Saturday, October 31, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Wednesday, we left around 4, and drove down to Knoxville. Easy drive, and always enjoyable in the mountainous regions. The Subaru gobbles up the miles and hills without even an effort. Hotel in a small downtown Knoxville area for the night. Thursday, for sake of adventure, we headed south east on I-40 through some very hilly, curvy roads cresting at almost 3,000 feet above sea level. That was fun, and it took us to Clemson to lunch time destination of a Jack In The Box resturant. Never ate there, but heard good things. Wasn't bad, actually. Could explore the menu some if there was one locally. From there, it was down I-85 and on to Braselton, Georgia.
We arrived at the famous Road Atlanta track to park in the infield, set up chairs and enjoyed practice sessions and qualifying. Did some exploring and walking around. It's a very scenic place and having access to most everything is quite nice. Thursday night we headed back and then drove around and around and around looking for a nice dinner place. There were lots of resturants, but all the same name brand cookie cutter establishments that dot the country. It's always nice to find a local place for some grub. Unfortunetly, we did stop into two sports bars, but both had rather large "smoking allowed" signage out front. I don't want my meal to taste like nicotine. We ended up enjoying a pizza at a little sidewalk cafe next to a grocery store. It was food.
Friday, we returned to the track to watch more racing action, met up with some familar faces, and generally had a great time. It was HOT. Above 85 in both temperature and humidity. Our choice for gyros from a track side vendor proved not a wise option, but we worked through it. We left just after 5pm's last race, and headed to finally finding some local grub near the track. A steakhouse that had a 10 free wings coupon with the proof of a race day ticket. Back for a much needed hotel shower, and then to a low end movie theatre to pay high prices to watch "Inglorious Bastards". A pretty good movie.
Saturday, we were up early, and greeted to finally cooler temperatures, but with a constant drizzle. We arrived at the two hours before the beginning of the 10 hour long race, but found that the track over sold the infield parking passes, and we were turned away. It was most annoying, as we had to park in an over flow lot and make the walk to our seats. We enjoyed the start of the race as the rain was off and on, and there was drying around noon. Simi and I took a nap in the car around 2pm and by 3 were were hungry and ready to head out, knowing the track food is very expensive, but is lacking in the quality control department.
We left the track at about 4pm, and made our way to Subway for some warm meatball subs. The rain begain to come down in buckets and the thunder and lightening then stopped the race for the safety of the fans and course workers. We headed back around 6 to find it still red flagged, and everyone leaving. Parked on a hillside, and wandering around in the rain it was a lost cause, so we decided to march out with the rest around 7pm. Confirmation that the race was canceled occured at 8pm, and so it was some dinner and back to the hotel to watch college football.
Sunday, up and out to make the 9 hour drive home. Stopping along the way to stretch the legs, do some shopping, lunch, and such we arrive home to air out the soggy items, and begin the laundry marathon.
Thanks for reading.
We arrived at the famous Road Atlanta track to park in the infield, set up chairs and enjoyed practice sessions and qualifying. Did some exploring and walking around. It's a very scenic place and having access to most everything is quite nice. Thursday night we headed back and then drove around and around and around looking for a nice dinner place. There were lots of resturants, but all the same name brand cookie cutter establishments that dot the country. It's always nice to find a local place for some grub. Unfortunetly, we did stop into two sports bars, but both had rather large "smoking allowed" signage out front. I don't want my meal to taste like nicotine. We ended up enjoying a pizza at a little sidewalk cafe next to a grocery store. It was food.
Friday, we returned to the track to watch more racing action, met up with some familar faces, and generally had a great time. It was HOT. Above 85 in both temperature and humidity. Our choice for gyros from a track side vendor proved not a wise option, but we worked through it. We left just after 5pm's last race, and headed to finally finding some local grub near the track. A steakhouse that had a 10 free wings coupon with the proof of a race day ticket. Back for a much needed hotel shower, and then to a low end movie theatre to pay high prices to watch "Inglorious Bastards". A pretty good movie.
Saturday, we were up early, and greeted to finally cooler temperatures, but with a constant drizzle. We arrived at the two hours before the beginning of the 10 hour long race, but found that the track over sold the infield parking passes, and we were turned away. It was most annoying, as we had to park in an over flow lot and make the walk to our seats. We enjoyed the start of the race as the rain was off and on, and there was drying around noon. Simi and I took a nap in the car around 2pm and by 3 were were hungry and ready to head out, knowing the track food is very expensive, but is lacking in the quality control department.
We left the track at about 4pm, and made our way to Subway for some warm meatball subs. The rain begain to come down in buckets and the thunder and lightening then stopped the race for the safety of the fans and course workers. We headed back around 6 to find it still red flagged, and everyone leaving. Parked on a hillside, and wandering around in the rain it was a lost cause, so we decided to march out with the rest around 7pm. Confirmation that the race was canceled occured at 8pm, and so it was some dinner and back to the hotel to watch college football.
Sunday, up and out to make the 9 hour drive home. Stopping along the way to stretch the legs, do some shopping, lunch, and such we arrive home to air out the soggy items, and begin the laundry marathon.
Thanks for reading.
Monday, September 14, 2009
The Trip to Nationals
Friday around noon, we headed to St Louis. A stop half way to stretch and top off the tank, as the Subaru was good for about 3-3 ½ hours of driving before it became empty and thirsty. Good for about 26mpg pulling the tire trailer at 74mph. Upon arrival in dusk of Friday night, we pulled into the complex of Simi’s cousins to find the license plate and tail light of the trailer slightly mangled. It took me a second, but then I realized that the bikes, once very securely mounted to the rear of the trailer itself were missing.
A great way to start the trip, and I had a sour note in my stomach, not at the missing bikes but of the irresponsibility of them laying in the road somewhere and possibly causing an accident. I and a cousin back tracked and less than a mile from our destination, there the bikes were lying on the side of the road. A sigh of relief, but inspection yielded some good damages and the rack was broken. Prior trips with the same setup were successful but possibly extra bumpy roads and UV light fatigued plastic D-rings that tightened the straps gave out. It was a little stressful first leg of the trip.
Saturday afternoon we drove out and did some shopping for the Saturday night baby shower - in part of why we made the St. Louis pit stop. A new rear rim was secured at Dick’s Sporting Goods as we couldn’t readily find much else around. Heavy rain dampened the shopping, but we continued on. Late Saturday afternoon, the skies cleared and we found our way downtown to visit the famous Gateway to the West, the St. Louis Arch. Massive the arch is in person, it also has a nice museum of the West under ground, and a tram / roller coaster / elevator setup that has a 4 foot by 4 foot by 4 foot cube that uncomfortably seats 5 for a four minute ride to the top. From the top, the views are amazing from the shoe box sized windows, and it’s certainly worth the experience.
Saturday night was the baby shower, a total surprise for the mother to be. There were some games and great food though out the evening. Simi did a great job as the master of ceremonies. Saturday night wound down around 11pm and it was our best intent to get some sleep as the alarm was going off early on Sunday.
Sunday morning, the trailer bearings were squirted with an extra dose of grease to keep them happy and we then did another drive down to Fort Smith, Arkansas. It’s a very boring drive from St Louis to Joplin Missouri, and then turns to quite a scenic drive from Joplin down to Fort Smith. We arrived no worries to the house of my brother, his wife, and their son all playing in the front yard. Hungry for lunch we all caught up at a local Mexican place. More relaxing, attempted bike repair, and lots of just hanging out and playing Legos and Nintento Wii were the recipe for Sunday and on into Monday. It was very nice.
Monday evening we said our fond fair well and shot across to Norman, Oklahoma. A quick 3 hour drive and we arrived for dinner on the campus of Oklahoma University. The campus is likely that of the nicest I’ve ever seen, and a local recommendation of a pad Thai restaurant creatively called “Pad Thai” treated us to an outstanding late Monday night dinner.
Tuesday morning I ventured to the friendliest bike shop I’ve ever been to source the remaining repairs from our little accident. Sunday all shops were closed, and again on Monday, the holiday no luck then either. Parts acquired, and cousin picked up and we headed to Oklahoma City for lunch at a great Italian restaurant in an area called Bricktown. We stopped by the Oklahoma City bombing memorial. From there, back to Norman to help out with some supplies for our cousin, and then we packed up, and headed due north to Salina, Kansas for the night. A rest stop that put us just sky of arriving to Lincoln, Nebraska.
Wednesday morning, up early, and finished the final leg of the trip, arriving in Lincoln for the 2009 SCCA Solo National Championship. This is an event that draws in about 1,200 competitors every year, the largest on the globe! The event is located at the Lincoln Airport as it’s a central spot of the country for everyone from each coast to make the journey. Vast expanses of runway and airplane parking meant it was area enough to hold everyone, and then some.
We unloaded our gear in parking spot 1433 just as rains began. Saw some familiar faces and prepared the car for Thursday and Friday’s competition. Rain let up, and so some time was spent finally repairing the bikes, which was for good measure. Our paddock spot was easily half a mile away from the course itself. This was a massive distance to cover if something was forgotten and the jog back was required. Thankfully the bikes were worth trudging along, despite their previous decision to not want to attend. Wednesday night we went down to the heart of Lincoln to find great food in an area called the Haymarket and finished the evening with a couple scoops of homemade ice cream.
Thursday morning, extra early, we headed to the Lincoln airport and Simi’s group was out in the first heat. She drove great, muscling the car on an unfamiliar surface on a vast, fast, and very challenging West course. She pushed it just that sliver to much and hit cones on two of her three runs. She had a great first time effort on the National stage.
My group, 46 cars strong ran in the 4th heat of the day. A feeler run first out had me way behind so going for it on my 2nd run, I had a time that could have been in the top ten, but I hit one of the orange cones that line the course. Hitting a cone is a two second penalty. My third run I needed a clean run, so I dialed it back a tinge and finished day one in 18th spot. Fantastic pizza and extra sleep were in order for the end of Thursday.
Up extra early again on Friday, and Simi went out and chipped away, constantly improving, and she climbed up a rung on the ladder. She did an awesome job for her first time out. My group was up later in the day. My first run, again the scouting run didn’t do much for me. My second run the announcer exclaimed I’d catapulted back into the top ten (again), but as the third and final runs finished, I couldn’t find any more speed and my ranking slipped back to 16th. It was a good showing for an under prepared car, and I was just half a second away from securing a trophy.
Friday night we repeated the pizza of the previous day as its taste was worth another round. The tire trailer was treated to an additional grease application to the bearings, and everything was loaded up. Our bikes were placed in a storage bin atop a car hauler of local friends who offered to take our bikes back for us to Columbus which vastly improved our comfort for the drive home.
Saturday we were up early for a record fourth day in a row and 13 hours and three tanks of fuel later, we arrived home Saturday night. A bit stir crazy cooped up in the car, but nice to sleep in on Sunday knowing we were home. Sunday we unloaded the trailer, did laundry, took some naps, and got things back in order for a return to the grind.
Thanks for reading.
Pix are available here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Simi.Ritch
A great way to start the trip, and I had a sour note in my stomach, not at the missing bikes but of the irresponsibility of them laying in the road somewhere and possibly causing an accident. I and a cousin back tracked and less than a mile from our destination, there the bikes were lying on the side of the road. A sigh of relief, but inspection yielded some good damages and the rack was broken. Prior trips with the same setup were successful but possibly extra bumpy roads and UV light fatigued plastic D-rings that tightened the straps gave out. It was a little stressful first leg of the trip.
Saturday afternoon we drove out and did some shopping for the Saturday night baby shower - in part of why we made the St. Louis pit stop. A new rear rim was secured at Dick’s Sporting Goods as we couldn’t readily find much else around. Heavy rain dampened the shopping, but we continued on. Late Saturday afternoon, the skies cleared and we found our way downtown to visit the famous Gateway to the West, the St. Louis Arch. Massive the arch is in person, it also has a nice museum of the West under ground, and a tram / roller coaster / elevator setup that has a 4 foot by 4 foot by 4 foot cube that uncomfortably seats 5 for a four minute ride to the top. From the top, the views are amazing from the shoe box sized windows, and it’s certainly worth the experience.
Saturday night was the baby shower, a total surprise for the mother to be. There were some games and great food though out the evening. Simi did a great job as the master of ceremonies. Saturday night wound down around 11pm and it was our best intent to get some sleep as the alarm was going off early on Sunday.
Sunday morning, the trailer bearings were squirted with an extra dose of grease to keep them happy and we then did another drive down to Fort Smith, Arkansas. It’s a very boring drive from St Louis to Joplin Missouri, and then turns to quite a scenic drive from Joplin down to Fort Smith. We arrived no worries to the house of my brother, his wife, and their son all playing in the front yard. Hungry for lunch we all caught up at a local Mexican place. More relaxing, attempted bike repair, and lots of just hanging out and playing Legos and Nintento Wii were the recipe for Sunday and on into Monday. It was very nice.
Monday evening we said our fond fair well and shot across to Norman, Oklahoma. A quick 3 hour drive and we arrived for dinner on the campus of Oklahoma University. The campus is likely that of the nicest I’ve ever seen, and a local recommendation of a pad Thai restaurant creatively called “Pad Thai” treated us to an outstanding late Monday night dinner.
Tuesday morning I ventured to the friendliest bike shop I’ve ever been to source the remaining repairs from our little accident. Sunday all shops were closed, and again on Monday, the holiday no luck then either. Parts acquired, and cousin picked up and we headed to Oklahoma City for lunch at a great Italian restaurant in an area called Bricktown. We stopped by the Oklahoma City bombing memorial. From there, back to Norman to help out with some supplies for our cousin, and then we packed up, and headed due north to Salina, Kansas for the night. A rest stop that put us just sky of arriving to Lincoln, Nebraska.
Wednesday morning, up early, and finished the final leg of the trip, arriving in Lincoln for the 2009 SCCA Solo National Championship. This is an event that draws in about 1,200 competitors every year, the largest on the globe! The event is located at the Lincoln Airport as it’s a central spot of the country for everyone from each coast to make the journey. Vast expanses of runway and airplane parking meant it was area enough to hold everyone, and then some.
We unloaded our gear in parking spot 1433 just as rains began. Saw some familiar faces and prepared the car for Thursday and Friday’s competition. Rain let up, and so some time was spent finally repairing the bikes, which was for good measure. Our paddock spot was easily half a mile away from the course itself. This was a massive distance to cover if something was forgotten and the jog back was required. Thankfully the bikes were worth trudging along, despite their previous decision to not want to attend. Wednesday night we went down to the heart of Lincoln to find great food in an area called the Haymarket and finished the evening with a couple scoops of homemade ice cream.
Thursday morning, extra early, we headed to the Lincoln airport and Simi’s group was out in the first heat. She drove great, muscling the car on an unfamiliar surface on a vast, fast, and very challenging West course. She pushed it just that sliver to much and hit cones on two of her three runs. She had a great first time effort on the National stage.
My group, 46 cars strong ran in the 4th heat of the day. A feeler run first out had me way behind so going for it on my 2nd run, I had a time that could have been in the top ten, but I hit one of the orange cones that line the course. Hitting a cone is a two second penalty. My third run I needed a clean run, so I dialed it back a tinge and finished day one in 18th spot. Fantastic pizza and extra sleep were in order for the end of Thursday.
Up extra early again on Friday, and Simi went out and chipped away, constantly improving, and she climbed up a rung on the ladder. She did an awesome job for her first time out. My group was up later in the day. My first run, again the scouting run didn’t do much for me. My second run the announcer exclaimed I’d catapulted back into the top ten (again), but as the third and final runs finished, I couldn’t find any more speed and my ranking slipped back to 16th. It was a good showing for an under prepared car, and I was just half a second away from securing a trophy.
Friday night we repeated the pizza of the previous day as its taste was worth another round. The tire trailer was treated to an additional grease application to the bearings, and everything was loaded up. Our bikes were placed in a storage bin atop a car hauler of local friends who offered to take our bikes back for us to Columbus which vastly improved our comfort for the drive home.
Saturday we were up early for a record fourth day in a row and 13 hours and three tanks of fuel later, we arrived home Saturday night. A bit stir crazy cooped up in the car, but nice to sleep in on Sunday knowing we were home. Sunday we unloaded the trailer, did laundry, took some naps, and got things back in order for a return to the grind.
Thanks for reading.
Pix are available here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Simi.Ritch
Day 2 of Competing
Observations again...
1) People sink a lot of time and money into this sport!
2) People take rules very seriously and the amount of protests that happened I found to be disheartening... makes me wonder
3) I like slaloms
4) Walking a 60+ second course sucks
5) I'm totally jealous of people who can drive borrowed cars (that are VERY different then their own) and still drive them so well that they become national champions.
6) When you think of how close the times in some classes were it makes you think how crazy F1 is... that the times for all 20 of those cars around a WHOLE track are so close.
7) OVR had about 20 people go to Nationals from the region, that is pretty great!
8) Working a corner for 2 hours in 80 degrees with 90% humidity while cars (GP & STS) break down over and over again is really rough.
9) I think going to Nationals is something any one should try at least once to see the craziness that is possible!
10) We need to figure out what vehicle we will be driving in 2010!
1) People sink a lot of time and money into this sport!
2) People take rules very seriously and the amount of protests that happened I found to be disheartening... makes me wonder
3) I like slaloms
4) Walking a 60+ second course sucks
5) I'm totally jealous of people who can drive borrowed cars (that are VERY different then their own) and still drive them so well that they become national champions.
6) When you think of how close the times in some classes were it makes you think how crazy F1 is... that the times for all 20 of those cars around a WHOLE track are so close.
7) OVR had about 20 people go to Nationals from the region, that is pretty great!
8) Working a corner for 2 hours in 80 degrees with 90% humidity while cars (GP & STS) break down over and over again is really rough.
9) I think going to Nationals is something any one should try at least once to see the craziness that is possible!
10) We need to figure out what vehicle we will be driving in 2010!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Day 1 of Competing
Basically just going to list observations because we're both too tired to actually think in comprehensive sentences
1. Humidity SUCKS... it's HOT here and sticky!
2. THANK YOU MIKE for letting us borrow you rear suspension; the car was so much HAPPIER!
3. Cones JUMP out of the course at your car (at least during my runs)
4. Aaron's decently competitive in STU; wonder what fresher less "done for" tires may have led to; during his 3rd (fastest / clean run) they were getting squirmy in the heat; during his fastest raw time run a cone jumped out :(
5. The whole idea of driving 13+ hours for appx 6 minutes of racing makes you question your sanity; especially while working course in the middle of the afternoon heat and the GP cars keep breaking down.
6. It's nice to have BIG HUGE wide open courses! The car was happy in 3rd gear in MANY spots on the course.
7. I am totally going to do EVO school in 2010; I am just not being aggressive enough in the car.
8. The concrete was dusty, and not super grippy; there were softball size gobs of rubber stuck to the tires after Aaron's runs.
9. Sixty second + courses are FUN!
10. We get to do it all again TOMORROW!
1. Humidity SUCKS... it's HOT here and sticky!
2. THANK YOU MIKE for letting us borrow you rear suspension; the car was so much HAPPIER!
3. Cones JUMP out of the course at your car (at least during my runs)
4. Aaron's decently competitive in STU; wonder what fresher less "done for" tires may have led to; during his 3rd (fastest / clean run) they were getting squirmy in the heat; during his fastest raw time run a cone jumped out :(
5. The whole idea of driving 13+ hours for appx 6 minutes of racing makes you question your sanity; especially while working course in the middle of the afternoon heat and the GP cars keep breaking down.
6. It's nice to have BIG HUGE wide open courses! The car was happy in 3rd gear in MANY spots on the course.
7. I am totally going to do EVO school in 2010; I am just not being aggressive enough in the car.
8. The concrete was dusty, and not super grippy; there were softball size gobs of rubber stuck to the tires after Aaron's runs.
9. Sixty second + courses are FUN!
10. We get to do it all again TOMORROW!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Goodbye Kansas!
So it's about 735am and we've gotten up from our hotel in Salina Kansas. It's been a few days without and update so here's to checking in!
We spend some of Sunday and Monday in Fort Smith Arkansas, we had a great time relaxing and hanging out with my BIL, SIL and nephew. We played Wii (my first time) had yummy meals, and got time to just catch up, it was really nice, even though it was a short trip it was totally worth it. We'll get to see them again in Ohio around Xmas!
After Arkansas we drove 3 hours West to Norman Oklahoma, where one of my cousins is a freshman at University of Oklahoma. We had dinner with him, got the honor of being his first visitors, got led on a campus tour in the evening! It is such a nice campus, clean, fresh, well maintained, the staff and students obvoiusly take pride in it. If Ohio State had nice stuff, someone would find a way to destroy or ruin it, it's sad but true from my years at OSU. The architecture and buildings on campus don't make you think Oklahoma at all!
I did make sure to take my cousin some Cheryl's Cookies in an Ohio State bag!!!
Tuesday morning Aaron finally found a bike shop and got his bike all fixed back up, and took care of stuff while my cousin was in class. After class all three of us drove to Oklahoma City, checked out an area called Brick Towne for lunch (really similar to cbus's Arena District), we ate at a place called Zio's, Danielle (sil) had suggested it and it was super yummy Italian.
After lunch we kind of explored the area, in 98 degree heat, but came to the conclusion that without a ball game going on and a more evening or weekend setting, this place would not entertain us much longer.
Next we drove over to the site of the Oklahoma City Bombing, they now have a memorial there, still sad and scary to think about, I still recall watching it on the news,
After that exploration, we headed to Sooner Mall (yes I felt dirty!!!), my cousin needed a few things so we got them and then headed to Walmart for a few other supplies he needed but wouldn't have been able to get as easily without a car.
We dropped him and his stuff off in his super tiny dorm room that he shares with one other person, and were on our way to Kansas. The family and visiting part of the trip was over.
In Kansas we basicially were just doing a drive through, a state inbetween where we were and where we needed to be,
We stopped for dinner in Witchita, in Old Town (another Arena District type warehouse area), we had dinner at the Pumphouse, which was an old garage or mechanics shop converted into a sports bar, we got lucky and it was burger night, buy 1 get 1 free!
We walked around the area for a little bit, explored, it is like a combination of the Short North and the Arena District, after that we got back in the car for an hour to drive to Salina to sleep, as the city is near the Kansas/Nebraska border, and we didn't want a long drive this morning.
We are going straight to the race site this morning, getting registered and getting the car tech'd, we are going to try and test and tune as well, and get a few practice runs in!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Bike's Don't Bounce :(
We completed our first leg of the trip to St. Louis on Friday, we arrived at my cousin's apartment with the car and trailer, and feeling pretty good! We didn't hit much traffic at all, and pretty much had zero problems. The trailers hubs were a little warmer then Aaron would have wanted but he had just repacked the bearings so... we weren't too concerned.
After finding a parking spot at the apartment complex we parked the "race rig" and did a quick once over, we noticed that the licence plate bracket on the back of the trailer had suffered some damage, we didn't know how that was possible.. till we realized THE BIKES AND RACK WERE MISSING!!! EEK.
We'd driven through a little bit of a sketchy area and our hearts fell at the thought of our bikes having got run over by someone/something and having caused damage to someone else's car :(
My cousin and Aaron went to retrace our steps and see if the bikes were anywhere along the way... we didn't have much hope as we couldn't recall WHERE we may have dropped them, and we knew parts of the area we drove through were super sketchy.
I was pretty bummed as a knew the bikes weren't cheap, and I knew we would want them at the site at Nationals and just the fact that we were NOT starting out on a good note.
I got a call about 10 minutes later, saying the bikes had been salvaged!!!
They had undergone some damage but there were ok, and didn't look like it caused any other cars an issue, someone had picked them up and moved them over to the side of the road! We were SO lucky.
We got them back, realized the bike rack was broken, probably from the fall off the trunk, and we had sustained a bent rim, and some other minor road rash but we had them!!!
We think the bike rack straps just became loose as we were going along, and then when we got off the highway they bounced off! :(
We had decided we're going to give up our own personal space within the car and just lay the bikes across the back seat. It's better for our piece of mind since we learned... Bikes Don't Bounce.
After finding a parking spot at the apartment complex we parked the "race rig" and did a quick once over, we noticed that the licence plate bracket on the back of the trailer had suffered some damage, we didn't know how that was possible.. till we realized THE BIKES AND RACK WERE MISSING!!! EEK.
We'd driven through a little bit of a sketchy area and our hearts fell at the thought of our bikes having got run over by someone/something and having caused damage to someone else's car :(
My cousin and Aaron went to retrace our steps and see if the bikes were anywhere along the way... we didn't have much hope as we couldn't recall WHERE we may have dropped them, and we knew parts of the area we drove through were super sketchy.
I was pretty bummed as a knew the bikes weren't cheap, and I knew we would want them at the site at Nationals and just the fact that we were NOT starting out on a good note.
I got a call about 10 minutes later, saying the bikes had been salvaged!!!
They had undergone some damage but there were ok, and didn't look like it caused any other cars an issue, someone had picked them up and moved them over to the side of the road! We were SO lucky.
We got them back, realized the bike rack was broken, probably from the fall off the trunk, and we had sustained a bent rim, and some other minor road rash but we had them!!!
We think the bike rack straps just became loose as we were going along, and then when we got off the highway they bounced off! :(
We had decided we're going to give up our own personal space within the car and just lay the bikes across the back seat. It's better for our piece of mind since we learned... Bikes Don't Bounce.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Nationals Newbs!
We're about 95% ready to roll out and start our trip towards Lincoln Nebraska! We'll arrive there Wednesday about this time (10am)! Before then we have quite a journey on our hands, visiting 4 different family groups along the way, our car is packed with all kinds of random gifts and things we've been asked to cart from one place to another, it maybe the first time I go on a trip and come back with less then I went with!
In the back of my mind though all the visits are really a means to Nationals... on the path to the craziness that we have been assured to encounter at an auto-x with 1200 participants! In Aaron's class alone I think there are about 40 competitors! I can't fully grasp what we've gotten ourselves into but I'm excited and nervous all at the same time!
We roll out about one o'clock today... and we'll be sure to keep the blog updated with pix and blurbs along the way!
In the back of my mind though all the visits are really a means to Nationals... on the path to the craziness that we have been assured to encounter at an auto-x with 1200 participants! In Aaron's class alone I think there are about 40 competitors! I can't fully grasp what we've gotten ourselves into but I'm excited and nervous all at the same time!
We roll out about one o'clock today... and we'll be sure to keep the blog updated with pix and blurbs along the way!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Thursday night, we headed to Canfield. Arrived, chatted, and attempted to go to bed early. Friday morning, up at 4:30am, and out the door an hour later and headed for Toronto. About 5 hour drive, with a stop fora stretch, some fuel, and a change into the wedding clothing. Arrived,and enjoyed the ceremony, then back to check into the hotel for a much needed nap. Some lunch, and the refreshed nap, we then changed and went to the reception. That was about from 8pm to 11pm.
Saturday we slept in, had a great breakfast in a nice downtown area of Toronto called Eaton, and then began our way out to Mosport to enjoy the weekends hosting of the American Lemans Series. The track is east of Toronto in the rolling hills. The venue allows for camping ANYWHERE. The roads to find good places to watch the cars on track are single lane dirt with the occasional mud pit. We attempted some driving to some locations only to turn around in brush piles and head back, with full articulation of the car's suspension, and trusting the all wheel drive that we'd not get stuck.
Saturday's racing was good action, and lots of pix. After the track was quiet, we followed our GPS signal to tell us to take a road which was unpaved. Real rally action in the Subaru! This took us out to the highway, and on to a nice restaurant close by that promised a 15%discount for race ticket holders. Nice place with pretty good food.Upon our check our server thought we worked at the track, and she brought the manager over. He asked about the track, and the events,which rolled into small talk of us being from Columbus Ohio, and him being a HUGE fan of Columbus' hockey team, the Blue Jackets. I held my own talking about hockey with a Canadian, and we were rewarded by this guys enthusiasm by him giving us $20 in gift cards and a free appetiser and the manager telling us to make sure we come back the next day. Saturday we finished with a visit to downtown Toronto to view the skyline illuminated and just cruise around.
Sunday we headed back to the track and enjoyed morning warm ups and cruising around the pits and paddock. We opted for the lunch break And pre-race non-track action with a return trip to our previous day's restaurant. After all, it was free! Again, great lunch, but lackluster service this time, happily it was free, and our jovial manager was back in action. We returned to the race track just in time to park on the hill side, and plopped down in the temporary grandstands that viewed some of the great action on the track. A great race with changing conditions as it would be warm and sunny, then instantly,cold and drizzle. Our umbrella got a work out.
Post race, we cruised right by Toronto and headed down towards Niagara. About a two hour drive, and made our way to dinner, and at10pm watched fireworks shoot our across the falls from our hotel's overlooking terrace. Monday we took lots of pix, and went on the world famous "Maid of the Mist" boat right that takes you right up to the face of the falls, and a nice soaking spray. We toured the touristy areas around the Canadian side and headed back to the hotel to head home. An easy pass back into America, as it's side of the falls is more of a state park, than a 3-D ride, casino laden Canadian side.
Cruised to Canton were we met my parents for dinner. They celebrated their anniversary. We enjoyed dinner and were back home by 9. Per a conversation with my Dad at dinner, sure enough the beginning of the race we attended in Canada, we were there, plopped in the grandstands,watching the racing action. Pretty cool.
Thanks for reading.
Saturday we slept in, had a great breakfast in a nice downtown area of Toronto called Eaton, and then began our way out to Mosport to enjoy the weekends hosting of the American Lemans Series. The track is east of Toronto in the rolling hills. The venue allows for camping ANYWHERE. The roads to find good places to watch the cars on track are single lane dirt with the occasional mud pit. We attempted some driving to some locations only to turn around in brush piles and head back, with full articulation of the car's suspension, and trusting the all wheel drive that we'd not get stuck.
Saturday's racing was good action, and lots of pix. After the track was quiet, we followed our GPS signal to tell us to take a road which was unpaved. Real rally action in the Subaru! This took us out to the highway, and on to a nice restaurant close by that promised a 15%discount for race ticket holders. Nice place with pretty good food.Upon our check our server thought we worked at the track, and she brought the manager over. He asked about the track, and the events,which rolled into small talk of us being from Columbus Ohio, and him being a HUGE fan of Columbus' hockey team, the Blue Jackets. I held my own talking about hockey with a Canadian, and we were rewarded by this guys enthusiasm by him giving us $20 in gift cards and a free appetiser and the manager telling us to make sure we come back the next day. Saturday we finished with a visit to downtown Toronto to view the skyline illuminated and just cruise around.
Sunday we headed back to the track and enjoyed morning warm ups and cruising around the pits and paddock. We opted for the lunch break And pre-race non-track action with a return trip to our previous day's restaurant. After all, it was free! Again, great lunch, but lackluster service this time, happily it was free, and our jovial manager was back in action. We returned to the race track just in time to park on the hill side, and plopped down in the temporary grandstands that viewed some of the great action on the track. A great race with changing conditions as it would be warm and sunny, then instantly,cold and drizzle. Our umbrella got a work out.
Post race, we cruised right by Toronto and headed down towards Niagara. About a two hour drive, and made our way to dinner, and at10pm watched fireworks shoot our across the falls from our hotel's overlooking terrace. Monday we took lots of pix, and went on the world famous "Maid of the Mist" boat right that takes you right up to the face of the falls, and a nice soaking spray. We toured the touristy areas around the Canadian side and headed back to the hotel to head home. An easy pass back into America, as it's side of the falls is more of a state park, than a 3-D ride, casino laden Canadian side.
Cruised to Canton were we met my parents for dinner. They celebrated their anniversary. We enjoyed dinner and were back home by 9. Per a conversation with my Dad at dinner, sure enough the beginning of the race we attended in Canada, we were there, plopped in the grandstands,watching the racing action. Pretty cool.
Thanks for reading.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Thursday we loaded up, and leaving at 4:30 sharp, we headed out to Lafayette Indiana. Home of the Subaru of America plant, the birth place of Simi's Legacy as well as the home of Purdue University. It was about 3 1/2 hours and an uneventful drive. About an hour to go, we spotted rain, and the last bit of the drive was a steady down pour. We arrived, and searched out a dinner, which ended up being a subpar visit to Chilis. Checked in the Hampton, and called it a night. Up at 7 on Saturday and a 5 minute drive to the Subaru Plant. The course was setup by the Indy region's club of volunteers. 89 Subarus showed to compete, and probably a dozen more to spectate.
The course was the exact same as last year, and was told the same as the year before. Changed tires, slapped on the magnetic numbers, and were ready to go. Simi ran in the ladies group first thing in the morning. She did well, and the car seemed happy. I ran the afternoon session with a slight drizzle, but times were dropping. My group was 45 cars, with 10 in my STU class, and the rest all running Street Mod. All the Street Mod guys were annoyed with my times some 5-6 seconds faster than theirs, yet I'm running my car at stock boost levels. I saw some old friends, and chatted and after our group was done we all had lunch. Subaru brought in make your own deli sandwiches, pasta salad, potato salad, fruit, and cookies. It was pretty good.
Post lunch, my group was already gridded so we ran again. My times in the morning session were getting chiseled away, so I had to go faster as well. I chipped down 3/10ths quicker on my final run, but found the morning session already secured the class win. Switch over to Simi's group, and she proved to be one of the fastest in her group. All said and done, the awards were given out, and Simi won the Ladies Challenge. An excellent effort, winning back to back. I won my class and finished second overall, beaten out by a former National Champion from Toledo. He's always fast. First place overall received a Subaru bar stool, and R/C car.
Simi drove home Saturday night, and we arrived around 9pm. We left the car untouched, trailer attached, and resting in the driveway. Sunday we slept in until 10am, then proceeded to make French toast and omelets. We watched Formula One practice, qualifying, and the race. Simi took an afternoon nap and I watched more racing on TV. Sunday night I worked on repacking the trailer's bearings, and cleaning up, and putting everything away. Simi cleaned house, and her sister and college roommate came over for pizza and salad for dinner.
The course was the exact same as last year, and was told the same as the year before. Changed tires, slapped on the magnetic numbers, and were ready to go. Simi ran in the ladies group first thing in the morning. She did well, and the car seemed happy. I ran the afternoon session with a slight drizzle, but times were dropping. My group was 45 cars, with 10 in my STU class, and the rest all running Street Mod. All the Street Mod guys were annoyed with my times some 5-6 seconds faster than theirs, yet I'm running my car at stock boost levels. I saw some old friends, and chatted and after our group was done we all had lunch. Subaru brought in make your own deli sandwiches, pasta salad, potato salad, fruit, and cookies. It was pretty good.
Post lunch, my group was already gridded so we ran again. My times in the morning session were getting chiseled away, so I had to go faster as well. I chipped down 3/10ths quicker on my final run, but found the morning session already secured the class win. Switch over to Simi's group, and she proved to be one of the fastest in her group. All said and done, the awards were given out, and Simi won the Ladies Challenge. An excellent effort, winning back to back. I won my class and finished second overall, beaten out by a former National Champion from Toledo. He's always fast. First place overall received a Subaru bar stool, and R/C car.
Simi drove home Saturday night, and we arrived around 9pm. We left the car untouched, trailer attached, and resting in the driveway. Sunday we slept in until 10am, then proceeded to make French toast and omelets. We watched Formula One practice, qualifying, and the race. Simi took an afternoon nap and I watched more racing on TV. Sunday night I worked on repacking the trailer's bearings, and cleaning up, and putting everything away. Simi cleaned house, and her sister and college roommate came over for pizza and salad for dinner.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Saturday morning, another points event. Ran in the first group. Car felt ok, but still is a Jekyl and Hyde machine. Sometimes I think it has a personality. Simi said she was fighting the car, but it started to get better with tire pressure adjustments. I ended up liking the car, but hating the course. Come to find everyone hated the course. Never fast, never flowing, just string after string of very slow speed, super tight corners. I was patient in the corners, allowing the car to rotate and blew out a huge 1.2 second lead over my class. They were baffled. Blazing heat the afternoon, followed by final results. I was first in class, 4th overall.
Saturday afternoon we were home by 4, and we found it a good time to nap. Slept until 6, then dinner at 7, and I found myself still quite tired, and was back asleep by 9. Simi got a 2nd wind and stayed up a little later.
Sunday arrived, and it was a normal quick event in the morning, and then a single elimination round in the afternoon. The course was backwards of Sunday, and modified to be much more flowing and fast. Sunday morning, my car was the exact same as Saturday, but it was impossible to drive. It just didn't want to do anything. I fell back and was 2nd in class, loosing by a few tenths.
Sunday afternoon, the field of 64 cars were all sent out. Simi was in the group, and she drove great. The fastest 32 of the field moved on, and that was paired down to the sweet 16. My run to make it into the sweet 16 the car came alive. It blasted the course 8/10ths faster than any run, and felt PERFECT. I was the #1 seed, having a 7/10ths lead overall. At the sweet 16, instead of having #1 go against #16, names are drawn from a hat. I was #4, so I was placed in the #4 spot. So much for that reward. I had a clean, decent run, but was slower, and just scraped into the great 8. My next opponent was a very fast Ford Shelby Mustang, who was actually first overall on Saturday.
He did his run, I did mine. He told me he had his fastest run of the day against me, and we heard his name announced on the loud speaker. I thought it was over, a valiant effort, but alas, I actually won that round. His name was announced as NOT moving on to the final four. In the final four, I was matched up against another Subaru in the same class. My times were quicker, but approaching the fastest part of the course, the car pushed wide on greasy tires, and I had to let off and brake. Hit a cone for a 2 second penalty, or let off and hope the coasting around didn't destroy me too much. I let off, and my time faulted. The other Subaru advanced on a clean run. It was in the final round, where it lost to a very quick Honda, giving the Honda guy the overall victory.
I lost not because I was beaten, but because I screwed up. Final four was a great effort, but at the wrong time the car acted up and tossed me a curve ball. It really is just this thing that you never know how it's going to react. I'd like to think it was just me, but my wife drives it too, and she is in the same boat. Sometimes it punishes you, sometimes it rewards you. Predictability needs worked on, and hopefully in time I can get it there.
Thanks for reading.
Saturday afternoon we were home by 4, and we found it a good time to nap. Slept until 6, then dinner at 7, and I found myself still quite tired, and was back asleep by 9. Simi got a 2nd wind and stayed up a little later.
Sunday arrived, and it was a normal quick event in the morning, and then a single elimination round in the afternoon. The course was backwards of Sunday, and modified to be much more flowing and fast. Sunday morning, my car was the exact same as Saturday, but it was impossible to drive. It just didn't want to do anything. I fell back and was 2nd in class, loosing by a few tenths.
Sunday afternoon, the field of 64 cars were all sent out. Simi was in the group, and she drove great. The fastest 32 of the field moved on, and that was paired down to the sweet 16. My run to make it into the sweet 16 the car came alive. It blasted the course 8/10ths faster than any run, and felt PERFECT. I was the #1 seed, having a 7/10ths lead overall. At the sweet 16, instead of having #1 go against #16, names are drawn from a hat. I was #4, so I was placed in the #4 spot. So much for that reward. I had a clean, decent run, but was slower, and just scraped into the great 8. My next opponent was a very fast Ford Shelby Mustang, who was actually first overall on Saturday.
He did his run, I did mine. He told me he had his fastest run of the day against me, and we heard his name announced on the loud speaker. I thought it was over, a valiant effort, but alas, I actually won that round. His name was announced as NOT moving on to the final four. In the final four, I was matched up against another Subaru in the same class. My times were quicker, but approaching the fastest part of the course, the car pushed wide on greasy tires, and I had to let off and brake. Hit a cone for a 2 second penalty, or let off and hope the coasting around didn't destroy me too much. I let off, and my time faulted. The other Subaru advanced on a clean run. It was in the final round, where it lost to a very quick Honda, giving the Honda guy the overall victory.
I lost not because I was beaten, but because I screwed up. Final four was a great effort, but at the wrong time the car acted up and tossed me a curve ball. It really is just this thing that you never know how it's going to react. I'd like to think it was just me, but my wife drives it too, and she is in the same boat. Sometimes it punishes you, sometimes it rewards you. Predictability needs worked on, and hopefully in time I can get it there.
Thanks for reading.
Monday, August 10, 2009
GL Div at Grissom
Drove out on Thursday night. 3 1/2 hours to Grissom. Hampton Inn for the night(s). Friday test and tune. 40 second course, unlimited runs. FUN! Dialed in tire pressures, and shocks, and pulled a full second against the closest competitor. Saturday, day one of racing, did my runs and found the car quite different, even though I didn't change anything. It just had some understeer compounded by power on oversteer. Hard to drive, yet same surface, different course, but blame it on the pressure of competition. I was down 2/10ths ending Saturday. Sunday started, closed the gap to 1/10th but still in 2nd place. Sprayed down tires, radiator, intercooler, engine, and myself as it was 96 on the car's temp gauge, and at the Air Force Base miles of open air made the constant 15mph wind feel like standing next to a hair dryer. My 2nd run the car felt great, like it did on Friday. I didn't change anything, I just drove. I pulled 5/10ths ahead of 2nd place which put me 3/10ths ahead overall. Second place driver over drove the car on his final run and lost time securing me the win.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Friday a trip to Canfield. Easy, but always the 5pm traffic leavingColumbus is difficult. Met Simi as she was closing the Subway storesand went to Quaker Steak n Lube for some wings. Saturday I was up at7am to play some tennis. I need practice but I had fun trying forsure! A few errands, and such, followed by a quick afternoon nap, thendinner at a nice pizza place called Inner Circle. From there we wentand saw "The Hangover". A hilarious movie, but not for kids.
Sunday, we were up at 6am, and out the door by 6:30. A rainy driveacross the turnpike landed us near Cleveland for an autocross. TheOhio Challenge, as the folks from Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, andPittsburgh were in attendance. Sadly, only 4 people from Columbus madethe trip. Half being Simi and I. We were out of it for the OhioChallenge, but still in for fun! We worked the 1st heat in dryingconditions. Second heat we made a trip for lunch. Third heat was ourtime to run. Simi buckled in, and we decided to let her do her 6 runsin a row. The quick turnaround between those driving two driver carswas pretty hectic, so we just did 6 and 6. Her runs improved, as Itweaked the car, adjusting shock settings and tire pressures. She hada good time, and I think did pretty well against the 13 total peoplein our class.
My 6 runs were to follow. The course was VERY fast, flowing down ahill at highway speeds around a kink, where it was threading a needle.Followed by a series of 180 degree turns, a blast back the other way,touching highway speeds again, then a flowing series of corners to thefinish. My times were in the hunt. On my 4th run, the car was justperfect. I hadn't had a run like that in a LONG time, were even Iwould get my fingers tingling, and just had a huge smile. It felt great.
On my fifth run, I told Simi I was going to just push it harder thanpossible and see if it works. "I'm likely to hit a lot of cones", Isaid. She replied, with "This isn't the coney challenge." - in areally comical pun of the Koni Challenge, a racing series that travelsAmerica. The object is to NOT hit the cones that line and guide thecourse. My 5th run, the tires were too hot, and on the 6th run I wasable to close in on my own best time, but I wasn't able to go muchfaster.
I changed my tires, chugged some water, and we packed to head home. Weawaited the awards ceremony. I ended up winning my class by somethinglike 0.088 seconds. Less than a 1/10th of a second! It was close! Myprize was a KONI CHALLENGE banner! Haha! Simi and I both had a greatlaugh at that.
Then they read off the top 25 index times. The index being how fastyou are, versus how fast you should be. A slow driver in a fast carwon't do well here. A fast driver in a fast car will climb the charts.The top five, top 4... then 3rd place... then 2nd place, and I won!Yeah! I won the whole damn thing.
My prize? A three night, four day trip to Orlando Florida! $50 creditto Universal Studios, and a $500 coupon book for area attractions! Weonly have to pay for our flight. Holy cow! The look on Simi's face wasso awesome. I was in shock! Many of my friends we happy for me, andgave me a nice hand shake or pat on the back. Such a nice group andreally make some great friends after doing this for so long. Our tripisn't likely until January or February as it'd be a nice break fromchilly Ohio cold. We drove home, and arrived by 6pm, in which we had anice dinner, and were both fast asleep by 9pm.
Sunday, we were up at 6am, and out the door by 6:30. A rainy driveacross the turnpike landed us near Cleveland for an autocross. TheOhio Challenge, as the folks from Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, andPittsburgh were in attendance. Sadly, only 4 people from Columbus madethe trip. Half being Simi and I. We were out of it for the OhioChallenge, but still in for fun! We worked the 1st heat in dryingconditions. Second heat we made a trip for lunch. Third heat was ourtime to run. Simi buckled in, and we decided to let her do her 6 runsin a row. The quick turnaround between those driving two driver carswas pretty hectic, so we just did 6 and 6. Her runs improved, as Itweaked the car, adjusting shock settings and tire pressures. She hada good time, and I think did pretty well against the 13 total peoplein our class.
My 6 runs were to follow. The course was VERY fast, flowing down ahill at highway speeds around a kink, where it was threading a needle.Followed by a series of 180 degree turns, a blast back the other way,touching highway speeds again, then a flowing series of corners to thefinish. My times were in the hunt. On my 4th run, the car was justperfect. I hadn't had a run like that in a LONG time, were even Iwould get my fingers tingling, and just had a huge smile. It felt great.
On my fifth run, I told Simi I was going to just push it harder thanpossible and see if it works. "I'm likely to hit a lot of cones", Isaid. She replied, with "This isn't the coney challenge." - in areally comical pun of the Koni Challenge, a racing series that travelsAmerica. The object is to NOT hit the cones that line and guide thecourse. My 5th run, the tires were too hot, and on the 6th run I wasable to close in on my own best time, but I wasn't able to go muchfaster.
I changed my tires, chugged some water, and we packed to head home. Weawaited the awards ceremony. I ended up winning my class by somethinglike 0.088 seconds. Less than a 1/10th of a second! It was close! Myprize was a KONI CHALLENGE banner! Haha! Simi and I both had a greatlaugh at that.
Then they read off the top 25 index times. The index being how fastyou are, versus how fast you should be. A slow driver in a fast carwon't do well here. A fast driver in a fast car will climb the charts.The top five, top 4... then 3rd place... then 2nd place, and I won!Yeah! I won the whole damn thing.
My prize? A three night, four day trip to Orlando Florida! $50 creditto Universal Studios, and a $500 coupon book for area attractions! Weonly have to pay for our flight. Holy cow! The look on Simi's face wasso awesome. I was in shock! Many of my friends we happy for me, andgave me a nice hand shake or pat on the back. Such a nice group andreally make some great friends after doing this for so long. Our tripisn't likely until January or February as it'd be a nice break fromchilly Ohio cold. We drove home, and arrived by 6pm, in which we had anice dinner, and were both fast asleep by 9pm.
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