HI! How is everyone? I’ve been gone few months, and a decent amount of things have happened. I’ll be trying to crank out posts as quickly as I can to get caught up, but I make no promises. You never know when a squirrel is going to… shiny!
I suppose the best thing to do would be to start this new entry where the last entry left off. The most logical approach I’d say. Linearity is probably the root of something. It is certainly the video game designers chosen approach. What the hell am I talking about? Moving on.
A few days after I got back from my overnight excursion (the following Friday, actually) was one of my favorite days ever: NEW CAR DAY!! So, my first post in a while… on my motorcycle based blog… will be about… a car. Wut? Yup.
I am fortunate enough to work for a company that allows me to drive new vehicles every few months. I had been driving a small SUV, but the weather was getting seriously good and there is just something about a convertible. A small, light, great handling convertible. The best selling roadster of all time. ALL TIME! Yup, an MX-5. I picked it up on a Thursday afternoon with the explicit instructions that I was to put as many miles on it as possible before I left for a big trip (the subject of super-awesome-fun-time future blog entries). Friday suddenly became an ‘office’ day.
The sun was out in full force so I did what any normal person tasked with miling (I’m pretty sure I made that word up – miling) up a brand new car would do: dropped the top and headed for the mountains. There is a town called Cougar (no cougars of the feline or female kind so the name is slightly misleading) that welcomes you to Mt. Adams. The drive there is fantastic and the drive past there is equally brilliant. The trusty MX-5 came equipped with Bluetooth which allowed it to function as a mobile office as I carved miles and miles of twisting, winding, climbing, and falling roads. Ok, who am I kidding? The Bluetooth on this thing is darn near worthless.
I managed to do almost 400 miles that day. There was very little picture taking because the car is just that much fun to drive. It was worth the backlog of work when I got home. You can only do so much with spotty cell coverage and iPhone email. If I didn’t know better (and I do because it already happened) I’d say this Miata is going to be showing up a few more times on these pages.
Not a huge, amazing entry, but it occurred and so I share it with you. I was pretty darn jazzed.
Bit of a note: I’m not going to write a review of the car. I will tell you it is good. Really good. If you have never driven one, I highly recommend you do. If you have, but have not driven the new one… you’re missing out. Perfect balance (achieving a nearly 50:50 weight balance), just the right amount of power needed for public roads. It isn’t a missile. It isn’t fast. It isn’t meant to be. Incredibly rewarding when you drive it as it is meant to be driven. This is a momentum car, not a point and squeeze car. Any bozo can do that. Real drivers know how to carry speed. Even without the Brembo option the brakes are good. The suspension on the club is exactly what it needs to be: stiff without beating the crap out of you for no real reason (I’m looking at you STi). Bit of a rant. Bit of a review even though I said it wouldn’t be. Spoiler Alert: I’m now driving a different car, but damn do I miss it.
Ryan Cavalier 