Clutch me

I am super lucky to have a fantastic car in the city with me.  It's a hand-me-down from a wonderful aunt so it is a tad old, but I love it dearly.  It has a killer stereo, its sleek silver color shines in the San Francisco sun, and best of all, its convertible top lets me enjoy the brisk Bay breeze as I cruise up Highway 1.

    (My gorgeous drive to work!)

There's only one slight hitch when it comes to my cruiser.  It's got one of these:

Which can be a little bit tricky when it comes to navigating these guys which are rampant in my city of choice:

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Rewind three years to my introduction to this fabulous vehicle.  I had just graduated from Williams and my uber generous parents gifted this beauty to me the day before my ceremony.  My dad had picked it up from his sis in upstate New York, drove it to Williamstown, Massachusetts, parked it in front of my dorm and said, "Congrats on graduating.  Hope you like your present.  Good luck getting it home."  For those of you unfamiliar with my city of origin, that would be Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Normally this would be no big deal - I had driven the 16+ hour drive from Williamstown to Milwaukee and from Milwaukee to Williamstown multiple times with and without co-pilots.  I knew each of the routes by heart (including the best pit stops for road trip treats) and had done each way both with and without sleep (the latter requiring heavy amounts of Starbucks and an ample supply of Charleston Chews). 

Only problem was I didn't know how to drive stick.  Despite my inabilities, I was overjoyed by my new ride and thus spent the next few days stalling out around campus to get myself in good enough shape to get the puppy home.  Once home, I attempted to hone my stick skills learning to smooth my transition between gears, polishing my turns, and shifting to neutral when possible to avoid embarrassing stall outs.

When my car got shipped out to San Francisco, however, I was terrified.  I had learned to drive stick on roads like this: 

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And now I was going to have to drive on roads like this:

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(Literally.  I lived right at the bottom of this street.)

When the car first arrived and I was forced to drive it from the repair shop across the city to my apartment, I nearly wet my pants.  Actually I did wet my pants.  I just didn't tell anyone about it until now.  Before embarking on any drive, I studied topographic maps of the city and selected routes that avoided any and all hills.  (Note to Google Maps: you should add this capability to your app - many virgin San Francisco stick-shifters would be forever in your debt.) 

It took me nearly three months to feel comfortable driving my Saab on any street in the city and since then (I really must say) I've become pretty good.  Whenever people come to visit, I now seek out the steepest hills in the city so I can wow them with my above-average driving skills.  I revel in the opportunity to get into first from a dead stop on a steep hill.  Sometimes when I have a particularly impressionable set of passengers, I'll stop mid way up an extra steep hill, pause long enough to get their hearts racing, and then get the car climbing upwards again.  Without the emergency break.  I can't help but adore their ooooos and aaaahs. 

But my show boating (like in any good story with morals and values and all that good stuff), really came to bite me in my no-longer-damp bottom.  Driving across the Golden Gate one gorgeous afternoon, I noticed my tachometer was pushing 4 despite the fact that I had shifted into 5th gear moments before.  I shifted down and then back up, but my RPMs launched up to 5, then 6.  I eased myself off the highway and called for help: my parents of course.  They gave me the number for AAA and I began my wait for the tow truck man who would then drive me to the Saab repair man who would tell me that I had burned out my clutch which would be very expensive to replace.

$2000 later, I am driving a bit more carefully around the city.  I now have a new reason to avoid San Francisco's steepest streets.   (Note to Google Maps: the app's topography addition has a target audience larger than expected.  Begin programming ASAP!) 

While I've cleaned up my hill shifting act, if YOU come to San Francisco, I promise to treat you to some roller coaster rides that will put Space Mountain to shame.  As long as you indulge me with some stick shift skill adoration. 

xoxo

KK