WOW! 42 MINI's and 60.5 people! Amazing! Who is the '.5'?

 

RHinaHBMCSC is with child, hence the .5

 

Its what happens on those overnight runs

 

yeah we did. Leitch Road, right? Anyhoo, we got rid of the blind corner with the sudden stop at the end of it.
I drove so Paul could make notes on the new section. Of course, yakking kinda distracted us, but I think he got the route edited just fine..
See you guys Sunday

 

I'm a firster too, looking forward and supposed to be a great day! I will have 'run in' my engine by then, just two weeks after picking her up. I think it took me over a month to get to 1200 in my Jeep when new.

 

Is that the hill one?

 

Ok, here's the finished route!

And yes, as Katie mentioned, the 'evil' short stop and blind turn is gone. And besides the addition of directions to the finishing point (The Italian Market), it's pretty much the same.

I'm tired and going to sleep. I'll post more info tomorrow!


-Paul!

 

Scavenger, you gotta change this into Google Earth so we can virtual motor the route

 

Yep, Leitch Rd. looked twisty and hilly on the map, glad it worked out!

Yep, no more stally stally!

Awesome!

Yep, I got it, just need to put on a few finishing touches and I'll send it

 

Leitch Road still ends in a "hill", but not as steep as the original one. In my book, having learned to drive a stick in Pittsburgh, it barely qualifies as a hill..hence the quotations. You haven't driven up a hill untill you've driven around in that city.. Mile long, 45 degree angle (sometimes steeper) streets all over the place....with stop signs or lights every block or so. Those are hills!
Y'll need to practice starting and stopping on a hill...if you can find a decent one around here....

 

Maybe since it's Earth Day on Sunday we should carpool. What ya think? Especially with the record number of cars attending.

 

LOL...good luck with that

 

This will be an awesome time with soo "mini" MINI's and people!! I cannot wait!

 

Is there any way the route could be put into an adobe format?

 

You just want to be back in a MINI

 

It is, right about here!

Mrs. Nurse, can you please update the first post with a link to the PDF?


-Paul!

 

LIST OF THINGS TO BRING (Especially if this is your first run!)
-->2 way radio!! The MOST important thing you need, besides you and your car... We use these radios ALL the time on runs. 1) for important things like traffic, turns, stops, I'm lost statements. 2)general chatter...it sometimes gets rather crass and really funny, since we all just talk, but it is worth it.
MAKE SURE your radio is a FRS/GMRS radio (the one that has 22 channels and LOTS of sub channels...The MINI network is Channel 7 Sub channel 21 (7/21) We can help you program it to that channel if you don't know how, and we may have some extras, but it is always wise to buy your own.
-->Sunscreen!!!!! The weather is getting nicer and nicer by the day according to our news channel, looking like top down/windows and sunroof open driving, so don't let that "winter" skin get burned!
--> Cash for lunch. It is always easiest if we all have cash. I know that the restaurant last year allowed us to "charge" and get cash back, but if we all have cash we will be able to pay the bill quicker.

A brief bit about driving in a string of MINIs for the newbies...If you tend to drive slower- stay near the front of the pack, if you rather drive faster, keep near the back---makes sense beacuse you have to keep speeding up to catch up!

We drive with our lights on, so we can see each other better. And we ALWAYS keep a MINI in our rear view mirror so we don't get split apart. This is where the radios tend to come in handy...chatter and tell the front to hold up if you have lost the tail!

I am drawing a blank about anything else in my brain fried head..But anyone else please post more..

Driving events are SO MUCH FUN!!!

 

I'm also in the process of loading the run into Google Earth, should finish tonight. While, it's kinda last minute, I will have a KML file available for "Virtual Motoring".

 

Until then, you guys can play with this. I think it's mostly correct. (It's only for the way there...I might get around to finishing off the way back tomorrow)

(Warning: It will take a while to load on older PCs)

 

OK Man, here it is. Check it out and tell me what ya think.

Once you download it, remove the .txt extension from the file.

EDIT: Google Earth File Updated: Final Version NOW Attached - Enjoy

 

Damn! Someone caught on

 

Nice!

I had to select LEG 1 or LEG 2, otherwise it kept flying from pushpin to pushpin.

 

Hello everyone - I'm a newbie to the mini run - this will be great - can't wait! I'm going to look into picking up a radio - any suggestions as to what to get?

 

Well, here's a list of the ones sold at Best Buy, as a starting point:

Best Buy - 2 Way Radios

Personally, I have and like the Motorola SX700Rs... although they are the most expensive ones too. They are fairly powerful - 2 Watts, which is great for transmitting in more difficult areas (like mountains). However, using 2 Watts to transmit will suck the battery a lot faster. Fortunately, they have a second button you can hit to transmit at only 0.5 Watts, thus saving the battery. I use 0.5 Watts most of the time, and I save the 2 Watts transmit for those moments when the other person is just a bit too far away.

In any case, any model will work out, as long as it supports 22 channels (i.e. both FRS and GRMS), and also supports subchannels.

Seems that one of the Midland models (GXT635VP3) is 5 watt model and cheaper than the Motorola, but appearance and design might be factors for you too.

 

Yep, if you select a leg and hit play, it'll take you the whole way. Play with terrain enhancement and camera angles and it gets pretty good. The only problem I kept having was the continual streaming. The terrain was always out of focus. It almost seems as if Google Earth isn't using its cache properly... I may research that.

Glad ya like it