Reaching for the Sky
American Heritage Dictionary defines “addiction” as follow:
ad·dic·tion (ə-dĭk'shən)
n.
-
- Compulsive physiological and psychological need for a habit-forming substance: a drug used in the treatment of heroin addiction.
- An instance of this: a person with multiple chemical addictions.
-
- The condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or or involved in something.
- An instance of this: had an addiction for fast cars.
I’d like to add one more instance of addiction if I could, the instance that I personally have; an addiction for driving through mountain passes.
Photo Gallery
To satiate such longing, my girlfriend and I decided to head for The Rockies for my long weekend getaway. I didn’t want to drive my Audi S4 Avant to the Rockies as it would be quite a drive from my hometown, San Francisco. But, if we fly, how will we ensure that we get a fun car to drive through the stratospheric mountain passes?
Fortunately, Hertz at Denver International Airport offers Audi A4, A6, and Q7. My first choice was Q7 because I’d like to experience the Q7 on mountain roads. Unfortunately, my first choice was not available. The Q7 is becoming an icon in this region and Hertz doesn’t have enough of them to keep up with the demand.
My familiarity to the smell, the touchy feel of the buttons, the pleasing white and red instrument glow, the comfort of the sporty seats, and the driving characteristic of the 2007 A4 2.0 T made me feel right at home. There was almost no adjustment I had to make, except for the seating position, the rear view and side mirrors. The car fit like a pair of very comfortable wool winter gloves.
“Follow the I-70 West and you will get to the Rockies,” the Hertz booth attendant answered my question.
Georgetown
Our first stop after passing the boring part of I-70 was Georgetown at exit 228. Georgetown in the modern days is a little quaint tourist town with crafts stores, convenient shops, family restaurants, and cafes. Many people visit this town to go back in time to the middle of 19th century. At the beginning, there were just miners’ hives filling the area. Then, it became one of the largest silver mining districts in the state. As the population grew, Victorian structures sprang up in the valley.
The streets are narrow and leafy. Some neglected once-beauty Victorian homes give the ghostly feel to this town. Antique store signs, hanged flowers, eclectic gables, rustic wooden barrels and horse carts, and layers of dust and spider webs give the wild-wild west ambience. Tourists flock to this town to enjoy friendly chat with the locals and store owners, passing time on the benches along the main business ambrosial street. It was just another relaxing late-summer day in a historic cowboy-mining town.
Just outside the town center, abandoned mines and rusted archaic equipments are relics; reminders of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the past. While I was soaking this ghostly mining site, my mind drifted to a Hollywood scene: It was a hot simmering summer day. The wind pushed tumbleweeds on a dusty street. The street was eerie empty. A few horses were drinking water from the wooden tub in front of a saloon. People were peeping through the windows and around building corners. Two sweaty scruffy cowboys were standing 30 feet apart. They were staring at each other tensely. The only thing one could hear was the gusty wind.
Loveland Pass
After a brief stop at Georgetown, we headed west on I-70. The peppy 200 hp 2.0T FSI engine begged me to unleash its 207 lb-ft of torque. The RPM rested confidently at around 2200 rpm when we cruised at 80 mph! The B5 A4 Quattro 150 hp 1.8 T idles at around 3600 rpm and the B6 S4 340 hp 4.2 V8 idles at around 2500 rpm to maintain the same speed.
I was expecting an up surge of rpm and a brief deceleration when I triggered the kick-down button. None of those happened. Instead, this latest generation of Continuous Variable Transmission (CVT) enabled the rpm to linearly rise toward 6000. Without any hesitation, the car rapidly approached the triple-digits speed. As I eased the accelerator, the rpm went down linearly to a place where the engine could maintain the speed I desired.
I was looking for a road where I could let this 2.0 T play; in the similar manner I always look for a large patch of green to let my two American Eskimos play. My longing for exhilarating driving was answered by the Loveland Pass highway sign. Anything with the word “Pass” in this mountain region means driving ecstasy. Without a GPS, I took the exit ramp. I didn’t care where this US-6 West would lead me. All I knew, I was about to experience the mountain road that would wake up all my senses.
Route US-6 is a wide nicely paved ascending two-lane
undivided highway with ample emergency lanes on both sides. The highest point
at the pass is 11990 ft. I mesmerized the picturesque view of the mountains and
valleys before me. After a few tries, I finally found the right pattern to
shift the seven speed Tiptronic mode
of this CVT transmission.
I eased the accelerator, and occasional braked gently, before the apexes to
make sure I had the proper speed - not too fast but not too slow. Then, I
accelerated smoothly as soon as I cleared the apexes. I settled into this
hypnotic rhythm of accelerating and decelerating to get the best line. It was
blissful!
My moment of bliss was interrupted by an out of breath heavy truck carrying sand. I waited till I got to a relatively straight portion of this perching road with the unguarded abysmal cliff on one side. After making sure that there was no oncoming traffic, I down-shifted to second, floor-ed the accelerator, and the car sprinted like a cheetah that just spotted its prey. As soon as I cleared the long heavy truck, I moved back to my lane, shifted the gear to three and then four, and continued the increasing up hill acceleration till I saw the 20 mph yellow blind-turn warning sign.
The vista point at the Loveland pass offers the breathtaking grandiose view. No matter which direction I looked, I saw hundreds of mountains and they are weaving at each other. I saw roads in the distance zigzagging downward on the ridges, brows, and valleys of these never-ending-weaving mountains. The mountains are bigger than huge. They have different climates and different vegetations grow at different level. Near the top, the mountains are relatively barren; no big trees grow at that high elevation.
After clearing the G-force producing hairpin just after the pass, I was greeted by the view of a large radius descending carousel turn. I could not ask for more. Looking downward, I could see the road turns into switchbacks for another half a mile or so. The best part was that I didn’t see any car coming up.
I shifted to third to pick up some speed after the slow-but-G-force-producing hairpin turn. I entered the carousel with enough speed. I held the steering wheel at the right angle for this turn and steered the car by varying the power I transferred to the rubber patches. The G-force pulled me to the left, the tires started to make that soft screeching sound. I eased the power delivery so the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) didn’t take over my driving. After clearing the carousel, I shifted to four to pick up some more speed to devour the upcoming switchbacks.
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Vail
We were pleasantly surprised to find Austria on the way to Aspen when we decided to make an ice-cream stop. Vail, a ski resort town, had to be designed by a home-sick Austrian architect. It features the wooden Austrian bridge that goes over a creek, narrow roads, Alpine houses and condos with ornate shields, crests, and flags and colorful and fragrant flowers on the windows.
At around two thousand dollars per square feet, I could own a tiny piece of a small Austrian ski village replica. The dining options are stupendous in this town. There are many great places to fulfill the craving for International delicacies; casual Mexican, gourmet French, classic Continental, timeless Italian, old-fashioned steakhouses, Asian fusion, and Swiss fondue. If I were an avid skier and I lived here, I would ski down the slope to my favorite restaurants an lounges; unclipping the skis would be too much of a hassle for me.
Glenwood Canyon
Everyone should drive through Glenwood Canyon on I-70. It is not just the thin air that takes your breath away, but the view really makes your lungs run on overdrive. No matter where I looked, I was surrounded by giant rocks. Being in this canyon, I felt as if I were viewing Ansel Adams pictures in an IMAX theater in color.
Unfortunately, I could not really find good angles to take pictures at this canyon because I had to stay with the flow of traffic. The only place to stop is the emergency lane, but I was too busy enjoying the drive on this Autobahn like highway. The highway in this canyon has elevated sections, salivating switchbacks, and a tunnel that borough through earth. It gave me a new appreciation for civil engineering.
The late afternoon sun and the clouds created the most beautiful shadow show. Even the best Hollywood special effect team would not be able to reproduce the feeling of awe that I got from this majestic scenery.
Aspen
Don’t get fooled by the bland brick building and simple Victorian architectures around town. Aspen is very opulent; the epitome of luxury, style, and grace. Strolling down the streets, big fashion names that fill Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Fifth Ave in Manhattan, Avenue Montaigne in Paris, and Bond Street in London are well represented here. Arts Galleries that cater to the strangest tastes are as common as Toyota in Tokyo.
I never heard the “organic contemporary style” term till I opened the Aspen Home Design magazine. The style, according to the magazine, should include classic, clean, and simple sinuous lines. It incorporates pieces crafted from reclaimed wood and recycled materials. Furthermore, the style uses fabrics that utilize vegetable dyes. I would remember that for future reference. Either I was way behind with my vocabulary or this town really leads the bleeding edge of eco-friendly, organic fashion and design.
The outdoor restaurants brim with conversations till late into the nights. Many chefs graduated from the best culinary schools in the world come here to satiate the palate of high powered politicians, Hollywood celebrities, and Wall Street executives who frequently visit this place with their private jets. The late summer nights are comfortable enough for people to enjoy five-star dining with the backdrop of moonlit mountain slopes.
The antique furniture, crystal chandeliers, rich leathers, and posh wooden paneling that characterize the interior design of the British Empire golden era are the standard at many sheik accommodations around town. Feeling tired from the journey that started at 5 am in San Francisco, we gave our A4 car key to the valet attendant at St. Regis resort.
Independence Pass
The gray gigantic curtain of rain hid the Independence pass. The smell of water filled the air. The temperature was dropping quickly. The dark shadow of the thick heavy clouds slowly enveloped the mountain sides. At the bottom of the valley, the condition was the opposite. The flat bottom was basking goldenly in the bright sunshine. I downshifted to two, the engine revs up towards 2500 rpm, and I applied the entire pack of 200 ponies and the car climbed up effortlessly toward the dark shadow.
Photo Gallery
Earlier when we just left Aspen, we passed a beautiful dreamy forest. Skinny trees with lush green leaves stand in pack formation on both sides of the road. Green trees, gray asphalt, yellow road lines, and blue sky were the only things the eyes could see; simple, but yet serene and tranquil.
As the cars at the bottom of the valley were becoming as small as the grains of sand in my field of vision, we passed a treacherous area where giant rocks literary hanging above the narrow single lane road. This narrow road perches on the brow of the mountain with the abysmal cliff. I had to pull into the small crevice in the rocky mountain wall, to let an oncoming microbus to pass.
Giant rain drops splattered on the windshield into tiny drops. As we were approaching the top, sleet from the previous night hail reminded me of the frigid temperature outside. The dual zone climate control saved me from arguing with my girlfriend about the ideal interior temperature.
At the Independence Pass, a few people were walking with their umbrellas and raincoats toward the vista point. We parked the car and started walking. Quickly we ran out of breath. At 12,095 feet, the air at this Continental Divide is thin. The 2.0 turbo engine didn’t think so. As I snaked the Audi up the mountains, the 2.0T didn’t feel what my lungs felt at that moment. It flowed, delicately and precisely.
This car doesn’t have a launch control program that can take me from 0 to 60 in the same amount of time I mistakenly gulp swimming pool water. It doesn’t have the ostentatious eight exhaust pipes in the back. It doesn’t have oversized fenders that can fit tractor-wide tires. It doesn’t have a deafening growl that makes a librarian think the car has a broken muffler. It doesn’t have the amount of horsepower to pull the Space Shuttle from the hangar to the launch pad. But the fact that those attributes are missing makes this Audi so great. It is not over the top and pretentious. It is a just practical car that wakes up my senses and gives me the tingling sensation.
Despite the freezing and wet climate, we soaked the panoramic view of undulating mountains. I admired the scene before me. I made a mistake not to take enough pictures at this beautiful scenery as my mind was so captivated by the beauty of splendid rolling mountains, palm-sweating steep cliffs, razor-sharp jagged mountain tops, abysmal canyons, and serpentine roads below me.
Reaching for the Sky
Driving back to Hertz, I felt content and fulfilled knowing that my addiction was satiated. I savored the blissful feeling I had while we were at the top of the mountains, the moment where I felt I could almost touch the sky. I was just there with no past and no future. Immersing in the beauty around me, I felt buoyant, refreshed, and rejuvenated.
Over the years, I have enjoyed several Audis as my daily driver; B4 90, B5 A4, and B6 S4. Every B platform generation outperforms the one before. It is a testament of Audi perseverance for progress and excellence.
Now, I am looking forward to the drive new B8 A4. I can’t wait to find out what the white coat engineers in Ingolstadt have improved upon the already impressive and satisfying feat of engineering. It requires a lot of diligent, creativity, and ingenuity to achieve excellence. It requires unwavering determination, vision, and passion to consistently and continually outdo one’s excellence achievements.
Boarding the San Francisco bound United Boeing 737, my mind drifted to the conversation I had with one of my elementary school teachers. She said, “Dream big, and reach for the sky!"
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