July 2021 President’s Message

Greetings Redwood Region members, I hope this summer is being good to you (and not too hot!) out on the road. I look forward to crossing paths at one of our upcoming events which are really kicking into gear!

I personally went on a great drive in Central California at the end of June, down Highway 25 starting in Hollister to Paso Robles for a weekend of beer and wine tasting for my oldest son’s birthday. This is a great road for Porsches, though temps were over 100 degrees (I am not really complaining given the creature comforts of my Carrera S Cabriolet). We took the way back home via the never-a-dull-moment Carmel Valley Road west out to the coast where it was 50 degrees cooler, then creatively back up through Soquel trying to stay out of the traffic on Highway 1 in Santa Cruz. Ask me for advice if you’re planning a trip down there.

July and August are action-packed. Our first winery-destination drive on Sunday July 18th to the Martorana Family Winery sold out quickly; look for a report in next month’s dR. Saturday July 31st we have another great tour from Autobahn Automotive in Santa Rosa up to Bruce & Cheryl Lawton’s Pech Merle winery in Geyserville for a big paella lunch. Registration is now open.

In between wine tastings, the first Time-Speed-Distance rally in my club memory will occur Saturday July 24th. Registration for this (free) “Die Trockenbach Rallye” is now open. There will be prizes! All you need is a driver, a navigator, and a Porsche of any shape, size, or age. No experience or training needed, although Rallymaster Jim Robison has a slide deck about how they work up on the internet. It helped me figure out what to expect…we’ll see!

August will bring us the best of all worlds. For starters, at least one and possibly two Autocrosses will happen at Sonoma Raceway; Sunday August 22nd is confirmed but Sunday August 15th could also be in the works. Most importantly, since COVID protocols have now been relaxed, we will be able to provide instruction and loaner helmets, so this is your chance to come out and have a fantastic day with friends really exploring your Porsche’s handling in the safest, least-stressful environment possible. Just beforehand on Saturday August 14th we will return to the Maple Creek Winery in Yorkville along Highway 128, one of California’s great roads. Registration will open soon. Another rally (“Devil’s Gulch”) will happen on August 28th to close out the month. 

I’ve enjoyed getting to meet many of the new members at our spring tours, and I and the Board have heard your request to ensure that the tour routes are made available on iPhones, Android phones, and Garmin GPS devices. We have set up a Club Account on ridewithgps.com and will be sending out route links by email to attendees on our tours. This will allow you to use the free personal version of their app for navigation instructions during a tour, even if there is no cell service!

For those of you who are enjoying (or contemplating) this year’s seriously fun events, I invite you to participate in planning new ones for our future. Our 100% volunteer-run club does have openings on our Board that could benefit from your energy and enthusiasm. If you’d like to know more, please reach out to me directly or attend a Board meeting.

Meetings are open to all interested members on the last Tuesday of every month at 7 pm at Mary’s Pizza Shack in Novato. We will still have a Zoom option available for July, but if you come in person, dinner is always on the club – you just pay for your drink. Please see our calendar link at redwoodpca.org. for details.