In lieu of a write-up, below is a little video I put together from the Turkey Stroll Rally I led back in November for the THMMC.  The route was kind of short - maybe just a tad under two hours.  With no stops, I didn’t have a chance to move the camera around any, so you are stuck with this one shot from the GoPro being mounted on my rear window facing the MINIs following me.

Near the beginning of the video, you’ll note we passed by the Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant.  That was the inspiration for BlimeyCabrio’s dubbing the original route the Tour de Steamplumme.  We ended in downtown Fuquay-Varina at the Aviator Brewing Company Smokehouse.  If you pay real close attention, you might spot the bear mascot that was in Fuquay.

MINI in motion

Well, it has only taken me four and a half months to start writing this and about six months to finish it.  But finally I have completed my recap of MINIs on the Dragon 2011.  This was my first time going to MOTD (but not the Dragon) and could be my last for quite a while.  Since my wife’s birthday usually falls on the same weekend and soccer is in season for my daughters, getting away for MOTD is a challenge.  The stars aligned themselves this year though and I was able to make a last minute “GO” decision.

Day One

My MOTD adventure started on Thursday.  After dropping my son off at school, I was off, heading down the Interstate to the western tip of NC.  Once past Asheville it was not long before I was off the Interstate onto smaller and smaller roads.  After a bite to eat in Bryson City, it was on up Hwy 28 (aka Hellbender) to Fontana Village to check-in.  Of course, upon arriving at Fontana Village I was greeted to the sight of MINIs everywhere!

From Fontana Village, I headed back down 28 to the Tuskeegee Motel.  While I probably could have found a room at Fontana, the last time I stayed there I found the walls to be paper thin (which I figured would lead to some tough sleeping).  Plus, the rates at the Tuskeegee were quite a bit better.  That was good since I was trying to minimize costs.  The Tuskeegee itself is an old roadside motel – maybe 15 rooms with a little general store/gift shop and a couple gas pumps.  The room was dated, the TV small, no phone, and no Internet.  So roughing it a bit.  But it was in the middle of the country (OK, I guess everything in that area is in the middle of the country), there were cows and horses across the road, I could sit out front and watch MINIs go up and down the road, and the bed slept good.  While maybe not for everyone, it suited me just fine.

Driving the Dragon

After unloading, I decided the first order of business was to head to the Devil’s Triangle.  Up 28 to Deal’s Gap where I stopped in the parking lot to see what the crowd was like.  Things took on an ominous note as I was preparing to pull out as a couple SHP cruisers came by lights and sirens going.  As I soon discovered, there was a wreck right up on the Dragon – literally the first curve after you turn out of Deal’s Gap.  Seems a car and a motorcycle had tangled, much to the detriment of the motorcycle rider.  After waiting a few minutes, the road was cleared and I was on my way for the first of many Dragon runs.  This one would turn out to be rather slow thanks to the Ford Fusion in front of me.

Once I was done with the Dragon, I headed on west on 129, then turned southwest for some country driving.  Took this route so I would avoid an out and back to the Triangle – instead, it was more of a loop.  As I traveled the backroads of NC and TN, I came across quite a bit of storm damage and instances where trees had been cleared from the road.  This was the day after some of the killer tornadoes had struck in Alabama and they had traveled through this area as well.

Upon reaching the Devil’s Triangle itself, I hooked up the video camera and feasted on some twisties.  I found the DT to be a fabulous run.  It consists of Hwy 62, 116, and 330, going up through the community of Petros on the way.  Very rugged country.  As I discovered, the warning on the DT web site is accurate:

BULLETIN: The Devils Triangle is not a place for the squeamish or beginning rider. There are sections with difficult steep switchbacks, poorly patched asphalt, heaves in the roadway, broken pavement, gravel in road, steep dropoffs, and coal/logging trucks to dodge. Other that that it is a great road. RIDE WITH EXTREME CARE …..

On the Devil's Triangle

The road itself had a nice variety – some switchbacks, some nice esses, sweepers, etc.  But the description above was accurate as there were a few areas where I had to dodge some broken pavement, loose dirt/gravel or potholes.  But in general the road surface was in pretty good condition.  One thing that was interesting were some of the drop-offs.  These usually occurred in the esses  where you’d come to a curve to the right.  The pavement would go out to an edge and then there would just be an almost straight drop down the side of the mountain.  Probably a good 20 feet or so before you’d hit anything.  And no guardrails.  It was really quite stunning to run across those spots.  It certainly made me want to ratchet up my concentration (as if cranking it up any higher were possible).

With the end of that run, I began the journey back.  After a quick bite to eat, I made my “return” Dragon run just as dusk was starting to fall.  This brought out a bit of wildlife as I spotted a wolf crossing the road and heading up the mountain shortly after I started the run.  I guess it was a wolf.  Since I drive the MINI WUF and I’m a Wolfpack fan, I’m going with it being a wolf.  By the time I got back to the Tuskeegee, darkness was upon me and it was time to settle in for the night.

Day 2

Lining up for the Dragon Parade

For the second day of MOTD, I started out with participation in the Dragon Parade.  A nice bonus I discovered to this was that since I had donated some food for the Graham County food bank, I got a CD (pretty sure put together by Xiek).  Scored a few good songs off of that.  The parade itself was maybe half the MINIs in attendance?  So a couple hundred at least?  Not sure, but the access road we lined up on was a long string of MINIs.  This access road was just up from the entrance to Fontana Village, on the other side of the bridge.  We headed up the Hellbender, then a right onto the Dragon.  This was a nice, medium-paced run.  At the end of the Dragon, I pulled off and just watched the rest of the line come by.  Once it thinned out, I headed back up the Dragon at a little better pace and got to see some of the stragglers headed the opposite direction.

When I got back to Deal’s Gap, I pulled and parked.  Ran into several THMMC folks and enjoyed breakfast with them at Deal’s Gap.  A couple of us decided to do another Dragon run.  It was still early and with the parade over, traffic was very light.  We got in a very spirited run – probably the most spirited run I’d made on the Dragon.  I even had a bit of brake fade by the end (which I don’t recall using my brakes that heavily).  Coming back was almost as good, though a little more traffic in a couple spots to slow the pace down a bit.

From there, we headed on down the Hellbender to Fontana Dam to cross that and take in the view from the other side.  Very impressive.  From there, we split up as I ran on down 28 to Bryson City to get some gas.  The others went back to Fontana Village for some lunch and the plan was for all of us to meet back up for a run on the Cherahola Skyway.

When I got back to Fontana Village though, no one was in sight at the designated meeting place.  After waiting a bit, I figured they had perhaps headed on out.  So, off I went.  Of course, the one time I wanted to get in a speedy run on the Dragon, I couldn’t due to the traffic.  After waiting at the end for a little while, I decided to head on.  Heading out on 129 I came across the second wreck of the weekend.  This time, I could see one or two motorcycles in the ditch on the side of the road.  I can’t imagine it was good news for the rider I saw that they had stabilized on the ground as the ditch was pretty much full of big, sharp, nasty looking rocks.

Friends!!!!

The ride down to Tellico Plains was enjoyable with splendid views.  And I spotted a sign for a Friends meeting.  I always like seeing those.  The Cherahola Skyway was a nice drive.  Traffic was light, though I did get stuck behind an very slow car at one point.  They finally pulled over to let me by.  That said, I wasn’t “wow”-ed by the Skyway.  I see may people posting about how it is one of the better roads in the area.  Maybe if I had been with other MINIs I would have enjoyed it better.  As a final note, I discovered later that the group I had planned to meet had actually decided to leave later than agreed upon.  So the whole time I thought I was chasing them, they were actually behind me.

By time I got back to the hotel, it was dusk, so it had definitely been a long day.  And once again, I came upon a wreck.  This time, in a sharp corner on the Hellbender, a motorcycle had to lay it down and ended up sliding into a MINI in the oncoming lane.  The next day I would see the MINI being taken home on a rollback.  I also figured out that the motorcyclist was staying at the Tuskeegee Motel.  As bad as it looked and as bad as he felt about taking out the MINI, he was glad he had hit it as he probably would have gone over the guardrail and down into the water had he not hit the MINI.  So the MINI saved him from a (probably) worse result.

Day 3

Sunrise over the Smokies

Saturday would bring an early start as I did the Sunrise Drive Through the Smokies.  It was interesting as I had to “trade” a spot with another THMMC member in order to get in on the drive.  Of course, once there, probably only a third of those who signed up actually showed up.  Which made for a good size group – about 12 or so MINIs.  We left in the dark from Fontana Village and headed out on the Dragon.  The turned right to head up the Foothills Parkway to take in the sunrise.

We then headed into Townsend for a stop at a combination gas station, grocery store, small restaurant/deli for a quick bite of breakfast and coffee!  We then looped back through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  This included Little River Road which was a wonderful twisty road that followed a river.  About the only downside was even this early in the morning, traffic was already heavy.  From there, we took 441 which included a “spiral” that did a complete 360 (someone was thinking outside the box to design that) before a stop near the road up to Clingman’s Dome.  We then headed back down through Cherokee and Bryson City before heading back up 28 to end at Fontana Village.

Not sure about that road sign...

That was just in time to get back for the panoramic photo.  Really it was more than just in time as we actually had to wait a while to get lined up in our spot.  That did give me some time to talk with agranger and look at his radio setup.

After watching the panoramic photo, I hung out at Fontana Village for a while with some other THMMCers.  But, while watching Twister apply some decals, I missed a group headed out for a run on Wayah Road.  So once again, it was time to take off in pursuit.  Leaving Fontana Village, I saw the aftermath of yet another wreck – the fourth one for the weekend.  This one involved a MINI and a small red car at one of the entrances to Fontana Village.  It was clearly a bad wreck and I later saw some video of the wreck.

I did know they were planning to use Upper Tuskeegee Rd (which started close to my hotel) then Yellow Creek Road before coming out on Hwy 129 (near the large water line that crosses 129 for those familiar).  From there, it was down through Robbinsville (where I topped off my gas again) and on to Wayah Road.  Wayah is a nice twisty road, especially the southern part that climbs then descends a mountain in the area.  When I got to the end, I ran into a couple motorcyclists and chatted with them for a while before heading back.

After catching a bit to eat in Robbinsville, I headed on up to Deal’s Gap and decided to take in another Dragon run.  Had fun on that one following a group of Mazda RX owners that were in the area for the weekend.

I got back to the motel and caught a few winks before heading back to Fontana Village for the final event – Midnight on the Dragon.  Heading out from Fontana shortly before midnight, we headed up to Deal’s Gap to stage there.  From there, it was time to run the Dragon in the dark at midnight.  For the most part, this seemed to be a pretty hard core group of drivers, so the pace was definitely on the quick side.  Between the pace and the darkness, probably the most adrenaline rushing motoring I’ve done in my MINI.  Really not sure how my nerves made it, but it was a great way to cap things off for the weekend.

Midnight!

After getting back to the Tuskeegee, I was definitely wore out.  Got a good night of sleep and in the morning, headed home.  Since I made the decision to go to MOTD so late, I didn’t really get a chance to participate in some of the non-driving events that are held.  But that was ok.  It gave me the opportunity to make up my own schedule.  As far as the driving, the Devil’s Triangle was a great run, Midnight on the Dragon was a truly exhilarating experience, and the Sunrise drive was some nice fellowship time.  It would be nice to go again or to do MINIs Slay the Sleeping Dragon.  I guess one day the dates will fall right and/or the soccer season will not be in conflict.

As usual, there is a photo gallery with many more photos from MOTD 2011.

Thanks for reading!

A couple weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be able to purchase a new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. I had been waiting a while for a good 10″ Android powered tablet and finally things have worked out. Thus far the tablet itself has been wonderful.  I’ve been especially impressed with the battery life.  That could be because I haven’t pushed it really hard.  I’ll give it a workout when I watch the latest episode of Falling Skies (since I missed it this last Sunday and failed to setup the DVR). However, Honeycomb still has some rough edges (most noticeable to me are issues with the mail client). No worries as I am sure improvements are just around the corner.

With the new device, it meant getting apps installed so the tablet would fit in with my EVO and other tools. First up was Got To Do, the app I had been using for GTD. As I was visiting the app market, I noticed the tablet recognized a few apps from my EVO.  I guess the market is able to track that kind of stuff to help you stay synchronized between devices. The apps included Got To Do, yet it wouldn’t download it. With some further research, I found the app had effectively been abandoned by the developer. So I decided to go with the second choice from before - Ultimate To Do List, at least partly because they have a tablet version available. Since I use ToodleDo for the backend, a couple installs and syncs and I had both devices up and running with new GTD software and all my info intact and up to date.

With the new apps, I decided to go ahead and try to incorporate some of the Do It Tomorrow/Superfocus method into the system. After using the moleskine notebooks for a while, I liked how I could move the top stuff from my GTD to Superfocus in order to stay on task. However, I didn’t like the impact on my efforts to live a paperless digital life. So I am now tagging items and I’ve built a custom view in Ultimate on the superfocus tag. This effectively creates a pretty good replication of the right hand column, yet still within my GTD framework.

Another change I made with the tablet is the installation of Friendcaster. This is a replacement app for Facebook. The need for this is due to Facebook itself not having their own app ready (or apparently able to run on) for Honeycomb. On my EVO I didn’t really like Friendcaster, but it is ok on the tablet. It does have the advantage of letting you post to pages you manage. I do have Seesmic and Hootsuite installed for that purpose as well, but haven’t used them much yet. And in the process of writing this post, I’ve discovered they are working on a tablet version of Friendcaster.

While Friendcaster rates just average imo, I do like Tweetcaster by the same company (Handmark) for Twitter. They have a new HD version in beta that is designed for tablets. Very nice.

Amongst all the changes, I have also dropped Dropbox for a file synchronization solution.  They just had too many problems and issues with security and privacy.  I have now transitioned to SpiderOak (or use this link to sign up and we’ll both get some refer-a-friend credit).  I have it running on my laptops and PCs.  For my Android devices, they have an app as well.  The only shortfall relative to Dropbox is I cannot (yet) upload files from the devices to the SpiderOak folders and have them sync so they are available on my computers.  That feature is supposedly on its way though.

Within the last couple weeks, I was also greeted with news that Logos Bible Software has finally released the beta version of their Android app.  I managed to get in on the private beta testing, though it has now gone public.  Still has a lot of work to be on par with the iPhone/iPad version.  But it is nice to at least have access to my library.

Speaking of reading on the tablet, I installed the Kindle app and downloaded a book I used to study for my recent CAPM certification renewal.  Not sure impressed is the right word, but I like the form factor and reading on the tablet more than I thought I would.  So now I’ll have to resist the urge to buy ebooks through Amazon!

I am also testing an app called Slashtop Remote HD.  This lets me control/view my PC through the tablet.  I have tested it and it works great when running on the local network.  I have not yet attempted to punch a hole through my firewall to see if I can establish a connection external to the local network.  But if that works as good as it did on the LAN, it will be sweet.

I think the only other tablet app of note at this point is the Accuweather app for the tablet.  While still buggy (as I find all the weather apps for any mobile device to be), I find it works well on the 10″ tablet and is relatively stable.

And in case you are wondering, yes, Angry Birds works on the tablet!

(Note - a pdf version is available)

As some folks know, a “skill” I’ve managed to pickup over the past couple years is the creation of routes for the GPS unit I use in my MINI. This is useful since many of our runs and rallies do not consist of the shortest route from A to B and being able to preprogram the route helps (mostly) avoid missed turns. One of my goals when I started doing them was to be able to share the routes with others in the club so they too could load them on their MINIs. It always helps to have more than one person know where they are going. So I frequently put together route files and post them on the THMMC site.

However, on occasion I find fellow motorers who need some help on the process to get the file from the Internet and onto their GPS. Especially since some care has to be taken in how you save the file. This guide will hopefully help those trying to use my routes (or anyone else’s routes).

Some Basics

Before getting into the whole process, let’s talk a little bit about what we are dealing with and what one needs to use the files. First up – hardware. To really make use of the route files, you will need a GPS that can load it. The routes I put together are for Garmin GPS units (alas, one day I may be able to invest in a good TomTom (which an Ease is not what I would consider a “good” TomTom) to figure out how to do a conversion). Specifically, a Garmin that can do “multi stop routing” is what is needed. You can find the models that support this on the Garmin web site using their product search function. If you already have a Garmin that does not have this feature, the files may still be useful to you as they will load as a bunch of Favorites and you can call them up as your destination (or manually create the route, which would not be too terribly difficult with my naming schemes).

The other thing I will note is that the files produced are .gpx files. If you open one, you will discover that it is really just a text file containing an XML schema. So it is not something magical. The biggest problem I see with this though is it makes working with the files a bit of a challenge. Browsers, because they see it as nothing more than a text file, like to just open them in a new window/tab if you click on the link to them. And depending on how your operating system works, it may want to automatically append a .txt file extension.

Finally, the screenshots below were all done on Windows Vista using Firefox 5.0 or on my Garmin, which is a 755 unit (a bit dated, but reliable). If you are using a different OS, browser, or Garmin model, there will obviously be differences. Hopefully you can figure out what you need to do using this.

Saving the File

The first step is to find the file and save it. Below is a screenshot of the post I made for the Blue Ridge Parkway Tour gpx file. As you can see, I have right-clicked on the link to the file and I’m ready to do a “Save Link As…”

saving the file in the browser

Upon doing that, I decide where to save it. You might notice my browser thinks it is a Text Document (which is ok), but it is saving the .gpx extension (and only the .gpx extension). Remember where this directory is for later.

remember where you save it to

Getting the File Onto the Garmin

Now that we have saved the file to our computer, the next step is to copy it over to the Garmin. To start this process, plug the Garmin into your computer using the USB cable. This should cause the Garmin to power on as a USB device and on most computers, after a few seconds of waiting, will result in something similar to the Autoplay dialog box opening as shown below:

open the GPS as a drive once connected

When that opens, select the option to open the folder to view files. Once that is open, you need to navigate to the Garmin/GPX folder. That is the location where you need to copy the file to. For this guide, as shown below, I’ve opened a second window where I saved the file initially, and I then copy and paste it into the folder on the Garmin:

copy the file onto the Garmin

Once copied over, you can close your windows and disconnect the Garmin from the computer as that ends the part of the process that involves the computer.

Importing the Route on the Garmin

The rest of our steps occur on the Garmin. The first step is to navigate to the tools area of the Garmin and scroll down to find “My Data”:

Select that to bring up the next screen:

On that screen you select “Import Route from File”. If everything has worked as planned, you should be presented with a list of the routes that are in the file. May be one route, may be several. In our example here, you can see there are several routes included. I’ve gone ahead and selected all of them to be imported:

Then hit the “Import” button and watch the magic progress:

Until the unit reports the import was successful. If you then back out from there, you’ll eventually get back to the screen where the “My Data” icon was. You should have another icon there (technically it was there all along, I’m just now mentioning it) for “Custom Routes”. If you click on that, you will discover the list of routes:

Select one of the routes to go to the next screen that gives you some basic info about the route and options to “Go”, “Edit” or “Preview” (and I suppose “Back” is an option as well):

For now I’ll just Preview the route and I see that it is in there (and for now, without zooming in to check things out, I’ll assume it is accurate):

And that is it – you are ready to motor following a pre-programmed route

Hope this helps anyone have trouble. If you still experience problems though, please feel free to contact me. And if you want to donate a good TomTom that supports their version of routes to me for testing…

I know I still have an MOTD recap to post, but I still have too much writing on that to hold this up.  Those following the tale of the MINI WUF know that last summer during an event at VIR, I spun off the course and thanks to heavy rain that day, the grass was like ice, sending me off into the Armco barrier.  I was extremely fortunate in that enough speed had scrubbed off that the blow was not too hard and my angle was such that the only parts damaged were the front bumper cover and some trim pieces.  (OK, technically there are some under hood cracks in a couple places, but nothing of note or a problem.)  Besides the obvious, this meant that for the past year I’ve been driving around in what looks like a beater MINI with a messed up front bumper, ala the photo below I recently took on the Devil’s Triangle:

Bumper damage

Since it was coming out of my pocket (no insurance claim on this one), and the quotes to have someone do it were quite high, it was looking like a DIY.  The first step was to find a replacement bumper.  For that, I searched on the NAM Marketplace and found someone selling the bumper off an MCS up in the DC area.  So a road trip later, I had the bumper.

The next step was to find someone to paint it at a cost I could afford and then save up the money for it.  That included not having to drive too far.  After some searching, I found a little place close to me called Car-Art, Inc. They gave me a really cheap price.  As I discovered, it went with the motif of their shop which was along the lines of “hole in the wall”.  It wasn’t much to get it painted and if they do a good job, I could overlook their orderliness-challenge.

Painted!

The bumper came out looking pretty good.  Hard to tell off the MINI how the paint match was since the guy basically did it from scratch.

The final step was to order some additional fasteners, as the “word” floating on the Interwebz was that you would inevitably have to destroy a couple in the process of removal.  I looked up the front bumper on realoem.com and ordered all the fasteners listed from ECS Tuning.

With all the parts finally in hand and painted, it was time to tackle the job.

Ready to start removal

First up was removal of the front grille (something I’ve done many times).  Then the two screws right there obviously holding the bumper on.  Next I went over to the front wheel well, took out a couple fasteners and pulled back the liner.  One of the fasterners, right near the edge near the bottom is attached to the bumper, so it definitely has to come out.

Behind that there is one of the little plastic pop rivet fasteners holding the wheel arch to the black trim that runs along the bottom of the bumper.  Tough to get a grip on those to get out.  The biggest challenge was a screw in the end of the bumper that is up behind the wheel arch.  So you have to get that loosened up enough to get a T20 bit (the only tool specifically needed) on it to loosen it.

This was a pain to get to.

There are two slots/tabs from the wheel arch that go into the bumper, so those have to be undone (not difficult).

Up underneath, there are two screws like the ones up top behind the upper grille that just screw out.  There are also three of the plastic pop rivet things along there.  At least for me, I could not remove them without destroying them.  Since I knew I had replacements, I wasn’t worried to take the Dremel to them.

There are three screws holding the fog light housings onto the bumpers that require the T20 bit to remove.  With most of the fasteners removed, it is not too difficult to get to them.  Along the front passenger side there is a sensor in there held with a couple clips (thermometer maybe?).

So in total, holding the bumper cover on are a total of six screws, three pop rivets, two screw fasteners, and six screws on the fog lights.  There are another couple pop rivets holding the lower black trim piece to the wheel arches.  With all of those removed, the bumper cover assembly was free and I only broke a couple tabs under the wheel arches trying to pull them out of the way.

Broken bumper gone!

Once I had it removed, I took off the lower black trim pieces (just some tabs and slots holding it on) and installed it on the new bumper.  I did have a replacement piece that had come with the bumper I bought, but I wanted to re-use mine since it has aged with the rest of the black trim on the MINI and I wanted it to match.  I also had a replacement lower grille to put in since the one I had was destroyed with the bumper cover.

After that, it was merely a matter of putting everything back on again.  I used to the two upper screws to hold the bumper roughly in place (didn’t want it to fall on the floor and get scratched).  Then I worked on getting the fog light on one side reconnected and got the sensor re-installed.  Then the screw up under the wheel arch, get the tabs back in, and a new pop rivet.  Do the same on the other side, tighten up the top screws, then I put in the screws and pop rivets on the bottom.

New bumper installed.

With that done, I took care of some items before finishing up with the reinstall of the upper grille.  Overall, not a hard job, especially with the peace of mind of knowing I had plenty of replacement fasteners.  At least in the garage, the paint looks to be matched quite well.  I’ll be able to tell better once I get it in the sunlight.  Unfortunately, once I had it on I could see where the paint shop left an area not quite polished completely.  Not enough for me to take it off and redo it as I have to get it at the right angle to see it.  While the price was good and they were easy to work with, not sure I’d be able to recommend the body shop.  Also, the chrome on my hood (that goes over the upper grille) still has some of the Armco paint.  Think I may leave that as a battle scar.

Anyway, another project complete and accomplished.  Total time was about 4 hours, but could probably be done much faster.  It would be interesting to know if the body shop people know of any tricks that make it easier to get the pop rivets out and to get the wheel arch out of the way.  The MINI WUF is ready to motor once again.

Ready to motor again!

Was doing some research on the General Assembly web site and I happened to run across a bill winding its way through the process that would incorporate the Town of Fontana Dam.  Kind of hard to tell from the description, but I gather it is basically the Fontana Village property and some adjoining land (288 acres per the description).  For those not familiar with municipal corporation in NC, this basically makes it an official town.  The bill specifies they will have a Board consisting of a Mayor and four Board members (total of five including the mayor).

The bill also specifies they will have a council-manager form of government, so they’ll have to hire a town manager at some point.  Since I have past experience as a town manager, I’m thinking I would be the perfect candidate.  I certainly wouldn’t object to the (probable) residency requirement - sure would be tough to have to live there. Wife might have something to say about that though. 

In lieu of my normal written recap, this run’s recap has been completed as a video blog.  I clearly have much to learn about making videos, but I had to start somewhere.  Hope you enjoy.  If you are interested in looking at some of the still pics, there is a gallery for the run.

THMMC Bullfrog Run 2011 from Jeff Causey on Vimeo.

Note: A PDF version is available.

Another DIY for me. This time a relatively simple job – changing the spark plugs on my R56 MCS. The spark plugs on an MCS should be changed every 60k miles (so I am overdue by quite a bit). On a MC the interval is 100k miles. With the way life has panned out for me, I don’t think I’ve ever changed spark plugs on a vehicle, so this was something new for me.

Brisk spark plugs - box of four

First up was to find the proper spark plugs. I was fortunate to find a couple threads over at Motoring Alliance on the subject. First up was a post – A Basic Guide to Spark Plugs – which helped me get up to speed. The second was a thread about what spark plugs people were using in their MINIs. I’ve gathered at this point that there are basically 3 choices (4 I suppose if you get them from the dealership) – Brisk, NGK, and Beru. NGK is what comes installed in the MINI (at least in mine they were). However, I decided I wanted to maybe notch things up just a bit compared stock, so I ordered some of the Brisk plugs - MR12YS – from Alta Performance (a Google shopping search will yield some other sources, but I couldn’t find anything cheaper than Alta, although per piece I could if I ordered six at one time as packaged for a Mitsubishi Evo 10).

A special socket is needed

Before you get started though, you will need one other special item. The stock spark plugs require a 14mm 12 point spark plug socket. This is probably not something you are going to find at the local parts store. Fortunately, BMWs require this as well, so it was not hard to find an Assenmacher (ASSSP1412) 12 Point Thin Walled 14mm Spark Plug Socket on Amazon.com. And kudos to Tooltopia who had it to me in only about 3 days.

My final pre-install step was to gap the spark plugs (may not be necessary if you go with NGK or Beru). The Brisk plugs come with a huge gap and I had to get them down to .018”. That took some patience to do it without messing up the tip.

The installation itself took maybe 15 minutes. One tip I picked up was to remove and install one plug at a time so as not to get wires crossed up (which may not really be possible with a MINI, but better safe than sorry). So I worked right to left looking at my engine from the front of the car.

The first step is to remove the ignition coils. These are the four connectors you see along the top of the motor. There is no trick to getting them off – you just pull them straight up. Go ahead and really pull up on them!

The tops of the ignition coils.

Ignition coil popped off

Once you have them loose, pull them on up and out. They are about six inches long. The bottom part is rubber, so it is flexible if you are worried as you pull them out – with the wires connected, the angle gets a little sharp. Looking down, you can see the spark plug down at the bottom.

The ignition coil once it is pulled out.

The spark plug.

Put the socket on an extension and unscrew the spark plug. Then screw a new spark plug in. For an MCS, the spark plugs should be torqued to 14.5 lb-ft.

Ready to start unscrewing a spark plug

One issue I did run into is that the socket had such a strong grip on the spark plug, that I could not pull it back out without it coming off the extension bar. That was solved by using some electrical tape to hold the socket and the extension together:

A little tape helps get the socket back out!

I did use some tape and marked each of the spark plugs as I took them out (using the right to left numbers). Since the plugs I’m using required me to gap them myself and are a little different from stock in the material they use, I wanted to be sure I could revert things if something doesn’t work out. I know the plugs I’m taking out work, so if needed I can re-install them. It may not matter, but I’d want to put them back in to the same place they came out of.

Plugs numbered in case I have to put them back in.

Finally, below is a pic showing one of the plugs taken out and the Brisk plug next to it. The plugs that came out looked to be in pretty good condition to me. Obviously used, but no unusual discoloration.

Comparison of old plug with new plug.

Upon completion, I did test things out and started up the MINI. I’m glad to report that I did have fire with the successful start! And a quick drive down the road seemed to be a smooth run. I’ll keep an eye on how the MINI runs the next couple weeks to see if I notice any stumbling, misses, or major changes in fuel mileage.

The spark plug change itself is pretty easy. Hope the tips in this DIY are helpful!

Enjoy motoring!

Ronald w/ THMMC

This was no April Fools joke.  On Friday, April 1st, VIR partnered with the Ronald McDonald House Charities of SWVA and NC to hold a charity laps events.  For at least the past three years (and I think longer), these events have normally been held in November for the benefit of the Salvation Army.  So a spring time frame for one of these events was a new twist.

Before getting to the track, I donned my blue PUMA driving shoes in support of Autism Awareness Day and wearing blue was a sign of support for that (you’ll see in one of the pics, I had on my blue shirt and hat as well).  Been a while since I’ve worn them, but apparently they have finally stretched out to fit my feet.  Normally they border on being too tight for me (they tend to run narrow).  Maybe because it had been a while, but I could certainly tell I had on some thin-soled shoes as I could really feel the pedals and feedback through them really well.

Ready for my first session

Got to the track about 9:30 in the morning and I was still in Group 2.  So it didn’t look like it was going to be nearly as crowded as it was this past November.  That proved to be the case as the day panned out.  Of course, I would have thought that with the numbers down, it might be a little easier to get in some quicker runs.  That was not the case though.

For this event, they were just running it on the North Course (Bertil Roos had the South Course).  This was my first time running the North configuration.  The turn off the esses to head up into the infield was a nice corner and the additional esses are probably a lot of fun at speed.  However, there were several slow cars mixed in with the group which kept speeds down.  I noted in my second run that we were only going 20 mph through the Carousel.  For the first session, my top speed was only 83 mph.  Second session didn’t exceed that.  In the third session, I managed to get up to 95 mph on the front stretch one lap.

MINIs on track

In between sessions, we discovered that the RMHC had a Clubman that they use for getting around to events.  We managed to strike a deal to get our MINIs on pit road with the RMHC Clubman for a group photo.

So a little slower compared to the full course, but still a lot of fun.  That was helped in part due to all the THMMC MINIs who showed up.  I think we had around a dozen that attended the event.  Much better than last fall when there was only a small handful of us.  Here is the link to the page of photographs.  I also have some video that I grabbed with my new GoPro.  Still learning how to use it and how to process it into a decent video (along with the differences between vimeo and YouTube - used vimeo for this).

Earthquake

One of the members of the Tar Heel MINI Motoring Club has a friend who is in Japan right now.  He posted this message on our club forum giving a first hand account of what life is like over there.  Thought I would pass it along so folks could get a little more insight as to what is going on in Japan as opposed to what we hear through the news channels.

Dear friends,

Thank you again, everyone, for your thoughts and continuing pray. It’s almost 1 week from last Friday.

For many of those who have been asking me update, I will some.

Nuclear plants issues we hear each hour have been unbelievable and shake my heart. There was another really big earthquake last night near Mt.Fuji that we also felt a lot even in Shiga, and that area also has nuclear plants. Weather has been also absolutely unusual these days. It’s snowing here over the last couple of days as we had about 10cm snow this morning (in the middle of March!!), so this means the devastated area have more snow and cold. This unseasonable coldness put people inside of their houses/buildings where they would use so much electricity to stay warm. That makes much huge scale of blackout. Can’t provide enough power to the damaged area… Vicious circle… Everything is just completely unexpected and scary.

Thank you also for sending hundreds rescue teams & specialists from all of your countries, They have been wonderful support.

After that biggest earthquake, hundreds of bigger aftershocks in whole norther east parts (Tofoku) & Tokyo area -> bigger 3 and more in Nagano -> many here and there includes a smaller one but heart-shaking one in Shiga -> a couple of in Gifu where is just east next to Shiga -> a really big one near Mt.Fuji -> another bigger one in Nagano -> A big one in Tokyo area yesterday -> many smaller but really close to us… Just too many aftershocks everywhere and too scary. Next one can be at any time anywhere. When you open the earthquake record in Japan, you see over 200 aftershocks each day still now. So, in whole nation, people tends to feel like “It’s coming this way!!!!!!!”, you know. It has been making people get crazy as they go and buy anything before something happens around them, any kind of food, water, drink, battery, candle, gasoline, blanket, tissue, toilet paper, under wear, spare outfit, just anything to live!, as if they are forgetting all the victims have been in much MUCH MUCH needs of those things for further looooong time. Absolutely chaos we have never ever seen before, in all over the country. With this speechless & measureless fears, thousands of foreigners living in Japan are leaving for their safer home. Can’t complain at all.

These too much craziness are shame, but on the other hands every single people personally and most of Japanese companies are supporting the victims and the disaster sites and the rescue teams in many ways they can, like saving unnecessary electricity at any buildings(so that we can assist the damaged electric power company in Tokyo), reducing all kinds of power, raising donation money/goods, stopping unnecessary/non-urgent business trips then send the saved-money to the devastated area instead, etc.

Also I am very proud of Japanese people and being a Japanese. Tears come down unconsciously with many of these sweet messages.
http://prayforjapan.jp/message/page/2?lang=en
Yes, we all Japanese will cope with, helping caring each other as we are always.

Scheduled blackout has been done in whole area in Tokyo and several major prefectures around. It’s been making more chaos with million people. However, it is not as much as we expected. Surprisingly but as we could imagine, people have been caring each other very well. No car accidents with no traffic lights-on with million cars driving by in such major cities. This is impressive. Yes, people’s kindness and caring are shining through in this crisis.

My brother’s LakeStars has been doing great as well in this time. All their games were canceled this past weekend by the league decision as other all pro sports events were same, but instead, they had charity at a gym near here where they were supposed to play games, in order to raise donation money & goods. Since I have been so irritated not to be able to do anything for the victims and the damaged places, I grabbed my sister and collected as much money & new practical goods as possible we could get from our houses, then went to the gym. Guess what? Almost 5000 fans came up and LakeStars raised 5,300,000yen($53000)!!!! and a gym-full donation goods over the weekend. (they raised 1,500,000yen more during this past Mon-Wed!!!, so they totally did over 6,000,000yen($60000)). All of them were sent to the damaged cities today. Best team! Best fans! Again, yes, I am so proud of Japanese people and being a Japanese.

Some of you asked me if I could get through my friends in Sendai yet, where is one of the most damages cities. Thank you for your thoughts. I tried to call them many times since then, during lunch time from work, at night from home. But phone line had been too busy, and it took me 5 days, and I finally was able to hear from them last night!!!!!!! What a great relief… They live very close to the local airport where was sank by Tsunami & rubble but fortunately the flood didn’t reach their house. Thank God. However, they lost many friends and relatives and neighbors, have no water, no gas, no gasoline, yet, though only electricity is back from yesterday. They say their area looks like a hell (TV shows only “nicer” issues…) but people there will never give up and carry on. Please keep praying for their further future. Other our friends in Tokyo area are all safe.

Many of you asked how you could help Japan. Maybe one of the ways is donating to Japanese Red Cross.
http://www.google.com/intl/en/crisis…quake2011.html
That would be so much helpful.

My family and myself have been doing well. Everyone is terrifying to see any videos about the devastation, but we have been saving any kind of power and money and goods to send them to the victims again. It’s been extremely cold for March, roads got icy and bumpy, but we don’t complain at all thinking of all the victims evacuating in much colder air.

We feel all of your thoughts and that make our hearts so warm.
Thank you so much. We truly appreciate.

Stay safe.
Thinking of you all,

Aya