My Evans Mistake
Thread Starter
|
4th Gear
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 433
Likes: 0
From: Denver, CO
My Evans Mistake
I was on the Evans drive Saturday night - I wasn't with the main group, as I had gone ahead so I could try to take some pictures as the everyone came up the hill.
Well I was motoring up the Evans roadway, trying to stay well ahead of the pack and keeping up a good speed, when I came across a sign saying "Road Damage". What do they mean by that I wondered WHAM.
I hit a dip, in fact a good double dip at speed (with a small amount of braking beforehand as I saw the dip come at me in my lights) and had a pretty good ride up in the air, and back down again, in time to repeat the experience once more on the second dip, though a bit slower.
Happily, even though the car hit the ground a few times rather heavily and also scraped the cowling, the car and tires and wheels were all totally fine.
The really sad part is, that I was driving that same road during the day last year and did exactly the same thing. Perhaps the third time up I'll remember to slow down a bit more in that area. I did want to let people know the MINI is quite a strong beast though!
On a side note, the drive itself was spectacular and I think quite different from the Friday night Evans drive. It had rained really heavily making all the roads rather wet, and in the distance over south Denver you could see the massive storm still raging with lightning strikes every few seconds for the entire time I was up there. As a result of all the water, there were massive banks of mist blowing in on a 50MPH wind from the surrounding hills, making it so you could hardly see one moment and the next it would all have blown away again. That continued all the way to the top, even while I was waiting around.
I got there about twenty minutes before the rest of the group, most of the pictures of them coming up did not look that great but there is a nice one of them coming around the final bend to the Evans parking lot as well as a few others up top, at the very end of my Saturday gallery:
http://gallery.mac.com/kgelner#100063
Well I was motoring up the Evans roadway, trying to stay well ahead of the pack and keeping up a good speed, when I came across a sign saying "Road Damage". What do they mean by that I wondered WHAM.
I hit a dip, in fact a good double dip at speed (with a small amount of braking beforehand as I saw the dip come at me in my lights) and had a pretty good ride up in the air, and back down again, in time to repeat the experience once more on the second dip, though a bit slower.
Happily, even though the car hit the ground a few times rather heavily and also scraped the cowling, the car and tires and wheels were all totally fine.
The really sad part is, that I was driving that same road during the day last year and did exactly the same thing. Perhaps the third time up I'll remember to slow down a bit more in that area. I did want to let people know the MINI is quite a strong beast though!
On a side note, the drive itself was spectacular and I think quite different from the Friday night Evans drive. It had rained really heavily making all the roads rather wet, and in the distance over south Denver you could see the massive storm still raging with lightning strikes every few seconds for the entire time I was up there. As a result of all the water, there were massive banks of mist blowing in on a 50MPH wind from the surrounding hills, making it so you could hardly see one moment and the next it would all have blown away again. That continued all the way to the top, even while I was waiting around.
I got there about twenty minutes before the rest of the group, most of the pictures of them coming up did not look that great but there is a nice one of them coming around the final bend to the Evans parking lot as well as a few others up top, at the very end of my Saturday gallery:
http://gallery.mac.com/kgelner#100063
Take the high road
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 795
Likes: 0
Kendall, YOU ROCK!
I hope your MINI doesn't suffer any complications from the encounter with road damage. Thanks for braving the elements Sat. night in 41 deg at over 14,000 ft! I especially like #5781. That's me in the foreground (shorts, sitting on the bumper) trying to get a little warmth from the idling engine. Didn't work as well as heated seats. The sky was aglow with stars, lightning, mist and more...
Rick
I hope your MINI doesn't suffer any complications from the encounter with road damage. Thanks for braving the elements Sat. night in 41 deg at over 14,000 ft! I especially like #5781. That's me in the foreground (shorts, sitting on the bumper) trying to get a little warmth from the idling engine. Didn't work as well as heated seats. The sky was aglow with stars, lightning, mist and more...
Rick
2nd Gear
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 113
Likes: 0
From: Westminster Colorado
I was on the Evans drive Saturday night - I wasn't with the main group, as I had gone ahead so I could try to take some pictures as the everyone came up the hill.
Well I was motoring up the Evans roadway, trying to stay well ahead of the pack and keeping up a good speed, when I came across a sign saying "Road Damage". What do they mean by that I wondered WHAM.
I hit a dip, in fact a good double dip at speed (with a small amount of braking beforehand as I saw the dip come at me in my lights) and had a pretty good ride up in the air, and back down again, in time to repeat the experience once more on the second dip, though a bit slower.
Happily, even though the car hit the ground a few times rather heavily and also scraped the cowling, the car and tires and wheels were all totally fine.
The really sad part is, that I was driving that same road during the day last year and did exactly the same thing. Perhaps the third time up I'll remember to slow down a bit more in that area. I did want to let people know the MINI is quite a strong beast though!
On a side note, the drive itself was spectacular and I think quite different from the Friday night Evans drive. It had rained really heavily making all the roads rather wet, and in the distance over south Denver you could see the massive storm still raging with lightning strikes every few seconds for the entire time I was up there. As a result of all the water, there were massive banks of mist blowing in on a 50MPH wind from the surrounding hills, making it so you could hardly see one moment and the next it would all have blown away again. That continued all the way to the top, even while I was waiting around.
I got there about twenty minutes before the rest of the group, most of the pictures of them coming up did not look that great but there is a nice one of them coming around the final bend to the Evans parking lot as well as a few others up top, at the very end of my Saturday gallery:
http://gallery.mac.com/kgelner#100063
Well I was motoring up the Evans roadway, trying to stay well ahead of the pack and keeping up a good speed, when I came across a sign saying "Road Damage". What do they mean by that I wondered WHAM.
I hit a dip, in fact a good double dip at speed (with a small amount of braking beforehand as I saw the dip come at me in my lights) and had a pretty good ride up in the air, and back down again, in time to repeat the experience once more on the second dip, though a bit slower.
Happily, even though the car hit the ground a few times rather heavily and also scraped the cowling, the car and tires and wheels were all totally fine.
The really sad part is, that I was driving that same road during the day last year and did exactly the same thing. Perhaps the third time up I'll remember to slow down a bit more in that area. I did want to let people know the MINI is quite a strong beast though!
On a side note, the drive itself was spectacular and I think quite different from the Friday night Evans drive. It had rained really heavily making all the roads rather wet, and in the distance over south Denver you could see the massive storm still raging with lightning strikes every few seconds for the entire time I was up there. As a result of all the water, there were massive banks of mist blowing in on a 50MPH wind from the surrounding hills, making it so you could hardly see one moment and the next it would all have blown away again. That continued all the way to the top, even while I was waiting around.
I got there about twenty minutes before the rest of the group, most of the pictures of them coming up did not look that great but there is a nice one of them coming around the final bend to the Evans parking lot as well as a few others up top, at the very end of my Saturday gallery:
http://gallery.mac.com/kgelner#100063
Thank you for taking all the wonderfull pictures this weekend.. you are the best..
Teresa
That part of the road up was even worse this year then last. Funny, the State thought it would just rejuvenate and be all better - didn't work. Glad no significant damage.
As above, thanks for the great photos. We took so few that we are going to steal yours and put them in our family album. JK.
As above, thanks for the great photos. We took so few that we are going to steal yours and put them in our family album. JK.
Kendall,
Great pictures, I really like the night work. One special picture was extra special, I really like #5763 of the Mini Classic and the rainbow. Nice photography. You were so busy, we did not get a chance to talk.
Don
Great pictures, I really like the night work. One special picture was extra special, I really like #5763 of the Mini Classic and the rainbow. Nice photography. You were so busy, we did not get a chance to talk.
Don
4th Gear
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 343
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis, MO
I was on the Evans drive Saturday night - I wasn't with the main group, as I had gone ahead so I could try to take some pictures as the everyone came up the hill.
Well I was motoring up the Evans roadway, trying to stay well ahead of the pack and keeping up a good speed, when I came across a sign saying "Road Damage". What do they mean by that I wondered WHAM.
I hit a dip, in fact a good double dip at speed (with a small amount of braking beforehand as I saw the dip come at me in my lights) and had a pretty good ride up in the air, and back down again, in time to repeat the experience once more on the second dip, though a bit slower.
Happily, even though the car hit the ground a few times rather heavily and also scraped the cowling, the car and tires and wheels were all totally fine.
The really sad part is, that I was driving that same road during the day last year and did exactly the same thing. Perhaps the third time up I'll remember to slow down a bit more in that area. I did want to let people know the MINI is quite a strong beast though!
On a side note, the drive itself was spectacular and I think quite different from the Friday night Evans drive. It had rained really heavily making all the roads rather wet, and in the distance over south Denver you could see the massive storm still raging with lightning strikes every few seconds for the entire time I was up there. As a result of all the water, there were massive banks of mist blowing in on a 50MPH wind from the surrounding hills, making it so you could hardly see one moment and the next it would all have blown away again. That continued all the way to the top, even while I was waiting around.
I got there about twenty minutes before the rest of the group, most of the pictures of them coming up did not look that great but there is a nice one of them coming around the final bend to the Evans parking lot as well as a few others up top, at the very end of my Saturday gallery:
http://gallery.mac.com/kgelner#100063
Well I was motoring up the Evans roadway, trying to stay well ahead of the pack and keeping up a good speed, when I came across a sign saying "Road Damage". What do they mean by that I wondered WHAM.
I hit a dip, in fact a good double dip at speed (with a small amount of braking beforehand as I saw the dip come at me in my lights) and had a pretty good ride up in the air, and back down again, in time to repeat the experience once more on the second dip, though a bit slower.
Happily, even though the car hit the ground a few times rather heavily and also scraped the cowling, the car and tires and wheels were all totally fine.
The really sad part is, that I was driving that same road during the day last year and did exactly the same thing. Perhaps the third time up I'll remember to slow down a bit more in that area. I did want to let people know the MINI is quite a strong beast though!
On a side note, the drive itself was spectacular and I think quite different from the Friday night Evans drive. It had rained really heavily making all the roads rather wet, and in the distance over south Denver you could see the massive storm still raging with lightning strikes every few seconds for the entire time I was up there. As a result of all the water, there were massive banks of mist blowing in on a 50MPH wind from the surrounding hills, making it so you could hardly see one moment and the next it would all have blown away again. That continued all the way to the top, even while I was waiting around.
I got there about twenty minutes before the rest of the group, most of the pictures of them coming up did not look that great but there is a nice one of them coming around the final bend to the Evans parking lot as well as a few others up top, at the very end of my Saturday gallery:
http://gallery.mac.com/kgelner#100063
You are very lucky. Its that very road last year that caused me to bend a rim, and to have some major damge to the suspention on my car. It just ate a set a tires, and will cost me around $2000 to fix. And it is NOT covered my MINI. =(
Trending Topics
Thread Starter
|
4th Gear
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 433
Likes: 0
From: Denver, CO
Also I have a special bump handling technique (calling it a "dip" is kind of wrong, as it's really more of a small sharp hill in the road that is the problem rather than the dip before/after), that I think may have helped a bit - I brake as much as I can before the rise, then let off the brake and slightly accellerate to bring the nose of the car up and reduce load on the tires/suspension, then braking again after the front tires are over. I use the same technique on speed bumps or train tracks.
Thanks for the warning though, I sure don't plan to make a habit of it every year!
4th Gear
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 308
Likes: 0
From: Tempe, AZ
So maybe the third time up will be a charm, remembering the bumps/dips are there
That section was tough to traverse with a lowered Mini that has an Aero kit and splitter. I ended up having to use both lanes and crawl over some of the damaged areas and still bottomed out. Well worth it for the view.
6th Gear
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,550
Likes: 0
From: Colorado
Actually, they do fix the road
every so often. The issue is that each year, moisture from the lake just ahead seeps thru the ground. That is unavoidable. Then, when it freezes in the winter (early, up there) it simply does what ice does- expand. That, year after year, has made it quite a test.
It was not as bad a few years ago. Once it gets to the point where their own snowplow digs up the road, then they will fix it again.
Otherwise, there is no solution available.
JPS
It was not as bad a few years ago. Once it gets to the point where their own snowplow digs up the road, then they will fix it again.
Otherwise, there is no solution available.
JPS
2nd Gear
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 113
Likes: 0
From: Westminster Colorado
every so often. The issue is that each year, moisture from the lake just ahead seeps thru the ground. That is unavoidable. Then, when it freezes in the winter (early, up there) it simply does what ice does- expand. That, year after year, has made it quite a test.
It was not as bad a few years ago. Once it gets to the point where their own snowplow digs up the road, then they will fix it again.
Otherwise, there is no solution available.
JPS
It was not as bad a few years ago. Once it gets to the point where their own snowplow digs up the road, then they will fix it again.
Otherwise, there is no solution available.
JPS
Teresa
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post