7,101 miles - Speed Demons
Organized by nemini.org and billed as the 'Route 125 Romp through Pennsylvania', the course took us through the very scenic and hilly country-scapes of this fine eastern state. I was told thirty-seven MINIs took part, a much larger crowd than originally anticipated. We were divided into three groups. Since this was my first run and also thanks to my feather foot, I signed myself up with group 3, the slowest group.
The weather was perfect with temperatures in the low seventies. Skies were clear with no strong winds; perfect Top-down weather. As mentioned, fall foliage was at its peak with trees awash with orange, red, maroon and yellow leaves. The communities we passed were small and rural; old wooden dilapidated structures lined quiet streets, farms and trailer homes littered the outskirts.
The sights presented were incredible. The fallen leaves that littered the twisty road made for great visuals as they rustled under each passing MINI. I never understood the fascination with fall foliage until today as I caught the entire PA country-side in the middle of this transformation. The bright colors gave an almost burnt quality to the land... a natural prelude to the upcoming dark browns that will ultimately appear; winter is coming. Nature can surely put on a display when it wants to.
As for the ride itself? It was awesome. For a slow group, we were running break-neck speeds whenever possible. I became concerned that I would not keep up with the speed demons in my group because as I feared, racing speeds were the norm for the entire run.
If I wanted to keep up with everybody, I needed to get over my conservative driving; no more slow accelerations, shifting at low rpms, or coasting to a turn or stop. I needed to rev high and brake hard. And that's when I realized the obvious: my MINI was built to go fast. At eighty-plus mph, my MINI was not struggling or shaking, and the engine sounded capable. The interior was comfortable and the wind, while invigorating, was not overpowering. I relied on the MINI immediately in front of me to govern my speed, so unless I looked over at the frisbee-sized speedometer, I had no idea how fast I was going... and believe me, I was always surprised to see where the needle was pointing!
This made me realize something else: I have a speed demon in me. As a bona-fide speed p*ssy, I drive slowly for better fuel efficiency and driver safety. Yet I was able to let my conservatism go in order to enjoy driving my sports car through the twisty stretch of route 125's two-lane blacktop. As the run progressed, I improved going in and coming out of turns. I became much better at finding the right gear needed for fast hill climbing, and most importantly, I learned to relax as the world around me became a blur of passing colors.
With a one-hour break somewhere around the forty-mile mark, the run ended around three-thirty in the afternoon. Throughout the run, I met up with other MINI owners (nemini.org members mostly). We talked shopped and mulled over the events of the day. MINI owners are crazy friendly... something I had already learned trolling the nemini.org and miniusa.com forums. Without a doubt, I will be doing more runs and participating more with the local MINI groups. But alas, it is November and today's event was most likely the last official run of the season.
At 4:30pm, I decided to head back to Bayonne, the sun was setting and the air was cooling; I will need to put my soft-top up very soon. But for now, I relished the cool air and enjoyed each wave and honk from all the MINI owners that whipped passed me on Rt 78... all happy and homebound for sure.
Shortly after sunset, I pulled over to the break-down lane to put my roof up. I didn't even notice that I had been travelling for almost half an hour with the cruise-control set at just under 65 mph.
My speed demon was gone.
motor on...
Check out these two stitches. Try and find the bloopers in the second panoramic! Or better yet, try to find my MINI!
Organized by nemini.org and billed as the 'Route 125 Romp through Pennsylvania', the course took us through the very scenic and hilly country-scapes of this fine eastern state. I was told thirty-seven MINIs took part, a much larger crowd than originally anticipated. We were divided into three groups. Since this was my first run and also thanks to my feather foot, I signed myself up with group 3, the slowest group.
The weather was perfect with temperatures in the low seventies. Skies were clear with no strong winds; perfect Top-down weather. As mentioned, fall foliage was at its peak with trees awash with orange, red, maroon and yellow leaves. The communities we passed were small and rural; old wooden dilapidated structures lined quiet streets, farms and trailer homes littered the outskirts.
The sights presented were incredible. The fallen leaves that littered the twisty road made for great visuals as they rustled under each passing MINI. I never understood the fascination with fall foliage until today as I caught the entire PA country-side in the middle of this transformation. The bright colors gave an almost burnt quality to the land... a natural prelude to the upcoming dark browns that will ultimately appear; winter is coming. Nature can surely put on a display when it wants to.
As for the ride itself? It was awesome. For a slow group, we were running break-neck speeds whenever possible. I became concerned that I would not keep up with the speed demons in my group because as I feared, racing speeds were the norm for the entire run.
If I wanted to keep up with everybody, I needed to get over my conservative driving; no more slow accelerations, shifting at low rpms, or coasting to a turn or stop. I needed to rev high and brake hard. And that's when I realized the obvious: my MINI was built to go fast. At eighty-plus mph, my MINI was not struggling or shaking, and the engine sounded capable. The interior was comfortable and the wind, while invigorating, was not overpowering. I relied on the MINI immediately in front of me to govern my speed, so unless I looked over at the frisbee-sized speedometer, I had no idea how fast I was going... and believe me, I was always surprised to see where the needle was pointing!
This made me realize something else: I have a speed demon in me. As a bona-fide speed p*ssy, I drive slowly for better fuel efficiency and driver safety. Yet I was able to let my conservatism go in order to enjoy driving my sports car through the twisty stretch of route 125's two-lane blacktop. As the run progressed, I improved going in and coming out of turns. I became much better at finding the right gear needed for fast hill climbing, and most importantly, I learned to relax as the world around me became a blur of passing colors.
With a one-hour break somewhere around the forty-mile mark, the run ended around three-thirty in the afternoon. Throughout the run, I met up with other MINI owners (nemini.org members mostly). We talked shopped and mulled over the events of the day. MINI owners are crazy friendly... something I had already learned trolling the nemini.org and miniusa.com forums. Without a doubt, I will be doing more runs and participating more with the local MINI groups. But alas, it is November and today's event was most likely the last official run of the season.
At 4:30pm, I decided to head back to Bayonne, the sun was setting and the air was cooling; I will need to put my soft-top up very soon. But for now, I relished the cool air and enjoyed each wave and honk from all the MINI owners that whipped passed me on Rt 78... all happy and homebound for sure.
Shortly after sunset, I pulled over to the break-down lane to put my roof up. I didn't even notice that I had been travelling for almost half an hour with the cruise-control set at just under 65 mph.
My speed demon was gone.
motor on...
Check out these two stitches. Try and find the bloopers in the second panoramic! Or better yet, try to find my MINI!
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