Blizzard Blowout Country Road Tour this Sunday, Nov 12th

[tmhazen]

You are cordially invited to join us for the

Blizzard Blowout Country Road Tour

Saturday and/or Sunday, November 11th and 12th, 2006

Meeting place changed due to heavy snowfall southeast of the Cities

Meet at the Machine Shed, 8511 Hudson Blvd in Lake Elmo, MN.
Take I 94 East. The first exit past the 494/694 interchange is Inwood Ave. The Machine Shed is on the northeast corner of the cloverleaf at the corner of Inwood Ave and Hudson Blvd.
Tour LEAVES the Machine Shed at 8:00am both Satuday and Sunday.


The roads won't be as fabulous as last weekend out of Pepin, but they will still be good...and dry...and clean. Unfortunately with the 5 to 8 inches of snow that just fell down by Pepin and Fountain City, even if the snow melts, the salt and sand that was put down today has made our favorite twisties a no fun zone until the spring rains, sorry.

http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/59/159/5/61/31/2510561310098025379plonud_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/album/555339891UofMKx)

Drivers of cars like these (from this past Saturday) are determined to get in at least one more brisk country road tour BEFORE the snow flies. Mark your calendars for this weekend boys and girls. Let's cheat winter for another weekend!

Please note that this is just an informal gathering among friends, not an official outing of any club. Everyone is encouraged to drive responsibly at their own safe comfort level. No one will be pushed to go faster or held up behind slower cars. We always drive SLOWLY by pedestrians, houses, and farmers. Depending on the number of cars, we may split into two groups. At intersections each driver will wait for the car behind so no one gets lost. Bring FRS/GMRS radios if you have them. We will have some to loan out also.

Everyone please have a full tank of gas and be ready to leave the Machine Shed by 8:00am.

Feel free to forward this info to any talented drivers you know. Please respond if you plan on joining us.

Call me (612-237-1883) with any questions.

See you in the twisties this weekend!

[tmhazen]

Depending on the ever-changing weather forecast, I might lead a tour on Saturday as well. I'll make a decision on Thursday.

[tmhazen]

Please chime in if you plan on joining us this Sunday. We had 19 expertly-driven cars last weekend.

Also let me know if you can't make it on Sunday, but would like to drive on Saturday. That will influence my decision to lead tours both days.

Motor on.

[Thornton888]

I'm game for Sunday.

[Cman]

I'll attend either day but not both.


Steve

[tmhazen]

Okay, it's official. We will be running the tour both Saturday and Sunday. Enough people on the various forums and via email have expressed interest in a Saturday drive, and the weather looks better on Saturday too.

Please feel free to join us either or both days!

[FOCUS_ST]

I'm also up for sunday.

[MacDubois]

I'm thinking about it...would like to go Saturday, but have to work out the gas money situation first (the piggy bank is terrified right now)

[tmhazen]

We're hoping the snow currently falling in the tour area will melt by tomorrow morning. We're also hoping the salt and sand trucks in Buffalo County haven't been awakened from their summer slumber. I'm gathering info today from my contacts in that area and watching the radar. I'll post again later today.

[tmhazen]

Meeting place changed due to heavy snowfall southeast of the Cities

Meet at the Machine Shed, 8511 Hudson Blvd in Lake Elmo, MN.
Take I 94 East. The first exit past the 494/694 interchange is Inwood Ave. The Machine Shed is on the northeast corner of the cloverleaf at the corner of Inwood Ave and Hudson Blvd.
Tour LEAVES the Machine Shed at 8:00am both Satuday and Sunday.


The roads won't be as fabulous as last weekend out of Pepin, but they will still be good...and dry...and clean. Unfortunately with the 5 to 8 inches of snow that just fell down by Pepin and Fountain City, even if the snow melts, the salt and sand that was put down today has made our favorite twisties a no fun zone until the spring rains, sorry.

[tmhazen]

Six cars showed up this (Saturday) morning at the Machine Shed at 8:00am. Not bad for a last minute change of plans. We managed to find some great roads (and one TOTALLY AWESOME one that included about five miles of VIRGIN BLACKTOP) to the northeast of Minneapolis, and everyone drove very skillfully, if I do say so myself. Here are some photos:

http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/10/11/9/76/46/2483976460098025379XlLVnS_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/album/555489969jgmUnz)

We’ll run most of the same route tomorrow (Sunday), except we won’t get into any snow-covered areas.

See you in the driver’s seat!

[tmhazen]

Great Sunday driving! Click this photo for some nice shots.

http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/50/50/8/25/33/2447825330098025379wZSnUi_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/album/555515086jiMQYV)

Seven cars met at the Machine Shed, took some great roads, then Glenn and Tess joined us with their Lamborghini Murcielago. What a treat! My “speed girlfriend” Sarah got a ride in the “Ghini” and loved it. We carved some nice corners around Stillwater, Marine on St. Croix, Osceola, and St. Croix Falls. Justin was pushing so hard he popped a hose clamp, but was back in business after a trip to the auto parts store. Thanks to Christopher for helping him out. T-turbo and Buckdaddy joined us for lunch, but declined our invitation to drive, because T-turbo had brought his wife along. Why, T-turbo, why? We nailed several hundred more apexes after lunch, then said goodbye in Stillwater. Everybody drove smart. Thanks to the whole crew for a fantastic tour!

[FOCUS_ST]

Why'd I have to sleep in. O'well, would have been nice to run around my home town/area.

[Thornton888]

Still driving the lambo in mid-november eh? I like this guy's style :lol:

[tmhazen]

Still driving the lambo in mid-november eh? I like this guy's style :lol:

Yeah, Glenn's a great guy. Too bad you didn't join us. We covered some excellent roads. I'm getting snow tires mounted today, but that won't prevent me from leading another tour, as long as time (and the weather) allows.

[CDeutsch]

Thanks for the great route Tom! It was a fun time!

I'm not sure who was closer to having the heart attack yesterday. Josh, the deer that wiped out right behind his rear bumper, or me and the guy in the 300z behind me that saw the deer coming in what seemed like slow motion. :bigeyes:

[Thornton888]

Yeah, Glenn's a great guy. Too bad you didn't join us. We covered some excellent roads. I'm getting snow tires mounted today, but that won't prevent me from leading another tour, as long as time (and the weather) allows.

Once again I was planning on attending but it sort of slipped my mind and I ended up trading cars with my father for the weekend ( z28 ) and I didn't really feel right about driving his car through the twisties all day. Oh well 8)

[jberman]

Thanks for the great route Tom! It was a fun time!

I'm not sure who was closer to having the heart attack yesterday. Josh, the deer that wiped out right behind his rear bumper, or me and the guy in the 300z behind me that saw the deer coming in what seemed like slow motion. :bigeyes:

Um, I would have to say me.

Let me set the scene... a nice brisk right-hander, if I remember right, also transitioning from uphill to downhill.

As has been drilled into my head at Mid-Ohio & Evo schools, I was looking into the corner, when out of the very corner of my left eye I caught an impression of something big & hairy, moving fast.

Without even having time to think :bigeyes: DEER :bigeyes: or look fully to my left, I jinked the wheel to the right and went to the edge of the shoulder. I may also have hit the gas, but I can't remember for sure.

There was a flash of movement but no impact, so I glanced in my rear-view mirror and saw a BIG F'ing DEER appear RIGHT behind my car :bigeyes: . It tumbled to its knees in the gravel, then scrambled out of the way of the next car.

I seriously thought I'd see deer hair stuck to the back of my car - it was that close. Thank god the deer veered right and passed behind me.

Other than that, it was a super-fun day!

- Josh

[jberman]

Great Sunday driving! Click this photo for some nice shots.

http://thumb19.webshots.net/t/50/50/8/25/33/2447825330098025379wZSnUi_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/album/555515086jiMQYV)

Seven cars met at the Machine Shed, took some great roads, then Glenn and Tess joined us with their Lamborghini Murcielago. What a treat! My “speed girlfriend” Sarah got a ride in the “Ghini” and loved it. We carved some nice corners around Stillwater, Marine on St. Croix, Osceola, and St. Croix Falls. Justin was pushing so hard he popped a hose clamp, but was back in business after a trip to the auto parts store. Thanks to Christopher for helping him out. T-turbo and Buckdaddy joined us for lunch, but declined our invitation to drive, because T-turbo had brought his wife along. Why, T-turbo, why? We nailed several hundred more apexes after lunch, then said goodbye in Stillwater. Everybody drove smart. Thanks to the whole crew for a fantastic tour!

I second that motion! Here are some of my pics from the day. Enjoy!

http://thumb14.webshots.net/t/63/63/1/82/6/2788182060099242314JPTWjV_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/album/555616426LRTiYo)

- Josh

[EWAustin]

Nice pics Josh, funny how the Lamborghini can make the Elise look narrow :rolleyes:

[tmhazen]

Thanks for the great pics, Josh. Hope to see you again this Sunday.