Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Blue Monday Edition of SORT
As of Monday, May 2, 2022 at 6:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1973 Porsche 914 2019 Ford Ranger XLT 1957 Chevrolet Suburban
If my parents had made a lot of money this car would have been my high school graduation present. If I had made a lot of money this would have been my retirement present to myself. If my godparents had made a lot of money they would have bought this new as a gift for my parents.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 1933 Ford Highboy Roadster Sold for $31,000 on 4/29/22
Off-Road: 1974 International Harvester Scout II Bid to $29,000 on 4/28/22
Touring: 1963 Jaguar MK II Sold for $31,750 on 4/28/22

GCN

While we don’t cycle as much as we used to, we still like to watch the professionals do it. Every July since in the early 90’s we have watched the Tour de France on whatever network has shown it. Probably for the last decade or so we have subscribed to NBC Sports Gold, the most recent home of the Tour de France 3-week grand tour.

Along with the Tour de France NBC Sports Gold showed several other races as well, from a couple of spring classic one day events, to a couple of week long races like the Tour Down Under in Australia and Paris-Nice in France. We have also been able to watch the Vuelta a España, one of the three other 3-week grand tours.

The only 3-week grand tours we have never seen is the Giro d’Italia, well, that changes this year. Turns out that Global Cycling Network, something that started in 2013 as a YouTube channel, now carries the Italian grand tour. We have signed up for the month of May for GCN+ for a mere $9 just so we can see this grand tour. They also carry tons of other races from Europe, so maybe we just might sign up for a whole ($45) so we can get all sorts of commercial free cycling content.

18.5 mile trip to the Running Y for a 3 mile walk.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 18

 

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Purple People Eater Edition of SORT
As of Monday, April 25, 2022 at 6:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1933 Ford Highboy Roadster 1974 International Harvester Scout II 1963 Jaguar MK II
I don’t think that I would actually want to own any of these cars, but once I stumbled on to the “Only a Mother Could Love” purple Jag, I just had to do a color themed option.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for, or bid to, if the reserve was not met.
Sports: 1999 Mazda MX-5 Miata 10th-Anniversary Edition Sold for $16,750 on 4/23/22
Off-Road: 1979 Ford Bronco Ranger XLT Free Wheeling Sold for $48,250 on 4/19/22
Touring: 1954 Dodge Coronet Suburban Wagon Bid to $13,000 on 4/19/22

Another Weekend Shot To Hell

Almost Literally…

On Friday we walked up to the Sky Lakes Medical Center and got our second booster shot. And like last October’s first booster it knocked me for a loop while only striking a glancing blow on Donna. I spent most of Saturday napping and gobbling Tylenol.

Today I felt pretty good and I’m sure, just like last time, the booster shot will be a distant memory by Monday. We did get out this afternoon and do a little yard work. While Donna mowed, I put the awning up on the front porch, then whippersnipped the edges.

Afterwards we rewarded ourselves with a top down Miata drive and a stop at the neighborhood bodega for an ice cream sandwich.

12.3 miles Sunday Cruise.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 17

 

45,000 Inactive Covid Cells

Today, for the first time since our return from Santa Fe eleven days ago, or at least it sure seems like it, we got a nice day for a walk. So we took advantage of it and walked up to Sky Lakes Medical Center to get our second Covid booster shot and as a reward stopped in at Brevada Brewhouse to get a nice warm beverage and a cookie.

On a early morning Walmart run the Mini crossed the forty-five thousand mile mark.

CX-5 Wrap Up

As I said yesterday, “The rental CX-5, because it is a Mazda product, was a lot more engaging to drive than the last SUV we rented.” And while it is no Miata, it was pleasurable to drive along the backroads and its turbo engine made passing slow pokes a breeze. It is no wonder this thing is the most recommended SUV by nearly everyone who appreciates driving dynamics.

Because the CX-5 was the top of the line Grand Touring model it had all the bells and whistles. There was a Moon Roof, Navigation, Leather Seats (with 2 person memory for the driver’s), and a Powered Liftgate. The moon roof was barely used, because it was too noisy over anything over parking lots speeds. Navigation wasn’t needed because we had my phone and we brought the Garmin GPS. The leather seats were not the most comfortable because they felt hard and the bottom bolstering was a little narrow. I will admit the powered lift gate was nice, but not really necessary.

There was, of course, the usual suite of safety things, blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning, rear cross traffic alert and radar cruise control. The blind spot monitoring was worthless because I know how to adjust the side mirrors so I don’t have a blind spot. The lane departure warning was just a rumble in the steering wheel, but it was doing a lot of that because I have a tendency to apex all the corners, so I’m glad it wasn’t the type to try and keep me in the lane. The cross traffic thing did give a warning once that was helpful, but there were 2 or 3 that were not needed because I saw what was going on before it did. The radar cruise kept messing with me, for the longest time I was wondering why the car was slowing down on its own, but by the end of the trip, I was finally getting used to having to keep my foot on it, as I approached a slower moving car that I was going to overtake.

It is a good looking vehicle from almost every angle, front, rear and the three quarters are really nice. But I’m not a fan of the straight on side view though, the nose looks too long. The black one we had was probably the best looking color IMHO on the CX-5 because it makes the black plastic cladding disappear1, but black is the absolute worst color because it shows any and all the dirt/dust, plus any minor scratches show up like they are backlit.

The CX-5 is 3 feet longer, a foot and a half taller and weights a 1,000 pounds more than the Miata, but it returned a respectable 30.4 MPG. The Miata has an overall MPG of almost 28, but on a trip like this were there is a lot of steady cruise, it would probably surpass the CX-5’s figure. The one road trip feature the Miata can’t touch is cargo capacity, with the back seats folded down the CX-5 has 59.3 cubic feet or 11-1/2 times the Miata’s 5.1 cubic feet of trunk space.

Would we buy one? Never say never, but if we are going the SUV way, maybe, just maybe Mazda’s new “activity” SUV the CX-50, a variation of the CX-5, would probably be a better choice. It is a little more rugged looking and it comes in a nice blue…

CX-50

How High is High?

When I first brought the rental CX-5 home, we went for a little drive around town to get familiar with it and to give Donna a chance behind the wheel.

After we had swapped drivers back to me, Donna said, “I really like being up high.” I replied, “I don’t like it all. I’m too high, I feel like I’m going to tip over. I like being low to the ground.” With a smile on my face I said, “I can barely stand the height of the Mini.” She countered with, “The Miata is too low.”

So when we got home I broke out the tape measure. These are plus or minus an inch or so because I was eyeballing from outside the car door. The Miata measured 8″ Butt To Ground, the Mini came in at 16″ and the CX-5 registered a whopping 25″ of BTG.

On Monday’s we took the Miata out for a drive around town to keep the battery fresh. Today, because it is 4/20, I used the Miata to run to the cannabis store and then later a trip to Jimmy Johns to quench the munchies (just kidding, I was not under the influence then.)

17.7 miles on those three drives.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 16