42 degrees, 5 Cobras, 105 miles for coffee.

[John-Tucson]

On Sunday, Jan. 18th , we had five Cobras and a Mercedes attack the road to Aravaca, AZ. It was 42 degrees as we departed Tucson and headed south. The road to Aravaca is 23 miles of turns, ups and downs, and quiet beauty. The speed limit is 45 mph bit we held a reasonable 60 mph so that everyone could keep up ( I'm talking about the Mercedes ). At the turns marked 30 mph with a 90 degree bend we cautiously slowed to 50 and let the rears drift a bit. The sky was clear, there was a bit of a chill in the air, and the undulating road made it feel like a road course in a European country. There was no traffic going in our direction and the view from the rear was awesome. The Cobras looked like a continous snake slithering through the country side. There was no stretch of road more than 1/4 mile that was straight. Even with 400 + HP the top speed would only be about 80 before an immediate and hard brake application would be necessary for the next turn. As we pulled into the coffee shop and dismounted there were smiles and grins and hand waveings and talk about shift points, gears missed, and rpm's, and "wow, how about that blind 90 degree turn on the top of the hill" and " I bottomed out in that dip going to the left " The coffee will not be forgotten because it was STRONG, after a 30 minute stop we departed west again and encountered 12 miles of more twisty road, this road surface was ruffer with some light sand on it so that the speeds were slower in the corners. Upon reaching a main road we headed north and for 33 miles we didn't see a speed limit sign, a comfortable speed of 65 to 75 made the Cobras stick to the road during the almost continious turning ( this road would be an exciting challange with speeds of 100 + if it wasn't for the continous stream US Customs vehicles going in the oppsite direction) ( which brings up another point - do you guys realize that they are catching over 850 illegles a DAY just in Arizona !!! ) and the beautiful scenery made a nice ending to the trip. From the start to the end it was 105 miles. YES, we do drive our Cobras 12 months of the year in Arizona. John