I DO!!! This coming from me after a nice little 11PM drift session on crystal clear yet snowy roads... Does anyone else love the snow as much as I do? Perhaps for different reasons?
I was driving home from a party last evening, and needed to stop at work on the way through to pick up some reports. We pulled into a huge virgin parking lot with 4 inches of new snow on packed powder and ice, but before we could turn off the DSC, we spotted the unmarked police car.... not wanting to explain why two 45 year olds were acting like they were 17, we chose the path of reason. Yes, we love snow.
LMAO Someone had too much time on their hands. It's funny how the cops always like to park in those unoccupied lots where there is a huge potential for fun. I didn't have any access to any lots last night, just a few corners, and the only lot I would have pulled into had a nice unmarked car in the far corner. I saw it and thought that those lights looked way too police-like and decided to keep on going. I have to admit though, making U-turns in the snow is major fun.
Gig Gig...a Demerit? a mark against you? You might to have had to have seen the movie or been in the service. Seriously, those of us that live in the frickin godforsaken place called the upper Midwest have seen enough snow and winter in the last two years to last us two lifetimes. We much prefer playing on warm dry pavement and have had more than our share of winter practice on slippery surfaces. It has really lost it's attraction, enough that the photo in the e-mail above was my screen saver last winter... But you carry on and enjoy, but privately please
Being in the computer field, that wasn't what I was thinking at all. lol Don't get me wrong, I like warm, dry pavement as much as the next guy. Hell, I just wish they'd announce the next Driver's School for my chapter so I could start counting down. I'd give my left pinky to go to a DE right now...
Ok, you asked for it, here cmes another lcjhnsn historical diatribe... While I was growing up in the bustling metropolis of East Herkimer NY (about a 1/4 mile down the road from Mr. TeamStowell), long before I obtained the legal priveledge to pilot an automobile, we always bought a season pass to the local 750' vertical ski area. The place was about 8 miles away from the old homestead. Although they didn't ski, my parents would shuttle my brother and I along with various friends to the ski slope 2 or 3 nights per week and every Saturday and Sunday. I LOVED the snow!! In 1985 after a 4 year hiatus from skiing while dedicating my time and $$ to education and then moving to Connecticut, I spotted in a local bicycle shop this odd contraption that looked like a surfboard with water ski bindings on it. The proprietor of the shop told me the thing was intended for use on snow. It was one of the first commercially available Burton Snowboards!! I bought it immediately and went out to the local sledding hill to teach myself how not to commit suicide on the thing. I was successful in not killing myself and started making regular week night trips to Powder Ridge, more appropriately known as "Icy Bump", the local 500' ski area in Middlefield CT. This was one of the first ski areas in New England to welcome the crazies like me who strapped both feet to the same board. After a few trips to the local place I added weekly Saturday southern Vermont, Stratton Mountain trips to my routine. Stratton was home to Jake "Burton" Carpenter, so they also allowed snowboards, but you had to be inspected and your competency "certified" by one of the local instructors. Those were great times, being a "pioneer" in a brand new sport! I LOVED winter!!!!! I kept that up for a few years, then got married and the snowboarding frequency started to dwindle. Bought a house and discovered the joys of shoveling all that white crap out of the driveway. Another couple years and a couple promotions at work are really eating into play time. Then child #1 comes along, that's it for the snowboarding, no time, no $$. Fast forward 15 years... shoveling snow, getting vehicles stuck in the snow, paying heating bills, local ski area goes bankrupt, Vermont lift tickets pushing $100 per day, my beloved Roadster sitting dormant and lonely in the garage, being trapped in doors all those cold winter days. I HATE the snow!!! How things change as time goes by...
Not a problem... http://www.pbocflorida.com/mainmenu.html Maybe the best driving event I have ever attended is the annual PBOC Winterfest. You still have tiime to register. You can mail that pinky to me after you have enjoyed the event. I wouldn't want to upset your driving ability before hand... Care on.
Exactly my point, I rest my case your honor, thanks for playing az, Winter SUCKS! but we are more than half way through it for this year, I hope.
It wouldn't be bad at all if someone offered some kind of cool car control / maneuvering course that deals with snow.
I hate the snow. I can't wash any of the cars since they will get dirty as soon as I start driving them from the car wash. I did manage to wash them two Saturdays ago only to get dirty on the drive to work . 33 more days till the drive to Orlando sun . As a kid growing up I Ioved the snow because then schools would be closed. Now? No way Jose!
That is a great idea. You should talk with your chapter board members and see if they would like to help you set something up.
Been there; done that. Badger Bimmers & the regional Audi club did a couple of ice driving schools about a dozen years ago on Lake Sinissippi, where the local Saab club hosted racing on a plowed course. I helped instruct (Apparently, driving a 200 Turbo Quattro was qualification enough!) and we had a great time. I even learned something new ...
Hmmm... I wonder who does that...... http://www.winterdrive.com/ I did their course 11 years ago, it was fun and quite a challenge (I stuffed our car pretty well into one of the course's snow berms - oops! ). You get more out of it w/ some auto-xing, driver's schools, and shuffle-steering practice under your belt - I found myself coaching my car-mate on steering and vision. If there's a downside, it's that, like most professional/commercial schools, they don't have the personnel to have an in-car coach for every student. Thus the benefit of having gotten the basics down beforehand. As I recall, there was a club chapter in the N.E. 20 years ago that did a winter ice auto-x series.
Bah. Nothing good is in CT. There aren't even any good driving roads, just ask Lance. No autocrosses, no car control clinics (I'm talking non-Street Survival grade with a bunch of teenagers, but more advanced stuff), no rallies, only about a couple of driver's schools a YEAR, and at only one track. Why? I'm willing to bet it's budget. But then why isn't this a problem for other chapters?
