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One of the blessings of living in Gloucester is my ability to find a quiet morning ride around the island, with the remains of the quarries and Finnish settlements on the north coast, and the early town of Rockport to the east, and then the bucolic southeaster coastline leading back to Rocky Next, Back Shore, Eastern Marine, and finally Gloucester.
Cape Ann Massachusetts
All parts of that road are lovely, and some are smooth. I have, over time (I do this run at least a couple of times a week) developed a mental "bump map" which keeps Gollum off the sunken manhole covers and related pavement defects.
We putter along at the bottom of fourth gear, windows open, and contrary to any early traffic headed off the island,
And once in a while I will stop to re-absorb some part of the landscape.
It's a very nice way to start the day.
Rockport Harbor, looking North from the jetty.
Sharp eyes will spot the fresh set of Bridgestone RE-71s,,,
Still fairly warm, and dew coats Gollum's fresh coat of wax as we head southwest on 128 to find 93 north and head to Loudon, to arrive around 7 before registration opens.
It's RAL Weekend for the New England Region SCCA, and the road racers, rallycross folks, and our salty bunch of autocrossers all converge on the NHMS facilities to have fun and raise money for leukemia research - an annual event.
NHMS - the VIP lot is where Legend Racing is located - about 500 feet square.
Individual fund raising efforts (Jason Fair raised $1,050 personally for example) are pooled with many raffles for prizes and give-aways ranging from the truly valuable to the absurdly creative.
Theresa Doyon donated a fresh set of Avanti racing wheels sized for a Mazda - and another club member submitted to having his perennially hirsute locks shaved! Season passes, racing schools, you name it - all went into the pot. Dunno yet what the total was, but we've probably donated at least a quarter of a million over the years, all because the child of one of the folks in this extended family beat this deadly disease years ago, and inspired us. I have heard her speak - now a young woman - and I was greatly affected, and grateful for her victory.
At such an early hour, with the State Police having little traffic to observe, cruise control is a prudent course, and thus Gollum and I pulled up at the track around 7 am to greet other early arrivals..
An hour later, after a bite of breakfast at the track restaurant, our group marshaled in the second lot past the VIP area where we set out a miniature version of a Devens course.
By this time the bright morning had become overtaken by a healthy thunderstorm passing just south of the track - which ultimately delayed our progress for an hour or more due to common sense and strict track regulations regarding safety precautions for lightning.
Incidentally, while I was on the north side of the infield seeking breakfast, I found a nice Tech in Training hanging about the Tech Garage where the scales are located. They were not busy, so I was able to weigh Gollum. Right side: 1,384 - left side 1,389 -- total weight: 2,773. That was a pleasant surprise as the stated curb weight (by Mini) for that car is 2,845. Somewhere since birth Gollum dropped 72 pounds - certainly the wheels contribute to that. With the Dinan enhanced HP at 256 according to the dyno, that gives the car a weight to horsepower ratio of about 10.8 (lb/hp). According to the marketplace that is pretty good!
Then after warning growls of thunder, and a stern advisory from track personnel , we hunkered down for a while, and then emerged to get started on a drying course. Thanks to Nick Wilson for a couple of these photographs.
Ultimately the weather moved off to the east...
With a small crowd of 44 drivers, including 10 welcome novices, we sorted into two heats. I went to work as the starter, and the morning went swiftly as the weather warmed and the sun emerged.
Brian Levesque had designed a surprisingly flowing course given the tight confines of the VIP lot, and once I had figured out the lines a bit things started to get really fun.
A new set of Bridgestone RE-71s had just gone on Gollum, courtesy of Tirerack and the Mini of Peabody crew - with pressures at 37f and 43r the car was nice and stable, and of course Minis do well in tight quarters.
During our lunch break, a few of us volunteered to work course so that some of our road racing friends could stop by from their track activities and have a try at our sport.
Pretty entertaining...
With four runs in the morning, and three more in the afternoon, all participants had fun as near as I could tell. We certainly did. The Solo Live timing looked like this when the dust had settled.
Brian is just that good. Makes me grin.
I cannot resist recounting a brief conversation I had with Brian, as his "God's Chariot" Honda idled at the back end of his trailer after unloadiing...
Me: Brian (who is a mechanic by trade) what's that ticking sound at idle?
Brian: That's normal - the engine has 190,000 miles. I've had the car for the last few thousand miles only.
Me: Wow, was the compression and oil pressure good when you got it?
Brian: Never looked - it runs good...
Then he went out and raw-timed everyone there, including beating me in the Jeff Gordon Challenge to take that modestly impressive trophy after four rounds of single elimination shoot-out.
After trophies were presented around 5 pm I was tired and went home, rather than participating in the track tour and joining the barbecue later in the evening. We had had enough fun by that time.
A very enjoyable experience indeed, and I am most grateful to all the volunteers who make the Region work - thank you!
Gollum in grid, next to Barbara's GS Civic.
Our next event is August 18th, and I look forward to another outing.
Such a charming place to live. I understand the desire to traverse that route when you have a chance. And a heartwarming event. That is a disease that has touched many of us... Sounds like you had a good time, even though there are those who drive old Hondas and make it look so easy while doing so well ... Enjoy the day, each and everyone of them...
It's almost time for Nationals, so the NER SCCA event this past Sunday was final prep for many of our drivers. The day was hot, the sun unrelenting, and only an occasional zephyr offered relief to the 150 competitors that day.
The course featured an unusual start, but quickly spread out to include many faster elements than has been the case in earlier events this year - a very good course, reflecting our desire to be ready for the open expanses of Lincoln Airpark.
Here are two very different cars, the first is an Exocet ably driven by Alex (and co-driven this event by Jason), the second made a grand entrance mid-morning, driven by a friend I've not seen in a few years.
Jag 1970 4.2 E Type.
Gollum and I had the pleasure of giving Tom three trips around the course, which I think rather impressed him. He road races here and there, but had not previously encountered the ferocious intensity of a fast autocross run.
With the heat ultimately getting a bit too much, I settled for three runs, which was fun as all heck. We took 1st in STU, but we were also DFL. My respected nemesis Oliver Lucier did not attend, and surprisingly we were all by ourselves in the class.
Gollum ran very well, and I am delighted to have returned to the sport this year, and to the many friends I had not seen much of for the past two seasons.
Is it just me or is his shifter flexing all over the place? I will have to go watch some other autox videos as I have never noticed that in other videos before.
Is it just me or is his shifter flexing all over the place? I will have to go watch some other autox videos as I have never noticed that in other videos before.
Depends on whether the shifter is bolted to the transmission or if it's cable actuated and mounted to the chassis, looks like a Miata in that video so you're seeing the power train move around a lot more than an econo box shifter would.
I believe that's a SSC car. As starter I've seen the name on his car.
Now that I am paying attention, that shifter is pretty goddam funny!
Cheers,
Charlie
Absolutely 100% not an FRS or BRZ (I own one), I'm assuming Miata because that's what Mr. Fields is listed as driving in the results you posted .
And those are certainly Miata vents in the center of the dash.
Edit, oh maybe a typo and you meant SSM?
Last edited by strat61caster; 08-20-2019 at 09:00 AM.
Absolutely 100% not an FRS or BRZ (I own one), I'm assuming Miata because that's what Mr. Fields is listed as driving in the results you posted
And those are certainly Miata vents in the center of the dash.
And with some really sticky gumball tires to get those g-loads he recorded. It was a nice run despite the shifter...
Even paradise gets dull, with enough repetition, and now that the kids are in school and the tourists are starting to wane, and even my local friends leave me grumpy, what to do?
Road trip!
But not the Dragon, not now, not with Gollum at 50k miles on his 2nd birthday - I cannot drink a fine wine too quickly, it is unimaginable!
So.
Bar Harbor....
5:587 am - Cadillac Mountain.
And Northeastern Harbor...
Only a couple of days, but still a timely sorbet while the NER crew is busy in Lincoln.
Even paradise gets dull, with enough repetition, and now that the kids are in school and the tourists are starting to wane, and even my local friends leave me grumpy, what to do?
Road trip!
But not the Dragon, not now, not with Gollum at 50k miles on his 2nd birthday - I cannot drink a fine wine too quickly, it is unimaginable!
So.
Bar Harbor....
5:587 am - Cadillac Mountain.
And Northeastern Harbor...
Only a couple of days, but still a timely sorbet while the NER crew is busy in Lincoln.
Cheers,
Charlie
Acadia is beautiful. I was up there about 2 years ago around this time of year, great time to go. I could have spent a week there vs the 2 days we had.
I really, really wasn't going back to the Dragon this year, nope, not!
Blame the Tarheels Club, for putting MSSD in my way, which crumbled my defenses and compelled me to a booking at the Dragon Pitt from October 10 through the 13th.
Now counting down the two week wait.
In the meantime Gollum and I finished up the NER Solo season this past Sunday, with a friendly but still challenging course at Devens.
Surprisingly, given this is the first event after Nationals (and congratulations to our NER National Champions from 2019), we had 180 drivers registered including 40 novices!
Waiting for 4th Heat...
The results cemented Gollum's second position finish for the season, which is slightly misleading - in fact we were 2-3 seconds off Oliver Lucier's winning pace in each event. Had more properly prepared STU cars been present this year, our finishing position would have been lower.
The fact is, even given equal drivers, Gollum in his current state of preparation cannot keep up with the Boxter S, or the M3, or several of the other cars classed in STU.
However, we had a LOT of fun this year and I've neither complaints nor regrets.
This past Sunday the 6th of October the dauntless and intrepid clan called NER gathered for the prestigious Moss Trophy event.
Back in the seventies, Sir Stirling Moss generously gave the club a beautiful silver dish which he won for an excellent drive on the fearsome Nurburgring.
The trophy was first inscribed at Moss's request, and bears this thought from a great champion: "It is hard to drive at your limit, but harder to know where it is".
The rim of this trophy is a who's who of the best autocross competitors over the last 40 years.
All one has to do to win it is...
Gain entry to the Moss Runoff, by winning a class or through top PAX performance during the year, and then...
Gain a PAX advantage during morning runs by making an outstanding run versus the other candidates (all run in the same heat), and then...
Nearly match that 'best morning run' performance with ALL THREE afternoon runs - sometimes even to the tenths or hundredths.
The formula that picks the winner demands an extraordinary blend of speed and consistency, which makes this a truly significant accomplishment.
NER conducts this ritual as a race within a race, folding all Moss runs into one of our normal events, albeit with concessions made in the run/work order to ensure all Moss competitors are in the same heat.
Last Sunday the conditions were consistent all day, although a bit cold and windy with a grey cloud blanket keeping the track tempurature lower than usual.
A very nice gent that came up from San Antonio joined us on the day, and as he was running a DSP Mini I took notice and did my best to welcome him to the event. Eric never did get heat in the rear Hoosiers which made for too much excitement, a few spins, and one near miss near the edge of the runway that could have been truly unfortunate but wasn't.
The course was hands down the fastest course I have seen this year, and allowed Gollum to record a couple of 48 second runs over a distance which normally requires 60-65 seconds to traverse. It was also a truly exciting experience to drive it, with Gollum reaching the rev limiter in two locations, running the sweepers at 55 and dancing through a 7 cone slalom on the main straightaway that was the bane of many drivers and required heroic corner working to mend repeatedly.
My thanks again and as always to the NER volunteers for a great day of racing, and congratulations to Todd Kean who met the Moss Challenge and is our 2019 Stirling Moss champion.
It's dark as the pit, but I packed the night before so my semi-blind stumbling at 4:30 am matters little, and so we depart.
I am resolved to traverse Massachusetts and slip southwest on I-84 past the triple threats of Hartford, Waterbury, and Danbury before sunrise - thereby escaping the morning commute.
As usual, I seek to deceive myself with vague thoughts of an overnight stop somewhere in Virginia, with a Thursday morning arrival at the Gap.
As usual, I don't stop.
This time I pay close attention to the variations in speed limits - 65 on the northern stretch of I-81, but 70 down in VA, and of course 55 in all the work zones of which there are plenty...
The theory is that since Gollum indicates +1 mph from true speed I shall be 9 mph over the limit during the trip - and that will not trigger the interest of the various state patrols.
Which appears to work, as we passed a stationary trooper, and were also overtaken headed south by two patrol cars - one in VSP livery and one unmarked - and never drew so much as a glance.
Six hours of I-84, and then nine hours of I-81 puts us in the Knoxville area at about 8 pm, and we pull into the Dragon Pit Inn & Barbecue shortly past 9 pm, having consumed four tanks of gas during the long day.
And my usual digs await, on the north end of the Inn, second floor.
Did I mention that the Inn crouches at the side of US 129, where 72 joins, and is situated at the base of a ridge? Did I note that a stand of old hickory trees towers over the metal roof above my head?
The first hammer blow startled me out of my near slumber, and by the fourth or fifth occurrence, and after I scurried out onto the porch and peered into the darkness, I figured it out.
Hickory nuts are being dropped from the crowns of the trees, and accelerating for about 50 feet in free-fall before striking that metal roof with a most impressive CLANG!
Thus explained, I was able to ignore that periodic clamor, and sleep the sleep of the exhausted.
06-27-2019, 05:13 AM
Enjoy the day, each and everyone of them... 
. 
