Edge

It's that time of the year again! Spring is in the air, old man Winter is running off to hide, and the trees are starting to blossom! Just like I did in previous years, I'm organizing the Spring Fling run again, this time on Sunday, April 21. NOTE: If you have done this run before, please take note that we are NOT starting at the Wegman's parking lot, but the TARGET parking lot. This is because Wegman's apparently has a strict policy against allowing car groups to gather in their parking lots (boooooo...). WHERE TO MEET: Target Sterling West parking lot (South-East corner). The address is 45130 Columbia Place, Sterling, VA 20166 WHEN: Sunday, April 21 @ 9:00am. Driver's meeting at 9:50am. We depart at 10am sharp! Don't be late! RUN DISTANCE: 68.1 miles (morning) + 69.3 miles (afternoon) = 137.4 miles total. Easy "early exits" available in afternoon at 85.7 miles (Rt 66), 94.0 miles (Rt 50), 105.8 miles (Rt 7). RUN TIME: Approx 6.5 hours - we will return to the Target parking lot at approx. 4:30pm. WHAT TO BRING: Full tank of gas, 2-way radio, money to buy lunch (cash please - makes it easier for the check), sweater/raincoat/umbrella (if necessary, depending on weather) and a fun-loving attitude! :top: A quick refresher: One of my fondest MINI-related memories is the very first drive I ever participated in with DCMM - it was the Spring Fling, created by Bruce Pancoast (mty_mini), and organized with help from Jen Oakes (Jen) (who was our event coordinator at the time). This all happened on Sunday, April 24, 2005... only 7 1/2 weeks after I picked up my brand new MINI. Alan (Scavenger), who was getting his first exposure to the MINI, came along as my co-pilot. Meeting in the Sterling Wegmans parking lot (near MINI of Sterling), it was fun to meet a whole bunch of like-minded MINIacs all at once, for the first time. Little did I know just how much fun there was still to come... after grabbing some coffee and/or breakfast snacks from Wegmans. The roads were beautiful and twisty, and was such an awesome experience to be in a long line of MINIs for the very first time. We stopped for lunch at Orlean Market in Upperville, VA (in western Fauquier County), then continued on for wine tasting at Naked Mountain Vineyard & Winery after that, before heading all the way back to Wegmans. It was a long day (128 miles or so!), but so nice. Needless to say, I was eager to do this run again. Our lunch stop will be again be at Griffin Tavern, since Orlean Market closed down a number of years ago. Unfortunately, due to the size of our group, we will be a more selective and limited menu than their regular menu, but they will still have their famous Shepherd's Pie and other classics. NOTE: The plan is to have 1 check per table, so to make things easier to sort out, please bring sufficient cash to cover your portion of the check. For those interested or curious: Original Spring Fling thread (2005) Spring Fling 2008 thread Spring Fling 2009 thread Spring Fling 2010 thread Spring Fling 2010 Morning Route on Google Maps Spring Fling 2010 Afternoon Route on Google Maps Spring Fling 2011 thread Spring Fling 2012 thread Spring Fling 2013 Route Sheet Spring Fling 2013 Waiver Form (for non-member drivers) NOTE: All non-member drivers are expected to sign a waiver before participating. NOTE #2: Due to severe size limitations from the local wineries, we do not participate in wine tasting any more. However, you are welcome to order yourself a glass of wine with lunch at Griffin Tavern. Hope to see many of you out there again! Our lunch stop (Griffin Tavern) has given us a hard cap of 50 ADULTS, so if we reach that number, RSVPs will be closed. (Kids will not count towards the count of 50, so please put in the comments if you have any kids coming with you)

Yep - the brew swap! It's one of the best social events at MOTD! People bring local/unusual craft beers from their region, and it's a big open-house trading game. Everyone ends up with some unusual beers that they get to take home and try. It's a blast - an event I always look forward to. I usually bring some that are cold to drink that night during the swap, and leave the rest warm so people can more easily transport them back home for later consumption. Last year I brought Lost Rhino... I'll probably be doing the same again this year. I already have the shirt to wear during the event! :beerglass::beer:

Here you go - the larger version, embedded directly here: Geeze Celia... there's only so much room on the shirt. It's amazing that there's already the variety that's there. It's already stressful enough for the volunteers who are putting this together to make it happen... without having to field complaints/gripes about what is wrong about it. I'm sorry if this seems harsh, but your complaint struck a nerve. If you don't like the shirt, you don't have to buy one!

Sorry to hear that bad news. At least you know what it is now, right? However, you do realize that MINI of Montgomery County and MINI of Alexandria are the same company, right? They are both "Passport" dealerships. That's not a criticism from me (I'm using PMoA currently), just trying to make sure you knew.

Yes, it was great to see you this morning, Audrey! A pleasant surprise, it's always nice to get a smile and a hug on a Monday morning.

What specific model is it? The Optima Red Top that can be retrofitted to MINIs is the 34R. That's the one I have (the R stands for reverse polarity - the + and - are on the opposite sides of the usual). Note: Above info only validated to be accurate for R53s!

I think a Whalen shift knob would be sacrilege in this one specific case. I totally agree with making darn sure that NO holes are drilled in the bumper for a license plate. Also, no dealer decals/stickers, etc. ...butofcourse this is all just my opinion, not my car. :angel:

Tyler - another thanks for stepping up to the plate to organize this event. A wonderful time was had by all... that was the first time that I've done the Sprint Heat Racing format, and I really like it! Good times! :motor:

I'm sorry that I missed out on the dinner... I'm glad that you guys had a good time though! :top:

Dammit! Something came up and I can't make it to the dinner on Sunday, and I love Dogfish Head Alehouse, too! I hope you all have a great time - hopefully we'll do DHA again in the future. :top:

As I understand it, that's the current plan. Take all of the extra money ($5 per person, minus those who choose to opt-out instead and take their $5 back), and use that as the pool. The "5-3-1" rule I proposed to Tyler works like this: Divide by 9, then multiply by 5, 3 or 1 based upon position. Example: Let's say that we ended up with 18 people participating in the prize pool. That's $5 each, or $90. Divide by 9 = $10. Multiply and you get these results: 1st Place - $50 2nd Place - $30 3rd Place - $10 That's the concept, anyway. Tyler seemed to like it (it's his event and therefore his call, IMO).

http://www.minisonthedragon.com

First off, welcome to the DCMM Forums, Jon! We hope you like it here and consider joining as a club member. As for your question, the general rule is that modding your car only voids the warranty for the parts of the car that the mod specifically affects, not the entire car. Even then, some dealers are willing to overlook small mods if they don't believe they caused the problem. :top:

That's OK, I love DFHA! Awesome beer, good food. I'm definitely a fan.

I like the idea too - I have a suggestion on how to divide it, too. Follow the 5-3-1 rule, which is often followed for assigning points to 1st, 2nd & 3rd, but I think it works well for prize money too.

Yep, I once got a ticket from a cop in DC for just that. My Mustang was parked in front of my parents' house in Georgetown, and I used the remote start feature of the high-end alarm system I had bought to fire it up and run the A/C before I had to leave. This particular alarm system was designed so that even though the car was running, you could not drive the car until the key was put in the ignition and the key turned to the ON position. Any attempt to drive before that would immediately shut the engine off. I saw the cop writing the ticket and came out to try to stop him, explaining that it was locked and also undrivable, but he wouldn't hear it and wrote me the ticket anyway. I ended up fighting the ticket, including getting a signed statement from my alarm & stereo shop about the security of the system I had installed, and I managed to get the ticket dismissed. The "unattended running vehicle" laws are well intentioned, but as remote start becomes more commonplace (recall the VW ad with the kid dressed as Darth Vader, showing off the factory remote start option), they will need to be revised.

I used to let my car sit and warm up for 5 minutes before I went anywhere... especially when I had the remote-start installed on my Mustang. My thinking was the same - warm up the car before putting any strain on it. ...Then I heard on one of the car shows on the radio that it's a bad idea to do that. Why? Because sitting the car at idle only warms up certain parts of the car. Then, when you start to move, you have some parts warmed up, other parts (that require motion) still cold, and a false sense of confidence that everything is OK. Their advice was to start the car and drive it right away, but drive it in a much more relaxed/cautious fashion (especially don't rev the engine too high) until the engine had warmed up. Since the car is in motion, you can be confident that the other parts (that don't have a thermostat) have also warmed up along with it. It made perfect sense to me, so that's what I do now.

Yep, but some people just don't listen. <shaking head> The rubber in summer tires is not designed for colder temps. It turns brittle and loses a lot of its traction qualities when it gets cold... even on dry pavement!

This is why I love the automatic A/C option and hate the manual controls. The automatic A/C won't blast you with inappropriate air temps until the system is ready to deliver what you want. Just set the temp and let it do its thing! It definitely takes a while to warm up the MINI... contrary to Craig's experience, the best heating capability I've ever felt in a car is not a MINI, but my own Mustang. Ford's heater systems really crank the heat! Ironic for me since I don't drive my Mustang in the winter any more.

I'm really looking forward to this event. ...although I'm expecting to be one of the slowest people out there. When it comes to karts, body weight makes a HUGE difference because of the greater impact on overall power/weight ratio, and I'm one of the bigger people who usually participates. Ah well, I don't care, it's a blast! :motor:

Great find! Lots of awesome photos... although my favorite was probably the overturned Hummer.

Tyler - I'm pretty sure that if using a Personal PayPal account and sending to another Personal PayPal account as a "Personal" transaction, there are no fees. That's how it was for my $90 PayPal transfer to you, anyway. No fees!

You are correct - my mistake! I think I got confused between 1 inch and 1 cm (which is 10mm). :angel:

Payment sent - looking forward to the event!

The full JCW suspension (including JCW shocks) is about a 1 inch drop. Also, note that the JCW suspension is sold with different spring rates depending on the factory options on your car. I think there's actually 4 variants for each model that the JCW suspension is "officially" available for, and which one you get when ordering through a dealer, again, depends on the options your car has.