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Aargh!! PNW2007 Tour is Over.....

slomove

By slomove
in General Sevens Discussion

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slomove

slomove

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We seemed to run into a number of folks who didn't appreciate being passed by our cars. They would speed up after the first person had gone by in an annoying effort to prevent the rest of the group from following suit.

 

Yes, that happenend....

 

In general, however I must say many other drivers were very cooperative and pulled over at the next suitable opportunity (I would say more that you would find typically in SoCal).

Also in a few cases uncooperative drivers pulled over after the first car passed to let the rest of the nutters go by without further intimidation :cool:

 

 

I will collect some of the feedback made so far and add some of my own experience as a starting document. A couple of things I know already:

- A 1-week tour (plus 2 weekends) will find much broader attendance than a 2-week tour. This may however be tricky to do as "East meets West"

- after almost 2 weeks a certain scenery-numbness sets in. In the beginning it is like "wow, what a beautiful view" and "OMG, that road rocks". to the end that rather becomes "oh well, just another postcard picture"

- a central location with 1 or 2-day tours in different directions is much easier to manage. In that case the support truck does not even need to chase the group but can drive out on demand.

- it would be helpful for the organizer to ask for non-refundable deposits as soon as the route is fixed. That will separate the serious interests early and make it much easier to organize. Having 80% of the participant list sitting on the fence for months makes it impossible to plan support costs and hotels.

 

Gert

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WestTexasS2K

WestTexasS2K

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3. I'm half joking here, but an information sheet made out ahead of time with answers to the common questions would be a huge time-saver at stops. Example:

It's a Lotus Seven

No, it's not a VW kit car

Gasoline

about 25 mpg

Fast enough

etc., etc.

 

As most of you know, the attention a group of Sevens gets is amazing, but after two weeks straight of the same questions it can get a little annoying!

 

Maybe other tourers can add suggestions too.

 

 

 

Kevin and I ran into that problem during 1 lap. Taking some advice from team Iron Butt who ran an Ultralite the previous year. We had hero cards printed up. It has picture of the car on the front and then details about the car on the back. Manufacuture, demensions, weight, drive train used 0-60 times, 1/4 mile times websites etc. We just tell them we would love to tell them but we are short on time and hand them a card and refer them to manufactures website. The kids really love to get them , you would think that you gave them 20 bucks.

 

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JohnCh

JohnCh

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In general, however I must say many other drivers were very cooperative and pulled over at the next suitable opportunity

 

You mean like the guy in the dark blue/black Tahoe after we crossed into WA? ;)

 

-John

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slomove

slomove

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You mean like the guy in the dark blue/black Tahoe after we crossed into WA? ;)

 

-John

 

Good point :D But that was my fault.....passing a camouflaged police car that is already driving 10 mph over the limit....I still need to develop that sixth sense to smell the danger.

 

Gert

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pierats

pierats

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I'd say we learned a lot on this tour, the least of which is how they disguise their police cars in Washington state! ;) Credit to Gert though - no ticket was issued. :hurray:

 

I also second that a tour of shorter time would be a good idea. It was starting to seem like the amazing race at the end. It would be wonderful to get together with folks from the east coast, but I fear that this would result in a tour that was longer than the 9 days Gert mentioned (one week, plus a weekend on either end = 9 days), especially for those of us who are not driving trailer queens. :eek::D I read recently on the se7ens.net tour list that they suggest long weekend tours, or tours where the goal is to stay someplace nice for a few nights and then move on to the next nice place. The idea being that if your spouse is not into hardcore blatting every day, they can go to the spa or go sightseeing, etc. Instead of having to be strapped into a loud cramped car for days on end. We had very good weather, but in case of bad weather you can imagine that your spouse would probably get pretty tired of driving in the se7en while wet and cold!!!

 

I agree with Stan that the most interesting hotels were the "motor lodge" type, where we could casually hang out and do some bench racing. :cheers:

 

:iagree:

 

I feel that some kind of intra-car communication would be most helpful. It was manageable with our sized group, but would be more difficult with a larger group.

 

It was nice to have Stan driving a normal car, and he did an admirable job of keeping up with us! However, it was a bit concerning to see him rushing up to us in my rear view mirror as I was braking! Good thing the ABS works, eh Stan?! :eek::cool:

 

I think John's suggestions about the tour are right on target. Each of these items should be considered when planning the next tour. FWIW, the UK folks have a members only sharepoint site where they keep all of the information for the tours - for both organizers and participants.

 

Regarding the passing of cars, it would be wise to put the lower powered cars either in the front or in the middle of the pack. Having a high horsepower car bring up the rear (Mike Biddle in the case of USA2005) made passing a lot easier!

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soareyes

soareyes

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It was nice to have Stan driving a normal car, and he did an admirable job of keeping up with us! However, it was a bit concerning to see him rushing up to us in my rear view mirror as I was braking! Good thing the ABS works, eh Stan?! :eek::cool:

 

Yes, I did get into the ABS a few times. Nearly made me drop my cell phone and spill my latte! ;)

 

 

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slomove

slomove

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Gert! How did you get out of that one?? :bigears:

 

Rob

 

-- Me: shifting down in third at some 60mph, passing the black car, creating a substantial racket.

-- flashing police lights lights go off and a quick siren wail

-- I think "oh no, here goes my insurance rate" (mind, I am still within my 18 months grace period for an earlier ticket in California...)

-- I pull over and the black SUV produces a mid-aged police officer.

-- Officer: "Can I see your drivers license?.................Is there any particular reason to exceed the speed limit?"

-- Me: "Well, not really, I think that was pretty foolish."

-- Officer: "I can appreciate that you have a nice car. But we can not tolerate such behavior here. We have bikers, and local traffic (???) so we must keep the roads safe"

-- Me: "I understand"

-- Officer: repeats about same phrases.....

-- Me: expects the police guy to pull out his booklet and write me up

-- Officer: "Tell the other guys in your group (who zoomed by during this chat) that we can not tolerate that"

-- Me: "Sure, will do. Thanks for the heads up!"................Driving off thinking this is my Lucky Day

 

Believe it or not, I did drive a bit slower after that. At least for a while.

 

Gert

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