I drove to LA yesterday. It was raining. Hard. I am not complaining because it never rains in California. My complaint is that Mia, (the Miata), does not like the rain. And with the hard top on, driving down PCH, rain pelting down, Mia was feeling pretty small. I tried to be encouraging, giving her room to avoid the rooster tails of the SUVs, but this was impossible at times. And I have found that hydroplaning in Mia can be quite exhilarating. But not on PCH. Not a good idea. So to avoid the hydroplaning, we kept our distance, and were careful on the brakes.
But hydroplaning on PCH solved a puzzle for me. I noticed every time I started to slow down I would let the car slow a bit and then would press on the brakes, slowly to be sure. But when I did Mia would speed up a bit. I guess Mia did not think going 60 on PCH with SUVs on both sides was not exciting enough for me. Actually, she did not really speed up. It was just that when I expected the car to slow more rapidly she kept sailing along. So as I was being careful not to become a road bump for one of the SUVs, Mia did her little rain trick of not responding quite as quickly as I had in mind. It suddenly dawned on me, while I had been successful not to hydroplane much on PCH, Mia's brakes were doing a little hydroplaning of their own. In California, it really is not often that I get reflect on the impact of rain. The spray of water from the SUVs provided a very nice coating for the disk brakes, allowing the pads a slight moment to skid along the disks before taking hold.
I arrived safely, eventually found coffee and proceeded on to my day.
Evening drives in LA are always fun. Mia and a few hundred thousand other cars all making their way to the exits. But traffic along my route was not bad and I was not in a big hurry. It was still raining but I was settling back into the routine of avoiding congestion. I decided west on the 90 would be better than north on the 405 (no rocket science there for those who drive it and have a choice). And I noticed that there really wasn't any traffic coming the other way. So LA - traffic stopped in every direction and one road wide open. And then the emptiness on the other side became a conscious thought as the red lights flashed on 2 or 3 fire engines and 6 to 8 CHPs on the opposite side of the road. KNX was kind enough to tell me that this was a fatal accident. Some family is rather sad tonight.
Back on PCH, the rain came on. The beauty of Malibu was lost on me as an SUV on my left hugged the white line next to me. Escalades are made to expand in the rain. Being in the front of the pack Mia and SUV strained to distinguish between the road and the water. Unfortunately, SUV got the road. Mia got the water. See hydroplaning above. But I did not really have trouble hydroplaning. hitting the small lake in the right lane at 45 MPH slows you down really quick. The SUV behind me was not too happy about that part, especially after the second time. But the SUV one on my left, watching MIA slam in to the lakes suddenly became a little more polite and hugged the yellow line on the left instead of the white line next to me. Smart move.
I found coffee, proceeded on my way, and arrived safely.
And pretty soon - because it never rains in California - Mia and I will store the hard top, we'll find a nice dry road without any SUVs, and Mia will be happy.
No great American novel tonight. Perhaps next time. Just thankful. It's a beginning.
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