Mt. Hamilton Fun Run Was…FUN & EVENTFUL!!
Kathy Sumares

The weekend of May 19^th was forecasted to be very warm and in fact ended up being downright HOT!  However, eventful wasn't in the forecast!!

Our first group met at Albertson's in Brentwood at 10am and we promptly left minus one '90 white Miata we were expecting.  Up Vasco Road we caught sight of a '90 white trying to catch up.  When we arrived at Stony Ridge Winery in Livermore, we met up with four other Miatas and hit the road to take on the twisties to the top of Mount Hamilton.  There were nine Miatas.

As we head into the easy twists we were "flashed" by an oncoming motorcyclist.  This told us that either we were either hitting some type of police "trap" or there was an accident.  About 3-4 miles ahead we saw stopped traffic and a few of us hopped out of our cars to see what was up.  Unfortunately, there was a beautiful 10AE that had just been righted after rolling being attached to a tow truck.  The windshield was crushed, the tires were flat, the tops of the seats were badly abraded but most of all, the driver was standing alongside the road.  Although he was dazed, he was uninjured.  His guardian angel was watching out for him that day.  This is a true testament to the Miata design that an accident like this caused a driver to walk away.  Once we found out that the driver was okay and wasn't one of those planning to meet us, we made it up to the Junction where we met up with another Miata from the San Joaquin Valley. 

Now, the real fun began…advanced twisties up the mountain.  What a blast, several 180s.  The road to Mt. Ham has been undergoing sporadic re-paving and there was a lot of loose gravel.  Bob, our webmaster extraordinaire, caught some gravel and ended up doing a spin and other than some minor scratches on his rear bumper, California Red was fine.  Whew!  We didn't want to see that beautiful new paint job destroyed.

Up at the observatory we met up with a Sacramento Miata Club member, chatted a bit and visited the observatory.  The visibility was poor given the hot day and famous Bay Area smog.  Some Bay Area folks opted to go down the hill toward San Jose.  That 20-mile stretch has 330 twisties.  The rest of us opted to go back the way we came.  This time my partner Bruce took the drivers seat and we embarked on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.  The guys were grinning from ear-to-ear as we headed down the mountain.  I hung on for dear life, squinting through partially closed eyes.

On our way back to Brentwood we were once again being "flashed" by passing motorists.  This stretch of road (Vasco Road) is a speed trap and we felt the flashing was a warning to slow down.  This road is known to have a dozen CHPs hanging out ready and willing to nail you.  We would be perfect fodder.  Well, that wasn't the case this day…there was a head-on accident ahead which critically injured two people.  A Life Flight helicopter had to land on the road to airlift the injured people, one being an 11-year-old child.  However, the traffic was REALLY backed up and news reports said it would be 1-2 hours before the road opened again.  Our alternative was heading back the way we came, climb over Altamont Pass and take the back roads home.  It would have also meant about 45-60 minutes driving and it was hot outside and we were all pretty pooped out.  We observed folks taking a dirt road, passing under the road and coming out to some other road that got them out of the traffic.  We all agreed to go for it since those previous cars ended up somewhere and weren't coming back to Vasco Road.  Tops up, gang…off we go!!  We cruise on this dirt road for about a half-mile and suddenly the traffic stops.  The rancher who owned the land locked his gate.  We called him a few choice words under our breath.  By now we have approximately a half-mile of traffic behind us.  It is also about 95 degrees in the blazing sun with no shade to be found anywhere.  There was no way to turn around and go back since we would not be able to get through the one lane underpass which very likely was full of cars doing the same thing we just did.  Our Miata guys hopped out of their cars, assessed the locked gate and figured out with bolt cutters and/or a crescent wrench they could either break the lock or remove the gate.  They went from car to car to car until they found a guy in a truck that had both.  WoooHooo!!!  The bolt cutters would not cut the chain since it was tamper-proof and the guys were able to remove the bolts from the fence and free us.  They were certainly our heroes for the day as was the guy with the tools.  The rancher was very lucky that all he had to replace were a few bolts.  Heck, one of our heroes left the bolts on the fence post.  One guy thought the bolts should have been pitched in his field.  The rancher was also lucky that a truck didn't ram his gate.  All along I was thinking the rancher should have been a true capitalist and stood at his gate charging everyone $5 to pass through his land.  Better still had he been serving cold water he could have doubled his money!!  Had all these vehicles turned around on his land, he probably would have been some damage to his field.  Needless to say, we ended up at our house about five miles later drinking a cold beverage and reminiscing about our very eventful day. 

All told, everyone had a great time, eventful as it was!