Jay Leno’s Race through LA

Dave Zabriskie posted this link on his twitter page and that’s where I discovered this little ‘gem’. His comment was ‘if you want to race, get on a race track’. I couldn’t agree more.

More support for the car culture. I think one of the roads Leno drives on in the video is one where the infamous road rage case of the driver seriously injuring two cyclists ocurred (Laurel Canyon?). Herein lies the problem we face:

Jay Leno Races Through LA's Hidden Urban Race Track

11 replies
  1. Scott Loveless
    Scott Loveless says:

    It’s easy to make it look like Jay was going fast with camera angles and engine noises. I doubt he was being any less responsible than the average motorist in LA. However, what he has unwittingly done is encourage just about every hot-rod punk within 200 miles to time trial “Leno’s Loop”.

    To my mind the obvious answer is to schedule lots of group rides on those roads and make it as un-fun as possible for the wannabe racers.

    • Keri
      Keri says:

      This was my take on it. The video itself seems harmless because Leno’s driving doesn’t seem reckless, but what is it encouraging? It won’t occur to someone playing with the cornering ability of their car that something other than cars might use those roads. What if there’s something other than empty road around one of those blind corners?

  2. rodney
    rodney says:

    Those roads are deplorable. I’ll take Orlando’s brick paved roads before I would ride there. (….”haven’t been resurfaced since…..the 80’s”)

  3. ha1ku
    ha1ku says:

    As I watched the video, I couldn’t help but wonder “Where is all the traffic?” It’s a 6-minute video but maybe the whole round trip start to finish took a few hours LOL.

    • Laura
      Laura says:

      It also matters what day of the week. By the angle of the sun, it had to be fairly late in the day. The funny thing, I find that there really isn’t that much traffic on our roads so much as occasional congestion that’s dependent upon the particular time of day and day of the week.

      Orange Avenue near SODO on a Saturday morning is pretty much free flow, hardly any cars in sight. But is close to gridlock on a weekday around 5:05pm. LOL.

  4. Steve A
    Steve A says:

    I never thought I’d think fondly of a Mercedes! Thanks, Jay.

    BTW, after the video, there’s another that covers the “Making of” (also in the website link above). It was shot VERY early in the morning. I’ve driven those roads many times, mostly in two-seat sports cars, but a few times by bicycle. Topanga Canyon is better than Mulholland, and Latigo Canyon is better than that.

    I think they should have picked someone other than Leno to castigate. He’s a credit to the old car hobby; his cars can often be seen on “My Classic Car” on the Speed Channel. The old car hobby is something that is more akin to people that love old bikes than the doctor that attacked the two cyclists. I suspect no one reading this has ever been honked at by a Stanley Steamer, much less a Blower Bentley.

  5. Bryan
    Bryan says:

    I don’t think Jay was encouraging anything dangerous or illegal. It was just a nice clip of a great place to go for a drive, using a fantastic car.

    • Eric
      Eric says:

      Oh, Noooo. He didn’t break any laws.

      He said so in the last 10 seconds of “The making of” clip. And I am sure that you (wink, wink) believe him along with all the other people that fell off the turnip truck yesterday (to mix a metaphor).

      • Bryan
        Bryan says:

        Did you notice how smooth those corners and stops were? He wasn’t going anywhere near as fast as it looked from the low camera angle shots.

        • Laura
          Laura says:

          There’s nothing wrong with driving for pleasure and I too didn’t sense that Leno was speeding through the roads…however, why call it a ‘race’ when it’s not?

  6. Eric
    Eric says:

    We have many “Hidden Racetracks” in the Orlando area. The kids know where they are. Forsyth Road is one of them.

    One of those “kids” killed a youngster on his bicycle that thought he was safe by riding on a sidewalk. This was the second time this driver killed someone — two people killed by the time the “kid” was 22 — imagine that.

    http://www.clickorlando.com/news/14963312/detail.html

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