The Wizard of Osborne

A driving event and a 10K all in one (long) weekend. Yep, that’s how I roll.

I was originally going to go out of town for Memorial Day weekend, but when those plans fell through I decided to sign up for a driving event at the brand new High Plains Raceway with the Z Car Club of Colorado (ZCCC) and participate in the BolderBoulder. It sounded like the makings for a SWEET weekend, and boy howdy, it sure was.

High Plains Raceway. All I can say is, "WOW." That is an amazing 2.55 miles worth of track. The many and varied elevation changes take what are already challenging corners to a new, mind bending level. Until you have all fifteen memorized, you'd best just take the course slowly, savoring all of the late apexes and blind entries, lest you rocket yourself right off the curb-free track. (I think about five of the fifteen corners are blind. It's just you, the horizon, blue sky, and a whole lotta' hope.) As it stands right now I think my favorite corners are 6 ("Danny's Lesson"), 11 ("Bobsled"), 12 ("Ladder to Heaven"), and 13/14/15 ("Prairie Corkscrew").

1 Friends coming through the first turn of the "Prairie Corkscrew"

 

Fortunately, though you might not think so, the first two sessions of the morning were sopping wet thanks to a steady, un-Colorado like, late spring rain. That forced us all to slow down, which gave a lot of time to focus on learning the line, but made for some filthy cars.

2 A filthy Laguna Seca Blue M3

 

As the rain let up (for all of an hour or two in the afternoon), we finally got to push it a bit more. But then the rain returned…

3 Moments before the sky re-opened

    

Even though it was soaking wet nearly from start to finish – made even more soaking wet by the lack of ANY kind of permanent shelter at the track – it was a great event hosted by the Z Club at Colorado's newest and most exciting track. Wow again. Once I know the M3 and the track a bit better, I think we're all going to have a lot of fun together.

 

So that was Saturday. Then on Memorial Day morning I walked the BolderBoulder 10K with my friend, Susan. We had such a great time and that is such a great, fun- and joy-filled race. How they run an event of that size (with such good cheer throughout) like clockwork is a mystery to me, but one I feel we're awfully fortunate to have right in our own backyard.

4 People as far as the eye could see

 

The weather was beautiful and the 6.2 miles flew by, thanks to good company and a 3.8mph average pace.

5 Coming up the hill (with a gazillion other people) to Folsom Field

 

Crossing the finish line inside Folsom Field, its stands filled with cheering Boulderites, was pretty fantastic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I may just have do this all again next year.

 

(Full photo sets – High Plains Raceway: http://www.flickr.com/photos/losborne/sets/72157618799777644/ and the 2009 BolderBoulder: http://www.flickr.com/photos/losborne/sets/72157618712961095/)

 

 

 

What do car people do during the winter?

When car people can't get out for spirited drives due to snowy mountain roads and are relegated to merely daydreaming about track days, what do we do? Well, I can't speak for all of us, but here are a few things I've done this winter:

1. I attended a winter driving school. I went to Audi's winter car control clinic at Georgetown Lake in early February. Though it was inexplicably freaky to drive around on a frozen lake, particularly later in the day when the ice got warm and started to creak, the exercises were very interesting and fun. My favorite was the spin avoidance exercise, which involved first getting the car up to ~20mph, then cranking the wheel 90°, pulling the hand brake, waiting for the car's rear end to come around, undoing everything you just did, waiting for the car to come around to 180° and start rolling backwards, when you could then brake to a stop. Left to my own devices, I could've done that one all day. (Sadly, I forgot my camera, so I'll have to go again next year in order to take some pics to share with you.)

2. I put stickers on my driving helmet. I'd ordered a set of roundel stickers for the M3 last month and just tonight had the brilliant idea to put a few of the extras on the back of my helmet. (I left the old sticker that matches the S4's on there, out of deference.) Now I can be all matchy-matchy with the M3 on track days. [Insert giddy, girlish hand clapping here.]
   



3. I got together with a bunch of car people and talked about cars. I met a new group of folks who drive amazing cars and like to talk about them as much as I do. Their cars were slightly more expensive than the M3, but that didn't keep us all from checking out each other's cars, discussing what all mods we'd made to them, comparing notes on where we like to drive, and so on and so forth. But next time, I think I need to park a little farther away from the Gallardos, as they make the M3 look like a giant, monstrous, hulking blue tank. (My car was at least a foot taller than that black Gallardo there. She looked HUGE, I tell ya', HUGE!)



4. I had some maintenance done. I wish I could say that I've taken this winter downtime to do a bunch of sweet mods on the M3, but I just haven't gotten there yet. Quite frankly, it may be a while before I do. (She's pretty good as-is and I kind of want to check her out on the track before I start making any big changes/investments.) But in the interim, I've had a bunch of general maintenance done, which just happens to have included a new set of angel eyes…

Yeah, don't deny it. Those look goooooood.

So there you have it. That's my car-related winter season in a nutshell. If you're a car person, what do you like doing during the winter (I wish I could really be) driving season?

Hello, my name is Leslie and I am a car-o-holic

I must confess. I just bought a 2001 Laguna Seca Blue M3. I love it. And yes, I still have the red 2006 S4. I love it too. I am one person with two ridiculously great cars. It's a pretty decadent situation, to be one person with two great cars, but the giddy happiness I get every time I see them parked together in the garage and the sheer joy I get from driving both of them is well worth the monetary stupidity.

So here she is, "Little Blue," as she's being called for now, parked against a beautiful Colorado day.

I haven't done any mods on her yet – save for the black/laguna seca blue roundel overlays – but a trip this coming week to see my friends at BimmerHaus should remedy that situation. Tires? Brakes? Suspension? Exhaust? Cosmetic upgrades? I'll keep you up to date.

Needless to say, my acquisition of Little Blue means that the S4 will be retired from track duty. While I'm sad to put her out to pasture, I'm excited to continue my learning in the M3. I think she'll be a great teacher.

So, watch out boys – you may have escaped being passed by the big red sedan, but I've got a new, obnoxiously bright car with which to come after you. See ya' in my rear-view mirror. ;-)