Future group drives: NY/NJ/CT audis especially
05-13-2001, 08:13 AM
#1
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Future group drives: NY/NJ/CT audis especially
To all those who attended the Kensico Dam meet, and all NYCMAAG members:
First of all, I would like to thank MWzafar (Waseem) for organizing this meet. There was a great turnout and the weather was perfect for driving and for the get together we had at the Dam plaza. I would like to take this opportunity though to express my concern for some of the events that transpired before and during the "spirited drive" and also to provide some suggestions for future group drives.
In my limited experience in the "car club" scene, I have been on several group drives with our Audi groups, Farrari, and BMW groups; and have learned allot since the first meet I organized back in December which included a spirited drive up to and through Harriman State Park. Successful group drives I have learned have several common denominators:
1. The rout to be driven has to be clearly mapped out and a copy of such be handed out to ALL participants. This rout / road plan is to be strictly followed except for extenuating circumstances and unforeseen road conditions.
2. All cars are to line up single file behind the lead/pace car and no passing is to be allowed unless conditions permit (no traffic, non residential roads, etc., yet the pace / lead car is not to be passed. Also, the pace car is to contain or be driven by the event coordinator, or that person which knows the rout best. The lead car sets the general pace of the drive. For example on the Harriman State Park meet, we drove from Edgewater, NJ to Rockland county , NY which is over 30 miles on the Palisades Parkway and did'nt lose a single driver and averaged a speed of 70 MPH.
3. There should be persons with 2 way radios (talkabouts, etc) in the drive, there should be at the bare minimum 2 persons with radios, the lead car and the pace car; pace car is to radio back road conditions / hazards and upcoming turns and the such, tail car is responsible to keep the pack together and not lose anyone. We lost allot of people at the Kensico Dam meet right from the start due to over aggressive drivers and the lead pack not waiting for the tail pack of cars. There should also be several Radios if possible interspersed within the group.
4. Slower cars up front, more powerful cars at the rear.
5. AVOID residential roads at all means when possible.
I by all means am not one to lecture to fellow drivers; all I am concerned for is our safety, the safety of those around us, and for us to have a good time. We can all learn from these experiences and make future meets more fun, less frustrating, and more "team" oriented, we will have meets in the future that will include track time, and autocross type of events, all interpersonal "challenges" or "showing off" of talent or equipment should be displayed there, or on the personal time of those persons.
I humbly thank you all for letting me express my views and for reading this long post. I look forward to seeing you all safely in the future, keep your eyes peeled for future NYCMAAG event postings!!
Alex Estrada
Co-moderator for the NYCMAAG.
First of all, I would like to thank MWzafar (Waseem) for organizing this meet. There was a great turnout and the weather was perfect for driving and for the get together we had at the Dam plaza. I would like to take this opportunity though to express my concern for some of the events that transpired before and during the "spirited drive" and also to provide some suggestions for future group drives.
In my limited experience in the "car club" scene, I have been on several group drives with our Audi groups, Farrari, and BMW groups; and have learned allot since the first meet I organized back in December which included a spirited drive up to and through Harriman State Park. Successful group drives I have learned have several common denominators:
1. The rout to be driven has to be clearly mapped out and a copy of such be handed out to ALL participants. This rout / road plan is to be strictly followed except for extenuating circumstances and unforeseen road conditions.
2. All cars are to line up single file behind the lead/pace car and no passing is to be allowed unless conditions permit (no traffic, non residential roads, etc., yet the pace / lead car is not to be passed. Also, the pace car is to contain or be driven by the event coordinator, or that person which knows the rout best. The lead car sets the general pace of the drive. For example on the Harriman State Park meet, we drove from Edgewater, NJ to Rockland county , NY which is over 30 miles on the Palisades Parkway and did'nt lose a single driver and averaged a speed of 70 MPH.
3. There should be persons with 2 way radios (talkabouts, etc) in the drive, there should be at the bare minimum 2 persons with radios, the lead car and the pace car; pace car is to radio back road conditions / hazards and upcoming turns and the such, tail car is responsible to keep the pack together and not lose anyone. We lost allot of people at the Kensico Dam meet right from the start due to over aggressive drivers and the lead pack not waiting for the tail pack of cars. There should also be several Radios if possible interspersed within the group.
4. Slower cars up front, more powerful cars at the rear.
5. AVOID residential roads at all means when possible.
I by all means am not one to lecture to fellow drivers; all I am concerned for is our safety, the safety of those around us, and for us to have a good time. We can all learn from these experiences and make future meets more fun, less frustrating, and more "team" oriented, we will have meets in the future that will include track time, and autocross type of events, all interpersonal "challenges" or "showing off" of talent or equipment should be displayed there, or on the personal time of those persons.
I humbly thank you all for letting me express my views and for reading this long post. I look forward to seeing you all safely in the future, keep your eyes peeled for future NYCMAAG event postings!!
Alex Estrada
Co-moderator for the NYCMAAG.
05-13-2001, 08:39 AM
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And have streams for different tastes
Good on you Waseem for organizing this.
I was hoping to have a nice drive, check out some scenery, take some pictures, but left the drive to do my own thing after the first few minutes of being passed on double yellows, being followed at crazy-close distances and being cut off.
Hope you all got big stiffies going 120 in a 55 and doing powerslides around 'civilian' drivers out for a Saturday drive who probably had to stop and change their underwear. Eeejits.
I was hoping to have a nice drive, check out some scenery, take some pictures, but left the drive to do my own thing after the first few minutes of being passed on double yellows, being followed at crazy-close distances and being cut off.
Hope you all got big stiffies going 120 in a 55 and doing powerslides around 'civilian' drivers out for a Saturday drive who probably had to stop and change their underwear. Eeejits.
05-13-2001, 08:43 AM
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Alex, I agree. The NW NJ drive last fall was a perfect example of a well organized drive.
Peter did an amzaing job mapping the drive and getting the mile marked turn by turn directions for the whole drive. All you had to do was to reset the trip odometer and follow along...
As for the spirited drives, that was also a good example of what to do. During the fun sections of the trip you would slow down to let the guy in front rip through the turns. Then you go as fast as you want. Everyone took turns. In the resedential sections and in traffic you just try to keep everyone together.
I couldn't make it to this one... From what I heard it sounds like Waseem spent a lot of time and effort preparing this drive and did a great job. However he probably could have used some help. Next time if we expect more than 15-20 people, we will have to get volunteers to lead and trail smaller groups of a dozen or so cars. Also someone should map the drive and print detail directions the day before. have frequent stops where everyone can catch up.
I think the problem is that these got too popular and grew too big. We should probably break the future drives into smaller manageable groups.
Whoever is organizing the next one give me a shout. I am willing to help-out scouting the trip route and writing up the directions.
As for the spirited drives, that was also a good example of what to do. During the fun sections of the trip you would slow down to let the guy in front rip through the turns. Then you go as fast as you want. Everyone took turns. In the resedential sections and in traffic you just try to keep everyone together.
I couldn't make it to this one... From what I heard it sounds like Waseem spent a lot of time and effort preparing this drive and did a great job. However he probably could have used some help. Next time if we expect more than 15-20 people, we will have to get volunteers to lead and trail smaller groups of a dozen or so cars. Also someone should map the drive and print detail directions the day before. have frequent stops where everyone can catch up.
I think the problem is that these got too popular and grew too big. We should probably break the future drives into smaller manageable groups.
Whoever is organizing the next one give me a shout. I am willing to help-out scouting the trip route and writing up the directions.
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05-13-2001, 02:23 PM
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Noone was blaming you! No person can run these events alone.
The problem is finding people willing to help. I would have offered to help with this one, but my consulting assignment is coming to an end, so I am taking on p/t projects to brush up on various web stuff. As a result I have been working nights (2-3 AM) and weekends for the last two months! Hopefully I'll get another 9-5 soon so I'll be able to relax and enjoy life once again. I just hope it will happen before the next event!