John speculates:
> I think
>you're on the left coast somewhere, aren't you?
Nope.
> Certainly you must be
>autoxer of some repute.
Depends what you mean by "some." ;<)
>Anyways, no I never do get a chance to look at a
>speedo on a course. But I know my rev limiters in the gears and
I am
>quite capable of telling when I've topped out in second or had
to go to
>third. In addition, in the midwest sometimes we measure speed
.... with
>radar guns. Wow!
So, lemme get this straight: you're saying that you don't know if
you had fun until you finish your run and find out from a radar
reading that you got over some magic number? I always thought
"fun" was a feeling, but who'm I to say?
>And we don't measure "average" speed. The instance where you
mentioned
>averaging 45 mph was hardly your top speed on that course. Could
it have
>been north of 55?
Of course. But it was YOU who said that "Any courses slower than
55 or so are way too slow for me. " And I pointed out that EVERY
course is "slower than 55" at least part of the time. So, the
question becomes how MUCH slower than 55 and for what percentage
of the time? Are you saying it's OK if you get to 65 mph once
during a run but then have to slow for a 30' radius 180? That's
fast, but it's certainly not my idea of fun.
>Faster courses often safer? Yes. Faster courses are usually set
up on
>larger sites where you don't have to break the 50 foot rule for
curbs,
According to your statement, then, it's the SITE that allows the
greater safety, not the course. Or are you saying a course that
you call "slow" would still be less safe than the faster course
if both were laid out on a larger site? BTW, there is no "50 foot
rule for curbs," it's 30 ft. There's a rule about spectator
viewing distances (75ft. if memory serves, but my rule book isn't
here).
>I'll be thinking of all you safety nazis
That is, in my case, an entirely inaccurate and inappropriate
characterization. You should learn to exercise a bit more care in
your choice of words.
> when I choose to drive away
>from an event because it's slow, tight and stupid.
So, tell me this: how many events have you left after you took a
run? And how would you know otherwise?
>And 55 mph is well within the rules.
I remind you of your own words: "Any courses slower than 55 or so
are way too slow for me." I've seen lots of open, challenging
courses where the slower Stock classes didn't get to 55 mph.
>And just like I'll leave an event that has a slow course, you
can choose
>to leave an event if it's too fast for you.
I haven't taken any position on what is "too fast." I've never
gone home myself over that issue, and I've gotten well into
fourth gear in my ASP car on more than one occasion at Solo II
events. I'm simply pointing out that absolute speed is NOT a good
indicator of fun or of good course design, and that there are
very good reasons for the speed guidelines in the Solo II rules.
Jay "no SSS license here" Mitchell
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