Forza Amelia - Day two: Mt. Dora, Gainesville, Cedar Key

No pictures yet... I left my smartmedia reader in seattle! Doh!

Tuesday.

After 14 hours of sleep, I'm feeling a LOT better. I actually feel human again. We have a great breakfast, which more than makes up for me missing dinner, and hit the road for our first timed segment. Dad drives the first segment and we luck out by having nobody check out the minute before us... that means we hopefully will not see a repeat of yesterday's fiasco at the finish checkpoint.

Fred & John Ehle in their 1967 Corvette Sting Ray Roadster.

The day is overcast and much cooler than yesterday... much to my relief. The segment is 51.1 miles long and we cover a lot of ground in a little time. At one point Dad decides to let the car run and gets it up to about 100 mph. He had to ease off though because the hood came loose, forcing us to stop and close it. As we travel west though the sky gets darker and darker, and eventually it starts to rain. Dad & I are debating stopping to put the top up when we see a few lightning strikes and what appears to be a deluge about a quarter mile ahead of us. Thankfully the shoulder was wide and flat, so we quickly dove to the side and got the top up with just a few seconds to spare before the heavens opened on us.

Some serious Florida rainfall.

We arrive at the checkpoint in Salt Springs and praise our luck from this morning with nobody ahead of us. We switch drivers, so I can run the finish and then check out immediately for the next segment, again with nobody checked out in that precious minute before. We finish with zero penalty time - Check out and go. The next segment is a short one to Marjorie Rawlings State Park. It is uneventful other than the fact that the deluge has ended and the rain is trailing off and that the Merc's drum brakes are pulling like mad to the left when you try to stop the car. We arrive at the checkpoint, situated at the state park and join the lineup for the finish.

Our time comes and there is nobody ahead, and strangely, nobody behind us. We know there should be several cars behind us, and we know of at least one car behind us that should have crossed the line two minutes ahead of us. It is John Whitney Payson in his AC Greyhound. We passed him about halfway through the segment, so we are nervous that he might come barrelling in right as our turn comes. It doesn't happen and we cross the finish with a zero (whoo hoo!) and all alone.

The next segment is a transit stage, so we relax and take the chance to hit the rest rooms and chat with other rallyists. We hear that a train held up several of the participants about 10 miles before the checkpoint. Based on the timing we must have been the last car to pass the track before the train came. What good luck for us!

Above: Richard & Helen Fraser's 1949 Ferrari 166 Inter Vignale Coupe, and Dad's 300sl, after the second segment.

We drive the short transit stage to the Gainesville Raceway for the single speed event of the rally. Thankfully the track is merely moist, rather then soaking wet, and it is in good condition for the event. The Merc, while it was the fastest production car of it's day, is really not a racer. Dad doesn't really know where it's performance envelope lies, and knowing that and engine rebuild would probably be about $25K he's unwilling to find it. However he is a real trooper and wants to take it out on the track. We stomp on the brakes a few times to dry them out and get in the lineup for the event. Dad wants me to go first, probably because he knows I'll be cautious.

There are two courses, both about a mile long, but with lots of curves. The first one includes a circular skid pad and two straights with a 180º hairpin.
I promise not to rev it past 5000 RPM and hit the track for the first go around. The car actually feels real good between 4000 and 5000 RPMs.
I dutifully shift at 5000 each time. Coming out of the hairpin I am reminded why this car is nothing like the E-type... it has no low-end torque. It seems to take forever to get back up to speed. It also feels big and heavy in the corners, and the fighting the steering wheel is like lifting weights. But once you get it up to 4000 RPMs it comes back alive and starts behaving like the thoroughbred that it is. I finish my first go around and head for the other course. It is actually a lot harder, with more turns, and a chicane. I just about get a hernia wrestling the car through the course.

Above & Below: Chuck wrestles the 300sl around the track.

I hand the car over to dad and go position myself to get some pictures of both him and Pascal Gademer (who handed me his camera to get pictures of him on the track. Don't forget to send me some pictures Pascal!) Dad is going through course one and I am lining myself up to get a shot of him coming through the skidpad 'finish line' when I hear the unmistakable sound of tires sliding sideways. I spin around just in time to get a shot of dad sitting backwards on the track... he had spun a 180º as he entered the skidpad.

Left: Dad stopped, and looking the wrong way down the track. That smoke you see is from his tires, as he has just spun 180º. If I knew he was going to do this I would have had my zoom set better. I was preparing to take a shot as he passed in front of me on the pavement you see at the bottom of the shot.

He doesn't even bother trying to finish, but heads instead over to the other course. He turns a fair time there and I head over to the tent for lunch.

Above (all): Dad's run on track two. You can really see how the car rolls in the turns. Of course I hope I can look this good whem I'm 44 years old. =)

Above: About two gazillion Lire's worth of Ferraris over lunch.

After Lunch I wander back to the track and look at the cars. I take some pictures and marvel at the sounds of 12 cylinder Ferrari's as they go around the track. They do have a nice note to them. They sound like motorcycles on steroids. I take a couple of shots of Pascal's jag. Here is a shot, complete with URL and link back to jag-lovers.org. =)

I also have a shot of the Jag V-12. For comparison click the picture and see the original straight six XK engine from dad's
E-type from seven years earlier.

I decide to take a run around the track again... and just for kicks I call my office just before I start, and hop into one of my staff's voicemail. I leave the sound of me going around the track, complete with revving engine and squealing tires for posterity on his voicemail. I'm sure it is already on the company MP3 server.

The next stage is a tranquil transit to the hotel on Cedar Key. It is a 104.5 mile run, with Dad at the wheel and me catching a nap on the long parts with minimal navigation. We arrive pretty early, check in and I finally get a chance to catch up on my writing and photo editing.

Above: David & Paula Fischer's Porsche at Cedar Key. (full discosure: I made liberal use of PhotoShop's tools to erase several power & phone lines out of this picture. I should probably go all the way and take the construction mess out too. Florida sort of reminds me of Alaska... very scenic, except for where the people are! But unlike Alaska there are a lot of people in Florida unfortunately.)

Dinner was nice. I set up my powerbook on the bar with a 'slide show' running of all the photos I have taken the past two days. Quite a few folks get a kick out of it. Quite a few more are completely floored. Modern technology and old cars are a weird mix.

Good Night!

Go to the Next page: Wednesday.

--chuck

or...



		Tuesday. After 14 hours of sleep, I'm feeling a LOT better. I actually feel human again. We have a great breakfast, which more than makes up for me missing dinner, and hit the road for our first timed segment. Dad drives the first segment and we luck out by having nobody check out the minute before us... that means we hopefully will not see a repeat of yesterday's fiasco at the finish checkpoint. Fred & John Ehle in their 1967 Corvette Sting Ray Roadster. The day is overcast and much cooler than yesterday... much to my relief. The segment is 51.1 miles long and we cover a lot of ground in a little time. At one point Dad decides to let the car run and gets it up to about 100 mph. He had to ease off though because the hood came loose, forcing us to stop and close it. As we travel west though the sky gets darker and darker, and eventually it starts to rain. Dad & I are debating stopping to put the top up when we see a few lightning strikes and what appears to be a deluge about a quarter mile ahead of us. Thankfully the shoulder was wide and flat, so we quickly dove to the side and got the top up with just a few seconds to spare before the heavens opened on us. Some serious Florida rainfall. We arrive at the checkpoint in Salt Springs and praise our luck from this morning with nobody ahead of us. We switch drivers, so I can run the finish and then check out immediately for the next segment, again with nobody checked out in that precious minute before. We finish with zero penalty time - Check out and go. The next segment is a short one to Marjorie Rawlings State Park. It is uneventful other than the fact that the deluge has ended and the rain is trailing off and that the Merc's drum brakes are pulling like mad to the left when you try to stop the car. We arrive at the checkpoint, situated at the state park and join the lineup for the finish. Our time comes and there is nobody ahead, and strangely, nobody behind us. We know there should be several cars behind us, and we know of at least one car behind us that should have crossed the line two minutes ahead of us. It is John Whitney Payson in his AC Greyhound. We passed him about halfway through the segment, so we are nervous that he might come barrelling in right as our turn comes. It doesn't happen and we cross the finish with a zero (whoo hoo!) and all alone. The next segment is a transit stage, so we relax and take the chance to hit the rest rooms and chat with other rallyists. We hear that a train held up several of the participants about 10 miles before the checkpoint. Based on the timing we must have been the last car to pass the track before the train came. What good luck for us! Above: Richard & Helen Fraser's 1949 Ferrari 166 Inter Vignale Coupe, and Dad's 300sl, after the second segment. We drive the short transit stage to the Gainesville Raceway for the single speed event of the rally. Thankfully the track is merely moist, rather then soaking wet, and it is in good condition for the event. The Merc, while it was the fastest production car of it's day, is really not a racer. Dad doesn't really know where it's performance envelope lies, and knowing that and engine rebuild would probably be about $25K he's unwilling to find it. However he is a real trooper and wants to take it out on the track. We stomp on the brakes a few times to dry them out and get in the lineup for the event. Dad wants me to go first, probably because he knows I'll be cautious. There are two courses, both about a mile long, but with lots of curves. The first one includes a circular skid pad and two straights with a 180º hairpin. I promise not to rev it past 5000 RPM and hit the track for the first go around. The car actually feels real good between 4000 and 5000 RPMs. I dutifully shift at 5000 each time. Coming out of the hairpin I am reminded why this car is nothing like the E-type... it has no low-end torque. It seems to take forever to get back up to speed. It also feels big and heavy in the corners, and the fighting the steering wheel is like lifting weights. But once you get it up to 4000 RPMs it comes back alive and starts behaving like the thoroughbred that it is. I finish my first go around and head for the other course. It is actually a lot harder, with more turns, and a chicane. I just about get a hernia wrestling the car through the course. Above & Below: Chuck wrestles the 300sl around the track. I hand the car over to dad and go position myself to get some pictures of both him and Pascal Gademer (who handed me his camera to get pictures of him on the track. Don't forget to send me some pictures Pascal!) Dad is going through course one and I am lining myself up to get a shot of him coming through the skidpad 'finish line' when I hear the unmistakable sound of tires sliding sideways. I spin around just in time to get a shot of dad sitting backwards on the track... he had spun a 180º as he entered the skidpad. Left: Dad stopped, and looking the wrong way down the track. That smoke you see is from his tires, as he has just spun 180º. If I knew he was going to do this I would have had my zoom set better. I was preparing to take a shot as he passed in front of me on the pavement you see at the bottom of the shot. He doesn't even bother trying to finish, but heads instead over to the other course. He turns a fair time there and I head over to the tent for lunch. Above (all): Dad's run on track two. You can really see how the car rolls in the turns. Of course I hope I can look this good whem I'm 44 years old. =) Above: About two gazillion Lire's worth of Ferraris over lunch. After Lunch I wander back to the track and look at the cars. I take some pictures and marvel at the sounds of 12 cylinder Ferrari's as they go around the track. They do have a nice note to them. They sound like motorcycles on steroids. I take a couple of shots of Pascal's jag. Here is a shot, complete with URL and link back to jag-lovers.org. =) I also have a shot of the Jag V-12. For comparison click the picture and see the original straight six XK engine from dad's E-type from seven years earlier. I decide to take a run around the track again... and just for kicks I call my office just before I start, and hop into one of my staff's voicemail. I leave the sound of me going around the track, complete with revving engine and squealing tires for posterity on his voicemail. I'm sure it is already on the company MP3 server. The next stage is a tranquil transit to the hotel on Cedar Key. It is a 104.5 mile run, with Dad at the wheel and me catching a nap on the long parts with minimal navigation. We arrive pretty early, check in and I finally get a chance to catch up on my writing and photo editing. Above: David & Paula Fischer's Porsche at Cedar Key. (full discosure: I made liberal use of PhotoShop's tools to erase several power & phone lines out of this picture. I should probably go all the way and take the construction mess out too. Florida sort of reminds me of Alaska... very scenic, except for where the people are! But unlike Alaska there are a lot of people in Florida unfortunately.) Dinner was nice. I set up my powerbook on the bar with a 'slide show' running of all the photos I have taken the past two days. Quite a few folks get a kick out of it. Quite a few more are completely floored. Modern technology and old cars are a weird mix. Good Night! Go to the Next page: Wednesday. --chuck
		or...