Month: June 2022

Southern Roads & Museums: Part 6

Part 6 Good Roads and Bad Decisions

If you have a moment, look up the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway on the internet and find a general map of the route. Linda and I did this during our planning stages. We did not want to have to “rush” our trip so we set ourselves rather “low” mileage objectives for each day.

As we perused a map of the Blue Ridge Parkway, we could see certain towns, travel times and distances laid out on the page. Afton (Waynesboro) to Roanoke 120 miles. Roanoke to Fancy Gap, (Mount Airy) 80 miles. Fancy Gap to Blowing Rock 95 miles. Blowing Rock to Asheville, NC (our ultimate destination) 90 miles.

For our 6^th day on the road, the itinerary is to begin at Roanoke (mile post 120) and meander on down to a place called Fancy Gap (mile post 199). Notice the word meander… because if you do the math, we were only scheduled to drive 80 miles today. This rather modest mileage goal would eventually have HUGE consequences in our overall enjoyment of the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway.

It is a beautiful sunny day as we set out from Roanoke and searched for the nearest entrance to the Blue Ridge. Well, low and behold, the nearest section is “closed for construction” and we are detoured at least 15 miles along local roads before we finally hook up onto the “official” Parkway. At one point Linda and I were SURE we had missed a turn. We were about to retrace our steps when we came around a bend and saw another detour sign pointing the way. By 10 am we are back on the Parkway and enjoying the view.

My trusty co-pilot and I are traveling at a speedy 35-40 MPH, stopping at overlooks to read the information signs and in general just enjoying the road. One of the special sights we wanted to see was Mabry Mill, located at Mile Post 176. Unfortunately, one item we did NOT note when researching our trip was that this popular spot would not open until April 29. What day is today? April 17. Thus, like almost everything else on the Blue Ridge (and previously on Skyline Drive) the restaurant ….and other facilities…. are all closed.

Fortunately, the general grounds are open and Linda and I walk around, read the markers and get a real sense of what it was like to live in these mountains and hollows over 100 years ago. One lasting impression was that life back then was a lot of hard work.

Around 1905 Ed Mabry began building a grist mill with help from his wife Lizzy and neighbor Newton Hilton. Initial construction took about 3 years to complete. Once up and running Ed turned the grist mill operation over to Lizzy. He then spent another couple of years adding a sawmill, a woodworking shop and finally a blacksmith & wheelwright shop to the building. By the time he was done Ed Mabry had a thriving operation that was known, and supported, by customers and neighbors from up to 20 miles away. Talk about grit and determination, this family had it in spades.

Since we have so few miles to travel today Linda and I spent more than 2 hours exploring this outdoor museum.

After our Mabry visit, we continue on. At one particular overlook in the early afternoon, we pull over and are enjoying another “goldfish lunch”. Off to the side was a couple sitting at a table enjoying a modest picnic. I wandered over to their car and noticed the license plate. They were from New York, but the surround around the license plate caught my eye. It said “I’d Rather Be Watching the Andy Griffin Show”.

At first we did not get the significance of the plate… but that would soon change.

By 3:30 we had completed our allotted 80 miles and we climb down out of the mountains and head for our reservation in Mount Airy, North Carolina. Mount Airy is the closest town to Fancy Gap with amenities. As we are driving down out of the mountains I ask Linda if she can tell me a little bit about Mount Airy. It’s always nice to know a bit about the local history of the area. She consults the oracle (i Phone) and guess what? The Andy Griffith Show takes place in a mythical town called Mayberry, USA. And Mayberry is loosely based on Mount Airy, North Carolina.

Well, what do you know! That couple we had seen earlier were probably heading home to New York after a trip to a place they most likely always wanted to visit. Kind of similar to our desire to see the Biltmore Estate in Asheville.

By 4pm we are all checked in and killing time until we head out for dinner. Something had been percolating in the back of my mind all day and I finally express it to Linda.

“You know, it’s still pretty early and we are already done with our driving for today. How many miles did we drive today, and how many are we supposed to do for tomorrow?”

Linda consults the “Purple Book”, her loose leave binder with the general plan of attack, including hotel reservations and points of interest. “Today we did 80 miles, Roanoke to Fancy Gap. Tomorrow we have about 100 miles scheduled. That will get us from Fancy Gap to Blowing Rock. After that its about 90 miles to Asheville. Why, what’s on your mind?” She has a sense something is up.

“Well, I’ve been thinking. I know we don’t want to rush things… but after today, 80 miles a day, or even 100 miles a day doesn’t seem like a lot of miles to cover.” I continue on with my brain storm, hoping to convince the keeper of reservations that we should change our plans.

“What do you think of the idea of blowing off Blowing Rock”, hoping she gets the pun I just presented, “and we combine the next TWO days of driving into ONE single day. All together it’s a total of about 190 miles. Surely, we can cover 190 miles in a single day… and not really miss anything interesting along the way. Like I said yesterday, how many overlooks can you overlook?”

Linda is not always an easy person to convince. But eventually, after much discussion, she begins to see the logic of my argument.

“This will only work if we can change our reservations in Asheville. If we can’t come in a day EARLY this is a NO GO. I have a nice place booked at Homewood Suites” … another Hilton chain naturally. “Let me make a couple of calls and see what they say in Asheville.”

Ah, the joys of having an understanding wife. Over the years Linda has come to expect my occasional brain storms. She calls them something else… but we should skip over that for now.

A few phone calls to confirm an early arrival in at our Destination City, plus cancelling our reservation at Blowing Rock. “No Charge? Really? Great!” says a relieved Linda and our plans have been changed.

Little did we know that this decision was a major mistake.

Next Time

Bad Mountain Roads

-Ray Boyer

June 29, 2022/by Luis

Uncategorized

South of Boston (SoBo) Porsches and Coffee 12 June 2022

With many attending other events scheduled today (DE and Porsche Parade at the Poconos) I was surprised that we had nearly 60 Porsches on the freshly cut lawn at Sweet Berry Farm. The guy helping to park the cars was my younger brother Lou, a California PCA member owning (since new) a 2008 Cayman S. Lou and his friend Sandi dropped in for about a week after a month in Europe (5 days at the races in Monte Carlo).

Don Baily got my attention (liked the stance) with his 1982 911 SC. This Porsche has an 87 3.2 Dual Plug with DTS engine Management, and Elephant Racing suspension. Kind of a “sleeper”. This is a euro version export and is Don’s first and only Porsche found on Craig’s List and purchased from a dealer in Boston area about five years ago. His first Porsche sensation was the feel of driving. Don has lightened the car by removing some items such as the large whale tail and the A/C unit.

Another first-time owner of a Porsche was Shanay Patel (known as Sunney) parking his 1983 Guards Red 944. Purchased from Luis Rivera, he has done substantial wrenching, including clutch, top end rebuild and lots of small stuff. When I asked, “why a Porsche”, he replied, “its Iconic”. His first impression was the drive; “it handles perfectly”. With 167k on the odometer the original paint shows wear. Looking at the interior, all the gauges appear to be a pale yellow.

Marilyn Shan Scott Krick received her 2022 911 Carrera in December 2021, although it was scheduled to arrive in February (sinking of the freighter). Fortunate her order arrived early; this is her first Porsche. Her husband had first drive; she followed the next day. The driving experience is excellent, getting, so far, to 80-90 mph. The interior’s dash gauges are in red, as well as the seat belts.

John Barros parked his awesome 2022 agate grey GT3 touring with carbon roof and mirrors. Additionally, it has PCCB brakes and Neodyme wheels, with a Mojave Beige and exclusive manufacturer interior with deviated stitching. This is John’s second Porsche; his first was a chalk 2017 GT3 with a manual transmission. Asked why a Porsche, he replied, “ the engineering and the way it drives”. Driven near the edge, John has come close to bending the needle at 165 MPH.

Haley Dantas and family arrived in their Charcoal 2022 Cayenne Hybrid with black interior. Previously, they purchased a new Taycan Turbo S that did not have much range (just 165 miles) and had to press a button to lower car to load and off load the four kids. Also, the Taycan was too quiet and fast, causing undesirable speeds of 140 MPH. And today, with high gas prices, they are pleased getting 46 MPG in this 3.5L Hybrid.

Mel and Patty Cowher parked their Aventurine Green 2021 Carrera S. This Porsche is highly optioned with Sport Package, Tek seats, stripe package, red gauges (Patty said the red seat belt option was too much), walnut interior with aluminum trim and retro mag wheels. Mel’s first Porsche was a 1973 911 S when he was just 18 years old that he restored himself.. Later he owned a grey market 85 Carrera 3.0, followed by a 2011 Boxster, and then Patty’s 2016 Macan. Currently Patty drives a 2017 Cayenne. Mel says that the fastest he has driven a Porsche is about 160 MPH.

How Mel obtained his current Porsche is quite a tale: He entered a diabetes sponsored raffle and won a new Porsche. Then he traded in the new Porsche and his 2013 Carrera S to the upgraded 2021 Porsche that was parked on the lawn.

The next SoBo is scheduled for 10 July (10-Noon) at Sweet Berry Farm, 915 Mitchell’s Ln, Middletown, RI. The event as always is FREE, and no pre-registration is necessary. The only requirement to park on the grass is your Porsche. A Porsche logo sign should be in place directing you to the parking area. Sweet Berry Farm is child friendly, encouraging small children to enjoy a working farm, so when entering and exiting, drive carefully. And, as always, for any SoBo related questions, please email me at: [email protected]

Rog Slocum
127 Center Ave.
Middletown, RI 02842
e-mail: [email protected]

June 21, 2022/by Roger Slocum

Drivers Education, For Enthusiasts, Monthly Columns

DE Crier: DE #2 Report – Palmer CW in June

NER’s Second DE of the Year – Palmer CW in June

A few days before the event the weather report didn’t look good but your faithful DE Crier called in a few favors and the weather was darn near perfect all three days. You can thank me later. As with Thompson, turnout was a bit on the low side – 95 drivers in total. The positive aspect of this was that run groups were combined which allowed longer run sessions. Plenty of drive time and still not too much traffic. Everyone behaved nicely and the only incident of the weekend was the idiot DE Crier crashing Kristin Larson’s electric scooter. Ouch. Thanks for not laughing, Adam.

As is my usual practice I looked for a new driver and found a very good story. Steven DiCato, a nice fellow who I had instructed last year at Tamworth (and whose dog was previously featured!), convinced his cousin Chris Costain to attend. Chris, not wanting to abuse his street ride (an Acura I think – you can see it in the picture), rented one of the Palmer Miatas. (Note: these are nicely prepared race cars with a full cage that are a blast to drive. You can rent them and have an instructor provided with Palmer’s “Arrive and Drive” program.) Chris had a blast and was one of the fastest in the Green run group. Steven immediately went to work on convincing him to buy a Miata that they could share. But perhaps that will have to wait until Chris’ wedding in September to Tara Gambardella – she was in attendance and probably dismayed as she watched her husband-to-be start the slide down the slippery slope.

I had another nice conversation (at the Saturday night BBQ social) with Jeff Zern of the Riesentoter Region (that’s Eastern Pennsylvania and, yes, there is supposed to be an umlaut over the “o.” According to Google Translate that means “Giant Dead” but they claim it means “Giant Killer” in reference to Porsche slaying cars with greater displacement on the racetrack). Anyway, Jeff had heard good things about Palmer and wanted to drive it in his Cayman. He was exceptionally grateful for the help he got from Stan Corbett in registering, getting correctly placed in the White run group and even getting advice on hotels and routes. He also was very complimentary about the event organization and the driver etiquette on track. Nice to have some other region visitors!

As to the BBQ social, thanks to Judy Mansing and Pam Mascetta for setting it up and, once again, having a nice variety of beers to drink (and I presume wines but I can’t speak to that – I enjoyed some Lagunitas IPA and detect the influence of the NCR track chair in that selection). Note to self: talk less and line up sooner for BBQ so you get more than two ribs.

Here are the run groups advancements from the Palmer weekend…

Green to Yellow: Stefan Vondran, Derrick Hedley

Yellow to Blue: Jim Devol, Arun Ramamurthy, Ray Young, Prakash Iyer, Christopher Necchi, John Januszewski, Scott Stawas

Blue to White: Thorsten Becker, Richard Pyatt, Todd Shilman

White to Black: Michael Beers, Brian Nett, James Cooper, Torsten Gross (Note – this is a placement, not an advancement), Mark Hutker

And finally, enjoy the pictures of some notable Palmer Pups!

-Bill Seymour

June 20, 2022/by Luis

For Enthusiasts

Southern Roads & Museums: Part 5

April 15 is now the 4^th day of our trip. So as not to confuse anyone… it is the FIRST day of our driving on the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway. The Blue Ridge is quite long, traversing just over 465 total miles. The road begins (mile post zero) at Waynesboro VA and snakes along the crests of the Blue Ridge Mountains all the way to Cherokee, North Carolina (mile post 469)

Our plan is to cover about 325 miles in 3 days. Eventually our goal is to end up in Asheville, North Carolina, spend 2 or 3 days in this thriving mountain city and visit the world-famous Biltmore estate. Linda and I did NOT intend to drive the ENTIRE Blue Ridge. We figured we would save the last 100 miles or so (from Asheville to Cherokee) for another time.

We were back on the road in our trusty Miss P (2011 – 911) by 9 am with plenty of time to cover the planned route. Linda had found some very interesting places to visit in Roanoke VA. Thus our basic itinerary was to take one day traveling the first 130 miles or so of the Blue Ridge and then stay in Roanoke for 2 nights and 1 full day.

Much like Skyline Drive, the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway is a pure delight to drive in a great road car like a Porsche. Again, since we are traveling in mid-April the roads are practically deserted. Unfortunately, much like Skyline, most of the visitor centers are still not open.

With limited access to visitor centers and/or places for lunch, this day became what Linda and I call a “goldfish lunch” day. When we travel, we ALWAYS take along a bag (or 2 or 3) of Goldfish. So today we enjoy our “goldfish lunch” as we cruise along at a sedate 35 – 40 MPH and enjoy the view. There are ample places to stop and gaze at the mountains, read the historic markers and just plain luxuriate in having the time to really appreciate this portion of the country.

Linda had seen some road side signs touting something called “Natural Bridge”. This was not directly on the Blue Ridge, but was perhaps 10 miles off the beaten path. We made the detour and I must say the road leading to this rocky edifice must have been designed by a former Porsche owner. It had more switch backs and tight turns than anything we had encounter so far. You can tell things are about to get exciting when I switch the PDK down into the manual mode and Linda begins to “hang on” to the passenger grab handle as we swing left and right. I was having a blast…. Linda not so much… as this exciting road was perhaps 7 or 8 miles long. All too soon the road leveled out and we came upon a big parking lot and the entrance to the Natural Bridge State Park. After exploring the rather modest “museum & gift shop” … and observing long lines of school age children waiting in line to gain access to “natural bridge”, we decided it was time to hit the road. Since neither one of us are into hiking, attractions like Natural Bridge hold little appeal.

Traveling back down the switch back road was as much fun as blasting up it. How 45-foot-long freight trucks can make it around some of the curves is beyond my comprehension. But they must do so as there were numerous signs saying “trucks keep right, tight turn ahead”. Certainly, the road was more fun in a Porsche 911 than an 18-wheeler.

For the remainder of the day we continued to meander along, stopping whenever the mood struck us. Yet after a while all the overlooks began to seem somewhat the same. About 3pm or so I said to Linda…
“you know, all these vistas are nice, but how many overlooks can you overlook”. In the back of my mind I was beginning to form a plan, but I kept this blossoming idea to myself … at least for now.

By 4pm or so we were pulling in to our Home 2 Home Hilton complex in suburban Roanoke. This would be our base of operation for the next day. A nice Mexican restaurant was across the parking lot, so we could walk to dinner, have a drink and not have to worry about DUI. An ideal situation for sure.

Saturday the 16^th we spent all day in Roanoke. After driving downtown and finding a parking spot we explored the central city area. There was a 5K road race happening and we watched some of the exhausted runners cross the finish. Linda and I looked at each other with an unspoken glance thinking… “better them than me”. If hiking is not our thing, certainly RUNNING (in our mind) is even a more outlandish activity.

During her research into Roanoke activities Linda had discovered a listing for the O. Winston Link Museum. Mr. Link was formally educated as a civil engineer. Yet his hobby was photography and his passion was trains (kind of like Sheldon in the Big Bang Theory). The museum dedicated to his photograph work documenting the final days of the Norfolk & Western steam powered rail road is located in the former Roanoke Railroad terminal building. We had planned to spend perhaps 2 hours there, and then move on just down the street to the Virginia Museum of Transportation.

Well as they say… the best laid plans often change. So it was with the Link Museum. We arrived about 12:30 and before we even entered the formal gallery there was a great exhibit in the hall. This hallway display was dedicated to Raymond Loewy, a name well known in the arena of industrial design. We have all come in contact with some of his work. For example, Loewy designed the Coca Cola company’s trucks, coolers, vending machines, and soda fountains. He also designed many famous company logo’s … Exxon being just one of many.

Back when I was just beginning to become interested in cars, one of my favorites was the Studebaker Avanti. Well, what do you know, Loewy was the designer of that Avanti, along with several other well-known Studebaker models like the Golden Hawk.

What was his work doing being displayed here? It seems Mr. Loewy designed a couple of radical (for its time) locomotives, so his work was being featured in the lobby as a precursor to the O. William Link display.

The Link Museum was a real find. Linda and I spent well over 3 hours here. The Black & White photography was outstanding. Many of the photo’s were taken at night, using a clever arrangement of flash bulbs and rapid shutter speeds. There is a “knack” to capturing a moving image at speed, especially at night. In many of the photos the trains are in motion, and yet Link seems to freeze them in time. Only a few images are in color, most are black and white. When asked why, Mr. Link’s retort was something like “the trains are black, the steam is white, the sky is black at night…. What do I need color for?”

What indeed. If you like great photography and you happen to be in the general Roanoke Virginia area, you should plan a pilgrimage to the O. William Link Museum. The 5-dollar price of admission can’t be beat and the time invested in the experience will be time well spent.

Linda and I we walked away from the museum (again they pushed us out the door at 5pm) with a greater appreciation of the “age of steam” and the roll that Mr. Link played in preserving on film the final days of the Last Steam Railroad in America.

Next time…

Good Roads & Bad Decisions

-Ray Boyer

June 20, 2022/by Luis

Monthly Columns

Embarrassment

Human nature is to be quiet about embarrassing things one has done. But last week Tom Tate shared his latest embarrassing experience with all of the Northeast Region. Emboldened by his brave act I will share mine and encourage others to do the same.

Being used to modern cars, I have assumed that if my garage floor doesn’t show puddles of fluid, all must be fine in the fluid department. In my two years of Caterham ownership, the garage floor had been squeaky clean. So all appeared to be good!

At last year’s final NER autocross, I was driving the Caterham through a fast left-hand sweeper when a loud bang under my seat revealed something serious had happened. I coasted to a stop off track and engaging gear resulted in no forward movement but loud banging and clanking. After getting the car pushed and towed to the pits, it was revealed that the left half shaft had self-destructed spectacularly.

I will not bore you with the difficulty of sourcing the correct parts for a Caterham since they are built with parts from other manufacturers; you have to thoroughly research that the part that you order, when you find a source, is the correct one.

The final background information I need to share is that after an earlier autocross, the adjuster on the front left damper adjuster appeared to be frozen. I contacted the manufacturer, and they authorized a return for warranty repair.

On to the main topic: I first removed the “frozen” damper from the car, a non-trivial task. After removal, I discovered that I had been attempting to soften the damper beyond the softest setting. Softening an already fully softened damper is difficult, I would even say impossible. In my defense, I will say that it is stiff and that I was concerned about making the “problem” worse. On re-installing the damper, I ran into an issue I had when replacing the dampers less than a year before. It is challenging to align the top control arm bolt that goes through the chassis bushing. You have to compress the suspension just right with a jack and then manipulate the bolt blindly through 5 holes that have to be perfectly aligned.

But there is more: I had finally procured the correct half shafts and started dismantling the rear end this spring. My mechanic friend and a constant source of advice had warned me that oil would come spilling out of the differential when I pulled the half shaft out. Well, it didn’t! After installing the half shaft, I removed the fill plug in the differential. It is magnetic and had a beautiful crown of steel shavings sticking out from the magnet. I topped up the differential fluid and now have a new winter project: rebuilding the differential. Maybe an earlier project if it fails completely. There is no bearing noise and just a bit of backlash, so there is hope.

Given this experience, I thought it might be a good idea to also check the gearbox oil level. This is really hard because the fill plug is in less than a one-inch gap between the gearbox and the footwell. To remove it, you have to cut down an Allen wrench so you can get it into the fill plug, loosen it, unscrew it by hand, use a transfer pump to fill the transmission and then go through the painful process of starting the fill plug by hand and tightening it with the cut-down Allen wrench. The good news is that the gearbox fluid was low but not nearly as bad as the differential, and there were no shavings on the magnetic fill plug.

Believe it or not, there is more: When removing the brake and wheel carrier, I had spilled some brake fluid on the floor, and that had been mixed with some oil that had run down the fill tube when the differential had been topped up. I bled the brakes and filled up the brake reservoir. The puddle on the floor would be cleaned when I got the car off the jack stands. This happened a few days later and I was ready to do a quick test drive. Unfortunately, the brake pedal bottomed out with no resistance. There was a brake fluid leak somewhere. Non-functional brakes are a really bad problem. Believing I knew exactly where the issue was, I started unscrewing the flexible fluid line that I had compressed with a vice grip to ensure that only minimal brake fluid leaked out. When I got to the bottom of the line, where it connects with a T that connects the flexible line with the two metal tubes that lead to the wheels, I could see that the bottom of the T was clean, so the leak was causing the fluid to drip down from there. It turned out, however, that the leak was not the flexible line but the metal tube leading to the side where I had replaced the half shaft. Moving it out of the way so I could remove the broken half shaft had loosened the connection at the T. I tightened them all up, re-bled the brakes, and two days later, the brakes were still hard and the reservoir full.

This story could have been a lot longer if I also described the issues I had run into along the way that required head-scratching, analysis, and repeating the same job multiple times. Just one example: When I assembled the brakes and attached the wheel that the new half shaft was attached to, the brake drum rubbed against the backing plate. Rubbing is an understatement; it absolutely refused to rotate. Had I just installed the wrong half shaft? The pundits on the Interweb had described how the newer half shafts should work on older models despite not being the exact same length. After messing around more than you will have the patience to read, I realized that the new wheel bearings were thinner than the old ones, and I needed to install a shim to make up for the difference. Fortunately, I have an industrial lathe in my basement and was able to turn one that fit perfectly. That is after I had turned one that was too thin. I am going to turn one of the same thickness and save it for when I replace the other half shaft.

Ahhhh, the joys of working on old cars!

-Anker Berg-Sonne

June 12, 2022/by Luis

For Enthusiasts, News Update

DE Crier: Thompson Report

It was a long winter but clean living prevailed, and we finally got on the track. The NER season opening DE was over Memorial Day weekend at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park: three days of rip roaring fun for novices and veterans alike.

On Friday there was special attention paid to drivers new to DE and to the track. After a classroom session by Ed Mansing and their first on-track session, the Green and Yellow drivers (two novice run groups) were sent to a big parking lot for braking and cornering exercises. Autocross Chair Chris Ryan and his AX crew led the drivers through two sessions of exercises which included a wet skid pad. (The skid pad was left open during the day for anyone to use.) There were also classroom sessions for Advanced drivers led by Peter Tracy and Kevin Gross.

Friday saw a little mist in the morning but the day stayed dry. Not so on Saturday where the afternoon was pretty wet (great opportunity for learning!). Sunday was beautiful and the reduced turnout allowed combining run sessions so drivers could wear out their tires to their hearts’ content.

Saturday night there was a track social that featured a nice selection of your favorite beverages and a catered dinner. Thanks to Judy Mansing and Pam Mascetta for their usual fine job.

As has become the tradition for this event, there was acknowledgement each day of the purpose of Memorial Day with a moment of silence for those who lost their lives in the service of their country. Stan Corbett distributed flags from American Legion Post 234 that had flown over the graves of fallen heroes.

Turnout for the event was a little disappointing and the current signup for the second NER DE at Palmer is also below normal levels. What are you folks waiting for? All those people I talked to at the Ground School, where are you? C’mon and signup! Here are the counts from Thompson…

Total attendees: 90

Green (Beginner): 17

Yellow (Novice): 13

Blue (Solo): 7

White (Intermediate): 9

Black (Advanced): 16

Red (Instructor): 28

Note that 10 attendees had never been to a DE before and an additional 10 had never driven at Thompson before. Speaking of people who had never before attended a DE, one who fit this description was Bill Miniscalco of Sudbury who came with his 2018 Boxster. Bill was having a great time and encouraged anyone who was on the fence to give it a try. I asked him what if anything surprised him and his reply was “what a wide variety of cars and levels of experience there are.” Everything from completely stock cars driven by those with no track experience to PCA club racers driving dedicated track cars. And all were very friendly and willing to help and offer advice when asked.

So thanks to co-track chairs Adam Schwartz and Charlie Kenney for running a great event and to Stan Corbett for all the work he does as Registrar (assisted by Paul Skinner and Judi Mansing). There was a bit of last minute work shuffling as the Covid took out two Chief Instructors (Dave Berman and Tom Buckingham – leaving Mike Woodward in that role). And thanks to Instructor Development Chair Matthew Wallis who is hard at work molding the more experienced drivers into instructors. Our sustainable future depends on attracting new drivers – and in order to host Green and Yellow students we must have a strong cadre of Instructors.

And speaking of moving on up, here are the promotions that occurred at this event…

Green to Yellow: Patrick Bergstedt and Benjamin Zendejas

Yellow to Blue: Ana Malone Oliver, Duan Yutong and Diou Shi

Blue to White: David Timberlake, Jeff Croteau, Ana Malone Oliver (she advanced 2 run groups at Thompson)

White to Black: Dan Zal, Bobby Jacobsen (NER Region President)

New Instructor: Michael Bodden

Finally, on a personal note, I was there on Sunday with no car – planning to drive Dave Berman’s car after his generous offer. But Dave was down with the Covid. Up stepped Bob Binder and Chris DeGrace (one of the PCA club racers!) to graciously allow me three sessions of driving. You know the saying: “It’s not just the cars, it’s the people!”

-Bill Seymour

June 12, 2022/by Luis

For Enthusiasts

Southern Roads & Museums: Part 4

Thursday, April 14 is to be a day of finally driving real southern roads.

Up to now it has been all interstates and connecting local roads. Linda and I (well I much more than Linda) have been looking forward to these mountain roads for some time.

Skyline Drive is about 105 miles long and snakes along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Shenandoah National Park. It begins just south of Front Royal and ends at Afton, Virginia.

Long before I met Linda, I was into motorcycle touring big time. One of my dreams was to drive Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway on my Yamaha touring bike. Now that dream would be fulfilled …. but on 4 wheels not 2. Driving this ribbon of asphalt should be a real joy in our 911 Porsche.

Skyline Drive is part of the National Parks System. Thus, there is a modest $30 charge for admission. BUT… if you have a National Parks Pass (we have had one for about 10 years) you can just show your card and off you go.

Since we are driving on a Thursday in April, there was practically NO traffic on the road. The speed limit is a modest 35 MPH and I need to keep an eye on the speedometer as occasionally I would look down and be hitting 60. The road is all black top, double yellow line and is in GREAT condition. You are constantly climbing and then dropping down, negotiating gentle curves and some tight switchbacks. This is a perfect road for a Porsche. But I have to remember it is a road for touring, not racing. We are here for the scenery and by golly there is some great scenery.

Every couple of miles there are scenic overlooks where you can pull over and take in the view. Some overlooks will have a marker with a bit of history of the area and/or the spectacle you are gazing at. Linda and I had planned to spend all day on this section of road. Since it is 105 miles long and the speed is 35 MPH, we reasoned that it would take us most of the day to complete the task. We were certainly correct in this calculation.

One fact we discovered the hard way was is that traveling in mid-April has certain disadvantages. Due to the time of the year many of the rest areas along the drive were closed and locked. For people of a certain age this can be discouraging.

Fortunately, about half way along at Mile Marker 53 the Harry F. Bird

Visitor Center was open. A bonus for us is that there was a great little museum (no charge) that explained the history of Skyline Drive and how/why it was built. We spent perhaps 90 minutes here and I personally was struck with the “stories” of the local people who had to sell their land to the government so that the road could be built.

What was really fascinating (to me at least) is the fact that MANY families lived out here in the mountains of Virginia and the Carolina’s.

Their homes could best be described as rustic. Local roads were in name only being mostly just cart tracks for horse drawn wagons. Yet families had existed this way for many generations, living off the land and somehow managing to survive. When the decision was made to construct Skyline Drive and The Blue Ridge Parkway all this land had to be surveyed. A price for the land and buildings had to be determined, then eventually sold to the Federal Government so that work could begin. Just the logistical complications of this boggled my rather feeble mind.

Sometimes a museum can really open your eyes to a fact of life that you had never considered. This modest but well thought out space was certainly one that gave my brain a nudge.

Refreshed after our stop we were back in Miss P and touring the second half of Skyline drive. The weather was gorgeous if a bit chilly and the road was pretty much our own. We’d pull off at an overlook and gaze for a while and all this time no other car would pass by either north or southbound. Truly we had this place to ourselves and I must say we and Miss P really enjoyed the trip. I can’t believe it is like this in the summer time, or especially in Autumn during foliage season. But April seems to be an ideal time for traversing these southern roads

By 4:30 we had finished our Skyline Drive journey and it was time to call it a day.

Afton is the first town one encounters after the southern exit from Skyline Drive. Linda had booked a room at the Afton Mountain Bed & Breakfast located the Afton / Waynesboro area. This was our first B&B in many years. The house was built about 1855 and had great local history. It was clean as a whistle, the bed was comfortable, the owners were friendly and the breakfast in the morning was top notch.

During breakfast we were seated with a nice couple from the Michigan Upper Peninsula. Linda and I were traveling Skyline / Blue Ridge from north to south. William and Susan were traveling the same roads but from south to north. They had been to the Biltmore in Ashville North Carolina (our eventual destination) and gave us some good tips on the what to look for on the house tour. They even suggested we take the “back stairs tour” which they highly recommended. Unfortunately, when Linda tried to book this section of the tour later that morning it was sold out. Bummer.

William gave me a heads up, noting that certain sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway were closed and that we should be aware of this. He commented that they had driven north about 15 miles along one section of the Parkway and came upon a ROAD CLOSED sign. They could go no further and had to turn around and retrace their steps. William was NOT impressed.

As a side note, for our Porsche Taycan drivers, the Afton B&B has an electric charging station for your EV. I asked and there is no extra cost for this feature. Like the morning breakfast it is all included in the rather modest nightly fee.

As we depart our overnight abode, we are set to begin our first section of The Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway. What new experiences will be on tap for today? Only time … and miles… will tell.

Next Time

The Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway…

-Ray Boyer

June 12, 2022/by Luis