Equinox Hill Climb, 2009

[karlusmagnus]

I had a fantastic time, and got to know a little of the area which I was unfamiliar with. The Manchester area is truly a wonderful destination. Paul Ripley found the German accomodations for us. Owner of motel was german guy - he put on a mean breakfast with homemade german breads, homemade granola and muesli (not the "crap stuff made with sugar you get in supermarkets" as he described it Grin ).
Got up Friday after horrendous downpour. Thunder and Lightning show. It was like a celestial shootout with semi-automatic lightning bolt guns.
Met Jens and Heidi Moller at motel followed by Mark Morrissey and Paul. Jim Garfield arrived "sans whaletail", as he was putting on a ducktail in the parking lot, that Jens had brought down. Once cleaned up, we headed for town to meet Joe Gawlik, for a nice steak dinner.
Sat was hillclimb, then visit to Steve Bauer's place (a local and buddy of Joe's) to see his RSR type race car built on a 64 tub I believe (by a previous owner) but with trick RSR parts, and liteweight balsa panels. Raced in anger, to be sure. Sweet sound.
Then, left for home. My wife's tii was my ride, as my car has a starter issue. And in true fashion, the tii ended up stuck in 3rd. So Joe helped my bring it across town, to the shop of local BMW vermont chapter president. Then Mark Morrissey kindly gave me a ride home in his SC backdated to vintage racer. It has no sound deadening at all. Hence the earplugs necessary. And he thinks he can convince his wife to ride with him to Virginia for Valley Rally . Mark I think the muffler change idea you have might be in order !! Mark's car is very impressive, and a credit to him.
Many thanks to Paul and Jim for organizing, and to Joe for helping me out with a car issue, so many miles from home.
Jens and Heidi came a long way just to say hello, and always enjoy meeting and seeing what you have done to your car.
Below are pics of the gathering ...
or not ..

[karlusmagnus]

having trouble posting links to pics
they are on my blog (signature line below) -- i just cannot seem to link URL (perhaps pic URL is too long)

[Jim Garfield]

That was really a lot of fun! Next year this will have to be a two day event with more local drives planned, hopefully minus the torrential rains. I hope Jens and Heidi can stay longer next time. Thanks to Joe for his local knowledge and Steve for the show and tell of his amazing RSR (more on this later), Jens for finding a way to stuff the ducktail inside his car, and of course Paul for putting the accommodations together.

Karl, I hope the problem with the '02 is easily resolved - seems as though you're in good hands with Joe's buddies. Maybe you could get Nikki to forward Mark the names of some therapists specializing in steering wheel OCD.

Paul and I hit more heavy rain on the way home and we managed to find another short gravel rally section. Remind me next year to take you guys on my Rte 120 special gravel rally stage "shortcut" and we can practice our handbrake turns.

It was pretty cool that we only hit rain on the way up and back and that (other than those kamikaze mosquitoes) we had good conditions for the parking lot BS sessions and the hillclimb.

[CurtEgerer]

I've got tears in my eyes watching that video. The commentary is priceless.

[Jim Garfield]

Karl - you bastard. What you people don't realize is that someone has to step up and take control when things start going wrong. I'm just sorry that an unloyal member of the party had to catch this dark episode on video. We know where you live. Those responsible will be dealt with accordingly. THE TRAINS WILL RUN ON TIME!

[CurtEgerer]

Let's make it easy for everyone to view one of young Karl's best works to date:

<object width="800" height="450"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6233059&amp;server=vimeo.com &amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portr ait=0&amp;color=00ADEF&amp;fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6233059&amp;server=vimeo.com &amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portr ait=0&amp;color=00ADEF&amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="800" height="450"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/6233059">Jim Garfield co-ordinating the Equinox Hill Climb</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1206843">karlusmagnus</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

[Mark Morrissey]

That's a scream Karl. Jim, you're a good sport. There's a good chance that I'll be the next target. Karl you summed it up very well. It was a really great time despite the weather and mosquitoes. Terrific you meet Joe, Jens and Heidi plus meet Steve and his amazing RSR; and see Karl, Paul and Jim again. I've got a ton of photos of the hill climb cars too plus video. I'll get them posted asap.

[Mark Morrissey]

The hill climb cars were awesome, though, sadly not many Porsches.

[Mark Morrissey]

This very early vintage Mercedes racer was something to see AND hear. It is a four cylinder at I believe around 9 liters.
More photos later

[Jim Garfield]

That video is hilarious. Karl, you might want to think about a new career in comedy. This morning I saw a picture of me sitting in Steve's car, but I can't seem to find it now, could you post it or email it to me? Thanks.

Did anyone get a video of the Morgan 3 wheeler start? That was a highlight of the morning run.

I'll try to post some pictures tonight.