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Cecil · 08-03-2006, 09:22 AM

ESCAPE FROM LAGUNA

We crossed the bridge at turn 1 after the end of the AMA races thinking that the crowds would have dissipated. Uhhhh, no. They had actually gotten worse. Sleeper had left at the end of the GP race and had to wait 2.5 hours in line to catch a shuttle bus. At that point the end of the shuttle line was up on top of the hill near the bridge (Mazda bridge). When we saw the line it went across the parking lot after the bridge and was wrapping down the road past the turn 1 bridge and completely out of our sight. We literally could not see the end of the line. I would estimate the wait for a shuttle bus somewhere near 5 hours at that point.

Mike, Pam, Gina, and I made the decision to start hiking. You've gotta be kidding me with a 5 hour line. 49 seats per bus, 40,000 people, you do the math. They may very well have had the right number of buses. Where they screwed up was bottle necking everything into 1 pickup and drop off location. They should have had shuttle stops all around the track. We stood and watched the line for about 20 minutes while sizing up the situation. It didn't move once. Not once.

We started hiking down to highway 68. We crossed the first parking lot trying to make a straight line down the hill. Mike must have asked 10 people for rides to the bottom with no luck. I was on the phone with Russ explaining the situation and asking him to pick us up on highway 68. It was about 2 miles down to the bottom and we figured a few more on 68 to meet Russ. Not that big a deal. Russ said that highway 1 was a parking lot and he wasn't sure how long it'd be before he could get out to 68.

Then as we were walking up the hill to get back on the road from the parking lot, Gina fell. She fell and banged up her knee and we had to stop. The situation was starting to look really bleak. But hey, timing is everything.

Gina fell right behind a golf cart that was sitting on the side of the road. The driver and passenger asked if she was OK and whether or not she needed a ride. The driver was some younger dude and his passenger was dressed like a Honda tech with the red button down shirt and stuff. Turns out they were with the Honda off-road team. And we know how crazy motorcycle people can be.

They offered a ride to the girls I think before realizing that they were with two guys. They let us pile on anyway. Gina and Pam hopped into the back seat. Mike and I stood on the back foot rest thing and held onto the roof. Racer boy hits the gas and we pull a massive golf cart wheelie!

The older guy starts yelling at the younger guy,"Slow the fuck down! You gotta go slow. Take it easy." Then he drapes himself over the front of the golf cart trying to put weight on the front. Mike and I offered to get off. "Nooo, that's OK. This is fun and we'll get a good story out of it."

Racer boy is driving like a lunatic all the way down the mountain. The brakes on this golf cart had to be gone. We must have had close to 1000lbs in this golf cart with a 20%-80% front to rear bias. Mike asks the guys, "So are you with a race team or anything?" The older guy replied, "We won't be with anybody anymore if we're caught doing this shit. Slow down! Jesus!"

The kid nearly tossed me off the back of the cart like 5 times. He kept swerving and doing wheelies. But then we saw the exit coming up and breathed a sigh of relief. We thanked the guys over and over. They handed us some Woody Woodpecker HRC stickers and were off. For sure this is much better than standing in a 5 hour line! :eek:

Now what? We're standing at the entrance of Laguna Seca on highway 68 not knowing how long it would take Russ to pick us up. We debated which way to start our hike. Then I said I needed to take a leak and hopped inside the police officer's portapot. As I'm doing the shake off and zipping up I hear Mike yell to me, "Yo, c'mon!"

I swung open the door and got a face full of yellow cab. Up on the hill is a 5 hour shuttle bus line and coming down the hill, exiting the raceway, was an empty cab!!!! :eek:

Timing is everything. $33 cab fare and we were in the shuttle bus parking lot within 30 minutes of deciding to hike. How insane is that?

More hotdogs, hamburgers, wine, beer, and a beautiful sunset at the house. Plus we have memories for life.

08-03-2006, 09:22 AM	#10
Cecil Learner's Permit Cecil is offline Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Perkasie, PA Posts: 27	ESCAPE FROM LAGUNA We crossed the bridge at turn 1 after the end of the AMA races thinking that the crowds would have dissipated. Uhhhh, no. They had actually gotten worse. Sleeper had left at the end of the GP race and had to wait 2.5 hours in line to catch a shuttle bus. At that point the end of the shuttle line was up on top of the hill near the bridge (Mazda bridge). When we saw the line it went across the parking lot after the bridge and was wrapping down the road past the turn 1 bridge and completely out of our sight. We literally could not see the end of the line. I would estimate the wait for a shuttle bus somewhere near 5 hours at that point. Mike, Pam, Gina, and I made the decision to start hiking. You've gotta be kidding me with a 5 hour line. 49 seats per bus, 40,000 people, you do the math. They may very well have had the right number of buses. Where they screwed up was bottle necking everything into 1 pickup and drop off location. They should have had shuttle stops all around the track. We stood and watched the line for about 20 minutes while sizing up the situation. It didn't move once. Not once. We started hiking down to highway 68. We crossed the first parking lot trying to make a straight line down the hill. Mike must have asked 10 people for rides to the bottom with no luck. I was on the phone with Russ explaining the situation and asking him to pick us up on highway 68. It was about 2 miles down to the bottom and we figured a few more on 68 to meet Russ. Not that big a deal. Russ said that highway 1 was a parking lot and he wasn't sure how long it'd be before he could get out to 68. Then as we were walking up the hill to get back on the road from the parking lot, Gina fell. She fell and banged up her knee and we had to stop. The situation was starting to look really bleak. But hey, timing is everything. Gina fell right behind a golf cart that was sitting on the side of the road. The driver and passenger asked if she was OK and whether or not she needed a ride. The driver was some younger dude and his passenger was dressed like a Honda tech with the red button down shirt and stuff. Turns out they were with the Honda off-road team. And we know how crazy motorcycle people can be. They offered a ride to the girls I think before realizing that they were with two guys. They let us pile on anyway. Gina and Pam hopped into the back seat. Mike and I stood on the back foot rest thing and held onto the roof. Racer boy hits the gas and we pull a massive golf cart wheelie! The older guy starts yelling at the younger guy,"Slow the fuck down! You gotta go slow. Take it easy." Then he drapes himself over the front of the golf cart trying to put weight on the front. Mike and I offered to get off. "Nooo, that's OK. This is fun and we'll get a good story out of it." Racer boy is driving like a lunatic all the way down the mountain. The brakes on this golf cart had to be gone. We must have had close to 1000lbs in this golf cart with a 20%-80% front to rear bias. Mike asks the guys, "So are you with a race team or anything?" The older guy replied, "We won't be with anybody anymore if we're caught doing this shit. Slow down! Jesus!" The kid nearly tossed me off the back of the cart like 5 times. He kept swerving and doing wheelies. But then we saw the exit coming up and breathed a sigh of relief. We thanked the guys over and over. They handed us some Woody Woodpecker HRC stickers and were off. For sure this is much better than standing in a 5 hour line! :eek: Now what? We're standing at the entrance of Laguna Seca on highway 68 not knowing how long it would take Russ to pick us up. We debated which way to start our hike. Then I said I needed to take a leak and hopped inside the police officer's portapot. As I'm doing the shake off and zipping up I hear Mike yell to me, "Yo, c'mon!" I swung open the door and got a face full of yellow cab. Up on the hill is a 5 hour shuttle bus line and coming down the hill, exiting the raceway, was an empty cab!!!! :eek: Timing is everything. $33 cab fare and we were in the shuttle bus parking lot within 30 minutes of deciding to hike. How insane is that? More hotdogs, hamburgers, wine, beer, and a beautiful sunset at the house. Plus we have memories for life.