STX (Street Touring X) Lions and Tigers and Bears! (An STX mouse at the National Tour )
#1
06-13-2008, 05:54 PM
Lions and Tigers and Bears! (An STX mouse at the National Tour )
Dear Reader,
I offer the following snippets - each my own narrow view - for your dining and dancing pleasure. They are part of my memory of the Devens NT, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
A three-act play, the Devens National Tour opened Friday at 11:30 am - when the very first NER volunteer arrived. After several hours of waiting others gathered, myself among them, and the gates burst inwards with the course setup crew (in their hundreds - brave souls) and various other critical players being admitted - and all others sent packing. The admonition that no parking jam on Bishop would be tolerated was ably enforced with Brian's leadership and all played along with the 5pm entry rule without audible grumbling.
The first act picked up for me when the National Tour truck arrived, as I had purloined the best work assignment of the weekend (setup and tear down). Obedient to my role I chased the truck into the site when it arrived, and fiercely reported to the occupants pretty much as soon as it had stopped rolling.
Thereby I met Clancey, Sandy, Robert, Cindy and Fred - all of whom would earn plenty of respect and some affection by the end of act three. Clancey was kind enough to take me under his wing and get me working without being visibly bothered that things had to be spelled out.
New radios were jammed into new chargers, speakers popped out on the roof, clipboards flew everywhere and no-one became flustered despite a blizzard of details in all directions. The south end of that truck was ready for business while the north end was still doing final unpacking - such is the level of organization and experience that is contained therein.
When Clancey had tired of directing me, and tech was running, and even Fred was willing to slow a little I snuck in the coursewalks and such. For me walking an NT course is kinda like wandering down the baseline at Wimbleton, or the center at Wembley. You all may laugh at me but I'm not wrong - some of the best in the country are going to run the same course I'm walking, and that thought intrudes.
The first leg of the clockwise course featured a set of three features that initially struck me as a fish ladder - jogging to the right rather than upwards. There was one line, and one only, that would get me through and an absolute forest of cones in a small area. I reckoned after study that I knew the three cones of all of them that I needed to love, and their appearance and location, but I was genuinely concerned at my ability to spot them in the split second I knew I'd have during a run. Worry number one I thought - and I was right.
I took that worry, and a few others with me home later that night, rewashed the car, put all the decals on, and tried to sleep. I don't count sheep, but I ran that course in my head more than a few times. I could - I had no gaps in my recall - and that comforted me, but not enough for sleep. Thus ended Act One - sort of....
Which brought me to Act Two - starting at Denny's at 3:45 am Saturday morning. It reminded me of old road trips - the smell of mediocre coffee and the sensation of being slight adhered to one's seat. It was breakfast though, and when I needed it, and I've nothing bad to say of the cook or the service. I needed something to propel me through the long hot day I knew was coming and it worked.
Needless to say I was early Saturday also, and of course Street Touring means "arrive and drive" (at least the way I do it) as long as you remove the groceries first. I had plenty of time for more coursewalks, and to try and get my mental snapshots and reference points reset for Heat 2.
After five years - and mind you I started out making those little maps - I have learned a little bit about walking course and getting my mind right. I reckon there is one hell of a lot more to learn. How some folks can walk together in active conversation and learned anything is just beyond me. More on that later I'm sad to say.
As an aside - if you think my recollections are narrow you are right as rain. I went determined to see, hear, and think nothing but my heat, my equipment, my driving, and that course. For me it is easy to get dazzled at the National Tour, and when I get dazzled I lose focus, confidence, and the air in my little balloon tends to leak out. So I had the blinders on.
Heat 2 grid introduced me to my competitors in STX, and those gents were a great part of why I had a good time. We shared introductions, spoke freely, shared results, tools sometimes and always mutual respect. By the end of the heat I knew I would not forget who Chris Shenefield is, or Cy Lee either - initially due to their friendliness, and eventually due to their sheer uncanny ohmigodlookatthattime speed. That's why I come - to stretch as high on the scratching tree as my little bear butt can, and see how far that is from the big bears. I got my answer - it's several seconds on a sixty second course from me to Chris. Benchmark.
Saturday night I mercifully collapsed, and completely missed the line of thunderstorms that partially flattened the site at end of day. I hear tell there were applecarts overturned for a while, but I was not there to see it. Thus ended Act Two.
Act Three commenced in Sunday morning darkness, to swing through Tyngsboro and pick Neil up, which lead us down some lovely roads through Groton to Ayer in first light of day. It was a great drive and a perfect morning - I tried to draw the coolness into me as best I could to forstall the furnace I knew we'd have by noon. That and a gallon of water.
The Sunday coursewalk showed that my fish ladder nemesis had survived the rearrangement. I was both relieved and alarmed. Relieved because the reuse of several elements allowed me to memorize the course fairly quickly, and alarmed because I had never liked my performance on that section the previous day.
Sadly my relief led me to interrupt Lynne's coursewalk with some idle chat. I know better, but in my defense I was dazzled. She put me off with infinite grace, and we continued seperately, but I regret it still.
By the start of Heat 2 my little pyrometer said the pavement was at 120 degrees. I put it away and tried not to think about it. Our STX crew rejoined the fray, I continued to try and truly see that first leg line, and the spacing among the competitors remained similiar as the previous day. Chris opened with a 59 second run - just slower than a SS Z06 and just faster than Bud's CS Solstice - not bad for a Civic on street tires.
Run 2 however, the whole STX field had a whiff of something and suddenly we were all in the 40s! I ran a 40 and my neighbor ran a 44 (musta coned). We all congratulated each other, lamented the timing problem, and waitied for reruns. Since all of us were affected none of us had a gripe, but the mischance threw one hell of a monkeywrench at the grid crew who most definitely had my sympathy.
STX also had a special tire compound at our disposal, as someone left a tube of sunblock in the wrong place and someone else ran over it with a noise like an exploding frog. The result was a burnout box that was carefully avoided thereafter. Principally however I remember that STX neighbor loaned me his tire sprayer, bless his generous heart, and then beat me, damn his fast driving! A square deal actually - I'd have felt badly to beat him (slightly).
When the Heat 2 dust settled I had the freshness to stay and pay attention to the other heats. No need for blinders and every reason to stand and learn. I never tired of watching the cars down the first leg. There was a good view from the line that showed every dip and weave as the drivers shifted weight and direction in what was frequently a graceful and fluid dance through a sea of cones. Some of the competititors came off the line so hard my eyes could barely keep up, and others endured frustration with stalling and hard starting. To watch really good driving is for me both educational and inspirational. Humbling too, but it's a challenge I cannot resist.
Many hats full of icewater and many fast runs later I returned to Clancey and we began collapsing the circus tent and rounding up all the animals. Bringing the cords in to start and finish I discovered the MOST IMPORTANT CONE. This cone was guarded by (and guarding) the killdeer nest, and the lady of the nest spoke to me like a sailor as I carefully extricated the cable from her neighborhood - she made me blush and I rather thought I would get pecked in the process.
From end to end and top to bottom the tour is a great memory. Heat, speed, friendliness, and even the ferocious killdeer will stay with me. Next time I hope to help more, have more fun, and drive faster.
Cheers,
Charlie
I offer the following snippets - each my own narrow view - for your dining and dancing pleasure. They are part of my memory of the Devens NT, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
A three-act play, the Devens National Tour opened Friday at 11:30 am - when the very first NER volunteer arrived. After several hours of waiting others gathered, myself among them, and the gates burst inwards with the course setup crew (in their hundreds - brave souls) and various other critical players being admitted - and all others sent packing. The admonition that no parking jam on Bishop would be tolerated was ably enforced with Brian's leadership and all played along with the 5pm entry rule without audible grumbling.
The first act picked up for me when the National Tour truck arrived, as I had purloined the best work assignment of the weekend (setup and tear down). Obedient to my role I chased the truck into the site when it arrived, and fiercely reported to the occupants pretty much as soon as it had stopped rolling.
Thereby I met Clancey, Sandy, Robert, Cindy and Fred - all of whom would earn plenty of respect and some affection by the end of act three. Clancey was kind enough to take me under his wing and get me working without being visibly bothered that things had to be spelled out.
New radios were jammed into new chargers, speakers popped out on the roof, clipboards flew everywhere and no-one became flustered despite a blizzard of details in all directions. The south end of that truck was ready for business while the north end was still doing final unpacking - such is the level of organization and experience that is contained therein.
When Clancey had tired of directing me, and tech was running, and even Fred was willing to slow a little I snuck in the coursewalks and such. For me walking an NT course is kinda like wandering down the baseline at Wimbleton, or the center at Wembley. You all may laugh at me but I'm not wrong - some of the best in the country are going to run the same course I'm walking, and that thought intrudes.
The first leg of the clockwise course featured a set of three features that initially struck me as a fish ladder - jogging to the right rather than upwards. There was one line, and one only, that would get me through and an absolute forest of cones in a small area. I reckoned after study that I knew the three cones of all of them that I needed to love, and their appearance and location, but I was genuinely concerned at my ability to spot them in the split second I knew I'd have during a run. Worry number one I thought - and I was right.
I took that worry, and a few others with me home later that night, rewashed the car, put all the decals on, and tried to sleep. I don't count sheep, but I ran that course in my head more than a few times. I could - I had no gaps in my recall - and that comforted me, but not enough for sleep. Thus ended Act One - sort of....
Which brought me to Act Two - starting at Denny's at 3:45 am Saturday morning. It reminded me of old road trips - the smell of mediocre coffee and the sensation of being slight adhered to one's seat. It was breakfast though, and when I needed it, and I've nothing bad to say of the cook or the service. I needed something to propel me through the long hot day I knew was coming and it worked.
Needless to say I was early Saturday also, and of course Street Touring means "arrive and drive" (at least the way I do it) as long as you remove the groceries first. I had plenty of time for more coursewalks, and to try and get my mental snapshots and reference points reset for Heat 2.
After five years - and mind you I started out making those little maps - I have learned a little bit about walking course and getting my mind right. I reckon there is one hell of a lot more to learn. How some folks can walk together in active conversation and learned anything is just beyond me. More on that later I'm sad to say.
As an aside - if you think my recollections are narrow you are right as rain. I went determined to see, hear, and think nothing but my heat, my equipment, my driving, and that course. For me it is easy to get dazzled at the National Tour, and when I get dazzled I lose focus, confidence, and the air in my little balloon tends to leak out. So I had the blinders on.
Heat 2 grid introduced me to my competitors in STX, and those gents were a great part of why I had a good time. We shared introductions, spoke freely, shared results, tools sometimes and always mutual respect. By the end of the heat I knew I would not forget who Chris Shenefield is, or Cy Lee either - initially due to their friendliness, and eventually due to their sheer uncanny ohmigodlookatthattime speed. That's why I come - to stretch as high on the scratching tree as my little bear butt can, and see how far that is from the big bears. I got my answer - it's several seconds on a sixty second course from me to Chris. Benchmark.
Saturday night I mercifully collapsed, and completely missed the line of thunderstorms that partially flattened the site at end of day. I hear tell there were applecarts overturned for a while, but I was not there to see it. Thus ended Act Two.
Act Three commenced in Sunday morning darkness, to swing through Tyngsboro and pick Neil up, which lead us down some lovely roads through Groton to Ayer in first light of day. It was a great drive and a perfect morning - I tried to draw the coolness into me as best I could to forstall the furnace I knew we'd have by noon. That and a gallon of water.
The Sunday coursewalk showed that my fish ladder nemesis had survived the rearrangement. I was both relieved and alarmed. Relieved because the reuse of several elements allowed me to memorize the course fairly quickly, and alarmed because I had never liked my performance on that section the previous day.
Sadly my relief led me to interrupt Lynne's coursewalk with some idle chat. I know better, but in my defense I was dazzled. She put me off with infinite grace, and we continued seperately, but I regret it still.
By the start of Heat 2 my little pyrometer said the pavement was at 120 degrees. I put it away and tried not to think about it. Our STX crew rejoined the fray, I continued to try and truly see that first leg line, and the spacing among the competitors remained similiar as the previous day. Chris opened with a 59 second run - just slower than a SS Z06 and just faster than Bud's CS Solstice - not bad for a Civic on street tires.
Run 2 however, the whole STX field had a whiff of something and suddenly we were all in the 40s! I ran a 40 and my neighbor ran a 44 (musta coned). We all congratulated each other, lamented the timing problem, and waitied for reruns. Since all of us were affected none of us had a gripe, but the mischance threw one hell of a monkeywrench at the grid crew who most definitely had my sympathy.
STX also had a special tire compound at our disposal, as someone left a tube of sunblock in the wrong place and someone else ran over it with a noise like an exploding frog. The result was a burnout box that was carefully avoided thereafter. Principally however I remember that STX neighbor loaned me his tire sprayer, bless his generous heart, and then beat me, damn his fast driving! A square deal actually - I'd have felt badly to beat him (slightly).
When the Heat 2 dust settled I had the freshness to stay and pay attention to the other heats. No need for blinders and every reason to stand and learn. I never tired of watching the cars down the first leg. There was a good view from the line that showed every dip and weave as the drivers shifted weight and direction in what was frequently a graceful and fluid dance through a sea of cones. Some of the competititors came off the line so hard my eyes could barely keep up, and others endured frustration with stalling and hard starting. To watch really good driving is for me both educational and inspirational. Humbling too, but it's a challenge I cannot resist.
Many hats full of icewater and many fast runs later I returned to Clancey and we began collapsing the circus tent and rounding up all the animals. Bringing the cords in to start and finish I discovered the MOST IMPORTANT CONE. This cone was guarded by (and guarding) the killdeer nest, and the lady of the nest spoke to me like a sailor as I carefully extricated the cable from her neighborhood - she made me blush and I rather thought I would get pecked in the process.
From end to end and top to bottom the tour is a great memory. Heat, speed, friendliness, and even the ferocious killdeer will stay with me. Next time I hope to help more, have more fun, and drive faster.
Cheers,
Charlie
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