Well, it’s in the books, the 2008 Endurance Run is history.
We had 53 cars registered, 49 made it to the starting line,
and 45 finished. After the intros and the color guard, and the
Star Spangled Banner, 48 cars roared off immediately, and 1 car
left slightly later after solving a fuel problem, we won’t
say who. The assault on Mt. Hamilton was on. A few sly folks
were observed heading for Mt. Hamilton Rd. which avoids the T-killing
Quimby Rd. And we may have found out how one particular car
always gets to the top before everyone else. Some folks have
reported that a fast red speedster was spotted zipping down 680
to Tully Rd.
Getting to the top of Mt. Hamilton is a good test, lots of
steep uphill climb, lots of hairpin turns, and fortunately a
minimum of bicycles this year. This year, it was not too hot,
so only a couple cars arrived at the top puffing steam and leaving
a water trail. Bill Bratt and company were manning the first
check point at the observatory which was also the morning coffee
stop. Lots of folks enjoyed the spectacular clear day view while
sipping their beverage and munching on a donut or two. Here
is a little trivia, cell phones won’t work up there, even
though you can see the whole Bay area.
Down the backside of Mt. Hamilton, lots of twisty turns,
and downhill braking. After finally reaching the bottom, we
passed car #23 which was sitting by the side of the road on 3
wheels. Now here is a tale of good Samaritans. The Gunn speedster
usually has a trailing modern, carrying students who are switching
off as the riding mechanic. They stopped to assist, located the
wheel which had climbed up a steep bank, retrieved it, and then
lifted the car up so that the jack would fit under the axle.
The knock-off hub-nut was located and car #23 went on and finished
the day. How about that?
Cruising through the San Antone Valley, we passed the Junction
Store which was loaded with motorcycles, which had apparently
stopped for refreshments and were having a really good time.
After what seemed to be a really long time, especially since
the seat was getting hard, we figured we must be getting close
to Livermore, and then we saw a sign which said, “Livermore
31 miles.” Good Grief!!! Seat was really hard by the time
we reached the lunch stop.
The Duarte Garage was a great place for lunch, nice grassy
park, lots of shade trees, a banjo band playing inside the garage,
lots of parking room at the curb for the speedsters, and hamburgers
and hot dogs with the trimmings did the trick with a cookie to
finish up. There was even a Star car for sale in the old Star
garage. (Coursety of Bob Edwards).
After lunch, most folks headed for the nearest service station
to gas up. The afternoon run took us out to the Central Valley
over Altamont Pass (piece of cake!) and then back into the Livermore
Valley over Patterson Pass (phew, that was one little stretch
of really steep stuff!). We were lucky, the windmills were not
turning
much, which meant that we did not have a headwind or get all
blown around, which can really be something in those hills.
We skirted around Livermore on the south side, passing lots of
grapes and wineries. Vallecitos Road then took us to Sunol (little
potty break at the train station) and the we cruised down Niles
Canyon to
Mission Blvd.
We had one more little side trip to make, and that was up
Vargas road to Hwy 680. I think the modern cars were probably
a little surprised to see these Model T speedsters come zipping
out of the on-ramp and then making a dash for the next exit,
which put us back on Mission Blvd. Just a word about Vargas
road, there is a sign which says single lane, which is an exaggeration,
steep uphill bi-cycle path would be more appropriate.
On the home stretch, cars were stopped here and there, enjoying
the afternoon break, some with milkshakes, some with lattes,
and then it is on to the finish line. We were handed an ice
cream bar before we even got out of the car, and then it was
a temporary nap on the grass waiting for the final arrivals and
the announcing of the
winners.
It was a long hard day, but we had lots of fun, traveled
some new roads that we did not know about, and best of all, made
the finish line running strong. Good run, thanks to Ed Archer
and his support staff. Did you know that the support staff includes
no less than 52 people, I bet you didn’t know that. There
are lots of workers out there behind the scenes. Thanks, everyone,
it was a good day.
Bob Meneely
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