Hi all, It's been about 5 long years since I've sold my 2001 M Coupe and was a nominal member of BMWCCA. I've now picked up a beautiful E60 M5 and am hoping to get involved with the club as well as some local chapters. I split my time between Manhattan and the Danbury Area in Connecticut, so hopefully between the two regions I can find a local chapter and lots of activity. I have experience with racing motorcycles and am hoping to transfer some of that over to 4 wheels. Hopefully, I will be able to find the time to attend some driver schools soon.
Welcome back to BMW. Nice beast you have! To get started, I will be hosting a meet/drive/dine in Fishkill on the 11th. Hope you could make it.
Jay, FWIW, I joined NYBMWCCA and have a sub-membership with Boston BMWCCA. The Connecticut region is not all that active. Personally, I focus on autocross. Boston has an autocross at Fort Devens/Ayer, MA Oct. 12th. It is not very close to Danbury. New York's next autocross is Saturday, October 25th. I am going to try and make that one. It is much closer to my home in Westport.
CT Valley is very inactive. I'm rather disappointed in that; if I want to go to events, I have to drive at least over an hour away into NY (Patroon Chatper's events) just to get to an event. Come renewal time, I'm going to be adding Patroon Chapter to my membership list. I didn't know NY had autocross events! Looks like I'd better start prepping myself for my first autocross.
Early this season, the board of the Connecticut Valley Chapter published a position that they would not be doing any driving events other than O'Fest and 2 Lime Rock Drivers Schools this year due to the high price of fuel. But that they would be doing a couple social events, brewery tour, wine & cheese, etc. The bigger factor resulting in the lack of activity is the lack of members stepping up and being involved in the Chapter. The CT Valley Chapter is the second oldest and second largest Chapter (behind Boston) in the entire Club. But the same group of about 10 - 12 people have been doing everything for the past 10 years that I have been a member. So, apparently we also have the least active membership. I will caveat this statement with a full admission that I am part of the problem. Work and family commitments have prevented me from being more active in the planning and execution of local Club events. I'm trying to make time to become more active and I would encourage other CVC members to do the same. I know the Chapter would welcome some new activity. It's up to us to revitalize the local chapter. Regarding autocrosses in Central CT, check out http://www.cartct.com/index1.shtml
Entrusting someone like me to actually organize and run an event is like trusting a piece of cheese to change your rear left brake disc. I'd gladly *help* with aspects of the events if someone else was willing to actually run it... How 'bout a CVC autocross? Perhaps something more centralized, unlike the events that we usually have that are always northern CT...
Dear Lance, et al: I am not going to try to flame you or the CT Valley Group, but I would like to mention a few items. First and foremost is the suggestion to go to cartct events. I have gone to their events starting in 1984. The last one I attend was a while ago because of a few issues. Safety is the most important, and that lack of safety has been consistent over the years. It is unfortunate, because their group is an okay bunch of folks, but I will not put myself, my car, or anyone else at risk. Just say no. As to CT Valley BMWCCA, I would wager that it has the same demos as the CT Valley Region of Porsche Club of America. CVR-PCA manages to run autocrosses, rallies, time trials, Club races and DEs. I seem to remember they are just under 2,000 in membership (I am a member of CVR PCA). Boston PCA and Boston BMWCCA run many autocrosses and track events, too. Metro NY PCA and NYBMWCCA do the same of running track and autocross events. Many participants are members of both. Remember that PCA requires you to own a Porsche when you join. When I was first looking at which chapter/region to join, I really wanted to be part of the Connecticut contingent. I have looked in at the club's activities since that time and sadly, not seen anything new to give me a reason to switch. I was born and raised in Connecticut. It pained me greatly join NY and Boston (is that like having to root for the Rangers or Bruins, when the Whalers left Hartford?). Like SCCA, as the core group does most of the work, it does not foster other members to become more active and take charge. And the hits all clubs, not just SCCA. It is always tough to delegate. For cred, I have been autocrossing for 24 years. I have been a Safety Steward with SCCA for about 15. I have won Solo and Pro Solo National Championships (hey, a few of those were in the 1996 Hoosier Racing Tire BMW 318i, just to keep some BMW content in the thread). Again, I would like to apologize if this comes across as harsh. I am just trying to be frank about it.
Northern CT?! I go to Ayer, Massachusetts or Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, from Westport, for autocrosses. So az, ya got access to a VERY large parking lot or decommissioned airport? If you get it, they will come.
Yeah, but you're crazy. lol I just don't feel like waking up so early every morning to attend an event so far away. Waking up early for me is probably the thing I hate the most, aside from people who don't signal when they turn, and bleu cheese (stinks like crap). I know of an empty lot, but I have no idea where I can go to get permission to use it. It's in Milford, where a movie theatre used to be. It's the one off of exit 39A from I-95, heading towards Citizen's bank... unfortunately, that's the extent of my "possible space" knowledge.
I typically spend the night when I go to Ayer. I'll pass along about the Showcase Cinemas. They may have too many "islands" to make it viable.
What would be truly awesome is if there could be an event where cool tricks could be taught, like the J-turn, or the infamous "handbrake park" maneuver. Problem with that is I don't think there are any specialists around. Do you know of any other places an event could be hosted? Autocross is the most popular option, but there are other options available as well. Sure, there are events for other clubs, but to bring activity to the CVC would valuable and rewarding to one of the largest chapters!
I think your information is outdated. While CVC is the second oldest, the largest chapter (by a lot!) is probably still Golden Gate, and I would bet that Windy City and National Capital are both significantly larger than CVC. There may be others (Texas, Florida, New York, and maybe even Ohio chapters that have grown strongly in the past 15-20 years). I would be interested in seeing a rough chapter size listing on the site, if the admins don't think that's somehow 'private'.
The old Showcase Cinema's lots do not look like they will work. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...999966&spn=0.011179,0.019226&t=h&z=16&iwloc=A http://tinyurl.com/53r52f
I was thinking of the one marked at E at the link you provided. I didn't see any islands every time I passed by it and it looked big enough, though I don't know how large a space would be needed.
E doesn't look too active to me... or is it just that entrace? It always looks deserted every time I pass by there.
Okay, I stand corrected. Letter "A" and "E" were owned by Showcase Cinemas. They closed both of those down and moved everything to the Connecticut Post Mall. That is letter "B" (for those of you playing at home).
