I met up with my friends this morning in Livermore and we got underway at around 7:20am. One brought out his 2016 Golf R, the other his stock 2013 BRZ.
We ended up doing Mines & Del Peurto Canyon, and then the 5 up to Patterson Pass. On all three roads we had our lane to ourselves with no traffic up ahead to slow us down - isn't it incredible when that happens?
After the initial winding canyon section of Mines, as you get down into the valley sections, we noticed temperature was way colder and the scenery was covered with a thick white frost. It looked so picturesque and awesome. I checked the temperature via the dash and it reported 31f! I started quickly realizing "If the ambient temperature is 31, that means the asphalt is even colder".
We started seeing darker shiny patches on the edges of the road, and through some corners. I was leading and I think my summer 240 treadwear Toyos were hot enough from the previous section that they were still performing admirably. However, I still started backing off when I saw the black ice just to be on the safe side. My buddy in his Golf R backed completely off (despite his AWD!) and took it real easy once he saw it, we didn't even see him in the rear view anymore.
As we got closer to The Junction, I accelerated through an upward left hand turn in third gear and felt the back end slide out a bit, even though all the nannies were on. I then purposely gave it a throttle stab to feel the back end step out the other direction so I knew what I was working with and could ascertain the slipperiness level of the road. Also, to show my buddy behind me on his Michelin Primacy tires that this section was getting iffy.
We slowed our pace and then made it to The Junction and parked for a brief photo shoot and conversation before going on to the other roads. It was SO. COLD. when I was taking these photos, I was shivering!
Hope you enjoy the pics and the few bonus 100% crops of the frost
