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!
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