What an opportunity - a day ON the track.

Hi everyone....

What an amazing opportunity. Although I think I was the only one there for the track, and not the cycling, I still tried to fit in as much as I could. Now, I haven't seriously ridden in a LONG time. This wasn't necessarily the best time to start - that 180 feet in vertical change (all within about 3/4 mi) doesn't sound like much, but it kills you at the top. Now, that being said - its pretty cool to know that first hand.  I wish I'd been in a motorized vehicle (and to tell the truth, one day I will be. The track can be rented in a myriad of ways... oh yes, one day - you will be mine...)

On the Starting Grid

I did however want to show my day at the track, because it was pretty much the whole reason we stayed through this week. Once I found out there was a twilight bike ride (which the track does once a month, all year long, FYI) I had to go be a part of that. Trust me, I scouted ways to sneak on the track at night just to walk it (strictly and expressly forbidden) - had an opportunity just today to just point the van at the track and drive it on  (skirting arrest and jail), but I so much enjoyed my time here that I wanted to get out there and feel the raceway...  The pic here is my Trek parked in the grid, at the start line...  big smile.

View of the right turn
out of 'The Corkscrew'

The biggest part of my day was riding the corkscrew, which I did twice (a third time, without a motorized escort, was NOT an option).  The first time through, I didn't stop - I pedaled through the entire 2.238 miles of the track one time around.  It nearly killed me, and my lungs are still recovering, but it was absolutely worth it.

"The corkscrew" is probably the defining feature of this track, and I'm betting its very tough to drive.  You crest a hill, take a 110 degree left (turn 8), and an 80 degree right (turn 9) all while dropping 60 feet in elevation which, at speed would take just about all the grip out of your car, all within a few hundred feet of track....  Fortunately on a bike it wasn't quite like that, just fast as can be.  A fun leaning turn.  OR two.  Then it leads you out down a couple of sweeping turns and straightaways...  until you come around the big corner to the finish line...  and start the circuit all over. I have video, but right now its so shaky its not worth showing...  that, and the breathing coming up the hill makes it sound like I'm near death....

Here are my various pics from the corkscrew. The first one is probably worth enlarging (click it).

PANO - a little rough, but you get a sense of it (and I loved taking it.)

I'll leave the blog with a few additional photos. Pit Row, and the Straightaway between Turn 3 and 4 (which I learned wasn't even there until after 1995). The track seems to have gone through a lot of changes over the last 55 years. At the end, a little background (no wonder my Dad revered Laguna Seca - it was conceived during his time of driving really, really great cars)...

Pit Row - it seems every good Laguna Seca video starts
with one of those doors opening, just check youtube...

The Pedestrian Bridge into Turn 4

"The vision for Laguna Seca developed out of the fabled Pebble Beach Road Races. During the 1950's, some of the world's best sports car drivers tested their skills on the roads winding through the Del Monte Forest. The races brought prestige, fans and money to the Monterey Peninsula. But, within a few years, the event had grown too big, and the cars too fast for the open road. The races needed a new home. Rather than see the event, and its fans and financial impact, go elsewhere, a group of local business people came up with an idea - build a permanent, world-class race track.

They founded the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP) on November 1, 1956. The charter for the non-profit group explained its mission, to "benefit local charitable and non-profit organizations and to promote the economic vitality of Monterey through the encouragement, solicitation, organization, sponsorship and perpetuation of motorsports events in the vicinity of the Monterey Peninsula." SCRAMP went right to work. The group leased Fort Ord land from the United States Army, and within a year the track was finished. On November 9, 1957, Pete Lovely won the first race at Laguna Seca.

In 1974, the Army transferred ownership of the 500-plus acre parcel containing the race track to Monterey County. At that point, the facility became a public recreation area under the jurisdiction of the Monterey County Parks Department. Despite its unusual arrangements, the race track has always been managed by one proprietor, SCRAMP.

SCRAMP has progressed from producing a single sports car race to promoting five major world-class motorsports events each year featuring national and international motorcycle racing, the Monterey Historic Automobile Races, NASCAR stock cars, Le Mans sports cars and the CART FedEx Championship Series." -- http://jimturley.tripod.com/laguna.htm

Oh what fun... it is to ride...
(I'll finish this thought when I have a gas pedal and a brake...)