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We don’t know if he was serious, but Sherm said this may
have been the last year for the SLO Roadster Run. If
this is true, the 32nd run (show) would be the end
of an era and the demise of one of the most popular roadster
shows. Ever since
the formation of the California
Roadsters we have faithfully been heading north in mid-May
for a long weekend with like-minded roadster guys and gals. The SLO guys won’t let on, but this run is too much fun to
fade into the hot rod history books.
It will continue in some form or fashion and if not,
the California Roadsters will continue to make the trek north, kicking
the weekend off with the Thursday night street fair, do a run
into the countryside or up the coast on Friday, have a party
at the Peachtree on Saturday and return home better for the experience on
Sunday.
The 2005 SLO Roadster Run, remember it’s no longer a show, welcomed a
reduced number of rods (200) due to the constraints of space
for the Saturday lunch. We
were honored this year to have rookie SLO runner Bernie Couch
along for his first trip.
He and his traveling mechanic Kevin made the run his
genie ’32 Ford Roadster without a hitch and had a ball.
Bernie bought his roadster in 1941 at age 19, and has
driven it everywhere and raced it a few times on the dry
lakebeds.
Our long weekend kicked off as always on Thursday, but we had
a few problems on the trip up the coast, which is nothing new
for our group of rodders on the first run of the year.
Our northern and southern routes converged on the Cold
Springs Tavern for a cool one before proceeding into
Nipomo for lunch at Jocko’s, Philly favorite roadhouse. From there it was back to Highway 101 for the final leg into
SLO. A quick gas
stop in Lompoc had Ray braking a little too hard which pushed
his radiator out of shape, but he had enough cool juice to let
him limp into SLO. Hank
rounded the turn at Avila Beach for the final inland run into
SLO and had the misfortune of running into a low flying turkey
buzzard, which ruined the bird’s day and took out Hank’s
windshield. Upon arrival at the Peachtree
our traveling mechanics went to work and tore apart both rods
to send the parts out for repair.
Luckily we found a mobile glass guy and a radiator shop
and had both rods back on the road within three hours.
We let Jon and Midge in their woody take the lead on Friday
and we followed for a winery tour into the Paso Robles
hillside hitting a few spots and buying some bottles of fine
local grown grape juice. We also stopped at an olive oil farm
& sampled some truly “Virgin Olive Oil”, we all learn
something new now & then.
There is nothing finer than running along a country
road in an open roadster with the sights and smells you’re
not going to get at home in a grocery getter.
We ended up at Morro Bay for a bite of lunch and
then back to the Peachtree for one of our famous deck parties.
The evening concluded with a BBQ hosted by SLO
Roadsters and the sad news that this may be the last gig
for the SLO boys, whose club has dwindled to only seven
members.
Saturday
morning we all staged along Monterey for a short run to the
Rancho Santa Margarita, the largest (14,800 Acres) working
cattle ranch in California. This ranch was founded in 1772 by the padres of the San Luis
Mission and has many historic buildings, an antique train and
its own runway. It
addition to our group of rodders, FAST was putting on a flat
hill climb on the runway, aka 1/8 mile banger drags; and an
antique motorcycle club gave us a parade lap with some really
fine vintage pieces. After some tire kicking, a guided train ride and some
give-ways, SLO Roadsters
put on a wonderful buffet lunch in one of the historic
barns that was even older than Bernie.
That afternoon we retreated back to the Peachtree
for another one of our famous deck parties, catered by California
Roadsters very own, Jon and Midge, and invited the BAR guys and the PCH Cruisers
to partake in a few Coronas and some young vino. With our rods and our guest rides, I’ve never seen so much
fine looking Iron at the Peachtree.
The party broke up just in time to get ready for dinner
at the 1865, with
our Peachtree hosts,
Sandy and Hitch, as our guests.
Sadly, Sunday morning came too early, which means time for the
downhill run home and back to our everyday lives until we
return for next year’s SLO run.
And, we will return . . . Do
you hear that Sherm?
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