jvp
04-12-09, 11:31 PM
Hey folks -
I mentioned this briefly in the "Manual vs. Auto" thread. In the spirit of putting break-in miles on my car, I decided to spend a few Easter Sunday hours behind the wheel. Target: Rappahanok County as well as Luray, in Virginia. Goal: Take the V up Rt. 211.
I'm not going to be able to do Rt. 211 justice in text here, but I'll try. It starts lazily enough in Warrenton, VA, way west of Gainesville and most other points of civilization. It ends in New Market, VA, which is where it (pretty much) runs into I-81. On its way between its east and west ends points, it crosses through several towns, lots of farmland, past Luray Caverns, and, oh yeah, it also intersects the Skyline Drive.
It is on its way up the mountain to Skyline Drive that Rt. 211 earns a favorite spot in my all-time best roads list. VA DOT, perhaps inadvertently, created a driver's dream with that road. It's two lanes up the mountain and one down it. At the entrance to a lot of the curves, DOT decided to put rumble strips across the road to wake people up. There have been a lot of motorcycle accidents up Rt. 211, and all the EMT folks are left to do is hose the road off.
The turns are what make the road so... perfect. Banked. Excellent visibility. Sharp in some cases, decreasing radius in other cases, and several of them are 180 degrees or more in arc. And it's not just like, "turn here, turn there, go straight for a mile, turn again." It's more akin to, "Turn, turn, turn, turn, catch your breath quick, turn again, and again, and again."
OK, you're saying, enough of that baloney and waxing poetic.. get to the CAR! Got it. The trip to the base of the first mountain was pretty uneventful in the V. I took I-66 West to Gainesville, where I picked up 29 South to Warrenton, where I turned west on 211. I had the suspension set to Sport mode during this leg of the trip, as I didn't want to forget about it when I hit the mountain. And, the car never once punished me for that decision. Even over bumps and uneven roadways, I barely felt a thing.
As I approached Sperryville, I came upon Joe-Bob and his cousin Bubba in their jacked-up Nissan pickup truck. They were driving along at exactly the speed limit, and had a fairly open road in front of them. This got on my nerves a bit, but I had no passing zones until I got to the mountain, so I cooled my jets. Just shy of the mountain, 211 jinks back and forth a few times. I'm assuming the two in the pickup were locals and knew the road very well. They slowed down before the sharp corners in the road, then sped up to take them fast. In doing so, they kicked up quite a cloud because their POS pickup couldn't stay on the road. I applauded for them in their rear view mirror.
We finally get to the mountain, and the two uphill lanes open up. The truck decides he's going to show me he knows how to drive the mountain better than some outsider in his fancy Cadillac. His mistake is that I actually know how to drive (I'm a track dog), I know Rt. 211, and, oh yeah, I'm in a V and he's in a pickup.
We must remember: I'm breaking the V in. So no high-speed hi-jinx.. just yet. I kept the car in sixth(!!) gear as I took the first part of the mountain. With very little effort, I passed him in a corner and left him sucking V exhaust. He fought and and fought the rest of the way up the mountain but he never did catch me.
Next on the list was a motorcyclist. This fella was on what looked (and sounded) like a street-legal dirt bike. Don't ask me to name it because I don't know my motorcycles. Anyway, I didn't want to roar by him in a corner and scare him off the road. But he just wouldn't give. We cornered along side one another for probably half a mile, back and forth, until he finally realized a few of things:
1. I wasn't giving up
2. I knew how to drive
3. The car I was in was capable of eating his motorcycle for lunch in the corners.
He let off and I got by him without incident, thankfully. All while keeping the revs low and the gears high. :-)
I got past the turn-off for Skyline Drive, made it down the other side of the mountain, and into Luray for a late lunch. Some initial observations:
1. I like Sport mode a LOT. It doesn't punish, and the response from the car is perfect.
2. The Recaros: worth EVERY friggen penny, AND the wait. I had the cooling fan on the whole trip and I was soooo comfortable in the seat. That and it just held me right in place. I didn't budge once in the tight corners. I was able to focus my concentration on steering and pedal work.
3. I REALLY need to get back to 211 after I've broken it in, so I can really storm that mountain. :-)
After a grease-filled lunch at Burger Thing, I got back on 211 and continued west through Luray and the New Market Gap. The road goes over another mountain, in very much the same style as the first: two lanes up, one down. This "mountain" is more akin to a big hill though, and I blasted over it in no time flat. Before I knew it, I was in New Market, and on I-81 heading north to Winchester, where I picked up Rt. 7 East, and headed home.
That was just way too much fun. :-)
jas
I mentioned this briefly in the "Manual vs. Auto" thread. In the spirit of putting break-in miles on my car, I decided to spend a few Easter Sunday hours behind the wheel. Target: Rappahanok County as well as Luray, in Virginia. Goal: Take the V up Rt. 211.
I'm not going to be able to do Rt. 211 justice in text here, but I'll try. It starts lazily enough in Warrenton, VA, way west of Gainesville and most other points of civilization. It ends in New Market, VA, which is where it (pretty much) runs into I-81. On its way between its east and west ends points, it crosses through several towns, lots of farmland, past Luray Caverns, and, oh yeah, it also intersects the Skyline Drive.
It is on its way up the mountain to Skyline Drive that Rt. 211 earns a favorite spot in my all-time best roads list. VA DOT, perhaps inadvertently, created a driver's dream with that road. It's two lanes up the mountain and one down it. At the entrance to a lot of the curves, DOT decided to put rumble strips across the road to wake people up. There have been a lot of motorcycle accidents up Rt. 211, and all the EMT folks are left to do is hose the road off.
The turns are what make the road so... perfect. Banked. Excellent visibility. Sharp in some cases, decreasing radius in other cases, and several of them are 180 degrees or more in arc. And it's not just like, "turn here, turn there, go straight for a mile, turn again." It's more akin to, "Turn, turn, turn, turn, catch your breath quick, turn again, and again, and again."
OK, you're saying, enough of that baloney and waxing poetic.. get to the CAR! Got it. The trip to the base of the first mountain was pretty uneventful in the V. I took I-66 West to Gainesville, where I picked up 29 South to Warrenton, where I turned west on 211. I had the suspension set to Sport mode during this leg of the trip, as I didn't want to forget about it when I hit the mountain. And, the car never once punished me for that decision. Even over bumps and uneven roadways, I barely felt a thing.
As I approached Sperryville, I came upon Joe-Bob and his cousin Bubba in their jacked-up Nissan pickup truck. They were driving along at exactly the speed limit, and had a fairly open road in front of them. This got on my nerves a bit, but I had no passing zones until I got to the mountain, so I cooled my jets. Just shy of the mountain, 211 jinks back and forth a few times. I'm assuming the two in the pickup were locals and knew the road very well. They slowed down before the sharp corners in the road, then sped up to take them fast. In doing so, they kicked up quite a cloud because their POS pickup couldn't stay on the road. I applauded for them in their rear view mirror.
We finally get to the mountain, and the two uphill lanes open up. The truck decides he's going to show me he knows how to drive the mountain better than some outsider in his fancy Cadillac. His mistake is that I actually know how to drive (I'm a track dog), I know Rt. 211, and, oh yeah, I'm in a V and he's in a pickup.
We must remember: I'm breaking the V in. So no high-speed hi-jinx.. just yet. I kept the car in sixth(!!) gear as I took the first part of the mountain. With very little effort, I passed him in a corner and left him sucking V exhaust. He fought and and fought the rest of the way up the mountain but he never did catch me.
Next on the list was a motorcyclist. This fella was on what looked (and sounded) like a street-legal dirt bike. Don't ask me to name it because I don't know my motorcycles. Anyway, I didn't want to roar by him in a corner and scare him off the road. But he just wouldn't give. We cornered along side one another for probably half a mile, back and forth, until he finally realized a few of things:
1. I wasn't giving up
2. I knew how to drive
3. The car I was in was capable of eating his motorcycle for lunch in the corners.
He let off and I got by him without incident, thankfully. All while keeping the revs low and the gears high. :-)
I got past the turn-off for Skyline Drive, made it down the other side of the mountain, and into Luray for a late lunch. Some initial observations:
1. I like Sport mode a LOT. It doesn't punish, and the response from the car is perfect.
2. The Recaros: worth EVERY friggen penny, AND the wait. I had the cooling fan on the whole trip and I was soooo comfortable in the seat. That and it just held me right in place. I didn't budge once in the tight corners. I was able to focus my concentration on steering and pedal work.
3. I REALLY need to get back to 211 after I've broken it in, so I can really storm that mountain. :-)
After a grease-filled lunch at Burger Thing, I got back on 211 and continued west through Luray and the New Market Gap. The road goes over another mountain, in very much the same style as the first: two lanes up, one down. This "mountain" is more akin to a big hill though, and I blasted over it in no time flat. Before I knew it, I was in New Market, and on I-81 heading north to Winchester, where I picked up Rt. 7 East, and headed home.
That was just way too much fun. :-)
jas