I've had it!

AMEN! After a nice handful+ of track days i can understand your plight. While the public roads here in New England are amazing, they are not a track. Once you get a good taste of the race track even the best curvy, elevation changing New England mountain roads pale by comparison.

 

Dale, the more track time i am enjoying the SLOWER it appears i drive on public roads. The reason is simple as public roads are paved horribly plus the AWFUL drivers who swerve all over the road... At least on a track you have a good (or at least known) surface that is predictable and the drivers around you have a good understanding of how to drive. Well, maybe not at FCA events for the beginners group, but i mean proper track events where everyone is licensed.

FACT: <knocking on wood> For the first year in decades, in 2005 i have received ZERO tickets and have not been pulled over for any reason. 2005 is also the first year i am seriously tracking. Coincidence? i think not.


Yes folks, as much as you might THINK driving at spirited pace on an open public road is like a track, you are DEAD wrong... and hopefully not DEAD proving my point. The race track is a different beast and LEAGUES ahead. i laughed at the track guys last year for saying that exact thing to me. Guess what? They were right and i was the fool at the time. Now the reality is the track is THE place to be. Street driving is for commuting.

 

Ditto what Steve is saying..

It was the most AMAZING feeling after our first weekend of karting competition, years ago. I climbed back into the 6 spd. Lt1 Trans Am and felt like i was piloting the Queen Mary!


Later read Phil Hill talk about the hazard of racing on public roads..."Velocitized" is what he wouold call the feeling as they had to slow from 180MPH to drive thru a town.

Dr. Tax has just forgotten about the back roads thru Racoon Bend on the way to Cat Spring, from Chappell Hill.

The roads out by the Lakes, near his house, fill up pretty badly in the Summer. A neighbor in Point Balnk was creaned on his bike just last month. Barely pulled thru it.......

There was the night I had to dodge some metal lawn furniture in the Ferrari, coming off the back of a trailer in the rain........Redneck Moving Company, or something like that, on the doors.....

 

C'mon Dr. T..,

I know a few still open out behind AJs place....I finally found the battery charger, too.......it was hiding in plain sight......

 

Couldn't agree more. I went out to the mountains early Sunday morning but never got a chance to really drive due to heavy traffic and lots of sightseers... I actually found some open road on for a few miles until someone called the police on me. I get more use out of my car going to Home Depot and the grocery store than actual fun driving... think it's time for a track day beater.

-R

 

You can always drive late at night, when there is definitely no one around.

 

Umm, no! There are things called deer, and G-d forbid you hit a moose! Then there is 'Nature's Speed Bump" the armadillo in other places in the USA. Then you have stray cats at night and other creatures. Sure i had some night fun in my life, but have seen some really bad accidents (and death) from wildlife doing night moves.

 

Driving is just starting to suck in general. The roads are terrible and full of pot holes and huge bumps. Then you have traffic out the wazzoo everywhere you go. Finally, the few nice stretches of road where you have some nice twisties and you can just cruise along having a nice time, you get a cop behind every tree with a radar gun waiting to bust you and raise a little more revenue. Not to mention all the complete ya hoos driving around talking on their cell phones, with a big mac in the other hand, swerving left and right, the women doing their make up, people tail gating, etc. It's a crap shoot going for a drive. My wife and I went for a drive a few weeks ago to visit a friend. After three hours we came home, having been unable to get there three different ways due to parked traffic, accidents, etc. Ridiculous. I need to move to someplace far less populated.

Birdman

 

know EXACTLY what you mean bro'

 

There is only ONE upside to night driving.

You can see the headlights of an oncoming car around a blind corner.
You get a little advance knowledge that a car is just around the corner and you better move away from the yellow line.

I learned not to ride a bicycle at night at age 17. I dropped my front wheel into a 1.5 inch wide gap between a storm drain grate and its mounting bracket. A flying W over the bars lead to lifelong vow to stay off the bike after dark.

I learned not to drive a dune buggy after dark at age 34. I shot off the top of a razor back at about 35mph. I was 150 feet left of where I thought I was. It was supposed to be flat on top. Instead it dropped away at a 30 degree angle. The buggy landed on the nose and pitch poled 2 times before stopping on its wheels. I was paralyzed from the neck down for about 1.5 hours. After about an hour my toes started to move and I began to have hope that I had not turned myself into a quad. The paramedics were called and Iwas taken to a trauma hospital. X rays aCT scan and MRI's showed nothing damaged. I missed 3 weeks of work and it took 2 months of Physical therapy to get my strength and coordination back. The day after the accident my hand grip strength was 20 pounds. At the end of PT it was 120.

I won't have to learn about driving cars fast at night the hard way.

Erich

 

where'd you go buggyin'? I used to live in the Imperial Valley.

 

Dale, have you tried getting out a little earlier? Leave before the sun comes up, and by the time you're done the traffic will just be starting. While it has only recently come to my attention, it is a great part of the day and when well spent, can really put your mind right.

 

I was at Dumont Dunes. It is north of Baker Ca and south of Death Valley.

I have spent a lot of time at Gordon's Wells. Less crowds and easier to get to than Glamis.

Erich

 

Idaho isn't very crowded, but the ice in the winter isn't very friendly. If you can stand the winters, we have a number of open roads that are a LOT of fun in a Ferrari.
Thor

www.JavelinArt.com

 

Does that include obeying traffic signals, signaling turns and braking, and yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks? Seems the Schwinn types want to pick and choose their rights and obligations.

 

I've noticed this myself. However, since I bought my first bike a month ago, I've REALLY started to notice it. I'm the only biker who actually seems to stop at stop signs and red lights. I saw one woman fly straight through a stop sign and almost get run over by a VW. Of course she yelled a few choice expletives at the driver and pedaled away... "share the road" indeed.

The people who called the cops on me during my sunday morning mountain run were some bikers who were riding 2-3 across up a very steep hill at probably 5mph...

-R