Does EVERYONE Drive Slow in Monterey?
After the quick stop at Nepenthe, I lead the rest of the way to the Monterey Peninsula where we fueled up. But when we arrived at the gas station, Jackie was nowhere to be found! She arrived a bit later. As it turned out, her Hayabusa has had its fuel injection mapping set overly rich, after the installation of a new FI map on her Dynojet Power Commander. Thus, it was getting 33 mpg instead of the normal 44 mpg! So, she went on reserve at around 130 miles. Since we had traveled over 130 miles since our last fuel stop, Jackie�s low fuel light went on, forcing her to stop for fuel somewhere back on PCH. Oh well. Now we knew.
After we fueled up, we agreed that there would be no more squidliness to avoid more tickets! Actually, we were behaving very well on PCH and we still got in trouble. Thanks to the overly eager and bored CHP. Although, it could have been just bad Karma going all the way back to our antics on the 101 Freeway and Highway 154 catching up to us.
On the way out of Monterey, we got caught in rush hour traffic. I was leading the way and was splitting lanes. At one point, the road was so narrow and space in between the row of cages was tight, and I ended up hitting a truck�s side mirror with my mirror. I just heard a THUNK! Suddenly, my right hand mirror was folded all the way in!
Further down PCH, where it turned into a freeway, the traffic started to move slowly. I saw a clearing on the right lane so I decided I wanted to get there and pick up the speed a little. I was also getting frustrated at all the slow drivers in Monterey. Damn they�re slow! So, I split lanes at about 55-65 mph for a short blast with Jackie close behind me to get ahead of the slow drivers and get to that clear lane. Just then, ANOTHER CHP vehicle entered the roadway just behind us. I never saw him. Luckily for Ken and Carl, they saw the CHP and slowed down and tried to signal us. I failed to notice the signaling, and when I reached the clearing on the right lane I accelerated up to 75 mph then checked my mirrors to see if the group had gathered together behind me. Instead, I saw only Jackie, and behind her was this big looming black and white Ford Crown Victoria closing in like freakin� Orca the Killer Whale! FUCK! Its blue and red lights went on immediately! FUCK ME! I slowed and so did Jackie, but I was about 50 feet ahead of her and the CHP stayed behind Jackie. She stopped in the shoulder and I kept rolling slowly to see if the CHP would come up behind me, but he didn�t. However, in an effort to be polite to Jackie and not leave her alone to get ANOTHER ticket, I pulled over on the shoulder about 50 feet away. |
