TGGRRR (Ali)

I can do any day that the government is shut down. But on Monday I'm taking Max to Passport, so Mark will take Tigger to work.

Hey that's not MY Man Card, I posted the Emoticon Man card I think shopping for manly things should count

Jim, it was you that told me about the brakes vs clutch. I couldn't remember who it was. I think with brakes vs clutch you also need to consider the grade of the road. If you're on a downhill, you can burn your brakes a lot easier, so you would probably be better off shifting down. My understanding is the lower hand position is more stable. Your arms are more stable with elbows down then elbows up. With the push pull method I feel like I have more control. My arms never cross which makes sense to me.

That's so cool. I bet Baxter had a great time!

Ok, so I need to distract myself from the government closure. My latest obsession is steering techniques. But I'm also wondering about braking techniques in the turns. I was taught hand over hand turning in High School, but I now realize that is not the best way to steer. Last year at the Dragon I heard talk of shuffle steering and push/pull steering. So I did my own research and thought the push pull looks like it gives the most control. Then I realized there are basically two schools of thought on that. Hands high (2:00 / 10:00) or hands low (5:00 /7:00). So I have experimented with both and yapped with Craig about it. I like the lower hand position better. Mostly because in the upper hand position instinct kicks in and I keep doing hand over hand, but from the lower position I remember that I'm trying push/ pull. Given this obsession I have watched carefully on Top Gear. Jeremy pretty much does hand over hand with his hands mostly at 3:00/ 9:00, Richard does the push pull method from below, and I can't really get a good look at James. They never show the stig in a turn but his hands are always at 3:00 - 9:00. So then comes decelerating into a turn. I have mostly heard don't use your brakes use your engine and down shift. Then at the Falls Color Run, one of the guys said that brakes are cheaper then engines and he uses his brakes. Now I'm sure with this there are probably better times to use your brakes and better times to use your engine. I tend to be very literal and try to do the same thing all the time. So what do you guys do? Thoughts? Ali

That's so funny. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what you were saying. I take that route very rarely, I just had to go from DC to Reston. Last time I took it, I ran into another MINI, it was all stickered up and there was much less traffic. We played and had fun passing and following each other. That's a nice JCW you've got there. I hope you'll make it to the run tomorrow

Here it is Alan

How do we attach them to the car? Masking tape?

This morning as I parked my car in the garage I saw them directing a nice chocolate brown (I don't know the official color name) MINI into a spot near mine. Well you know I killed some time and then introduced myself and gave her a card. It was so new she had paper plates on it. She said she used to be a member of the club, so hopefully she comes back. Then rotten day at work, with a crazy PM Then heading to an appointment down the GW Parkway and I spy a Horizon Blue MINI, the driver tooted and waved. I was so happy and waved back. As he passed me I saw the JCW badge. About 10 miles down the road and after passing 4 non waving MINIs I saw him again as he was stuck in traffic in the right lane and I was passing. He waved again and yelled something, but I couldn't catch it. I had an SUV up my butt, so I couldn't slow down enough to chat. The waves made my day! :wavey:

Just living up to your license plate

booooo :tomato:

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

From what I saw last night it looks like it's just going to be partial rain, not a big ugly wet day. So I'm hoping it will all be fine.

How do we add all the cool new ones to our collection?

Oooh yeah, Craig and I can start a detailing service during the government shut down. (like how you just got a partner Craig?) I will be working on Tigger sometime Sunday, others are welcome to come over and join me. I'll look at my schedule and see when will work. Probably in the afternoon. Celia is coming over anyway for me to sew her Shnuggie design so we could be detailing and sewing at the same time. Does Sunday afternoon work? If so, we can do that. Just PM me for my address as I don't really want to put it in the public forum. Ali

And they will all wave :itsme::motor: :wavey: :motor:

Soon we'll have more handsets then drivers. I am going to be testing out my new hands free handset configuration. I've tested it on a tiny run, but not on a full club run. Ali

I even got a pic and posted it on FB

One emoticon that I'm waiting for a chance to use is this one, it will be good when someone is espousing on and on about something... :alberteinstein: So if someone could please go on and on about some point, it would make me happy

Uh, at Gordon Biersh

More, more, we need more!!!! :wavey: Like one for detailing the car would be nice wax on, wax off

I will bring two extras also

You can definitely stomp on it more! :motor: The backfiring sound you are hearing is built in to the Gen 1's, I think I read in the owners manual that it's to mimic the sound of the classic Mini. I love the sound. I'm so sorry to hear about the passing of your principal. Hopefully we'll get to meet you at another run. Ali

I remember it well because it was Mark's first run and we were switching off driving. I remember it being different routes because we had different stops on the way there and back. Like on the way there we stopped at a grocery store, and on the way home we stopped at a Fire Station with General store. Does that help?

Last year we motored to the tavern, had a nice lunch and motored back to the start location. I think the way back was a different route then the way there. I'm sure Haemish will pipe in soon, esp if I skimmed something and got a detail wrong :embarassed: