09-11-2004, 05:33 PM
The cruise was quite a success! I believe we had a turnout of nearly 15 carsit was quite an awesome sight to see the huge convoy of sports and performance cars that made its way through harrisonburg. We chilled with MM members and met some new faces as well. There was also some very nice machinery! Cars that turned up ran the gamut from an ML430 to a BMW 2002, complete with stock 4 speed manual and fiberglass fender flares. Come to think of it, there were no less than 6 BMWs if I am correctit started looking more like a DTMPower meet than an MM meet!
We met up at KohlÔÇÖs and mingled until about 10 after in the beautiful September weather. Everyone got to shake hands and check out the cars, and it was decided we would try to drive over to a middle school on the way to 33W to get a few pictures as a group. Due to the size of the turnout, it wasnÔÇÖt exactly easy to make our way through downtown without losing a few people at red lights. The front half made it through downtown (by the courthouse) ok, but the other half got separated. As I led our small front group to the middle school we waited for a few minutes and I began to worry if they would find us ok. Eventually the back half pulled into the lot amid the impatient revving of engines and the bass notes from some music flowing out of a few windows and we parked our cars for a moment to snap a few pictures.
With that out of the way we proceeded on towards the mountains. With no more traffic lights to cut up our group we cruised at a calm pace westward, with only the passing of a few quaint amish buggies to throw in some excitement. Everywhere you turned, there was nothing but open farmland dotted with the occasional rusty silo and maroon barn. It was a welcome sight compared to the congestion of downtown. The farmland turned to forest and the air became cooler and denser. I could almost feel my engine tugging me harder as it ingested the oxygen rich air. The tall, mighty hemlock stands that line the road gave some welcome shade from the blazing sun. The forest lining 33W was so thick I felt almost like a deer slicing through the woods. Traffic was scarce, and passing was no problem on the long, flat stretches that parallel the mountain river. I could even hear it roaring from the rain of the previous days. Every now and then I would contact Chris, or he would contact me, and weÔÇÖd make sure the group was tight. After traveling through the low country and through the masses of hemlock we finally came to the first turn of the road that makes 33W such a pleasure to drive on. As I passed the yellow sign that says ÔÇ£curvy road, 25mph,ÔÇØ I downshifted into second and began the curving climb to the summit.
The front of my accord bit eagerly into the banked tarmac of the first turn as I braked slightly. In my rear view mirror I could see the brilliant blue mazda 6, and the dark silhouette of a canteen green golf hatchback do likewiseuntil they momentarily disappeared as I rounded yet another steep switchback. I could distantly make out the sounds of VR6s, boxer 4s, BMW straight 4s and 6s shifting crisply over the roar of my own engine as I continued to power up the mountain to maintain my speed of roughly 45. Soon we were linking the kinks of the mountain road together as our group glided through the banked turns like bobsleds. As we reached the summit, Keith (riding shotgun) and myself looked out the windows and marveled at the monumental range of mountains thinly draped in a dirty haze.
Our sightseeing was to be only momentary, though, as yet another yellow sign warned us of the incoming 9% downhill grade. Shortly thereafter I found myself blipping my 2.3 with abandon to rev-match into second for the upcoming sweeper. As we proceeded down the mountain we could see farther and farther down the mountain range and really got a feeling for our altitude. Soon I could smell my brake pads baking from the hard use they were getting as I set myself up for one turn after another. Suddenly Chris radioed me to keep my eye out for a group of bikers that had passed him at his end with little hesitation. Not 5 seconds later I was looking into my driverÔÇÖs side mirror to see 4 bikes streaking down the side of our group into a blind turn. I was shocked but all I could do was get close to the shoulder and slow down. In no time they had screamed past us, downshifted, and were seen only distantly as I rounded that corner and readied myself for another.
We eventually reached the bottom and turned around at the entrance to a park of some sort. Once we had re-grouped we climbed back towards the top. There were a few sections where the road becomes two lanes on our side, and we were able to take the turns wider and apex the corners, which was pretty fun. Some of the turns were so sharp and so steep I was able to look back over my shoulder and almost look down on the roofs of all the cars in our formation. After weaving through a few more switchbacks, we again crested the summit and snaked down the other side, with the smell of brakes again wafting through the windows. Upon reaching the bottom, we quietly proceeded again through miles of enormous pine trees that stood straight up, lancing hundreds of feet into the air. In a few more minutes we were again in the open country and bounding over small hills and valleys. As we came into town I had to drive through campus to drop Keith off, and the majority of the pack broke off to drive down main street. I dropped off Ketih, and as I rode back to my place I noticed the roads around campus seemed to barely require turning my steering wheel compared to where we had just come from. After parking my car, I walked slowly back to my apartment, thinking of what a perfect day it had been for a drive!
We met up at KohlÔÇÖs and mingled until about 10 after in the beautiful September weather. Everyone got to shake hands and check out the cars, and it was decided we would try to drive over to a middle school on the way to 33W to get a few pictures as a group. Due to the size of the turnout, it wasnÔÇÖt exactly easy to make our way through downtown without losing a few people at red lights. The front half made it through downtown (by the courthouse) ok, but the other half got separated. As I led our small front group to the middle school we waited for a few minutes and I began to worry if they would find us ok. Eventually the back half pulled into the lot amid the impatient revving of engines and the bass notes from some music flowing out of a few windows and we parked our cars for a moment to snap a few pictures.
With that out of the way we proceeded on towards the mountains. With no more traffic lights to cut up our group we cruised at a calm pace westward, with only the passing of a few quaint amish buggies to throw in some excitement. Everywhere you turned, there was nothing but open farmland dotted with the occasional rusty silo and maroon barn. It was a welcome sight compared to the congestion of downtown. The farmland turned to forest and the air became cooler and denser. I could almost feel my engine tugging me harder as it ingested the oxygen rich air. The tall, mighty hemlock stands that line the road gave some welcome shade from the blazing sun. The forest lining 33W was so thick I felt almost like a deer slicing through the woods. Traffic was scarce, and passing was no problem on the long, flat stretches that parallel the mountain river. I could even hear it roaring from the rain of the previous days. Every now and then I would contact Chris, or he would contact me, and weÔÇÖd make sure the group was tight. After traveling through the low country and through the masses of hemlock we finally came to the first turn of the road that makes 33W such a pleasure to drive on. As I passed the yellow sign that says ÔÇ£curvy road, 25mph,ÔÇØ I downshifted into second and began the curving climb to the summit.
The front of my accord bit eagerly into the banked tarmac of the first turn as I braked slightly. In my rear view mirror I could see the brilliant blue mazda 6, and the dark silhouette of a canteen green golf hatchback do likewiseuntil they momentarily disappeared as I rounded yet another steep switchback. I could distantly make out the sounds of VR6s, boxer 4s, BMW straight 4s and 6s shifting crisply over the roar of my own engine as I continued to power up the mountain to maintain my speed of roughly 45. Soon we were linking the kinks of the mountain road together as our group glided through the banked turns like bobsleds. As we reached the summit, Keith (riding shotgun) and myself looked out the windows and marveled at the monumental range of mountains thinly draped in a dirty haze.
Our sightseeing was to be only momentary, though, as yet another yellow sign warned us of the incoming 9% downhill grade. Shortly thereafter I found myself blipping my 2.3 with abandon to rev-match into second for the upcoming sweeper. As we proceeded down the mountain we could see farther and farther down the mountain range and really got a feeling for our altitude. Soon I could smell my brake pads baking from the hard use they were getting as I set myself up for one turn after another. Suddenly Chris radioed me to keep my eye out for a group of bikers that had passed him at his end with little hesitation. Not 5 seconds later I was looking into my driverÔÇÖs side mirror to see 4 bikes streaking down the side of our group into a blind turn. I was shocked but all I could do was get close to the shoulder and slow down. In no time they had screamed past us, downshifted, and were seen only distantly as I rounded that corner and readied myself for another.
We eventually reached the bottom and turned around at the entrance to a park of some sort. Once we had re-grouped we climbed back towards the top. There were a few sections where the road becomes two lanes on our side, and we were able to take the turns wider and apex the corners, which was pretty fun. Some of the turns were so sharp and so steep I was able to look back over my shoulder and almost look down on the roofs of all the cars in our formation. After weaving through a few more switchbacks, we again crested the summit and snaked down the other side, with the smell of brakes again wafting through the windows. Upon reaching the bottom, we quietly proceeded again through miles of enormous pine trees that stood straight up, lancing hundreds of feet into the air. In a few more minutes we were again in the open country and bounding over small hills and valleys. As we came into town I had to drive through campus to drop Keith off, and the majority of the pack broke off to drive down main street. I dropped off Ketih, and as I rode back to my place I noticed the roads around campus seemed to barely require turning my steering wheel compared to where we had just come from. After parking my car, I walked slowly back to my apartment, thinking of what a perfect day it had been for a drive!
2010 Civic Si
2019 4Runner TRD Off-Road
--------------------------
Past: 03 Xterra SE 4x4 | 05 Impreza 2.5RS | 99.5 A4 Quattro 1.8T | 01 Accord EX | 90 Maxima GXE | 96 Explorer XLT
2019 4Runner TRD Off-Road
--------------------------
Past: 03 Xterra SE 4x4 | 05 Impreza 2.5RS | 99.5 A4 Quattro 1.8T | 01 Accord EX | 90 Maxima GXE | 96 Explorer XLT
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