I'll say it again..... What a great trip.
While we drove up the coast I was the sixth car behind whoever was leading at the time. I'd have to say it was a brisk drive. (I'm not talking about the temp). Some of the corners were a little bumpy and the rear would take a little side hop or three in some of those corners. Seventeen inch tires are harsh to say the least. All was fine with the world then…………….. BAM! "Deb, did I just hit something? Sounded like a big rock. Look back ...do you see anything Nothing!”
I gave the car a little wiggle with the steering wheel and all felt fine. Within about an eighth mile we had to come to a complete stop for construction. I got out checking for body damage from “the rock” and saw the flat. The tire came off the bead and blew. Luckily, the construction crew set up cones around Royce's car and my car, so we had our lunch in the middle of the highway and were also lucky enough to be in the shade of the hillside. What are the odds a road crew would be at that exact location where I had the flat?
We tried to call for a Tow Truck but we, Royce and the Construction Crew had no cell phone service. The crew had a land line a quarter mile down the road and summoned the Sherriff and he in turn called the tow which arrived in about 30 minutes. Deb went on with Mike and Jan Querio to Ft Bragg. She left her cell phone with me since my cell phone battery was dead.
I took the buckboard ride to Sebastopol in the opposite direction of our travels. The AAA guy drove me to “Big O Tire” where one of the employees inflated the tire while the car was still on the flatbed. The tire would not completely bead even with 60psi. The Tow Truck Driver gave me 15 minutes to make a decision whether to drive the car or have it towed back to Roseville which was 145 miles away. My AAA card had a 200 mile limit, perfect. The issue was that if things didn’t pan out at the tire shop, I couldn’t use AAA Tow for 24 hours and I would have spent my Cobra trip sightseeing in the greater metropolitan area of Sebastopol. I took a chance and off loaded the car and the boys at “Big O” aired up and deflated the tire several times but the bead still would not pop. My 15 minutes was up and the AAA Tow Truck was gone! I started home to Roseville hoping that the 50psi that I put in it would keep it on the rim. Gently I drove out to Hwy 101 then made it to Santa Rosa where I stopped at Ronald McDonald’s joint for a stress break and soda. Hwy 101 was ridiculously hot and I was fried and pissed.
After the break I headed out to the car with a new and improved attitude ……. I checked the tire and to my surprise the bead was more pronounced. Better but not perfect. My attitude took a crap 10 seconds later when I realized I would hit rush hour traffic on Hwy 101 and the Infineon Drags traffic going the back way to Interstate 80. I figured I’d get home, shower, gas up our Z3 Beemer and be back in Ft. Bragg by 1am considering I’d be fighting the traffic WB Interstate 80. “Home and all the way back to Ft. Bragg…. or, 109 miles from Santa Rosa to Ft. Bragg?” “F&%$ Roseville, I’ll take a chance it will hold…if not, AAA in the morning was the worst scenario.
The Cell Phone GPS said NB Hwy101, East on Hwy 20….Rock and roll. Out of McDonald’s and onto Hwy 101 NB….Son of a B&%$#….traffic was at a standstill! People look at the Cobra and sometimes wave and probably think how cool it would be just to drive a Cobra. As people did in fact wave as we sat side by side (might as well wave, we’re not going anywhere), I must have had a glazed look in my eyes as the beads of sweat ran down my forehead into my burning f-ing eyes! What they were really thinking at this point was “what an f-ing moron driving that car in this heat!”
Continuing NB at 20, 30 then eventually 50 mph, I was on my way to salvation…cool air, friendly faces, real food and a fifth of Cuervo in my room. I really didn’t give a crap about any friendly faces, I just wanted the tequila and a cool room…Sorry, but let’s be honest.
Rumbling NB in the boiling sun I came upon a sign that said Ft. Bragg that-a-way. “I took it, and broke a major rule of engagement !!!” (Top Gun 1986). That route was never ending, filled with unending curves and altitude changes. Not what my tweaked Goodyear needed. I finally realized I took Hwy 128 which on any other day would have been wonderful. Where is Willits? I didn’t see Willits. Highway 20 is one quarter the length and less curvy than Hwy 128.
I was delirious by this point. I pulled under the overpass for some relief from the sun and took the half full water bottle that had been in the passenger seat all day and emptied the boiling water over my fried brain... Refreshing?........Nah!...... Onward toward Ft. Bragg at a brisk pace I didn’t give a crap if the tire blew. If it did at least I could get out of the sun.
Days later it seemed I hit Highway 1. I assumed Ft. Bragg was at the Intersection of Hwy 128 and Hwy 1………wrong again! I powered up my wife’s cell phone she left with me…………….. Nada, Nix, Nine!!! Where the Hell did the 19% power go since I powered it down in Santa Rosa? I purposely shut it down to save what power it had left for an emergency. I felt alone…abandoned…disconnected from the universe How do you function without a GPS or phone?
Eventually I saw a sign… Ft. Bragg 15 miles. Hmmmm what hotel are they at? Deb does all the planning so I never pay attention to the details like, where are we staying? “God, when will this be over?”
I pulled into a hotel parking lot in the middle of nowhere on Hwy 1 in an attempt to fire up Deb’s Samsung S-3. You know the rest. As I sat in the shade pondering driving into the Pacific Ocean; a hotel cook came out and asked how my day was going. I gave him the abridged version. I told him I had no idea where 36 Cobras were staying in Bragg. He and the Clerk pulled out the yellow pages and rambled off hotel names but none sounded familiar. They actually called about ten Hotels and asked if they had a Car Club staying there. None did nor had they heard through the grapevine where the car club hotel was. I told them I really appreciated their time but I could probably find the hotel in such small town.
Off I went…10 miles to Ft. Bragg. I never knew 10 miles could go by so slow. As I came into the city limits, now freezing from the sweat bath and water I had poured over my head earlier, there was one of those turn a bout’s (I think they’re called that) and just on the other side was a Mendocino Co. Sheriff SUV. I made a semi-illegal u-turn and drove up beside his driver’s door. I looked like Hammered Dog S#!t...I think I saw his hand reach down and unsnap his Level Three Bianchi holster. “Hi, retired Salinas PD”, I said. I wanted to get that out before he shot or worse tased me. (I’ve been shot twice, both before the age of 16…. Long story!) Anyway, I’d rather get shot than tased…..trust me on this!
After sharing some verbal diatribe and apologizing for my semi-illegal u-turn, I told him my phone was dead. “What kind is it he asked”. “S-3” I responded. “Do you have a charger in your rig?” “I think I do”, he said as he rustled through his bag. Just then, before I got the charger, he received a call of a stabbing. My heart sunk as I waved goodbye to the charger he started to hand me…. As he responded on the computer that he was in route to the call, he tossed me the charger and his business card. “Call me and I’ll come by later and pick it up”. A few minutes later, I arrived at the hotel which I actually could see from where I encountered the Deputy. No Cobras were in sight from the highway so I would have been driving around for God knows how long searching for the hotel ………….Good times!
That’s my Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!! Regardless…….the weekend was awesome, the Skunk Train a blast, the people fun and friendly as ever and the Tequila I drank when I finally got to the room…necessary!
The drive home was a little warm but uneventful which brings me to why I wrote this in the first place.
I removed my Goodyear F-1 and upon examination, I found that the bead still didn’t seat and worse than that, it has five half walnut shell size bubbles in the inside sidewall. The tire store manager started the shame game with me blaming the bubbles on “driving the car with a flat, or close to flat. I had checked the pressure the day before so B.S. The only flat I drove on was while pulling over shortly after the Big Bang! I asked, ”then you can only have one flat with these tires then their garbage?” That started a new debate with him eventually exclaiming, “well, I’m no tire builder!” Didn’t think so!!!
The tire was warranted but because this particular F-1 was discontinued last year, he couldn’t find a replacement. I had to contact Goodyear and plead my case. The Customer Service gal said’ “I have located two in the US”. After a minute or two she said that she could only find one and it’s in Alabama. Allegedly, the tire is on the bus at this time and I hope to have my dilemma sorted out by this next week.
I have to say that of the many road trips in cars and motorcycles the trips like this are the ones I remember and cherish. They’re maybe not fun at the time but after it’s all over, they’re the fondest memories…
Below are some photos of the tire…………… Tom
Great time in Ft. Bragg
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