We went to Laguna Seca for the 2006 MotoGP US event in Monterey, can't believe how many things went wrong today.
- I got a ticket passing a pickup on Highway 17 at the end of an uphill stretch with a perfect blind spot for cop hideout.
- I forgot my wallet in the car when I parked the car offsite and took the bus to Laguna Seca, me and my wife had to rely on a $20 bill for the entire day.
- A track worker gave me the wrong direction and we ended up walking all the way around the infield area just to get pass the VIP-only area to get to turn 9-10, which should have been a 100-metre walk under the sun.
- The race was good, lasted about 50 minutes. But we waited for 2 hours when there was absolutely nothing going on on the track. Kind of strange for a Laguna Seca event.
- After the race, 100,000 people packed in lines waiting to get out under to summer afternoon sun of California, for 3 straight hours without any explanation. In the meantime, 3 helicopters flew dozens of flights lifting VIPs from the track VIP suites to their hotels.
- 6:30pm, 3 hours after the end of the GP race, people finally started boarding the promised buses, before that half a dozen have passed out and dragged out of the anxious crowd waiting to get out.
- 7:00pm, 3 and half hours after the end of the GP race, we started driving home from Monterey, only to hit a major traffic jam on north-bound Highway 1 only 1 minute after taking off. Traffic goes about 2mph all the way to 156, where thousands of the cars switch to 156 and immediately created a total gridlock on 156-101.
- Traffic did not stay well for long. About 5 miles to the 1-17 exchange at Santa Cruz, traffic came to a grinding halt - close to zero mile an hour. Thousands of cars inched to the 17 on ramp, only to find that 17 is completely stuffed up, at 9:00pm!
- We had bad experience on 17 before getting stuck in a traffic jam because there is absolutely nowhere to go except falling off the mountain. So we quickly decided to switch to Highway 1 north, going on a dark and winding costal highway is much better than imagining a restroom in a 10-mile deadlock on 17.
- But things did not go smooth after that either. As we went past 84 and heading towards 92 for the final switch to 280 back home, there was an amber alert on AM1610. We tuned in the radio, there were rocks falling off the hills on Highway 1 only 10 miles north of 92 and it is closed. Now all cars, northbound and sourthboud, turn to 92, which is another absolutely hopless road for a traffic jam - nowhere to go.
- At 10pm, traffic on northboudn Highway 1 came to another halt as we approach 92. Half Moon Bay, a quite little seaside town, now becomes stuffed with converging traffic and thousands of angry, tired drivers, pissed motorcyclists and dozens of police cars running sirens for no apparent reason. Total chaos.
- We filled up with gas and decided to head back to 84, a more challenging alternative to 92 where we hope not many drivers would dare to consider on a pitch-dark night. It turned out to be as we wished, there were only a handful of vheichles taking 84 and the drive was fast and peaceful, until a van cut in front of me at the only stop sign at Skyline Blvd. For the first time ever, I did the drive on 84 East downhill to Woodside without braking, at 1/3 of the speed limit. I had to think about wierd things to keep myself from falling asleep behind the brake lights of the "moving" van.
- Back home at 11:40pm, more than 8 hours after we packed and left at the end of the GP race. 8 hours is enought time to drive to Mexico, or a ROUND trip to Tahoe. We had sub-1-mph traffic jamS in every section of the route. That's the result.
Santa Cruz Police Department is harvesting revenue today. There were like dozens of speed traps all around the major road heading towards Laguna Seca and people are getting pulled oever all the way. Because they figured that there will be 100,000 people coming to this event and most of them are out of state. I have not seen that many pullovers in the past YEAR. However when people passed out due to dehidration waiting 3 hours for the bus, the officer only told us to wait it out.
They (whoever they are who organized the event) do not have a clue on how to handle a big event in a small place. They closed all gates of the track and left only one, 6 feet wide temporary bridge, as the only way into and out of the entire Laguna Seca area (except for the helicopter rides for VIPs, of course). They sold the tickets, they know how many people are coming on which day, and they have absolutely no excuse to claim that they under-estimated the flow. Toward the end of the 3rd stright hour wating under the sun with another 99,999 people, there was almost a riot because every person was frustrated and angry. The organizer gave no explaination of the 3 hour heldup.
We are not going to another Laguna Seca event again.
