So this past weekend was the opening event for the Renegade Miata Club's AutoCross season. It was my first event in my 2008 STI and only my second event ever, so Im still learning the ins and outs. However, it was a BLAST. The car was great, the course was great the people were great... the only thing that could have been better would've been if it wasn't as windy. It got a bit chilly when I was out working the corners (pun intended). When the wind died down, the weather was gorgeous... of course Marc was 'freezing' and jumping around like Penguin trying to escape the jaws of an Orca. But, I digress... I must give him credit for even getting me into the event seeing as I do not own a Mazda.
The day started off meeting Marc and Shane at Marc place. Once Jose showed up with his Mazdaspeed 3 we then cruised up to the event, got there roughly 7:45, got registered and walked the track. The course looked fast, but not overly technical. It was definitely a good one to get my feet wet and get used to the car.
We had 2 heats, 4 runs each heat, so I did 4 morning runs and 4 afternoon runs. I started the day off with a run of 1:18 +1 cone, followed by two runs of 1:15, one clean and the other with 1 cone hit... and boy did I NAIL that cone. I finished the morning up with a 1:14 +1 cone. Cones, for reference, are a +2sec penalty. Overall, I was extremely pleased with that fact that I was steadily improving my times with each run. Then, it was time for some lunch. After hitting up Subway with Marc and Shane, we headed back for the afternoon runs.
Now we're talking. My times dropped by about 1 whole second each run in the afternoon with a final lowest run of 1:12.3. Overall, Im extremely happy with how it went and cant wait to get back out there. I need to do something about the massive amounts of body-roll in the car, though... and get some new brake pads.
Below are two videos taken of my morning runs:
Monday, April 12, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Preparing for 2010 Autocross & Drag Racing Season
New England Dragway opens its doors to the general public for the first 'Street Night' of the season on Friday April 9th. I have yet to drag race my 2008 Subaru WRX STI (right) but look forward to seeing what this thing is made of. I dont know if I will make it to opening night here, because I have 2 other potential events this weekend which, to me, are much more appealing (see below).
The 2010 Autocross season starts on April 10th with the Renegade Miata Club driving school at Devens Airfield. Now, I dont own a Mazda, so I can only attend via invite from a club member. Thus, BIG thanks to Marc (See his blog) for letting me tag along. The following day (April 11th), at the same location, is the 1st Points Event for the NER Chapter of SCCA.
I dont expect to be hugely competitive, but I had a blast the one event I managed to get to last year, so Im going to try and put some focus here this season and see what I can do.
For those familiar with SCCA regulations, I will be running the STU class. So far, the only 'go-fast' modifications to the car are a 3" Turboback Exhaust and Cobb AccessPort. I have also added a set of Enkei RP03 wheels in 18x9.5 +38 wrapped in Dunlop Drezza Star Spec tires sized 245/40/18. The 245 tire is a bit stretched on the 9.5 width wheels, but in order to remain in STU and not get bumped up to SM I couldnt use a tire any wider than that.
Items Im waiting on or installing in the near future to help get ready are:
- Custom Protune - moar powa!!
- Whiteline 22mm rear sway bar
- Hawk HPS brake pads
- SettingSaver - saves my SI-Drive/DCCD/VDC settings
- Rally Decals magnetic # kit
The 1st three items likely wont be done in time for the first weekend of events, but they are on the block and will happen as soon as I have time to do them.
Lacking content... an ongoing issue
You'll notice that the title of the blog has changed...
I'm finding it hard to come up with content that I think is worthy of posting. Perhaps its because there isn't a true focal point. I may try to cover a couple different items en route to honing in on what I ultimately decide to focus on.
I'm finding it hard to come up with content that I think is worthy of posting. Perhaps its because there isn't a true focal point. I may try to cover a couple different items en route to honing in on what I ultimately decide to focus on.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
'Ski-Free' = Life Lesson?
Anyone who has been using computers long enough will likely remember this game, and the guy in the pictures below... and we all know that 'Oh shit!' was the first thing to go through your head when you saw him(her?).
Now, maybe its because of all the crap that has happened lately, which I wont go into right now, and as lame and 'weird' as it may seem... I recently looked at this image, used in jest previously, and saw something completely different. What I saw was a life lesson, so-to-speak. No matter how hard you try or how high you jump or how many points you score... he will ALWAYS find you, and subsequently, eat you.
The same, in a sense, can be said about life in general. No matter how well you may thing things are going, sooner or later, something bad will happen. It's severity may not be the same as being eaten alive by an abominable snowman, but something less-than-desirable will occur and you just cant let yourself get bent out of shape about it.
Running from it wont work, as it will eventually catch up with you. Yet, slowing down wont work either, you're still heading, ultimately, in the same direction.
The point here is that you just need to keep doing what your doing, take your lumps and move-on (or start over if you're playing Ski-Free). Being afraid of what will happen in the future is no way to live because you end up short-changing yourself by worrying instead of living. You also cant ignore and just run from it, because what usually ends up happening is it all snowballs into one giant failure which can, and likely will, be more devastating than just letting it happen on its own.
In short... the Ski-Free monster always wins. All you can do is just continue to play the game.
Now, maybe its because of all the crap that has happened lately, which I wont go into right now, and as lame and 'weird' as it may seem... I recently looked at this image, used in jest previously, and saw something completely different. What I saw was a life lesson, so-to-speak. No matter how hard you try or how high you jump or how many points you score... he will ALWAYS find you, and subsequently, eat you.The same, in a sense, can be said about life in general. No matter how well you may thing things are going, sooner or later, something bad will happen. It's severity may not be the same as being eaten alive by an abominable snowman, but something less-than-desirable will occur and you just cant let yourself get bent out of shape about it.
Running from it wont work, as it will eventually catch up with you. Yet, slowing down wont work either, you're still heading, ultimately, in the same direction.
The point here is that you just need to keep doing what your doing, take your lumps and move-on (or start over if you're playing Ski-Free). Being afraid of what will happen in the future is no way to live because you end up short-changing yourself by worrying instead of living. You also cant ignore and just run from it, because what usually ends up happening is it all snowballs into one giant failure which can, and likely will, be more devastating than just letting it happen on its own.
In short... the Ski-Free monster always wins. All you can do is just continue to play the game.
An introduction of sorts...
Well here we are... blog number one. At this point I can't really tell you where this blog will go or how often it will be updated. Blogging is something that has crossed my mind plenty of times and I never really had the drive to just do it, because frankly, I doubt that what I have to say is all that interesting to anyone other than myself. Hence, the title of my blog.
I guess the easiest thing to write about is whats going on in your life, and Ive always been intrigued by why people on twitter/facebook and not so recently, AIM (via 'Away' messages) feel the need to update the world on what they are doing at that exact moment in time. When I log into facebook and see that 10 of my friends happen to be eating lunch right now and 2 are going to the gym after work I just cant help but thinking 'Wow, I am SO glad that I know what you are doing right now and in the near future. My day could not have gone on without that information.' Yes, that is sarcasm you are sensing.
Now, don't get me wrong. I wholeheartedly enjoy knowing what my friends are doing and what they are thinking... but I don't need to be updated multiple times a day. This is why I generally steer clear of facebook and twitter and chose to go the blog route. Again, thanks to Pete (Chip) for giving me the push I needed to get things going here.
I feel like all of the 'social networking' websites are really just a way for uninteresting people to fool themselves into thinking that their life is something so intriguing that other people actually care about what they are doing every minute of every day. I know I cant be the only one who thinks this way... but the fact of the matter is that social networking is hugely popular because well... people love to jump at the opportunity to increase their own self-worth, and realistically, Im no different (I am writing a blog, after all).
However, I think it has gotten to the point where its just 'too much'. Websites like facebook are great for keeping in touch with old friends or planning a party. It allows you to get in touch with people whom you would like to keep in touch with or go to a party with but also someone whom you don't speak with regularly and don't need in your cell phone's address book.
Twitter... wow. This one just amazes me. It is nothing more than a spin-off of facebook where the only feature is 'Status'. Twitter is a great tool for those seeking up-to-the-minute information about a certain subject (I happen to follow many hockey writers so that I know what is going on around the league) but, as an example, my wife follows Kris Allen (The most recent 'American Idol' winner) and his twitter posts consist regularly of 'Eating a X sandwich at Y restaurant in Z city'. Sorry, but that is not worth knowing and doesn't impact anyones life.
So there we have it... my general stance on 'social networking' and what it has become. This blog is my way to feel important and interesting, and it will not be updated 'on the hour' or anything like that and will not include posts such as 'I ate a pepperoni calzone at the cafeteria today'.
Some other topics you'll likely see covered often:
- Hockey
- Cars
The End
I guess the easiest thing to write about is whats going on in your life, and Ive always been intrigued by why people on twitter/facebook and not so recently, AIM (via 'Away' messages) feel the need to update the world on what they are doing at that exact moment in time. When I log into facebook and see that 10 of my friends happen to be eating lunch right now and 2 are going to the gym after work I just cant help but thinking 'Wow, I am SO glad that I know what you are doing right now and in the near future. My day could not have gone on without that information.' Yes, that is sarcasm you are sensing.
Now, don't get me wrong. I wholeheartedly enjoy knowing what my friends are doing and what they are thinking... but I don't need to be updated multiple times a day. This is why I generally steer clear of facebook and twitter and chose to go the blog route. Again, thanks to Pete (Chip) for giving me the push I needed to get things going here.
I feel like all of the 'social networking' websites are really just a way for uninteresting people to fool themselves into thinking that their life is something so intriguing that other people actually care about what they are doing every minute of every day. I know I cant be the only one who thinks this way... but the fact of the matter is that social networking is hugely popular because well... people love to jump at the opportunity to increase their own self-worth, and realistically, Im no different (I am writing a blog, after all).
However, I think it has gotten to the point where its just 'too much'. Websites like facebook are great for keeping in touch with old friends or planning a party. It allows you to get in touch with people whom you would like to keep in touch with or go to a party with but also someone whom you don't speak with regularly and don't need in your cell phone's address book.
Twitter... wow. This one just amazes me. It is nothing more than a spin-off of facebook where the only feature is 'Status'. Twitter is a great tool for those seeking up-to-the-minute information about a certain subject (I happen to follow many hockey writers so that I know what is going on around the league) but, as an example, my wife follows Kris Allen (The most recent 'American Idol' winner) and his twitter posts consist regularly of 'Eating a X sandwich at Y restaurant in Z city'. Sorry, but that is not worth knowing and doesn't impact anyones life.
So there we have it... my general stance on 'social networking' and what it has become. This blog is my way to feel important and interesting, and it will not be updated 'on the hour' or anything like that and will not include posts such as 'I ate a pepperoni calzone at the cafeteria today'.
Some other topics you'll likely see covered often:
- Hockey
- Cars
The End
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
