Saturday, June 09, 2007

The Proving Ground


Parrott's Ferry Rd between Murphys and Columbia

Okay... this is a gnarly stretch of road between Murphys and Columbia State Park. That chunk of water is New Melones Resevoir which takes it's water from what I believe is the Stanislaus River off the Sierra Nevada. It's a pretty steep grade down to that water from Columbia. The road isn't the curviest or the steepest but ask any kid that grew up in Calaveras County and they'll tell you about some kid that died on this road. When I was in high school I used to haul ass in my Toyota pickup over that bridge on the left of rectangle.

I had to make a trip to Sonora this morning, so hey... lets test the Porsche out on the way back. I got to the top of the hill with no one in front that I could see. My iPod was on shuffle and like it was meant to be, Sympathy for the Devil started playing. I opened the windows and sun roof, hit the sport mode between the seats and went into Tiptronic. I gave myself some boundaries though... I kept the thing in manual and never let it get out of 3rd gear. Also if the tires squealed I'd ease it back a little. Never crossed the yellow line. I was able to keep it about 50 most of the way. (Speed limit is 25). Holy Crap! It handled better than the BMW we had a few years back. Just darted in and out of each turn and hugged the road tight. You would not expect this handling from a 4500lb car but dude... It was awesome!! I want to bring the 914 back next time!!

Trivia factoid: Most of the Back to the Future filming took place in Jamestown just south of here. Also Mark Twain lived outside of Columbia.

(Used Microsoft's Streets and Trips 2007 to make the map)

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