Category: Motoring

Road Signs

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One of the things I miss most about my journalism days is time on the road. Just the act of moving from one story location to another was interesting to me, seeing new things, watching how my community was evolving.

It’s one of the things I love about road rallies as well – seeing new stuff, finding a surprise around the corner or over the crest. Sunday mornings, early, while the family sleeps and wakes, I’ve decided to start logging some miles. My wife laughs at me when I say I want to, “go look at some roads.” (My older friends just nod knowingly, and then look away.)

Yesterday I put some time in behind the wheel, wandering some interesting squiggles on my map. The early course was a bit disappointing, to be honest. But then it started to improve a bit and, eventually, I found a nice complex of roads over in Oglethorpe County near some quarries. Which even lead to a little surprise, making the day worthwhile …

Canon PowerShot G10, 6.1 mm, ISO 80, 1/1600, f/2.8

Canon PowerShot G10, 6.1 mm, ISO 80, 1/1000, f/5.0

Canon PowerShot G10, 21.5 mm, ISO 80, 1/800, f/5.0

Canon PowerShot G10, 6.1 mm, ISO 80, 1/640, f/5.0

Canon PowerShot G10, 30.5 mm, ISO 200, 1/250, f/5.0

I have no idea what the judging is based on, but if I ever decide to go into quarrying it’ll have to be at a place that’s been named quarry of the month at least once.

Uh, no.

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Since buying my first BMW several months ago, I’ve heard most of the jokes about reliving the yuppie dream of the 1980s and how I was supposed to buy the BMW first, then the SUV … but here’s someone who bought one vehicle and made it work for both sport and function …

Canon G10, 30.5 mm, ISO 125, 1/320, f/4.5

Canon G10, 30.5 mm, ISO 125, 1/320, f/4.5

I used to like the people in Pennsylvania, now they scare me.

Road Food

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There are many reasons for why I love to travel – I love new vistas, new people, old friends, new stories (heard and to tell later) and new food. Of course, not all new food is good food and my wife calmly told me there was, essentially, no chance in hell we could stop for this specialty – especially since they can’t even spell bologna right …

Canon G10, 30.5 mm, ISO 80, 1/500, f/4.5

Canon G10, 30.5 mm, ISO 80, 1/500, f/4.5

Time on the Road

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I’m just back in from five days of driving. I should be tired, but I’m kind of buzzed … good drives, good roads, great friends, great visuals … the basic schedule:

  • Friday, 7 a.m. – Depart Athens for Pittsburgh, 651 miles away.
  • Friday, 5 p.m. – Arrive Pittsburgh, meet up with Frank, do a little car prep then head to dinner. Tell many stories, catch up, reminisce about past car rallies.
  • Saturday, 7 a.m. – Wake up, tell more stories, prep for the Steel City Region 24 – a round-the-clock car rally, noon Saturday to noon Sunday.
  • Saturday, 12:06 p.m. – Start the SCR24 PM.
  • Sunday, 12:06 a.m. – Start the SCR24 AM.
  • Sunday, 12:30 p.m. – Finish the SCR24, feast and collect hardware – First overall and in class for the SCR24 AM, first overall and in class for the whole SCR24. Total event mileage was somewhere around 700 miles through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Ohio. (I will admit to sneaking in one 30 minute nap around 6:15 a.m.)
  • Sunday, 2:30 p.m. – Load up, start the two-car caravan south to Elkins, West Virginia.
  • Sunday, 5:30 p.m. – Arrive in Elkins. Even though I’ve been up since 7 a.m. the day before, I can’t sleep so I do a walk-about downtown and shoot photos for an hour or two.
  • Monday, 8:00 a.m. – Wake up and head out to check the Rally West Virginia route.
  • Monday, 7:00 p.m. – Return to Elkins after driving around all day doing our favorite thing – “looking at roads.” We see some cool stuff, and some damned scary stuff …
  • Tuesday, 8:00 a.m. – Frank heads north, I head south, finishing off the check with one last segment, then point the car towards Georgia.
  • Tuesday, 6:00 p.m. – Arrive back in Athens.

I have no idea how many miles I did, as it was split across two cars … but it was a lot.

And it was good.

Images from Elkins after the break …

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Old Beaters vs. Public Pleasers

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A car friend sends out a weekly missive on the state of the automotive world. It’s his views on cars and motorsports, heavy emphasis on the “his views” aspects. Over the last few editions, he’s talked about the growth of cars over the years and, as Lotus founder Colin Chapman knew early on, the best way to increase the performance of a car is to “add lightness.”

My friend has given examples of great cars that were low weight and questioned why they aren’t made anymore. I sent him the following in an email this morning, then decided to share it with all of you … because I know how much you care about cars …

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