel trap in an overly ambitious three-wide with a couple of 911's.
The rain died down at the end, making the walk back to the car less of a chore. We met up for dinner, first at Jake's choice, IHOP, whose doors were locked 45 minutes before their posted closing time, and next at a nearby Appleby's. I chatted with Chad, Amy (a really nice person), and caught up with Sam on school stuff.
John bunked with me on the second bed in my room. I set the sleep timer on the TV for 15 minutes of ESPN.
