One One Fun Run -- January 1, 2014

by Mike Hinton, Redwood Region Vice President, photos by Bob Shoenherr, Redwood Region Membership Director

After a historically dry calendar year 2013, what kind of weather would you predict for the Redwood Region's 2014 One One Fun Run? If you guessed crystal clear and dry, you won the prize!

This year's run abandoned the traditional Novato starting point for the friendly confines of the Owl Café parking lot located on old U.S. 101 in downtown Cloverdale. When Brenda and I arrived there were only a handful of cars present. Shortly thereafter, Porsches old and new began streaming in and completely filling the parking lot.

Don Magdanz, our event coordinator, headed up the drivers' meeting with the standard safety checklist followed by asking if anyone was participating in their first Redwood Region event. I believe that there were four or five newcomers, which is fantastic! One of those folks was driving one of those EYE-TAL-IAN cars (AKA Ferrari), and he accepted the expected ribbing in good humor. We offered to let him lead to make sure that the course was free of law enforcement! :)

Our route for the day was long, over 130 miles, but simple: turn left onto Highway 128 out of Cloverdale, then when Highway 128 ends, turn left on Highway 1. What could be simpler? Bob Schoenherr agreed to lead the first segment of the run in his beautiful 1976 912E. Bob's segment of Highway 128 wound its way through the rugged hills of the Coast Range, through the village of Yorkville, and then into the flatlands of the Anderson Valley. Even with less than 100 horsepower, Bob's 912E maintained an entertaining pace up and down the hills, and around the many tight turns on the way to Boonville.

The group of 20+ cars filled the curbside parking in beautiful downtown Boonville as we paused for refreshments and a bathroom break. Following the pit-stop, I was assigned to lead the group to the next rest stop in Gualala on the Mendocino coast. I was eagerly awaiting the drive through and past Navarro, as Highway 128 sweeps through a long stretch of curves which are (closely!) bordered by ancient redwood trees. Of course, since it was approaching noon the group had to deal with the usual nemesis: very slow-moving traffic.

Not long after I began leading the group we closed quickly on the first slow car of the day. Then amazingly, the driver pulled over and let our entire group by. I was flabbergasted! Incredibly enough, that same scenario repeated itself five more times before we reached Gualala. Thanks to those unnamed drivers who were paying attention, and allowed us to proceed briskly on our way.

Kurt Fischer graciously consented to lead the home stretch of the run to Jenner in his Weissach Edition 911SC. As you may know, the stretch of Highway 1 along the Mendocino and Sonoma coast is beautiful, with a mix of straight sections and hair-raising hills and turns. Kurt had good luck with the slower traffic as well with our group only being held up on the final run into Jenner.

Almost precisely on schedule our group met at the Jenner Inn for lunch. We also had several other members who were unable to participate in the drive join the group for lunch. Our group filled one of the large dining rooms to capacity, and it was time to relive and share the experiences of the drive. I do think that the size of our group overwhelmed the staff of the restaurant as our table was finished with our meal before others had been served. I know that the servers did their best...

All in all, this year's One One Fun Run was again a success. Many thanks to Don Magdanz for his tireless efforts in designing the route and securing the lunch venue. On behalf of the Board, I'd like to welcome and thank those members who made this event their first Redwood Region event. I hope to see all of you soon at another event - just check the calendar on the website to see what is in store for 2014.