Hi Pete -

I should be in. Brian hyped the last one so much that I can't say no.

Just have to learn to drive a Subaru again before that time!

-ac

 

He's ALIIIIIIIVE!!!

-Brian

 

So we have

Bryan (Dr Tofu)
Brian (ebs)
Bushido
AndyC

Still room for one more team....but if its just these guys I'm sure there is no reason to write an all paved route, so if someone who doesn't mind driving on a little dirt takes that last slot, it saves me another day trip and probably $50 in gas...

 

YAY!!!!

-Brian

 

Anyone want to loan me a full size spare for the drive? I'm a cheap bastard!

 

I've got a full size Forester spare

-Brian

 

I'll be bringing a full-sized spare (5x100 Impreza wheel)

 

Went out for the first pre-check yesterday.

We will revisit a few roads from the first year and a few roads which, while new to this event are tried and true favorites from many other tours and drives.

Yes there are still some decent unpaved stretches, and the route time with breaks will run a full 9+ hours, so even though the mileage is less then it used to be, the endurance factor has not been diminished.

Really looking forward to it!

 

ok, I REALLY would love to do this, but I have never done anything like it before. I have had my 2008 wrx hatch for about a year, only mod is SPT catback.

what do I need to know for a true noobie/first timer?

Like first of all, how many tanks of gas should I plan on? Aside from that, what other costs are there?

This may be a lil too much for a noobie like me, but we shall see.

 

If you aren't afraid of driving on some dirt roads, I'd say you are ready, although we do usually suggest having a full sized spare, this year the dirt sections aren't too bad, so I wouldn't be expecting any flats at all.

We also suggest that you have a navigator or co-driver, the basic premise is that your navi reads you the instructions so you know where to turn and stuff like that.
Timed sections involve a specified speed which you are supposed to attempt to average, when you get to my car- I time you in and hand you the timing log, you time the rest of the cars as they drive by, then when they've all passed, you go out and finish the section.

We have 4 relatively short timed sections in a full 9 hours of driving so most of the day is spent "free" driving, the best part is the campfire escapades afterwards

Kind of depends on where you are coming from, the start is just north of Petaluma, and the route itself can be done pretty easily on one tank. I expect that you'll need to fill up again on the way home...

Hey, we were all noobies at one time or another, you only learn how these games go by playing!

 

No time like the present!

-Brian

 

Muhahaha! Join us....

seriously though, I am planning on bringing the hand crank blender so that we can make margaritas at the campsite.

 

hmm, one tank of gas eh...

but the campsite is a 2.5 hour drive? north or south? because I live in san jose. And I'm not sure if i can afford both days off [i work swing shift, and weekends are common].

Is the camping free? bring your own food? I'm not sure i can afford to throw $200+ at this, but if i can scrape by with maybe $150 or so including gas i might be able to pull it off. I just need to know what to expect as far as costs go, and a general area where we are gonna go camping...

 

North


You will for sure want Saturday and Sunday off and if you're on swing- probably Friday too...


It's hard to find free camping in the people's republic of Kali-fourneea, rates here are higher than I remember form previous trips (I think $20 per campsite, and $6 for each additional vehicle, we'll probably get two or three for the 6 cars) my best guess is that the total cost for someone from SJ would fall in between your 150 and 200 figures, but get your co-driver to split the costs and its not so bad...

I usually really try to keep the route a secret until the day of the event, suffice it to say we will be camping someplace west of Ukiah...

 

Gettin' antsy!

-Brian