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How was your last blat?


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Put another 60 miles on the motor today, now up to 440 miles...today drove the roads along the Stillwater River...lots of hills and valleys...narrow twisties with the river running beside it...it was breath taking...

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My last blat was actually on Sept. 23. Snow was forecast — so I took the Seven for a quick sunny afternoon drive, up the 10-mile narrow paved road to Eklutna Lake in Chugach State Park, north of Anchorage. The fall colors were at their peak, and traffic was fairly light, with only a few leaf-peepers on the road (and some of them pulled over for me!). I made two runs up and down the road before the fuel gauge gave me pause.

 

This is my favorite Seven-driving road in the local area — lots of turns and elevation changes, few side-driveways, usually light traffic except on summer weekends, a dead-end road, double-yellow center lines all the way, very few pullouts and no turn-arounds, posted speed limit of 30 mph, but with a Seven — what, me worry?

 

That is Bold Peak (7522’) with its summit in the clouds; it stands at the head of the lake, which is not visible from this vantage point. The summit is about as tall as the highest cloud that appears in front of it.

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Shane, It's going to be a long trip up to NJMP, I hope your back and butt are healing up. But you can run with us slower guys and your wife won't have to worry about you.:jester: Tom

 

 

Hey, if my car isn't ready, rumor is that there are a couple of really strandup guys in the NE with more Cats than they can possibly drive at once. Maybe someone will take pitty on me. :jester:

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Some amazing shots. Esp Alaska, what a place! Anyone who hasn't been there should visit. Even in a rental car. We saw whales about 30' from the airport while driving our rental car along the bay motoring toward Turn-Again-Arm and the Kenai Peninsula. Here is a shot of where we spotted the whales.

 

Nice to see fall season extending so far this year.

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Went out for a dawn patrol blat this morning with some friends. About 100 miles and a stop for breakfast in the mountains in the old mining town of Julian:

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A particularly nice section of the drive is along Wynola Road at about 4,000' elevation. Here is what the road looks like:

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This video shows what it looks like from the passenger seat and captures a bit of the drama that is driving east into the mountains at sunrise:

 

RHD isn't too much of an issue.

Edited by escondidoron
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One of our favorite restaurants out in Virginia, Blackthorne Inn, had a fire early this year, and has been closed for renovations ever since. I was pleased to learn last week that they had reopened for business. It gave my wife and I a reason to go for a blat out west to Upperville for lunch on Saturday. While there, we made a couple of new friends - Eric and Donna arrived on their BMW 1200 with sidecar. They have spent considerable time camping with this setup, and it was interesting to see the many mods they have made. Eric commented that their cycle/sidecar combo was wider than our Seven. They had some good suggestions for cold-weather travel in the open.

 

We will definitely plan a lunch out here for our local Lotus club soon!

 

--Bob Collum

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]9755[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]9756[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]9757[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]9754[/ATTACH]

Edited by rcollum
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Late morning was a good time for a short blat. I've been fabricating doors to cut down the wind buffeting. I have a prototype for the driver's side so far. It's an improvement, but needs more work. I've got the passenger side in the works. I'll see what's different when I get out with it.

 

I did notice today that I could smell exhaust at times. This is the first time I've noticed it. The ex-pipe is exiting behind the rear wheel and pointing to the side.

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Brief window of opportunity presented itself today around noon... it was a bit warm, but I sweated it out, much like the young lady who ran into my photo on the right, and the VW that pulled into the parking spot at the last minute on the left. :)

 

edit -- That's the Pacific ocean where the mist/fog is visible, and the Monterey peninsula beyond that.

 

http://i321.photobucket.com/albums/nn384/BBL-Sean/Blats/CIMG1613_zpst9vejeuv.jpg

Edited by Sean
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Looks like the SV that Sevens & Elans has had for sale... Congrats!

 

--Bob Collum

That's correct, Sevens & Elans had it listed and another dealer had listed it on ebay. I bought it from the owner after the e-bay listing expired. Great car and the owner was a really great guy.

Bill

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*****Right after I posted this the Canadian hosting service had their main fiber optic cable cut. Pics will load slow if at all until the cable is repaired*****

 

http://herb.linkrealms.com/lotus/club_drive_2015_01.jpg

The Utah Lotus club did an impromptu drive over the Alpine Loop, a winding road that climbs up behind Mt Timpanogos and down again past Sundance and Provo Canyon. As you can see there were a lot of cars lined up to go up the canyon, but a lot of them were hunters rather than fall leaf spectators. There was really very little traffic in our way which made the drive much more fun than the last time I did this road-- Some woman would not pull over and did the whole thing at 10mph. Frustrating!

 

http://herb.linkrealms.com/lotus/club_drive_2015_02.jpg

I was leading the drive and decided to pull into the parking lot/trail-head at the summit. Unfortunately the aspens had all shed their leaves and it wasn't as scenic as it would have been a week earlier. The cars attracted a lot of interest from the tourists.

 

http://herb.linkrealms.com/lotus/club_drive_2015_03.jpg

I never did find a corner that was too sharp for my speed. I honestly dont know where the limits of my 7 are. Even after all these years it does more than I expect.

 

The Lotus club is a bunch of good folks. I'll try to participate more often.

Edited by Automoda
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It's that time of year - snow is forecast for tomorrow which means the road will all be sanded so even if/when the snow melts the corners will all be gritty and slippery. So despite the fact that it was only 43° today I went out for a blat through Bridger Canyon and out to some of my favorite roads going to Sedan, Montana. The drive was just about 70 miles and it ended all too soon.

 

I'd better get to work now!

 

Dave

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Too bad you had to contend with all that traffic Dave. :rofl: Our mutual Friend Len J. should ride on roads like that, He's been hit again, 3rd or 4th time now. Good thing is it wasn't on your bike so it definitely still the best in his collection. :cheers: Tom

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